2023 Booker Prize speculation Showing 851-900 of 1,356

[David]

Evidently yes. Which doesn't seem to fit the character in the story.

[WndyJW]

Maybe it was just the general Irish Catholicness of the setting.

[Ben]

I have had to bite the bullet and commit to a longlist prediction to get a video up in good time...

https://youtu.be/cfTuQ_jZtrU

I'll put the list under a spoiler, in case anyone would prefer to watch the video:
(view spoiler)[
Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
Victory City, by Salman Rushdie
The House of Doors, by Tan Twan Eng
This Other Eden, by Paul Harding
Soldier, Sailor, by Claire Kilroy
In Memoriam, by Alice Winn
Hungry Ghosts, by Kevin Jared Hosein
A History of Burning, by Janika Oza
Fire Rush, by Jacqueline Crooks
Riambel, by Priya Hein
The Way the Day Breaks, by David Roberts
Grimmish, by Michael Winkler
Rose and the Burma Sky, by Rosanna Amaka
(hide spoiler)]

Not sure how confident I am in this, but I think it would make for an interesting and varied list.

It also seems like a given that at least one book in every predictions video I make will be ineligible, so I can't wait to find out which one that is!

[David]

Great video! And great predictions!

On your list, I would particularly like to see (view spoiler)[Hungry Ghosts, Fire Rush, Riambel, and Grimmish (although I don't know if the last one has a UK publisher - Couch House is Canadian, but it's listed on Waterstones so it may be eligible) (hide spoiler)]

[Ben]

Thanks David!

Re: the UK publisher question (view spoiler)[Grimmish was released this year by Peninsula Press, which is a UK press that I *think* meets the requirements. (hide spoiler)]

[David]

Ooh good catch!

I suppose we can take this out of spoilers for those on the digital site. The question is whether Grimmish has a UK publisher. I knew about Coach House (Canadian), but it sounds like Peninsula published it in the UK.

[Paul]

Yes UK publisher is Peninsula and for Republic of Consciousness book lists subscribers it’s the next book of the month.

One Australian author who doesn’t have a UK publisher is Jen Craig which is baffling. Would be an extremely strong contender if any of her books became eligible. In my top 3 favourite English language contemporary authors.

[BookerMT2]

Not sure if any of the following will make the cut but I'd be happy to see any of the following on the longlist.
August Blue
Kick the Latch
This Other Eden
Soldier Sailor
Fire Rush
For Thy great pain have Mercy on My Little Pain
Be Mine
Victory City
Cuddy
In Memoriam
Yellowface

Soldier Sailor and Cuddy are the two stand out novels for me this year so far.

Anyone read The Bee Sting?

[Owen]

BookerMT2 wrote: "…Anyone read The Bee Sting?"

I’ve read The Bee Sting - I’d be surprised if it were longlisted. It’s not bad, but it’s overlong, some sections drag massively, and it doesn’t quite come together as a whole. There are good things about it, but it’s not one I’d particularly recommend and it overstays its welcome. Also another supposedly funny novel that I didn’t find very many laughs in, and instead found quite stressful!

[BookerMT2]

Alwynne wrote: "On your last points Lark I'm a bit conflicted, I sometimes like the idea of something being made to order - certain kinds of crime or fantasy or SF novels for example - in that as a reader there ar..."

I'm jumping in on the conversation a bit late so apologies if what I say has already been said.
I think it is worth reinforcing that publishing is a two way relationship in you have the author to publisher and then publisher to reader.
Whilst the public continue to purchase certain types of books ( for eg the recent overwhelming number of Greek myth retellings) then publishers are going to continue to acquire them. Very few publishers are run on altruistic ideals and even small indy ones need to make money to survive.
Also worth including the role of agents in all this who are not only seeking the best deal for their authors but obviously for themselves too.
Those of us on here are, in truth, just an extreme niche within the wider book buying public. Your point about wanting a good read is well made and most relevant in the mind of a great many people who buy or read books in the UK. The sales reflect this and therefore so does the world of publishing. Publishers are presented with dozens of books each week, filtered often by agents who know who and where to place manuscripts for the best chance of a deal. A great many will reflect the zeitgeist of the moment.
So right now and over the last two or three years there has been a drive, quite correctly, to address the historic imbalance of representation both in gender and race and a great many novels, especially, have been published with this in mind.
The problems for a publisher are which ones to choose. They want both quality and commerciality. The process of purchasing books in itself is crazy. But if one novel sells especially well for one publisher then there is a domino effect among agents and publishers to find the next said novel.
Does quality decline? Probably, but as long as us the public keep buying them then publishers will keep publishing them.
Of course independent small publishers can be more creative to a point but they can probably less afford commercial flops than big publishers for whom the outlay may be greater but for whom the overall financial protection is wider.

All of this is sort of very well covered in Kuang's novel Yellowface, one of the things I admired about it.

[BookerMT2]

Owen wrote: "BookerMT2 wrote: "…Anyone read The Bee Sting?"

I’ve read The Bee Sting - I’d be surprised if it were longlisted. It’s not bad, but it’s overlong, some sections drag massively, and it doesn’t quite..."
Thanks Owen. I'll give it a miss for a while.

[David]

Alwynne wrote: "I'll be interested to see what you make of the Crewe."

. . .

Paul wrote: "There’s a good article in the Guardian on the Booker judging process (sorry can’t link!)

Mostly familiar ground but a few snippets

. . .

2020, Box Hill from Fitzcarraldo was apparently vetoed by two judges “as unsuitable for recommending to friends and family. (One judge wryly described their eventual winner, Shuggie Bain, as, by contrast, “gay, but not too gay”.)”. Which is troubling."

I'm still early going in The New Life, but the quote about Shuggie Bain keeps coming to mind. Crewe is definitely threading the needle, based on what he's choosing to include - and what he's choosing the exclude.

GY's review helpfully mentions the Afterword. Crewe is fairly explicit that he's setting out to write a novel that happens to have famous theorists as characters, rather than an examination of their thought and work. I wish he had put the Afterword before the text for those of us coming in with a working knowledge of the source material.

One big question is why Crewe decided to use famous theorists as main characters rather than supporting characters. It's too early for me to have conclusions on this, but it's been on my mind.

[David]

Over on instagram, Oscar Almonte-Espinal posted his list of 22 Booker predictions, which he'll winnow down to 13 before the longlist announcement. His list:

- The New Life
- The Hungry Ghosts
- Shy
- Losing the Plot
- The MANIAC
- The Fraud
- August Blue
- Demon Copperhead
- In Memoriam
- Biography of X
- In Ascension
- Chain-Gang All-Stars
- Close to Home
- Fire Rush
- Corey Fah Does Social Mobility
- Enter Ghost
- This Other Eden
- The Long Form
- Cuddy
- Victory City
- Small Worlds

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I have read 20 of that list and will have read the other two in the next week or so.

[Kevin]

Here's my prediction:

1. Demon Copperhead
2. Victory City
3. This Other Eden
4. The New Life
5. August Blue
6. In Memoriam
7. Cuddy
8. Birnam Wood
9. Yellowface (taking a leap here)
10. Soldier Sailor
11. Fire Rush
12. Small Worlds

[David]

That would be a dynamite list.

Fingers crossed for #13 :)

[Kevin]

David wrote: "That would be a dynamite list.

Fingers crossed for #13 :)"

THAT would be dynamite. If not, we'll get another go in a few years :)

[Joe]

I noticed a tweet recently from publisher Dedalus Books @dedalusbooks declaring that they've submitted Andrew Crumey's Beethoven's Assassins as their Booker entry this year. Haven't seen any other publishers being so open.

[Cindy]

I just finished The Covenant of Water. It's a lovely novel and well worth reading (and a much quicker read than its 700+ pages would suggest) but I would be a bit surprised to see it on the Booker longlist.

[David]

I agree that Covenant is unlikely for the Booker, Cindy. I've read the first nine chapters and I'm finding it quite problematic. Perhaps it gets better.

[David]

GY's review of Reproduction notes several books revolving around themes of pregnancy and motherhood, including The Long Form and Soldier Sailor. The International Booker highlighted several books covering similar themes, and I wonder if the Booker will follow suit.

I know we've talked about the prevalence of these books - the buzzy My Work comes out this fall too. It will be interesting to see how the Booker panel reflects this.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Finally got around to This Other Eden and it strikes me as a very serious contender for the longlist and maybe further.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

On Joe’s point about Crumey and his Beethoven’s Assassins novel - the author is the only person who openly admits to having turned down a selection for the Granta Best Young Novelists list (in this case the 2003 vintage) as he felt obliged to point out he was in fact 41 so too old.

[Ben]

Anyone read Kala by Chris Walsh? Had a fairly glowing review in The Guardian today. I wonder if it’s a dark horse, or is too much of a genre novel.

The UK cover also has an oddly similar concept to Eliza Clark’s new one, with the scribbled out face.

[Stephen]

I am halfway through Cuddy and loving it. I hope it will be submitted to the judges and makes the longlist.

[David]

This looks like more of a RoC or Goldsmiths book, but Sylvia by Maithreyi Karnoor would appear to be eligible. Could be a sleeper pick like last year's winner.

[Jill]

Ben wrote: "Anyone read Kala by Chris Walsh? Had a fairly glowing review in The Guardian today. I wonder if it’s a dark horse, or is too much of a genre novel.

The UK cover also has an oddly similar concept t..."

I've read Kala. It's a decent book but not quite Booker material. It may indeed be too much of a genre book.

[WndyJW]

Sylvia is the August book for the RofC book club and it’s from Weatherglass so some of us will get two copies if we don’t remember to let Neil know we want an alternative book that month.

[David]

It looks like Sylvia is from Neem Tree Press. The August book is from Weatherglass: Nada by Hanna Stoltenberg, tr. Wendy H. Gabrielsen.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Sylvia is the September book.

[WndyJW]

You’re right, David. I’m sorry, I read the website wrong. I sent Neil an email to clarify it’s Nada I need replaced.

[Ben]

Jill wrote: "Ben wrote: "Anyone read Kala by Chris Walsh? Had a fairly glowing review in The Guardian today. I wonder if it’s a dark horse, or is too much of a genre novel.

The UK cover also has an oddly simil..."

Thanks Jill - good to know! The marketing hasn't been very focused on it being a genre novel so I wasn't sure.

[Ruben]

I read Kala last week and agree with Jill: a fine novel, much better writing than I expected, but not Booker material for the lack of addressing broader themes.

Actually, reading Kala made me think that Rebecca Makkai's I Have Some Questions For You is Booker material because it does something similar but manages to weave in such themes and be thought-provoking.

Btw, great video, Ben!

[Roman Clodia]

Jill wrote: "I've read Kala. It's a decent book but not quite Booker material. It may indeed be too much of a genre book."

I would agree about Kala: lovely, lyrical writing and strong characterisation but it's essentially another genre novel about a missing girl in the past and small-town corruption.

[Ben]

Ruben wrote: "I read Kala last week and agree with Jill: a fine novel, much better writing than I expected, but not Booker material for the lack of addressing broader themes.

Actually, reading Kala made me thin..."

Thank you Ruben, that's very kind of you!

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

This Other Eden would easily make my personal shortlist from the 65 or so books I have read on the Listopia

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[David]

That definitely sounds like a contender.

[Yahaira]

I wish this other eden had worked for me.

[David]

What didn't work? I see it got three stars from you. Three from Cindy too. Lots of fives from a mix of people.

[Jill]

David wrote: "What didn't work? I see it got three stars from you. Three from Cindy too. Lots of fives from a mix of people."

The Other Eden is a stunningly written book. I gave it 5 stars, but it was a qualified 5 stars. I admired it more than loved it. For me, books succeed most when they capture both my mind and my heart (of course, there are always exceptions). The book I both love and admire most this year is Daniel Mason's North Wood. At the very least, I believe it will win the Pulitzer.

[Jill]

Has anyone read Hungry Ghosts? I think it would be a strong contender.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

One of the group went as far as writing it!

[Jill]

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "One of the group went as far as writing it!"

One of the group WROTE Hungry Ghost? I had no idea. Oh my! How wonderful!

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I think Kevin revealed himself at message 115 on this thread or thereabouts.

But yes many of us have read it and think it’s a very strong contender - and I think it’s currently second in the Listopia votes (in the first thread of this chain)

[Jill]

Thanks. I did notice the first thread and now I'll circle back to message 115.

[Yahaira]

I never got attached to the story or characters in This Other Eden. It was a rounded up 3 stars. Some good writing, but also some over written sections (sometimes it read like someone really wanting to be Faulkner). I honestly haven't thought about it since I finished.

[Ruben]

Same for me as for Yahaira...I enjoyed and appreciated it, but it's been a few months now and I have almost no memory of the characters...

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I thought it was excellent - I was also reminded of The Colony.

[Yahaira]

I only read it because it was compared to The Colony. For me, the writing wasn't nearly as good. There is an island.

[Tracy]

David wrote: "What didn't work? I see it got three stars from you. Three from Cindy too. Lots of fives from a mix of people."

I liked everything about the book except the writing style. I struggle with Harding’s overly descriptive run-on sentences.