I seem to have an appalling taste in literature. Well … rather I seem to be unimpressed by what other’s regard as decent literature (see John Self’s comments about my low opinion of Michael Frayn’s Spies).
We’re now only one month away from the winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2007 being announced on 16 October. Just over a week ago, the thirteen books in the long list were whittled down to a short list of six.
- Darkmans
by Nicola Barker (4th Estate)
- The Gathering
by Anne Enright (Jonathan Cape)
- The Reluctant Fundamentalist
by Mohsin Hamid (Hamish Hamilton)
- Mister Pip
by Lloyd Jones (John Murray)
- On Chesil Beach
by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape)
- Animal's People
by Indra Sinha (Simon & Schuster)
You can catch an opinion of all of them over at John Self’s The Asylum blog who successfully trawled through and reviewed all thirteen long listed books in a local Bookerthon.
One of the books I definitely want to read is Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Last year, the result ceremony wasn’t broadcast live on BBC2 or Channel 4, though BBC Four ran “Man Booker Prize – The Shortlist” programmes. The schedules don’t yet show whether there will be any coverage of the award this year.
In the meantime, chair of the judging panel Howard Davies’ occasional blog is worth a quick squint.
1 comment:
You could have had my copy of The Reluctant Fundamentalist - it was good but I wouldn't have shortlisted it myself - except I sent it to dovegreyreader, my co-Bookerthoner.
My recommendations from the shortlist as books anyone might enjoy are Mister Pip and Animal's People. Before it was longlisted, Animal's People hadn't been reviewed in a single newspaper in this country, so I'm delighted it's reached the shortlist. Also I've exchanged a few emails with Indra Sinha after he contacted me to thank me for my review, and he's charming, amusing and self-effacing: and he's written a terrific book, just his second at the age of 57. A worthy winner I reckon.
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