It's prize season and announcements are coming fast. Yesterday the Man Booker Prize Shortlist was announced. The six shortlisted books were chosen from a longlist of 19 and are:Kiran Desai - The Inheritance of Loss (Hamish Hamilton)
Kate Grenville - The Secret River (Canongate)
M.J. Hyland - Carry Me Down (Canongate)
Hisham Matar - In the Country of Men (Viking)
Edward St Aubyn - Mother’s Milk (Picador)
Sarah Waters - The Night Watch (Virago)
From the press release:
Hermione Lee, Chair of Judges, comments:
“Each of these novels has what we as judges were most looking for, a distinctive original voice, an audacious imagination that takes readers to undiscovered countries of the mind, a strong power of story-telling and a historical truthfulness. Each of these novels creates a world you inhabit without question or distrust while you are reading, and a mood, an atmosphere, which lasts long after the reading is over.”
The winner will be announced on Tuesday 10th October at an awards ceremony at the Guildhall, London.
This isn't the shortlist I would have picked however, all sound like fascinating reads. I'm still planning to read a few of the longlist titles, and The Secret River by Kate Grenville, prior to the announcement of the winner (Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson; Get a Life by Nadine Gordimer; and Theft by Peter Carey).
What title are you most disappointed to find was left off the shortlist?
4 comments:
Hi, Janelle!
Was hoping to see Naeem Murr's "The Perfect Man" on the short list, but my other favorite, Kiran Desai's "Inheritance of Loss" made it, for which I am thrilled!
I look forward to reading Kate Grenville, "The Secret River" and Hisham Matar's "In the Country of Men"
I can't really say because I've only read one of the longlist books so far ('The Inheritance of Loss'), but ... here are non-shortlisted books that struck my fancy when I saw the long list:
'Be Near Me' by Andrew O'Hagan
'The Emperor’s Children' by Claire Messud
'The Perfect Man' by Naeem Murr
'The Ruby in her Navel' by Barry Unsworth
'The Testament of Gideon Mack' by James Robertson
I'm starting to realize I read nothing but crap. I've never even HEARD of most of those 19 books, much less read them or care to read them. yup, I read crap.
Ah Candy, I wouldn't use the word crap...Not everyone likes the same genres of fiction.
I'm just glad you posted your opinion anyway!
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