Hello
Gentle Reader
Following
the heels of the Golden Booker Prize, the Booker Prize has released this year’s
longlist for the coveted English language award. This year’s longlist has been
praised as being exciting, diverse, and unusual when compared to prize lists of
recent memory and in its past. Before we analyze and review the list any
further, Gentle Reader, the following thirteen authors and their respective
novels make up this year’s longlist. The following list is organized in
particular order, and goes: writer – country – novel; without further ado, here
is this year’s Booker Prize longlist:
Esi
Edugyan – Canada – “Washington Black,”
Guy
Gunaratne – United Kingdom – “In Our Mad And Furious City,”
Daisy
Johnson – United Kingdom – “Everything Under,”
Donal
Ryan – Ireland – “From A Low And Quiet Sea,”
Belinda
Bauer – United Kingdom – “Snap,”
Michael
Ondaatje – Canada – “Warlight,”
Sally
Rooney – Ireland – “Normal People,”
Richard
Powers – United States – “The Overstory,”
Anna
Burns – United Kingdom – “Milkman,”
Robin
Robertson – United Kingdom – “The Long Take,”
Rachel
Kushner – United States – “The Mars Room,”
Sophie
Mackintosh – United Kingdom – “The Water Cure,”
Nick
Drnaso – United States – “Sabrina,”
Of
the thirteen writers and novels listed, once again it is immediate clear that
the United Kingdom dominates the list with the most writers listed at six,
followed by the United States with three, and two for both Ireland and Canada. The
list has been praised for having an abundance of female writers included in it,
with seven female writers. In discussing the list, the chair of this year’s
Booker Prize judges, Kwame Anthony Appiah, states it should come to no surprise
that some of the works included are dystopian in nature, considering the
current political environment currently facing the world, and numerous topical
issues are discussed concerning: “slavery, ecology, missing persons, inner-city
violence, young love, prisons, trauma, race.”
On
the list is Michael Ondaatje, who has just recently won the Golden Booker
Prize, and over twenty years ago, won the Booker Prize in nineteen-ninety two
for his novel: “The English Patient.” Fellow Canadian writer, Esi Edugyan, also
finds herself included on this year’s longlist, after previously being
shortlisted in two-thousand and eleven.
There
are several curious inductees on this year’s longlist; the most noted is the
American author Nick Drnaso, and his graphic novel, “Sabrina.” This is the
first time in the awards history a graphic novel has ever been longlisted for
the prize, and comes as the first time (to my knowledge) a graphic novel was
submitted for consideration. Its inclusion has gathered praise by the public
and media, who see the Booker Prize opening its door to becoming relevant and
welcoming and recognizing the unique position graphic novels inhabit in today’s
unique literary world. Beyond its form, “Sabrina,” has been hailed as a finely
crafted piece of narrative fiction, where it discusses the disappearance of a
young girl, and the state of today’s media saturated world with the 24 news
feed and television networks. Its subject matter is considered highly riveting
and extremely relevant in today’s world of media saturation, and questions of
media literacy and journalistic integrity. Following Nick Drnaso and his
graphic novel, as a unique pick, comes the United Kingdom novelist Belinda
Bauer. Bauer is well regarded in the United Kingdom as a crime writer. The last
time a crime novel was included on the Booker Prize longlist or shortlist, was
in two-thousand and eleven, which was a rather controversial year for the Booker
Prize, where questions were raised with regards to literary integrity versus
entertainment and readability. Personally, I am far to skeptical to think that
in seven years the times have progressed (or reduced) to a compromise of
literary achievement for popular appeal, at which point awards like the Booker
Prize, are expected to make consignments to include both forms of writing. Yet,
“Snap,” by Belinda Bauer is being considered transcendental, of the argument between
high literary merit and popular fiction. There is no denying her career has
been based in and around genre fiction, but her novel “Snap,” has been called
an intelligent novel which undermines the pitfalls and tropes of crime fiction,
and instead deals with trauma—in this case, three children abandoned by their
mother and their survival tactics physical and psychological, as they build
their lives and come to terms with the maternal absence. “Snap,” has been
praised as a novel which can work both within genre and move beyond it, willing
to use generally accepted genre tropes to tell compelling and humanistic works
of literature. This is why Belinda Bauer has been longlisted; and perhaps this
is why its induction is acceptable then awards of years past. The final curious
longlisted work comes for the English writer Robin Robertson, and his novel “The
Long Take,” which is noted for mixing both prose and verse. “The Long Take,” is
considered a formal experimentation between prose and poetry, and openly
parades itself as a difficult piece of work to pin down. That being said, it’s
being praised as original, innovative, and strikingly refreshing in today’s
literary geography. It takes a pastiche of different components (noir
narrative, poetry, and prose) to create a startling unique novel, which defies
both classification and expectation. “The Long Take,” is considered a heavy contender,
and a noteworthy book vying for this year’s Booker Prize.
When
reviewed as a whole, this year’s Book Prize appears to be one of the most
interesting, relevant and diverse lists drafted in recent memory. I do have
reservations about including a graphic novel on the list, but it makes for an
interesting read, and more than anything it will grab headlines, and open a
discussion on the matter. Overall, it’s a unique list, one which does not
favour an old guard; but rather new and young writers, new forms, as well as
topics and themes which are pressing concerns of today’s world, and reflective
of the political and sociological climate.
Thank-you
For Reading Gentle Reader
Take
Care
And
As Always
Stay
Well Read
M.
Mary
For
Further Reading Please see the following articles from the Man Booker
Foundation website and The Guardian newspaper:
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