2023 Booker Prize speculation Showing 1,101-1,150 of 1,356

[Ruben]

Paul's list is precisely why this prize is so much fun to follow... especially points 1, 8 and 10

[Paul]

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "On this number 9 was “The judges will include at least one arguably ineligible book.”

Not sure that happens every year - The Island eas the last one I recall.."

It's a novel prize, and yet every year there is a tome.

But the arguably in that sentence is key - there always seems to be a debate at least.

[Paul]

On Grimmish - the issue was also that the Miles Franklin (for which is was successfully longlisted as self-published) and the other prize I've forgotten (where it was longlisted as a third-party published book then DQd) both accept self-published books.

For the Booker self-publishing doesn't count as publishing so I assume a previously self-published book would be eligible if later third-party-published and submitted.

[Paul]

I hear rumours that there may be a book by a famous author that falls foul of this rule

"Where an author or his/her agent require submission as a condition of a work’s publishing contract that work will not be eligible"

[Cindy]

Paul wrote: "I hear rumours that there may be a book by a famous author that falls foul of this rule

"Where an author or his/her agent require submission as a condition of a work’s publishing contract that wor..."

That's an intriguing rule and an intriguing rumor!

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I agree re Shuggie and posted here to that effect

Paul called out Girl Woman Other months ahead of longlist also.

I would say Demon Copperhead - when I read it I said in my review it would win lots of prizes but that’s already happened and to a high degree - had it not have won the WP and Pulitzer I think it was an extremely likely winner.

So I think I would be left with one of Hungry Ghosts, Cuddy and Soldier, Sailor ?

[David]

I'm surprised we aren't seeing many mentions of Everett's Dr. No as a Booker contender. It won the Jean Stein Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. And of course Everett was shortlisted last year for the Booker.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

It felt very lightweight compared to The Trees

[David]

It's funny and we have a comedian on the panel. I wouldn't be surprised to see it longlisted.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I can’t see it going any further than that though - I can’t imagine it standing up to a re read.

[David]

I don't disagree. It was a 3 star read for me. I'm just surprised it hasn't generated much conversation.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

It feels to me very appropriate we have heard nothing about it.

[Stephen]

I would say Cuddy will be on long list and shortlist and in my opinion has a decent chance of winning.

[Joy D]

Didn't care much for Dr. No, especially in comparison to The Trees. "Funny" is always subjective.

[Scu8a8uddy]

I’m currently reading The Trees and though I’m enjoying it (it’s a fairly short read) I find I’ve been extremely irritated by the clumsy way in which Everett has Granny C reminiscing on her past encounter with Emmett Till in the very first chapter. It’s clumsy and almost unforgivable.

[James]

Derek wrote: "At this stage, has anyone successfully predicted a winner? I remember in 2020 when late in the predictions, close to the longlist announcement, a few people mentioned Shuggie as a longlist contende..."


One of our members, I believe it was MisterHobgoblin (sorry if I’m wrong!) upon reading Lincoln in the Bardo declared “this will win the Booker.” And at that point, it hadn’t even been longlisted yet

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I recall that

MHG was also the one of us (possibly the only one) already familiar with and a fan of Anna Burns work - although he had not read Milkman before the longlist so had not called it.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I have started Covenant of Water - if I am brunt honest predisposed not to like it , but am surprisingly engrossed.

[Robert]

MGH also said The Sellout would win the prize long before it was longlisted

[David]

The East Indian: A Novel seems like another book that would be a good fit for this panel but hasn't generated much discussion.

[Hughesie]

I was just trying to work out which books it might be worth my while getting in the hold queue for from the library, and it got a bit out of hand. I now have a spreadsheet with about 200 books that have been mentioned as possible contenders, and each has a score based on themes, reviews, prizes, what else that imprint has published etc. It is a very arbitrary scoring method, I don't think it is worth anything, but I used this thread a lot to help compile my overall list, so I thought I'd share some of the results here too.

Top Scorers
1st Demon Copperhead
=2nd Biography of X
=2nd This Other Eden
4th Wandering Souls
5th Chain Gang All-Stars
=6th The New Life
=6th Close to Home
8th Hungry Ghosts
9th The Sun Walks Down
10th The Fraud
11th Soldier Sailor
12th In Memoriam
=13th The Hero of this Book
=13th The Covenant of Water
=13th The Wren, the Wren

Other High-ish Scorers that haven’t been mentioned much:
Small Mercies, Maame, The Rachel Incident, If I Survive You, The Great Reclamation, Y/N, Where I End, Translation State, We All Want Impossible Things, Hello Beautiful, Open Throat.

The "Big Names" that scored low(er than I expected):
Victory City (61st), Lucy By the Sea (95th), I am Homeless if this is not my Home (132nd), The Shards (188th), The Late Americans (192nd), Yellowface (194th).

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Given Shapiro has clearly not enjoyed reading most of the novels someone on Bookstagram asked what it would take for him to like a novel

I says it would have to be a novel which testified to the historical veracity of Shakespeare - which is why I think he might push The East Indian.

[BookerMT2]

Just finished History of Burning which I really enjoyed and it ticks a lot of boxes.

[Cindy]

BookerMT2 wrote: "Just finished History of Burning which I really enjoyed and it ticks a lot of boxes."

Yes, that is one that I expected to show up on more prediction lists than it has.

[Cindy]

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "I have started Covenant of Water - if I am brunt honest predisposed not to like it , but am surprisingly engrossed."

Not to put you off at all, but I was quite engrossed in the beginning parts and then realized about a third of the way through that parts of the story were engaging me much more than other parts.

[David]

There's a line in Part 3 or Part 4 describing the plum wine from St. Bridget's that I thought was a perfect metaphor for Verghese's aim with this book.

[David]

BookerMT2 wrote: "Just finished History of Burning which I really enjoyed and it ticks a lot of boxes."

The blurb begins: "An epic, sweeping historical debut novel spanning continents and a century"

That's when I knew this one wasn't for me.

[Cindy]

David wrote: "There's a line in Part 3 or Part 4 describing the plum wine from St. Bridget's that I thought was a perfect metaphor for Verghese's aim with this book."

That's very clever David!

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

It’s a little late to put me off - I am 640 pages in.

I agree History of Burnjng is a contender although it did not quite work for me.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

What’s the line David.

[David]

I can't quote it from memory but it's when Rune brings a bottle to welcome Digby.

In general, plum wine is a good metaphor for the book. Easy to drink, you don't have to think too hard. Even though it's tempting to hate on plum wine, plum wine never pretends it's something it's not.

Verghese is fairly transparent in interviews that all he set out to do was tell an engrossing story. That it romanticizes child marriage, tells late colonial history through the lens of British/European characters, and features white saviors with impunity (Rune - wow) all seem to be beside the point. This is plum wine, after all.

[Paul]

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "Given Shapiro has clearly not enjoyed reading most of the novels someone on Bookstagram asked what it would take for him to like a novel

I says it would have to be a novel which testified to the ..."

One of the judges has said he hasn't enjoyed reading the books??

[Cindy]

Paul wrote: "Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "Given Shapiro has clearly not enjoyed reading most of the novels someone on Bookstagram asked what it would take for him to like a novel

I says it would ha..."

Shapiro definitely seems life the toughest one of the five to please.

[Cindy]

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "It’s a little late to put me off - I am 640 pages in.

I agree History of Burnjng is a contender although it did not quite work for me."

Then I'm actually quite pleased that you are liking it.

[WndyJW]

It's a novel prize, and yet every year there is a tome.

That’s a good point, actually. We have flash fiction, short stories, novellas, and novels. Why isn’t tome recognized as a style or category like the aforementioned? The 2023 Paul Fulcher Prize for Tomes.

[Emmeline]

What has Shapiro said?

[Dylan]

Has anyone mentioned Brotherless Night? It seems a possible contender (and I quite enjoyed it).

[Paul]

WndyJW wrote: ". We have flash fiction, short stories, novellas, and novels. Why isn’t tome recognized as a style or category like the aforementioned? The 2023 Paul Fulcher Prize for Tomes.."

Well the prize already exists but uniquely amongst prizes actively discourages any entries or indeed the existence of any eligible books.

But perhaps I should allow entries with the prize of being a decent editor, cosponsored by Readers Digest who will bring out the resulting condensed version.

[Danielle]

Cindy wrote: "Paul wrote: "I hear rumours that there may be a book by a famous author that falls foul of this rule

"Where an author or his/her agent require submission as a condition of a work’s publishing cont..."

I agree--this rule is new to me, although upon reflection not surprising. I am dying to know more abut those rumors. Isn't there a way to give us an oblique hint?

[Danielle]

I agree that Demon Copperhead would have felt like a good bet before the other awards, and I am going to go out on a limb here and predict that In Memoriam has a shot at the shortlist and perhaps even the prize this year. It feels Pat Barker-y to me, and that is always a good sign.

I would love to see Deborah Levy win the Booker--I know she has been on the short list before, but am I correct that she has never won? I loved August Blue.

[Paul]

Well I started the rumour and I have decided it will be about Demon Copperhead so it gets DQd. Actually I heard there was a clause in the contract that it not only has to enter every prize, it has to win them all as well. At least the evidence suggests that’s the case.

But that rule has existed for some time and I suspect is more a deterrent than enforced.

The International Booker doesn’t really enforce it fully as the rule also says the condition of publication can’t involve someone else paying money to the publisher for publication but in practice a lot of translated work comes with stapled grants. Suspect it isn’t designed to stop that sort of thing - more vanity publishing.

[Danielle]

Paul wrote: "Well I started the rumour and I have decided it will be about Demon Copperhead so it gets DQd. Actually I heard there was a clause in the contract that it not only has to enter every prize, it has ..."

Ha. I think that contract clause sounds pretty good!

[BookerMT2]

David wrote: "BookerMT2 wrote: "Just finished History of Burning which I really enjoyed and it ticks a lot of boxes."

The blurb begins: "An epic, sweeping historical debut novel spanning continents and a centur..."

Have to admit I'm a bit of a fan of that sort of thing!.
I'm intrigued by the following quote from Adjoa Andoh. I loved Ancestor Stones and I think A History of Burning has a similar tone and feel about it.

Aminatta Forna’s Ancestor Stones does the same history smuggling brilliantly. It’s about Sierra Leone, where her father was from and she grew up till the age of nine. The story is told through the lives of various of her aunts and encompasses the family and the nation’s history going back to the late 1700s, right through to the present day. Through the storytelling of these women, you get the story of the nation before and through colonisation and into independence. I love books that are delivering many things at the same time.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

The Secret Diary of Charles Ignatius Sancho is getting some tips given the author was on the Peep Show with Robert Webb. Also feels like it would appeal to Esi Eduygan. And the author has appeared In Shakespeare which is the only fiction writer Shapiro acknowledges.

[Mohamed]

Family Lore I did not see anyone mentioning this novel which is the author's adult debut fiction. Would be this the black horse?

[Cindy]

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "The Secret Diary of Charles Ignatius Sancho is getting some tips given the author was on the Peep Show with Robert Webb. Also feels like it would appeal to Esi Eduygan. And the author has appeared ..."

It would be interesting to me if this type of historical fiction worked for Shapiro more than, say, The Fraud. I liked The Secret Diary but ultimately felt that it was a bit too all over the place and not sufficiently cohesive.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I have a NetGalley ARC of Family Lore I was sent but was only going to read if longlisted

[Cindy]

Same GY. I heard the author speak at the US Book Show early in the summer and did not feel compelled to read the novel, which is being published in the US tomorrow, but I will of course read it if it is on the longlist.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

It’s 10 august in the uk I think.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I see the Booker is as active as ever in social media .. no posts at all so far today less than 24 hours from deadline.