2021 Booker Prize Speculation Showing 601-650 of 1,196

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Thanks for the tip on Magician RC - I had been looking for it for several months on NetGalley including just this week. I missed it as it is not listed as Literary Fiction (which catches me out from time to time).

[Roman Clodia]

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "6 of which list RC?"

Oops, sorry, I was responding to the list Paul posted in #596.
I far prefer Paul's actual list (#602).

Glad to have pointed you towards The Magician, GY :)

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

My guess is that with this group of judges we are likely to see more of a serious/worthy list than some of the previous years but who knows.

Sometimes judges live up to what one would expect and pick books that are at least partly predictable based on what we know of them and the types of books or in some cases the exact books that they have publicly championed - (I would eg include Calder, Busby, Florence, Sharpton, Sissay, Hirsch, McDermid, Rahim from last 3 years) and sometimes they don’t seem to (Child, Guo, Wilson, MacGregor would be examples).

This year the judges all seemed to have steered clear of writing reviews, participating in “what I am reading” or book of the year articles, and writing book blurbs for eligible books. Which for judge spotters like me is a bit frustrating.

[Sam]

I am using July for catching up on my preBooker reads, and then I will update my preferences on the speculation page before the longlist releases. I have been getting books as they come out so I have quite a few ready to read and will probably read 4-6 mentioned by the time the longlist is revealed. I almost have the desire to read celebrated authors who aren't being touted for the Booker since it seems if they aren't nominated, I never manage to make time for reading them. I was thinking specifically of Danielle McLaughlin's The Art of Falling which did not have bad reviews but hasn't been talked up much.

I was looking at the number of ratings on the eligible books list and I think it is impressive that Transcendental Kingdom Piranesi have over 50K ratings and average above 4.00. Since the Women's Prize seemed long ago, they both seem like last award season's books already, but it will be interesting if they make the list and if not, what does instead.

I think it is fun to ponder which genre book will make the list and become scapegoat of the year. How about Dark Lullaby

[Roman Clodia]

I'd be interested to see what you make of The Art of Falling, Sam - it was too 'women's fiction' (horrible label!) for me which was disappointing after it had been a hot tip from The Guardian. But it has plenty of fans.

I agree, Piranesi and TK feel rather old now.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Well Piranesi seems like last years book because it was eligible last year and not this year surely so not even sure why we are discussing it?

What eligible list are you looking at Sam?

Transcendent Kingdom on the other hand was not published in the U.K. until March so seems odd to bracket them together (although was published much earlier in the US - if the U.K. publication had been the same date as the US it would not be eligible).

[Paul]

Piranesi on the Listopia. I had taken it off an hour or two today before seeing this discussion. It was 2020 eligible.

[Cindy]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I've read 6 and can't say I'm particularly excited about any of them.

But I have ARCs of Bewilderment and The Magician so there's hope yet ;) I'm especially lookin..."

I have ARCs of both of those as well and am eager to read them. I'm finding it harder than usual to make a meaningful Booker prediction this year (if there is such a thing) because of how off I was last year and because several of the books that are coming up are not out in the US yet. It's true that Eric has a bad track record picking Booker longlists. He's been particularly passionate about The Performance so far and he really loved Klara and the Sun.

[Paul]

I wonder if Eric’s patchy track record is in part because he is probably more Costa attuned. In same way as I highly suspect some of my tips won’t even be entered on the grounds they are more RoC/Goldsmiths books.

[Cindy]

Paul wrote: "I wonder if Eric’s patchy track record is in part because he is probably more Costa attuned. In same way as I highly suspect some of my tips won’t even be entered on the grounds they are more RoC/G..."

Certainly possible, although he does better with Women's Prize predictions as well.

[Nicole D.]

Jo wrote: "@Wendy As you see it's very easy :) but I don't always get the books I am really hoping for (I.e. Bewilderment) And like Cindy I prefer a hard copy but am adjusting to ebooks. Better for the enviro..."

i read animal. didn't love it

[Sam]

Paul wrote: "I wonder if Eric’s patchy track record is in part because he is probably more Costa attuned. In same way as I highly suspect some of my tips won’t even be entered on the grounds they are more RoC/G..."

I think Eric picks as many books he would like to see Mark the list as he does those he thinks will make the list. Overall, even if his books don't match the Booker, they tend to appear on some list.

Roman Claudia I will let you know about The Art of Falling if I read it.

Thanks for getting Piranesi fixed. I lose track of what is eligible and not. The Yield seems two years old now and I am rereading this month with the audio, to refresh my memory.

[Nicole D.]

Paul - Love seeing The Yield on your list. I loved it and so hope it makes the longlist.

I'm at a loss this year .... Honestly, sick to death of books on climate change.

[Tracy]

Nicole D. wrote: "Paul - Love seeing The Yield on your list. I loved it and so hope it makes the longlist.

I'm at a loss this year .... Honestly, sick to death of books on climate change."

I’m clueless this year, too. I just hope I’ve already read a few of the long list. And I can live without the dystopia for a while.

I’m hoping for books that make me think, now that the space in my brain reserved for fear and worry has shrunk a bit.

[Paul]

Nicole D. wrote: "Paul - Love seeing The Yield on your list. I loved it and so hope it makes the longlist."

Yes it really should be on the list - that, Assembly, and This One Sky Day and Mrs Death Misses Death are the ones I strongly hope to see (others in my top 10 are Goldsmithsy, plus Cusk, who doesn't really need the recognition)

Was rather nice to see the author of the Yield popping up to comment on the Listopia - actually to nominate another book which she wasn't sure was eligible.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Assembly is the only book where I am preparing to project my perambulatory playthings

[Paul]

Sam wrote: "Overall, even if [Eric's] books don't match the Booker, they tend to appear on some list."

I think I may have won the prize for rightbookwrongprize last year when tipping Mermaid of Black Conch as nailed on for the Booker and Women's Prizes, both of which it missed out on, and then went on to be listed for 7 other prizes instead!

[Paul]

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "Assembly is the only book where I am preparing to project my perambulatory playthings"

Is your Listopia vote representative of your rankings (I'm sure you've read a lot more than 37 so I am sure list is not complete)? Think you have 12 on there already as 5 stars plus Cusk who gets a honorary Norfolk-based-book 5 stars.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I need to sort that list out i I have time. The star rankings are accurate but not my list order entirely (and not sure my list is really clear if it’s order i liked them or order I think most likely to be picked). And I think I have marked all the ones on the list I have read but likely to be others I have read which are eligible but not on the list.

[WndyJW]

If Piranesi is not Booker eligible it will slide down my TBR. Like Sam I’m using July to read other than Booker possible books. I was in a serious Ancient Greek mood last night and decided to dedicate July to finishing The Iliad and maybe start the Aeneid. I won’t have time to finish The Odyssey.

[Paul]

Piranesi isn’t Booker eligible as it was published in September.

[Paul]

Surprised I have read more books on the list than you GY but you should add the ones you have read which are missing. Easy to add them not least as it first offers you suggestions of the books you have read recently in reverse order so all the ARC should appear.

[WndyJW]

Of the Fulcher lists I’ve read 3; I have The Yield and Popisho/One Sky Day and am saving them for Booker season; Sterling Karat Gold (which I doubt is Booker style) should arrive next week, and I’ve ordered Mrs. Death Misses Death.

I’m sure Klara and the Sun will be listed, how could it not? We learned last year that even good, but not great books by esteemed authors make the longlist. I would be very surprised see Detransition Baby on the list because it had more political support than literary support from what I saw, Roxanne Gay praised the book in spite of it flaws, although perhaps it will be listed for that very reason.

Assembly should make it if the judges are looking for topical books of literary value.

[Paul]

Which one was the the good but not great one last year? Mantel? It did seem a token inclusion from the judges, hence missing out on shortlist, but I thought you were a fan?

[Nicole D.]

I enjoyed Klara, but it is not prize-worthy to me.

[WndyJW]

The Testaments….was that last year?

I agree, Nicole, and The Testaments wasn’t even Atwood worthy. Robert loved it though, he loved it so much it was thrown across the room while he leapt in joy and, believe it or not, ended up in his trash can! It was like he had aimed for the trash can.

[Tom]

I want to talk about Klara and the Sun. It seems like the consensus is that this book will likely be nominated because of Ishiguro’s cachet and not on merit. In the months since I read it, however, it has really stuck with me.

There’s a lot to unpack in this novel. In Ishiguro’s unique way, through a simple story of a robot tasked with being a good friend to a young, sickly girl, he touches on all of the following issues/concepts:

- what does it mean to be human? what differentiates us? do we have souls?
- what is it like to believe in something that we don’t quite understand, and what is the power of belief/faith?
- where is our society heading with so many rapid technological advances?
- where do we draw the line on certain technologies?
- how do we, as a society, take care of those cast aside or left behind by technological advances?
- how do we decide whether the benefits of pushing ourselves and our children hard to succeed are worth the costs to our health and that of our children?
- what is the measure of a successful life?
- what are we doing to our planet?

[Tom]

My last message got cut off, but you get the gist. I think there’s a lot more to Klara and the Sun than I realized when reading it. Looking back on it after a couple months gave me a new found respect for the book and how Ishiguro is able to pack so many important questions and themes into such a basic story written in such a simple style.

[Areeb]

WndyJW wrote: "The Testaments….was that last year?

I agree, Nicole, and The Testaments wasn’t even Atwood worthy. Robert loved it though, he loved it so much it was thrown across the room while he leapt in joy ..."

Yes, Robert really liked it. In fact, he admired it so much that he tore out his hair in joy and stupefaction.

[Robert]

The testaments is in a class of it’s own

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

There were special circumstances in 2019.

You had Liz Calder as a judge - who had published (and in UK terms effectively discovered) Atwood and Rushdie (Rushdie even used to rent a room with her).

You also had Peter Florence who is well known for being star-struck with big authors not least as he wanted them at his festival.

The longlisting of both Quichotte and Testaments (regardless of merit) was predictable as was the fact that Testaments would dominate every stage of the prize list but would not be available for anyone else to read until after the shortlist.

I say predictable because it was predicted on the 2019 version of this thread well before the longlist.

What exacerbated it and could perhaps not have been predicted was quite how excited the judges got about the subterfuge around their copy of The Testaments (the secretly shipped copies, the non-disclosure agreements - all of which of course linked to the hype around the book and of course even to the dystopia itself) and which blinded them to whether the book was any good.

In retrospect genius marketing by the publisher.

I am not sure I see Klara in exactly the same way but it is the first book by a Nobel Laureate since his award and I think very likely to make the longlist even if the literary genre form Ishiguro adopted means many people have been underwhelmed with the book's execution.

[Emmeline]

I haven't read Klara but did recently read The Buried Giant which seems to have similarly underwhelmed a lot of people, perhaps because of genre elements. That book wasn't perfect (I liked it a lot though) but it was deeply intelligent. Ishiguro is always thoughtful and always explores interesting ideas so I wouldn't be offended by his inclusion even for a lacklustre book. The problem with The Testaments was that it was just so stupid. Loved your review, Robert. :-D

[Robert]

Thanks

[Gaurav]

Emily wrote: "I haven't read Klara but did recently read The Buried Giant which seems to have similarly underwhelmed a lot of people, perhaps because of genre elements. That book wasn't perfect (I liked it a lot..."

I mean if you've written The Remains of The Day, everything after sort of seems underwhelming in comparison.

[Paul]

Gaurav wrote: "I mean if you've written The Remains of The Day, everything after sort of seems underwhelming in comparison"

Unconsoled topped Remains of the Day in my view, but generally I'd agree with the point.

[Sam]

Kudus to Tom's remarks in support of Klara. Tom mentioned belief/faith in his points. I had thought this might become a subtheme of this year's Booker if enough books explored it; e.g. Transcendental Kingdom. The Prophets.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I think Rowan Williams as a judge makes that very likely.

I really struggled with The Prophets being about faith - I could not see any link between the character and chapter names and the bible stories at all.

[Sam]

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "I think Rowan Williams as a judge makes that very likely.

I really struggled with The Prophets being about faith - I could not see any link between the character and chapter names and the bible st..."

Yes, I think Prophets was a poor example but I am sure there are others I haven't read. I really like the theme connections between the books on the longlist and hope this year's continues that tradition. I mentioned spirituality since it seems to be present in a lot of my recent reads. Did you see any other linked themes in your recent books? Several of the recent books had interesting variations on love this year too.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

On the faith theme you could add Names of the Women, Light Perpetual

I would like to see a theme around disappearances - of language and of species

That would link Dictionary of Lost Words, The Yield, Bewilderment, Lean Fall Stand, The Living Sea of Waking Dreams (which would be 5 of my 13 picks)

[Sam]

Inadvertently, you showed another theme Australian authors. It would seem odd if the judges ignored them all. Could we see two or more?

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I fear we will see 1 at best (and probably Flanagan) unfortunately - if I were a publisher I would not bother submitting ANZ fiction (unless its a free pass like an ex-winner)

[Sam]

That is sad. It is usually the Booker endorsement of one or two in a given year that gets me reading books from that area.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I think I am right that there has been 1 book from there listed since the wins for Catton/Flanagan in 2013-14

Anna Smaill in 2015. (Unless you count Coetzee who has naturalised to Australia - even then that's only 1 more listing and was 2016)

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Following Paul's challenge at messages 622-626 I have sorted out my votes on the Listopia a bit

I have read and finished 54 eligible books and started but decided not to finish another 5 (Luckenbooth, The Prophets, Rules of Revelation, Animal, Wild Pets). I also have around 9 which are my TBR pile for June which include Checkout 19, The Magician (thanks RC), This One Sky Day and Performance.

I have ranked the 54 in order of my preference on the Listopia but my favourite 20 for now would be

Living Sea of Waking Dreams
Assembly
The Yield
Lean Fall Stand
Open Water
Little Scratch
Transcendent Kingdom
No One Is Talking About This
Bewilderment
Klara and The Sun
Of Woman and Salt
Fox Fires
The Dictionary of Lost Words
Second Place
Cold New Climate
Unsettled Ground
Light Perpetual
Fake Accounts
Bright Burning Things
We Are All Birds of Uganda

I may try a separate longlist prediction nearer the time.

[Robert]

I just received permission to use the logo so the post will be up on Thursday

[WndyJW]

I agree with a lot of what you said Tom, but there were issues with the story. I didn’t hate Klara and the Sun, I enjoyed it, I just don’t think it’s award worthy.

I love Aussie and Kiwi literature and need to get back to reading that part of the world. I also love comedy films from Au/NZ, they have a great sense of humor.

I haven’t checked to see which of the books I’ve read are Booker eligible, but I’ve read 6 of GY’s list and have a few on my shelf.

Do you think Fox Fires is good? I almost ordered it, but ended up ordering Magda by Meike Ziervogel (who runs Peirene Press) instead.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Yes I really liked Fox Fires - much more so than his Booker longlisted book

[WndyJW]

I liked The Many, so I’ll likely enjoy Fox Fires even more.

[Paul]

I'm sure I will enjoy Fox Fires except my copy was reserved with the UK's worst lending library so may never be received. I am holding Panenka, Mrs Death and Dead Souls hostage until I receive it.

Wendy the Listopia is good as if books are shelved then that shows up when you look at the list.

[WndyJW]

I will check my books read against Listopia.