The Mookse and the Gripes discussion
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Booker Prize for Fiction
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2021 Booker Prize Speculation
Oddly it’s very much not of the moment as it’s fixated on the September 18- September 19 period so misses the 2019 election, the subsequent Brexit vote (both of which are crucial to the narrator’s concerns and completely change the picture) and of course COVID. It actually reads very dated
Yes so had I and particularly from the blurbs. I just could not quite get a handle on it.
I have finished my ARC of Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (and have mailed it off to Tom, who asked first for it). It's quite an epic experience to read, and I am still processing it. In many ways, it's a much more complicated work than All the Light We Cannot See, but a part of me feels that he was trying to do too much in one book (even though thematically it very much hangs together). I will have more to say about it after I've let it sit for a bit. I would not be surprised to see it on the longlist.
That's interesting to hear, Cindy. One I am super keen to read. Going to have to wait for it to be published though. Just reading Mrs England by Stacey Halls at the moment. It is such a joy to read. Her first two books were very good but this is better.
Back to Booker discussion... Still waiting on an announcement as to when the Longlist will be announced.
I have now finished The Other Black Girl and Assembly. Similar themes but entirely different execution. Assembly, for me, is something a bit special. Originality deluxe. Stark. Insightful. Subtle work of genius.
On to Little Scratch soon...
I agree with comments about TOBG and Assembly, even though they’re apples and oranges as far as style.I always confuse Anthony Doer with Anthony Marr, All the Light We Cannot See and the novel about the baby abandoned on light house island and raised by the couple there.
I'm halfway through The Other Black Girl - it is definitely more of a mainstream, plot-oriented book and will probably sell a lot more copies than Assembly; but I agree the writing isn't really on the same level.Thanks again, Cindy! Can't wait to dive into Cloud Cuckoo Land and then we can discuss!
I cannot recall if we have mentioned this - but one previous winner (for the third of a trilogy) with an eligible book (which is itself a sequel to the Costa, Women's, Dublin Literary Prize shortlisted "Silence of the Girls") is Pat Barker with "The Women of Troy" which I think is published in August. My review here (Neil and Roman Clodia have also reviewed)https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Wonder if more likely to be on the Women's Prize next year, but the debut novel The Day I Fell Off My Island looks interesting. An unusual one as well where the debut author has a rather famous literary daughter.
I think it may have been Cindy who said Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason is worth a read?Although I doubt very much it will make it on to the Booker list, I would not at all be surprised if I saw it on the Women's Prize list. I am halfway through and thoroughly enjoying it! I would go as far as to say it is in my Top5 enjoyable reads of the year. Ann Patchett said she wanted to give it to everyone to read once she finished it - I absolutely agree! Exceptional characterisation.
Jo wrote: "I think it may have been Cindy who said Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason is worth a read?Although I doubt very much it will make it on to the Booker list, I would not at all be surprised if I saw it..."
Yes that was me, and I suspect it was Ann Patchett's rave that got it on my radar screen to begin with. It really is unexpectedly quite good.
Graham's random judge-inspired prediction - I would not be 100% shocked to see "A Lonely Man" by Chris Powers on the longlist (even though I was not a fan) - at least one (and I think two of the judges) seem excised by Putin's Russia.
I can’t find A Lonely Man in book/author search.
Thanks, Margaret. I wrote Chris Powers, it’s Power and it doesn’t search for similar titles or names, that ‘s’ threw off my search!
Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "Graham's random judge-inspired prediction - I would not be 100% shocked to see "A Lonely Man" by Chris Powers on the longlist (even though I was not a fan) - at least one (and I think two of the ju..."I was not a fan either. Would be a slot wasted if it happens.
Has there been any word on the key dates for this year's Booker, specifically on the longlist announcement? I had a look on the site, but nothing's been updated yet.
So far as I can tell, no longlist announcement date yet. I am guessing late July.I think we've discussed Damon Galgut's The Promise in this thread, yes? I wanted to share Eric Karl Anderson's video about the book. Makes it sound like a contender to me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3MRn...
I think it is - but I really hope it isn't
I know GY didn’t like it, but I thought it was excellent.
Neil wrote: "I know GY didn’t like it, but I thought it was excellent."Intriguing! Clearly I need to read this one.
Just cracked open 'The Promise'. Perfect timing: it's the beginning of a quiet weekend with hopefully loads of reading time. I will update my thoughts daily. The opening page looks promising.Also approved on Netgalley to read Shafak's 'The Island of Missing Trees' and Cohen's 'The Harlem Shuffle'.
So pleased my marking is all done for the year and it is nearly the summer holiday!
September is looking to be a busy month with quite a few Booker potentials. Previously mentioned Wole Soyinka, Colson Whitehead, Richard Powers, and Sally Rooney are all possible. Soyinka interests me because while Soyinka is a Nobel winner, that prize was thirty plus years ago and I am not sure he is much more than a name to a lot of present day readers. If his new book is any good at all, it seems an automatic, But with the big publisher push Woyinka is getting, I will like seeing how the book does in the prize categories,
I must admit I hope the judges don't go for September books other than if the publishers agree to move the date forward (*) - it did not end well with Atwood(*) I cannot see that happening with Rooney as the bookshops are basing their Septembers almost entirely around that and the new Osman, or with the Powers/Whitehead as US publication date is the most crucial one. In the past its more been the lesser known books where publishers have moved dates forward.
From initial reviews I have read both the Shafak and Whitehead seem less Booker/literary than their previous Booker listed novels. Powers does seem like a strong contender to me.
That's one advantage Rooney has then as her new novel is very unlikely to be less Booker/literary than her previous Booker listed one.
Paul wrote: "That's one advantage Rooney has then as her new novel is very unlikely to be less Booker/literary than her previous Booker listed one."Ouch! 😂
I’m envious, Jo. My weekend will be busy with houseguests, 3 of whom are young men, and my one year dog will be overly excited, so if I get any reading done it will be a miracle.I’m not a Rooney fan and was surprised she was nominated for the Booker, but a few of the books the last few years surprised me so I’m bracing myself. I vow not to be negative though. If I’m not excited about the list I will simply not read for it.
I just finished Assembly. What a terrific book! I hope it’s long listed.
Assembly is brilliant! It made me want to get my highlighters out and start annotating. A book you could reread many times and there would always be something new to discover and think about.
I feel like we are preparing for collective outrage when Assembly is missed off the longlist.
That made me grin. If the longlist is anything like last year's there will be lots of room for outrage.
I like a longlist with a few surprises on it. Only because it introduces me to books and authors I may not otherwise have read. But (!) last year I thought there were far too many surprises and when I did read the books I was not blown away. In fact, many of the books left me disappointed. There were so many books I felt were far more worthy. Ultimately, I am happy Shuggie Bain won. Now, we just await an announcement as to the date and the opportunity to read Cloud Cuckooland and Bewilderment...
We tend to complain at the moment but last year was actually not a bad year with three novels worthy of winning. I think the big let down was the failure of the judges to nominate Spring, which many of us also thought was worthy of winning. As for the rest of the longlist, I think it follows a pattern where a large difference is demonstrated between the winner and the majority of the other books. That pattern lets the winner shine a bit more and most readers can see the distinct difference in quality. In this group I think we prefer to have the majority of the books, actual contenders because we tend to read more of the longlist. Last year I skipped a number of books from the list that didn't interest me, so it really seemed a good year. This year I will at best have read only a couple of books from whatever they put on the longlist, I imagine , so I will have no major disappointments. I think I will be happy no matter what they pick. It will be an added bonus if it is a book I plan to read.
I dropped off my post on September novels before I had finished. Soyinka seems to have the biggest publisher push in the U.S. of the authors I mentioned releasing in September, Whitehead, Rooney, Powers, and I'll add Doerr. Soyinka has had a number of feature articles on his return, the publisher is releasing new editions of older work, etc. I am not as troubled by September books since I usually have to wait for the release from U.S. publisher's. Assembly? I will opine in 2022, since that is when it is scheduled to release.
Only reading the books that interest you is a brilliant idea, Sam. My longtime dream was to buy all the Booker Longlist and read along for the prize, but after spending money and time on books like The New Wilderness and other books I wouldn’t have chosen to read otherwise I think I’ll consider that dream fulfilled and stick with books that interest me.
When it comes to the booker, I always buy the whole Longlist. Granted some years are better than others but generally I’ll like 12/13 books, it’s always a good way of discovering new authors
And of having books that plenty of others are reading and debating at the same time
Deciding to read the full longlist depends on the what books are on the longlist too. Looking back at 2017, there isn't one book I didn't enjoy in some way. GY nailed my only reason for reading them all, and that is for the chance to chat about them. Last year was an odd year with the epidemic throwing off schedules.. The Booker longlist usually sets a trend that other lists follow, and I thought it stood out as the first of the major awards. One would usually find the longlist books scattered on all the other major awards' lists and books that didn't win often won other awards. There may be a slight change to that now, even beyond what was influenced by the epidemic, where the Booker is evolving to represent the tastes of a different contemporary audience, but I think it is too early to claim that. And were that so, I wouldn't hold the Booker responsible, since the Booker selections would represent literary fiction publishing as a whole. This year I will get excited when the longlist is published, then get picky if I find too many books of which I feel indifferent. Than simple matter is that I am able to read less and I am making time for reading books of different genres and books from different cultures, for reading and rereading old classics, and for enjoying other media. I can afford to miss a few new ones.
I finished The Other Black Girl. It went awry for me in the last third. I thought it was a solid debut and I understand why it’s getting a lot of hype, but it didn’t land for me in the end. Three stars and don’t think it merits award inclusion.
Agreed, Tom. I think that’s been the consensus here.
With only a month or less to go (hopefully) before the reveal, it is time to put the finishing touches on your longlist predictions. I haven't read enough to really participate. My last read was The Great Mistake. It could possibly make the list but I am thinking there are better books out there.
If you have not its definitely worth adding your thoughts and votes on the Listopia https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
To me that works better as a longlist prediction on a Wisdom of Crowds Basis - and its also a very good way to judge if the list is a conventional one, or a surprise one.
Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "If you have not its definitely worth adding your thoughts and votes on the Listopia https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
To me that works better as a longlist pr..."
I will do so GY. I've been avoiding things like that since I stopped reviewing the books I read. I could just give them stars so I could participate. Plus there are several I read from other lists that might jump to the Booker. Transcendental Kingdom has a good chance I think. But the reason I like to see full longlist predictions from the group is often the members take into consideration the judges, the publishers, and other data in their handicapping. I find it fun to read. We have already discussed the judges to some extent. Did we cover publishers? Who among the publishers is likely to have books based on former performance and this year's output? For example Grove's Open Water seems a good possibility based on the publisher though I was not overly impressed by the book. I thought they might get a shot with The Wrong End of the Telescope, But I haven't seen a release date for the U.K. But predictions based on considerations besides just the book's quality are interesting to me.
Publishers can be an interesting one from a negative perspective as well - i.e. they only get so many slots. I remember last year working out that of those we'd picked as hot tips, they couldn't all have been submitted due to limits on some publishers. PRH do seem to get around that by having lots of imprints though.Mrs Death Misses Death is feeling a strong contender 2/3rds through, and I've just received a Netgalley for Checkout 19, which at a quick flick may go straight to number 2 on my list (Sterling Karat Gold can't be budged from the top)
I am 3/4s of the way through Leone Ross' Popisho (This One Sky Day for those in the UK) and think is is absolutely wonderful. I am not one for magical realism normally, but this is a thing apart. I can't decide if it feels more like Booker material or Women's Prize material, but I really hope it appears on many, many longlists.
I have just started "Bewilderment" by Richard Powers - it seems likely to be a strong contender but has the publication date issueSo far it is giving me some vibes of a "Living Sea of Waking Dreams"/"Lanny"/"Flowers of Algernon" mash up
I’m not sure if you but the dates for long/shortlists will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday)
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The Mookse and the Gripes
Books mentioned in this topic
The First Woman (other topics)The Great Mistake (other topics)
The Island of Missing Trees (other topics)
Savage Tongues (other topics)
Insatiable (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Frederick Forsyth (other topics)Jordan Tannahill (other topics)
Sarah Hall (other topics)
Katie Kitamura (other topics)
Tara June Winch (other topics)
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I assume it’s known in the UK that Ghislaine Maxwell was the partner of Jeff Epstein and procured under age girls for Epstein’s parties. If so that is an awful choice for a character in a novel about current events.