Each year, I wish I had the time to read the Man Booker longlist when it comes out and then be able to form my own opinion about which book is the best one and then complain about the judges if they don’t get it right. However, so far this year – like every year! – I haven’t even read a single page of any of them… But there’s always next year…!
And now the shortlist is out. And even though I haven’t read any of these, I’m still going to talk about the list:
- Jeet Thayil: Nacropolis. This debut novel about drugs, sex, perversion, death and more, starts in Bombay in the 70s as it’s main protagonist arrives from New York and soon discovers opium dens, brothels and other entertainment the city has to offer.
- Deborah Levy: Swimming Home. Taking place over just one week, this novel explores the effect depression can have on otherwise stable people. This could be a really interesting read!
- Hilary Mantel: Bring Up the Bodies. The second book about Thomas Cromwell. This one focuses on his dealing with Anne Boleyn after she has lost the king’s favor after failing to give him a son. Can Mantel win again? Only two authors have won the award twice, J.M. Coetzee and Peter Carey. Only time will tell…
- Alison Moore: The Lighthouse. A middle-aged man looks past on his childhood and something he neglected to do that now seems to have repercussions in the present.
- Will Self: The Umbrella. In his attempt to understand the nature of the modern world, Umbrella follows the story of feminist Audrey Death who falls victim to the encephalitis lethargic epidemic and her doctor.
- Tan Twan Eng: The Garden of Evening Mists. A young girl is apprenticed to the owner of a Japanese garden so she can design a garden dedicated to the memory of her sister.
I’m a bit sad that Rachel Joyce’s The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry didn’t make it to the shortlist since it was one of the books I really wanted to read. On the shortlist, I’m most interested in Swimming Home, The Lighthouse and Umbrella. And I’ll definitely read Bring Up the Bodies to see if I like it better – or is better able to appreciate it – than I was Wolf Hall.
6 books are left to battle it out. Of these, I have read … exactly none. But I have read books by two of the authors, Will Self and Hilary Mantel. I’ve read How the Dead Live and Wolf Hall. While feeling both were intelligent, clever books, I didn’t love any of them. I have no idea who will win this year – I can hardly think that Mantel will take home another one, however, I don’t think the Booker takes that into account, nor that it gives out the award to the person who deserves it after many years of ‘faithful service’, as the Oscar does.
Apparently, at this point, the judges have read the longlisted books at least twice. These six remaining from the long list are simply the six best books, according to the judges. Now, of course, we have to wait and see which one book will emerge from this group as this year’s winner.
Looking forward to October 16th!
Read more on the official Man Booker site.
The Literary Bunny 
I tell myself the same thing every year when the longlist comes out…but never get to read them. Then I try for the shortlist, but oftentimes don’t even get through them either *sigh*
In this year’s shortlist, I’ve only read Bring Up The Bodies, which I enjoyed, but I think of it more as a continuation of Wolf Hall and not really a novel in itself. Still, it would be great if it won, for obvious reasons. I hope I can get to read more of the books on the shortlist so I can have an opinion when the winner is announced.
I hope that I can too – but I’m afraid it’s rather unrealistic. It’s only a little over a month and now that I have joined the Dark Tower read-a-long and still have all the other stuff I want to read this year, I’m just not seeing a lot of time to read other books – or money to buy them with, for that matter.
Actually of the books on the shortlist, other than Bring Up the Bodies, only The Garden of Evening Mists sounds interesting…
Thanks for sharing the list, hadn’t seen it. I – like you – haven’t read any of them…yet. I think Narcropolis, The Swimming Home and The Umbrella are probably the ones I’m most interested in.
Have you read anything else by Will Self? I find him very difficult! Narcopolis didn’t really speak to me – but I think Swimming Home could be a really good read!