Hello Gentle Reader
The beginning of the years, literary award season has begun. The Booker Prize has announced this year’s long listed. What follows are the long listed authors and their novels, and a quick description of the novel. The prize judges have said that this years, award is the most diverse in the prizes history. From experimental to traditional; dealing from subject matter from Shanghai to Zimbabwe to Hendon, the novels shortlisted this year, are diverse and very international. It is also a year of more newer and younger authors. Only two authors shortlisted previously have been placed on the longlist.
“Almost English,” – by Charlotte Mendelson – This novel chronicles a sixteen year old young woman. She lives in a west London flat with her emotionally delicate mother, and her three ancient Hungarian relatives. The main character is an outsider. Thanks to her family fiercely foreign and un-English pride. Alienated at both home and at school, this novel deals with what it means to be both English, foreign and out of place.
“Tale for the Time Being,” – by Ruth Ozeki – A novel that chronicles one girl’s great-grandmothers life as a Buddhist nun: as a form of escape from her painfully lonely life and bullying classmates. This diary kept by the young girl Nao, will have the power to touch people beyond cultures. The other part of this novel deals with Ruth a novelist who, finds in a hello kitty lunchbox artifacts that may have come, from Japan, after the, two-thousand and eleven tsunami. Within it holds Nao’s diary and recollections of her great-grandmother.
“The Spinning Heart,” by Donal Ryan – This debut novel, is set in a small town in Ireland. Set in the aftermath of Ireland Financial Collapse, told through twenty one different voices, this novel, tells the story of numerous people, trying to get by and make ends meet.
“The Testament of Mary,” – by Colm Tóibín – Perhaps this is the year, which Tóibín wins the Booker Prize. The novel recounts the life of Jesus, through the eyes of his mother Mary.
“We Need New Names,” by NoViolet Bulawayo – This novel is a expansion of the authors short story, which won her Caine Prize. The novel recounts the life of a Zimbabwean street child, named Darling, who escapes to America. There she finds material wealth does not always translate into happiness.
“Five Star Billionaire,” – by Tash Aw – Malaysian author Tash Aw, writes about four Malaysian people looking for success, and reinvention in Shanghai. With the rise of Global Capitalism, the fall of the western financial system, and the power shifting to the East, this novel is a bright beam of what the future maybe look like, with the global shift; and a brave new world.
“Unexploded,” by Alison Macleod – Where Tash Aw, writes about the present and the future that is; Alison Macleod has written a novel set historically in the past. Set in nineteen-forty the Beaumont are expecting a German invasion at any time. While in the area enemy aliens are being round up, and detained. There a “degenerate artist,” comes into their lives, and change it.
“The Lowland,” Jhumpa Lahiri – Jhumpa Lahiri is a American-Indian author. The story revolves around two brothers from Calcutta. Their orientation into the far-left militant group Naxalite. The groups violent campaign, divides the brothers – with tragic results. The publisher has called this forthcoming novel, to being epic.
“TransAtlantic,” by Colum McCann – What has begun as a short story about the non-stop flight from Newfoundland to County Galway in nineteen-nineteen; has now been produced into a larger work, of three parts. With historical accuracies and vignette’s, McCann paints the picture of our current society in its embryo stages.
“The Marrying of Chani Kaufman,” – by Eve Harris – The debut novel of Eve Harris, is based largely on the authors own experience. The protagonist a nineteen-year old who has never had any, physical contact with a man, is expected to marry a complete stranger. What evolves from this novel, is a tale of buried secrets and sexual desires, all wrapped in fear.
“The Luminaries,” – by Eleanor Catton – This book is a doorstopper. A large and ambitious novel that amounts to some eight-hundred and forty eight pages. The novel is about an Englishman who travels to New Zealand to seek his fortune, and leave behind some family shame. What occurs are three murders, in a single day; in which twelve men investigate – all of who have some connection and implication to the crimes? The wealthiest man of the town disappears. A fortune of gold has been found in a luckless drunks home. This and more creates a intricate tapestry of a novel. With ambition and what appears to be a rewarding book – but there is great potential for failure.
“Harvest,” – by Jim Crace – This atmospheric novel, has been hinted at to be Crace’s final novel, before his retirement. Set in a town that faces foreclosure, and liquidation of the lands, that were once shared in common; the novel recounts hardscrabble lives in an ever rolling cycle of the seasons.
“The Kills,” – Richard House – What may be a conventional crime novel, turns out to be an experimental novel, with the use of footnotes. Richard House’s novel is told in four books; that begins with a man on the run, and ends with a body burned. Yet with a detour in short films, and footnotes, this novel is said to surprise and bewilder, in its complex achievements.
There you have it Gentle Reader. The Booker Prize longlist. Books that deal with different countries, but also with different times. This year’s Booker Prize is very international, with novels set in various parts of the world. This year’s list has a range from the personal to the at times social and even political.
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
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M. Mary
