The Golden Man Booker Prize Shortlist
Ten years ago, when the Man Booker Prize was turning forty, I read the celebratory anniversary shortlist in the months leading up to the debut of The Mookse and the Gripes (that’s why several of those first reviews are on those very books!). This year, the Man Booker Prize is 50 years old! To celebrate five judges were chosen to put together another one-off celebratory prize: Golden Man Booker Prize. Each judge was assigned a decade and chose what he or she considered to be the best Booker winner in that period. Here is the list they came up with.
- In a Free State, by V.S. Naipaul (chosen by Robert McCrum)
- Moon Tiger, by Penelope Lively (chosen by Lemn Sissay)
- The English Patient, by Michael Ondaatje (chosen by Kamila Shamsie)
- Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel (chosen by Simon Mayo)
- Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders (chosen by Hollie McNish)
These are certainly not the books I expected to see. No Midnight’s Children (which won the Best of the Booker, I think like five times now), no Remains of the Day, no Possession, no J.M. Coetzee at all. I don’t mind all of that, but I do still feel a twinge of pain when I see Lincoln in the Bardo on the list. I’m just not one who thinks the prize should have expanded to include American writers. I suppose that might be a good representative of this past decade, though, only for me not in a good way.
I’d recommend checking out this article at The Irish Times, where they write about the books a bit as well as include each judge’s reason for picking that particular book.
Are any of you planning to read the five books? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts as you go along!
I cringe at Lincoln in the Bardo because it was not good at all, imho.
I always thought the main Man Booker prize could only go to British, Irish or British Commonwealth countries so this one off possibly going to an American author might seem to be a nod for more inclusiveness. Not sure why its inclusion seems a little out of place even if the literary achievement seems excellent at this highest level of competition. The American experience seems so different from the British Commonwealth one so that the British-Irish experience could seem on the wan and not carrying the same importance it once did. I am thinking of a film that is almost like a book or has that kind of impact. It is called The Brawler about an unemployed boxer in India being suppressed by a corrupt boxing official. This guy idolizes Muhammad Ali and has posters in his room almost as though if he has the speed and strength of Ali, he will succeed like Ali. The corrupt boxing official announces that Muhummad Ali was born in South India politically implying or indicating the real power in India is in Delhi in the North i.e. the American experience is so different from the Commonwealth one and that this poor aging guy will never be allowed to succeed. Maybe this isn’t what Trevor was thinking about but there should be some interesting comments on the choices including the American one for this onetime only British literary prize.
Trevor, when you have a one-person jury, the likelihood of having surprising choices increases dramatically. When I look at this list I notice how much it’s a “not for me” list. I started and quit on three books by Michael Ondaatje. I found reading him was like wandering through a thick fog of words trying to make sense a distant view. I tried reading *Wolf Hall* but got bored and didn’t make it to page 100. It’s a kind of historical fiction that seems to be neither interesting as history nor as fiction. (I found Lord of the Rings and A Game of Thrones tedious too, so it’s little wonder Wolf Hall didn’t do well with me either.) I have read a lot of George Saunders’ short fiction and never really liked it much. Having heard a bit of what Lincoln in the Bardo is about, I decided not to even try it. My guess is it would end up with the same fate as Wolf Hall.
I read three of the six shortlisted books for the 2017 Booker (4 3 2 1, A History of Wolves, andExit West) and enjoyed all three. I also liked two shortlisted in 2016 (Eileen and His Bloody Project, but I disliked the winner that year – The Sellout). So it’s not like the Booker and I are entirely out of sync. But this is a contest I can’t get very enthusiastic about. I’m mostly through Booker International Award shortlisted book Frankenstein in Baghdad right now and enjoying it a great deal. I doubt I will read any of the books on this list.
(PS – Trevor, did you see my comment on the “Quadraturin” page about the film adaptation? If not, check it out!)
Larry, they changed the eligibility rules in 2014 to allow any book written in English (so long as it is published in the UK). In 2015 American authors Anne Tyler and Hanya Yanagihara were shortlisted. In 2016 American writer Paul Beatty won and American writer Ottessa Moshfegh was shortlisted. In 2017, in addition to Saunders both Paul Auster and Emily Fridlund are American writers and were on the shortlist.
Hey David, I really respect your honesty about Ondaatje as we regulars know you are Canadian!….and I’m curious, did you like though the film adaptation of “The English Patient”?….maybe the book isn’t always better than the movie after all…..
David.
Thanks for the explanation of the Man Booker change of rules in 2014. The main difficulty for an American author would seem to be getting their book published in the UK but some authors still can make that happen. So much of what readers may like or not like seems random or fortuitous or completely by chance. Mookse and The Gripes seems keen and very adept at letting us know about books that we might not otherwise consider. If there are some we might not like to read that is just part of the process. I like how reader/reviewers are very specific about what they liked or didn’t like. I am about a third the way through Preti Taneja’s “We That Are Young.” The reviewer who recommended this work particularly liked how it retold Shakespeare’s King Lear in a very believable way. That gave a specific context for what he liked most. But a reader could also relate to how it brilliantly examines a daughter’s perspective on the running of a family business and the dynamics of the family amid such huge financial achievement. A reader could find interesting business or family themes shared in similar American novels. I like this novel most because of its seeming up to the minute snapshot of wealthy high achievers in India. So Mookse and Gripes gives you several different reasons to approach reading any particular book or to pass on that one and try a completely different one. I look forward to the posts and the responses which illuminate how a book or short story or film can appeal or not appeal to a perspective reader/reviewer. Mookse is one of the best book and film blogs ever.
Greg, being honest about authors regardless of their nationality comes pretty naturally to me. I don’t really understand the point of cheerleading for an author just because you share a nationality with them. It makes sense to me that sometimes a reader might have a different perspective on an author’s work if they write about places they and you know well, which might lead to appreciating authors who are from where you from more than others, but they still should be good independent of that.
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As for The English Patient, I saw the film when it first came out which is more than 20 years ago now, so my memory of it is not stellar, but I do recall thinking it was a good film. A quick look over other films nominated for major Oscars the same year shows me other films I liked and remember better. Either Fargo or Lone Star was the best of the bunch that year. Sling Blade, Trainspotting, and The People vs. Larry Flynt were all very good. That Thing You Do was also that year (nominated for the song) and I really liked that film a lot, despite it being considered a flop (although it did make money and in the Rotten Tomatoes era it has a 93% rating, but I digress…). The film of The English Patient did not suffer from the same opaqueness I find in a lot of Ondaatje’s writing, so yes, it was good.
I agree. I remember the movie of The English Patient vividly because it was so horrifying and sad. But, the book was just tedious for me. For me, it was a case where the movie was better than the book.
Larry – Thank you for detailing your and others’ internal thought processes on choosing what to read.
David – You caught what I was getting at when you refer to places we share with an author…For example, some of Alice Munro’s stories take place where I live, so I find it hard to be objective when picking her best stories!
Michele – I agree 100%….the film starts by really gutting us and doesn’t let up that much….but at least we’ll always have the bathtub scene.
Regarding LINCOLN IN THE BARDO, I tried three times to get into the book and was wonderfully successful on my third attempt. I slowly became enveloped in the work and felt as though I was moving through a different existential plane as the writing began to gather me in. It was a thoroughly satisfying book and, if I may say so, an edifying one. I suggest that those who have tried and failed to get past the first hundred or so pages give it another whirl. Granted, Saunders is writing experimental fiction here, but to my mind it’s a successful experiment. Stick with it.
David, I did see your comment on “Quadraturin.” I checked out the website, but I haven’t watched the film yet. I love some of the imagery from it! Sorry for not responding to you earlier — I clicked your link so fast I wasn’t being gracious!
I also agree with you about Ondaatje’s work having that haze about it, though for me that’s a strength, something that keeps me interested. I have his newest on my bedstead and hope to start it soon! Though, like you, I’ve only ever gotten a bit through Wolf Hall. I have started it several times. I love that period of history. I cannot even quite figure out why I hit a brick wall at about page 200 each time I start it, since I don’t feel Mantel is doing anything particularly wrong. I just haven’t gotten on the right page, I guess. I’d like to because Bring Up the Bodies sounds like just my kind of historical fiction! And I’d like to get ready to dig into her third one whenever it comes out. Ah well.
From this list, besides the last 300-400 pages of Wolf Hall, I also haven’t read In a Free State or Moon Tiger. One of the main reasons? I’ve never felt any real need to. Each book has its fans but neither stand out as, well, stand-out Booker winners. I’m not sure yet whether I want to set up a goal to read them, since I will likely fail. I think I do have them here somewhere, though. . .
But I’d pick The English Patient quite easily of the 2.5 (okay, 2.33333) I have read.
I do appreciate your comment supporting Saunders, Diana, I just don’t think the book is that special. I really did want it to be. Saunders is like a best friend I once had who has drifted away to another life. I don’t necessarily want to still be friends, but I long for the old days and usually have hope that we’ll have a decent reunion when we see each other again. I felt Lincoln in the Bardo rang hollow. I will say I’ve been tempted to reread it, because I am haunted by some of the Lincoln scenes.
By the way, Larry, thanks for the kind words about the site. It’s been great to have you around with your insights!
Trevor, I think you might have missed the announcement of the winner. You should check it out because Ondaatje mentions three authors he thinks should get more recognition. Two of them are favourites of yours: Alice Munro and William Trevor.
Concerning whether which is better, the book or the film made from the book, usually the book is better than the film. David thinks “The English Patient” film is better than book, which is rare. At work I got a tip that one of the best films ever of a book is “The Woman in The Dunes” by the late Kobo Abe. I purchased the book because there is usually more detail in a book although the best films visually give you a lot of really great visual detail. Also some word descriptions approximate a long shot or a close up. Tight close ups render mental state of mind while long shots can include more to be considered overall in the situation. The panorama shot is camera moving in a circle conveys a lot about first person or third person plural feel as a group which skilled writers can convey with precision. Abe apparently worked with the director of four films of his books. I really like the opening of “The Woman in The Dunes.” “One day in August a man disappeared.” It seems almost a perfect first sentence, simple, economical and yet so precise. Strunk and White write that the best writing has a piercing clarity almost like the best thoughts captured in words. Would be interested in any films made of books commenters especially liked or books they liked that they think would make really great films. This if they especially run across any stand out examples in their reading.
Trevor:
Thanks I get a lot from your insights and suggestions especially from the triptych T. S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf & James Joyce podcast. I find Joyce and Woolf and Eliot difficult but since they are very sensitive to changes in emotional state in their writing they often give you clues to track. Joyce seems more detached and more complex but you presented some key ideas that Joyce was going after. I also never knew Woolf wrote a short story collection which no one ever talks about (got that one from Amazon). The quality of Mookse is just awesome so there must be more to Joyce than meets the eye at first look. Thanks again.
Larry B.
While I watch so many mediocre sci-fi get made into movies or tv lately, it amazes me nobody makes a movie out of Blindsight, The Snow Queen (could be like Game of Thrones), Revelation Space or many others. The Reality Dysfunction…wow, that would be a great tv series.
Michele,
There is always the tightrope between what’s commercial and what’s artistic. There are film and tv series commercial ventures put together partly with HBO, or Netflix that are well financed. Then there are independent films that get made by some miracle(s) and can be really great films adapted from books. But once these miracle projects get made, the directors and producers have to attend all the european, asian and American independent film festivals to get a distribution deal to get their film seen. Distributors look for a commercial hook like a big name star who will do a small independent film, and who also has a huge social media fan base. Big name onboard, be it commercially mediocre or a brilliant artistic film sink or swim at least some wide distribution will be possible. There may be producers and directors trying to put together deals to make the books you mention into films but to get a really good one out there seems really difficult. Yet Netflix seems somewhat more open to that than the others but still a whole lot of people have to want to see that film from a great book for it to be commercially viable. Maybe other commenters have more specific info on this.
Larry B.
Michele,
Suggestion. Interested to see what you think if you check out “Sacred Games” a streaming only Netflix international thriller series. [Transparency Note: It is a Hindi cinema thriller with two of India’s best actors or best Bollywood stars, Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.] If you don’t like subtitles or they interfere with being able to get into the story or India is so different. Understood.
Larry B.
Michele, just as you wrote:
Blindsight by Peter Watts has not been made into a film.
The Snow Queen novel by Michael Cunningham has not been made into a film.
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds has not been made into a film
Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton appears to have been made into a film but not episode series.
Netflix is expected to spend $8 billion this year, 2018, on new content. One could hope there is room for at least one of the books turned into a film or episode series as you suggested.
Thanks Larry! I have Sacred Games on my watchlist now. Where did you find the reality dysfunction film?
Michele:
Looks like I made a mistake as to whether there is a film of Reality Disfunction by Peter F. Hamilton. I saw a google search result that reads:
Horror Movie Review: The Reality Dysfunction (2012)
but when you click on that entry it just contains a review of the book so it’s a false lead.
Hamilton, himself has a Reddit website at:
https://amp-reddit-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2nhmye/i_am_peter_f_hamilton_science_fiction_author_ask/?amp_js_v=0.1&usqp=mq331AQECAEoAQ%3D%3D
At that website a fan wrote:
Hello Peter!
Long time reader here. I simply wanted to thank you for your wonderful stories. :)
Oh, and as for a question: What’s next on your slate after the second Abyss book?
Are any of your books currently being developed as either film or TV? :)
Hamilton answered:
You’re welcome. I’m still putting together the books that will follow the Fallers.
Some of my work is being considered by producers. When I know anything I’ll let you know.
That’s all I could find.
Larry B.
Wow, thanks Larry! I’ll join that reddit thread. Cool!