Hello
Gentle Reader
From
a longlist of thirteen writers and novels, the Man Booker International Prize
has now reduced its list, to its five shortlisted writers and their respective
novels. On the longlist, there were two Nobel Laureates, only one remains on
the shortlist. The shortlist is diverse in both subject matter, and where
authors originate from. The shortlist tackles writers who deal with personal
and tragic matters; to the political observations of the twentieth century, to
quiet private rebellions, to the observation of a country in flux.
Below
is the shortlist Gentle Reader in no particular order:
José
Eduardo Agualusa – Angola – “A General Theory of Oblivion,”
Han
Kang – South Korea – “The Vegetarian,”
Elena
Ferrante – Italy – “The Story of the Lost Child,”
Orhan
Pamuk – Turkey – “A Strangeness in my Mind,”
Robert
Seethaler – Austria – “A Whole Life,”
Yan
Lianke – China – “The Four Books,”
The
mysterious literary and translation block buster: Elena Ferrante, once again
finds herself shortlisted for a literary award in English. Her scathing and
torched prose, once again finds its readership in English. Despite becoming a
Nobel Laureate in Literature (roughly ten years ago), Orhan Pamuk, remains very
relative and engaging to new readers, and on the world literary stage. José Eduardo Agualusa is one of those great
literary gems to come from post-colonial Africa, much like fellow writers Mia
Couto, Ben Orki, and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o; for his ability to discuss the
political and historical, within the constraints of the literary. There is no
denying that Yan Lianke is a dissident Chinese writer, and his novel “The Four
Books,” is a politically charged account of the famine of the 1950’s Communist
China. The book itself took twenty years to plan and write, and was rejected immediately
by publishers for its political content, and banned in mainland China. South Korea
is starting to make a greater move onto the literary world map. Though what we
are finding with South Korea is women are now taking more precedence or more interest
over their male counterparts. For years Ko Un was considered South Korea’s
greatest (and often hinted only) Nobel Laureate candidate, but in recent years,
South Korea has begun to show its greatest literary treasures, and some of
these treasures are women, who write about the constraints and confinement of
South Koreas patriarchal society. Han
Kang’s novel “The Vegetarian,” is a uniquely strange novel about suffering,
pain and the body, whilst it’s speaks universal truths in a unique cultural
context. Robert Seethaler and his novel “A Whole Life,” is perhaps the dark
horse of the shortlist, and the underdog. If one is not paying particular
attention, Robert Seether’s novel will quickly be overlooked and missed but,
his novel of isolationism and the quiet dignity of solitude is a master of
subtle acts and life.
There
you have it again Gentle Reader, the Man Booker Prize International shortlist;
and what a diverse shortlist it has become. Five unique novels, which range
from: the political, to the historical, to private revolutions; all the way to
the subtle masterpieces of quiet solitude. The shortlist also contains literary
block busters like Elena Ferrante and Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk. It’s a unique
shortlist of unique writers, whose subject matter vary.
Thank-you
For Reading Gentle Reader
Take
Care
And
As Always
Stay
Well Read
M.
Mary
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