There are some very good choices which make me very happy as I wanted to read them anyway. I have the Rushdie and the Ghosh and Linda Grant's book, none of them read yet. The rest are still to be bought. (Booker watching is an expensive business!).
The White Tiger by Aravind AdigaSays Chair of judges, Michael Portillo :
Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
From A to X by John Berger
The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant
A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif
The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher
Netherland by Joseph O'Neill
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz
With a notable degree of consensus, the five Man Booker judges decided on their longlist of 13 books. The judges are pleased with the geographical balance of the longlist with writers from Pakistan, India, Australia, Ireland and UK. We also are happy with the interesting mix of books, five first novels and two novels by former winners. The list covers an extraordinary variety of writing. Still two qualities emerge this year: large scale narrative and the striking use of humour.The shortlist will be announced on 9th September.
More comment from Michelle Pauli and Mark Brown in the Guardian, and Boyd Tonkin in the Independent.
For more discussion and a useful list of the ones that got away, go join the debate on the Booker website.
8 comments:
john berger's here is where we meet is still one of the best i've read last year. haven't had a chance at the rest.
btw - Borders is hvg a Fiction sale at all stores until end of the wk - 20% off 2 or more (covers a wide genre from Lit to Myst, Manga to YA
:D
I just finished reading Tom Rob Smith's Child 44. It's an amazingly gripping book. I think it is very well written, and the scenes and characters very well thought out.
thanks both for the thumbs up about these titles. i'm really looking forward to reading them - and on your recommendations even more so.
I'm really disappointed that Evening is the Whole Day is not there - or was it published outside the window?
me too. don't know if harper collins submitted it though. (each publisher is limited in the number of copies it can put forward so some excellent authors don't even get put forward).
maybe it has a bigger chance of US awards - it certainly seems to be taking off more strongly there.
Just to answer your question -- no, it wasn't submitted. Fourth Estate has two authors on the longlist, neither of whom have previously won or been shortlisted, so it means that they were the publisher's 2 submissions for this year.
But thanks for all your support here!
PS
coulda just seen you in the list, preeta. no joke. but there will be plenty else i'm sure.
Thanks! But I'm excited to read several of the titles on the longlist, in particular Michelle de Kretser's _The Lost Dog_. I haven't read her before but the book sounds really marvellous, as does her previous novel, _The Hamilton Case_. I may have to go on a Michelle de Kretser binge :-) .
PS
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