The International Booker Prize Longlist, 2025

Hello Gentle Reader,

The International Booker Prize Shortlist for 2025 has released this year’s longlist of thirteen titles each competing for a coveted spot on the shortlist, which will be announced in early April. This year’s longlist shows a penchant for concision and precision in length of the novels listed, with only one novel being described as a doorstop. The longlist also showcases the judges intentional or otherwise obvious curative decisions in crafting it, by specifically bypassing and omitting previous winners and now Nobel Laureates Nobel Laureates Olga Tokarczuk and Hang Kang, with their recently translated novels: “The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story,” and “We Do Not Part.” 

This years International Booker Prize Longlist is as follows in no particular order:

            Mircea Cărtărescu – Romania – “Solenoid,”
            Solvej Balle – Denmark – “On the Calculation of Volume 1,”
            Vincenzo Latronico – Italy – “Perfection,”
            Anne Serre – France – “A Leopard-Skin Hat,”
            Christian Kracht – Switzerland – “Eurotrash,”
            Astrid Roemer - the Netherlands, “On a Woman's Madness,”
            Vincent Delacroix – France – “Small Boat,”
            Hiromi Kawakami – Japan – “Under the Eye of the Big Bird,”
            Dahlia de la Cerda – Mexico – “Reservoir Bitches,”
            Banu Mushtaq – India – “Heart Lamp,”
            Saou Ichikawa – Japan – “Hunchback,”
            Gaëlle Bélem – France, department Réunion – “There’s a Monster Behind the Door
            Ibtisam Azem – Palestine – “The Book of Disappearance,”

The longlist is certainly an interesting take, with an emphasis on the pithy. There is no surprise to see Mircea Cărtărescu on the longlist with his novel “Solenoid,” which won last years International Dublin Literary Award. It is also the longest novel on this year’s longlist. “Solenoid,” is a dense, complex, imagistic novel by Mircea Cărtărescu, maximalist and expansive, the novel delights in sinking into the depths of the subconscious and surreal. “Solenoid,” showcases Mircea Cărtărescu as a true marvel and master of international literature, and no lightweight when credited as a potential contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. It is delightful to see Solvej Balle included on the longlist as well with her novel “On the Calculation of Volume 1.” The premise is eccentric, with an antiquarian bookseller reliving the same day on loop, but it is a triumphant and stellar return of Solvej Balle to the literary scene, after her explosive and acclaimed debut: “According To The law: Four Accounts of Mankind,” which autopsied the world through a slanted perspective. “On the Calculation of Volume 1,” only confirms, Solvej Balle, is one of the most original writers of her generation, an absolute singular talent.

This isn’t the first time Anne Serre has been included on a translated book award list. In the now unfortunately absent Best Translated Book Award, Anne Serre was nominated back in 2019, Anne Serre was shortlisted with her novel “The Governesses.” Now Anne Serre is longlisted with her more emotionally intimate and psychologically probing novel “A Leopard-Skin Hat,” which sketches the doomed relationship between an unnamed narrator and his childhood friend Fanny, who suffers from an array of psychological problems and conditions. The novel is a tango moving between the maniacal highs and joys of their friendships to the plunging polar points of despair. The novel celebrates these competing extremes, while with literary fashion critiquing the novels forms. “A Leopard-Skin Hat,” is described as personal in context, but masterfully executed, it’s a celebration of an intense and shortened life, sustained by a brilliant friendship. Saou Ichikawa’s novel “Hunchback,” in comparison to Mircea Cărtărescu’s novel “Solenoid,” is the shortest novel on this year’s longlist. “Hunchback,” aims towards the unconventionality praised by this year’s judges, as the novel humorously and unapologetically recounts the world of Shaka a woman born with a congenital muscle disorder, who lives in a care home and relies on an electric wheelchair for mobility and ventilator to breathe. What sounds like a recipe for a narrative of resilience and the unfair lottery of life, is instead contorted into a narrative that is daringly unconventional, unexpected, and twistedly funny, which includes the Shaka writing explicit fantasies on websites and disseminating outlandish (for lack of better term ‘tweets,’) online, including one in which she offers an enormous sum of money for a sperm donor. Facetiousness is tossed aside when her nurse accepts the dare, which opens up a new world for Shaka. “Hunchback,” won the Akutagawa prize in Japan, and its reception in translation has been equally warm. It is by far one of the more interesting titles on this year’s longlist.

Described as a promising talent, Vincenzo Latronico’s debut in English with his fourth novel, “Perfection,” models and reimagines the French experimental writer, Georges Perec’s novel “Things: A Story of the Sixties.” Where Perec’s novel detailed the material inventory of a mid-century couple’s apartment as a critique of consumerist culture, Vincenzo Latronico’s novel “Perfection,” is a deeply pessimistic account of the continuation of consumerism which has since evolved, now hollowing out existence, whereby material reality is no longer necessary, rather it is the curation of images and Instagram posts, complete with likes, comments, and hashtags. Rather than fortifying ones with objects and possessions, its now about designing and upholding the quixotic illusion of perfection. In “Perfection,” the objects and things detailed in Perec’s novel have all been uploaded and become apparitions, haunting ghosts of our increasingly technologically infused nihilistic existences.  

Other novels on the longlist veer towards an attempt at polemics with their narratives highlighting social and political issues, but lacking the required engagement and depth, resulting in nothing more then a high polished glaze of topical news heading discussion without any substantial thought. The writers attempt to explore concepts of privilege, guilt and atonement, migration, postcolonialism and other buzz words of an increasing demand for superficial discourse. Reviewing the longlist and some of the titles included does leave one wondering who was omitted? I had thought personally Ogawa Yōko would have made an appearance on the longlist with her recently published novel “Mina’s March,” after she was considered the favourite to win in 2020 with her dystopian parable, “The Memory Police,”; but it seems the judges this year would not be wooed over with a slice of life narrative of a Japanese girl living with her eccentric relatives in the 1970’s. While the longlist may leave plenty to desire in some respects, where the judges did hit their marks, they hit it well, with a handful of novels worthy of being included. In addition to this, I was a bit surprised to see a short story collection longlisted for the award. Perhaps I was or am mistaken in the past, but I was under the impression that the International Booker Prize required the product to be a novel, just as in the case of the Booker Prize, which means its interesting to see the inclusion of "Heart Lamp," by Banu Mushtaq included on this years longlist, but not necessarily unwelcome. 

While the longlist would not be considered dazzling overall, it’s an honest list, put together with noticeable fissures revealing what I hope to be compromise choices. It’ll be interesting to see how those choices are evaluated and assessed in making the shortlist. Here’s hoping those true diamonds are indeed shine through to the shortlist.  

Thank-you for Reading Gentle Reader 
Take Care 
And As Always 
Stay Well Read 
  
M. Mary 

– XXXVII –

The art of eating is ritual infused with sustenance, accompanied by dear friends and spiced with riveting conversation.  

Frankétienne Dies Aged 88

Hello Gentle Reader,

Haiti is a Caribbean country that summons notions of chaos, violence, voodoo, and a history of slavery and revolution. This complexity of history, African diasporic perspective, and contemporary chaos were refracted continuously through artistic, literary and dramatic expression by the nations foremost master of letters, Frankétienn, whose debut novel (“Dézafi,”) was written exclusively in Haitian Creole, and has since died at 88 years old at his home in Port-au-Prince. Frankétienne was a prolific writer, poet, and painter, and three often intertwined themselves within a single work, which often embraced and made shape to the chaos of the small tumultuous Caribbean nation, whose defining atmosphere is often described as violence, disorder, and anarchy. Yet, when discussing the notion of chaos, Frankétienne took a poet turned philosopher perspective, waxing on chaos being the progenitor of light, but aired caution to the Haitian problem, whereby the chaos reported by the world, was not necessarily chaos in its primordial form, but a lack of management which was ultimately the problem. While not well known within the English language, Frankétienne was a renowned figure in French and Creole readers. Frankétienne’s debut novel “Dézafi,” which is translated as “Cockfight,” proved to be monumental in capsulating Haitian Creole as a codified literary language. The novel is experimental, spiraling, and looping in form, taking inspiration and practice from the 1960’s Haitian literary movement, Spiralism, which was founded and promoted by fellow Haitian writers René Philoctète and Jean-Claude Fignolé. The goal of Spiralism was to orchestrate and self-perpetuate a sense of personal chaos to ignite and reignite a sense of creativity. Additionally, the novel incorporated elements of magical realism and oral storytelling. “Dézafi,” remains a milestone for Haitian literature for capturing Haitian Creole, but also for its political and allegorical dimensions, and practice of Spiralism, which informs the culture and political attitudes of Haiti. The play “Pelin Tet,” was a biting critique of Haitian dictator Baby Doc. Despite political authoritarianism and natural disasters which pommeled the nation, Frankétienne remained as Haiti was both muse and home, and in a self-prophesying manner, Frankétienne understood his work were to complex and Baroque to both or get the attention of the autocratic government. Readings, interviews, and events involving Frankétienne were equally regarded for their sporadic and performative nature, which further expanded and exemplified the writer’s interest in channeling personal chaos and redirecting it to a new creative expression. Frankétienne was also viewed as a dark horse candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, often whispered about as an obscure writer which the Swedish Academy had a certain proclivity to award and recognize, much to the chagrin of others. Frankétienn’s death will inevitably leave a large gap within the Haitian literary community, but the writers work—both in literary and artistic mediums—will continue to inspire a new generation.

Rest in Peace Frankétienne. 

Thank you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
 
M. Mary

The Wood: The Life & Times of Cockshutt Wood

Hello Gentle Reader,

Pan is the rustic Greek god of wild woods, pastures, shepherds and their flocks, and is often associated with the season of spring. In addition to his role as patron and deity, Pan is associated with vitality, fertility, and of course virility; in addition to being a philanderer and chaser of the Nymphs, who in turn delighted in running away from the unencumbered lustful advances. In the pantheon and hierarchy of Greek mythology, Pan is a lesser god. The twelve Olympians rule supreme. Furthermore, the patron of wild woods, pastures, shepherds and their flocks, in addition to the persona of virile and hedonistic spring, is not depicted as a chiseled specimen of the human figure, in all its perfection, free of blemish or bruise. Instead, Pan is described as satyr or faun in appearance. A chimeric creature. The bottom half composed of hairy goat or Cervidae legs ending in cloven hooves, then topped with a human torso, and a face which flickers between caprine and human, which is crowned with a set of goat or ram horns. This wild god of lust, the untamed wilderness of the natural world, and the shepherds of lambs and goats, never truly fell into relative obscurity. Despite being a minor god, the character of Pan persevered as a character and symbol. Rather in fashion similar to Zeus, the mighty King of the Olympians, God of the heavens and thunder who has since become the stock image of the Christian depiction of God, wizened and bearded sitting on a cloud looking down at the earth below with judgement, ready to smite with a bolt from the blue. Pan regained prominence during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, becoming a characteristic figure of the Romantic movement with its pastoral allures and rising neopagan movements and other spiritualistic concepts. Consequently, the image of Pan was also appropriated and reconfigured to be the popular and recognizable image of Satan as a goat headed being. Regardless, there is a pastoral and bucolic element to Pan, which inevitably sees his image endure. For the Romantics, Pan represented the Arcadian ideal. The utopian vision of pastoralism and harmony with nature. For those of a more Judaeo-Christian inclination, it’s a return to the garden of Eden. Inevitably those of a romantic sensibility rebelled against the prevailing attitudes caused by the Industrial Revolution, with its coal powered factories and an increased urbanization, which saw the countryside all but abandoned for the promise of the spoils of industry and the gamble of a better future. Oh, how the romantics lamented the abandonment of the pasture, the purity of the air, the simplicity of a good day’s toil in the fields. Of course, they elevated the rural harshness to more romantic and softer image then it was in reality, glossing over the cruelty and harshness of such a life. Still, Pan with pipes in hand frolicked forward and became ingrained into the public consciousness, a symbol of the uncontrolled wilds of the world; harkening back to the over romanticized values of an agrarian society, burrowing and reconnecting with one’s roots.

This is becoming a more entrenched perspective. The idea of simple living is but a new lifestyle fad. During the pandemic, it seems people began to occupy themselves with daydreams and curations of country living. Charming old cottages, wildflower meadow like yards, baking sourdough bread, and participating in needlework and embroidery. There’s nothing wrong with these pursuits. Though there is concern with the heightened idealization of them. While it is pleasant to envision wholesome notions of country living, its not all pies cooling on the windowsill, or effortless beautiful gardens blooming throughout the spring and into the summer, the envy of all one’s neighbours. There’s drudgery and hard work. There is suffering and financial costs and expenses. It is, however, understandable how people begin to idealise this notion of living. Its back to basics with home made, home raised, homespun, home backed, home grown, home canned, the acceptance and endorsement of self-sufficiency. With the threat of economic dispersity and uncertainty, a continual contentious and unstable political environment. Then of course the rising existential threat of Artificial Intelligence. This inevitably does drive the notion and dream for people to tunnel in and hunker down in order to pursue an unencumbered self-sufficient sustainable life. It doesn’t hurt, however, with the likes of Beatrix Potter and the “Tales of Peter Rabbit & Co,” with their beautiful watercolour drawings of anthropomorphic characters does ignite one’s imagination. The same can be said of, “The Wind in the Willows,” another nostalgic read from one’s childhood; where incidentally, a certain god of the wilds, woods, and pastures makes an appearance, and was featured on the original cover of the publication. While country living is harsh and hardscrabble, it is perhaps not without reward; but those flights of fantasy are best conjured to occupy and fill the vacuous moments and times of the day. They are perfect if only because the exist in the ethereal realm of dreaming, devoid of the contusions and bruises and all the other inconveniences of reality. They are beautiful if only because they are a dream.

The cottier lifestyle is synonymously applied and attributed to the English countryside, which as a broad term, employed as a catchall to ensnare the geographical characteristics of not only the United Kingdom but also Ireland. This is a landscape which has been cultured and cultivated by human activity and society for centuries, to the point it is primed and pruned, whereby its wild elements have all been eradicated to distant memories, leaving behind a pedestrian park. In all, nothing more then an insinuation of the wild. While Pan is the deity and guardian of the untamed wilds, his attribution as the frolicsome spirit of the English countryside is not unsurprising. This landscape with its cotter charm, carved out with the serpentine stonewalls, spiced with ancient trees, and enduring cottages, castles, and towns; in addition to lacking formidable predators be it wolves, lions, or bears. The rolling hills of the Yorkshire dales, for example, bring to mind the pastoral utopia of Arcadia in which Pan heralds from. Inevitably this is what is so appealing about the English countryside, whose green shadow has been a wellspring of inspiration and contributing influence on countless writers through the ages, who have celebrated and venerated this special landscape in turn, turning it into legend and character. The English countryside has occupied the imagination of children across the world, with it being the backdrop of a variety of arts, culture, and literary products. In the case of Jamaica Kincaid, daffodils from Wordsworth’s poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” represent an oppressive colonial visage and education. While Penelope Lively described, how Beatrix Potter’s books were verdant and exotic when compared to her childhood growing up outside of Cairo.

The literary form of nature writing suits the continued propagation and celebration of the English countryside and landscape. A mercurial genre which celebrates the bounty of nature and examines it. The form exists on the spectrum of scientific study, zoological narrative, ecological exploration, to personal memoir and reflection on the natural world. Nature and environment are subject, but also provide the staging ground for more philosophical and personal oriented digressions. This is perhaps what makes nature writing as a genre a pleasurable read. Its akin to watching a nature documentary, whereby one can admire and appreciate a distant landscape via more economic means. The English countryside in turn, has no shortage of legend or folklore or history for writers to unearth or wander down in some tangent; while providing some thoughtful glance or acknowledgement at the natural fauna or flora in bloom. In contrast, the Canadian backwoods remain the polar opposite of the English countryside with its pastoral idyll and parkland elements. Perhaps due to the scale of the geography, the diversity in topography and terrain, and extreme unforgiving climate, Canada remains in many ways an unspoilt, unexplored, final frontier. It’s the untamed wilds in all their primeval glory and danger. If a Canadian were to take up the mantal of nature writing, it is less about cultivation and natural stewardship and instead is a survival guide with wilderness tips. It’s a practical guide to homesteading. A celebration of the indominable spirit of the Canadian character. The tenacity to persevere in the face of impossible odds. An appreciation for a landscape which remains unchanging and stalwart, while giving the impression of being impossible to conquer. An exploration of the wild nature of man, which remains dormant, hibernating within the pits of the human soul, sated to sleep by societal niceties and conveniences. Pan may be the god of untamed wilderness and unspoilt meadows, he is inevitably absent within the harshness of the Canadian landscape, which eschews the harmony of Arcadian values and endorsed the Darwinian natural laws and principles.

John Lewis-Stempel does not endorse the term ‘nature writer,’ as its far to imprecise as a term. Instead, Lewis-Stempel appreciates the term working countryside writer, which carries more qualification, then a misery memoirist enthusing the benefits of nature therapy. Throughout the book “The Wood: The Life & Times of Cockshutt Wood,” John Lewis-Stempel chronicles the handful of years in which he was charged with the stewardship of the three and a half acres of woodland in the south-west of Herefordshire. John Lewis-Stempel is a pragmatic woodman as he curates and tends to the woods needs, which in turn provides for the wildlife and livestock which call the few acres home. Composed in a diary format of the final year under Lewis-Stempel’s care, “The Wood: The Life & Times of Cockshutt Wood,” recounts the various forms the titular wood takes through the seasons. Additionally, John Lewis-Stempel seasons the narrative with history, folklore, literary allusions, poetry, self-reflection, recipes, scientific and encyclopedic facts and narrative. This outpost of woodland becomes a sanctuary unto itself as John Lewis-Stempel confirms:

“Cockshutt was a sanctuary for me too; a place of ceaseless seasonal wonder where I withdrew into tranquility. No one comes looking for you in a wood.”

As a practising steward and landman, John Lewis-Stempel is not some elusive green man haunting the woods, Lewis-Stempel takes an active role in feeding the livestock and managing the woodland; what is known as agroforestry. In the summer Lewis-Stempel harvests ‘tree hay,’ a accumulation of leaf fodder which is later mixed in with the livestock feed, providing added vitamins for the livestock. The wood in turns provides a few meals of its own for the writer, and logs for the fireplace in winter. This custodianship also entails being the swift executioner of invading Canadian Geese and providing a mercy killing for a sheep which has fallen and broken its legs in a gorge. These details are never lingered on, but presented with the swiftness of fact. This, however, is part and parcel with life in the country. In other moments, John Lewis-Stempel rejoices at the subtle and sure signs and changing nature the season which characterizes the wood, such as the arrival of snowdrops in January:

“If snowdrops are appearing, then the earth must be wakening. Of all our wild flowers the white bells are the purest, the most ethereal, the most chaste… Whatever; the snowdrop says that winter is not forever.”

In due time the snowdrops messages, gives way to carpets of bluebells and a chorus of birdsong rings out in May. The bluebell in particular, maintains a point of pride for John Lewis-Stempel who informs readers that the United Kingdom hosts more then half the worlds population of them. Lewis-Stempel’s description of a blue forested carpet reflecting the sky is particularly lyrical and beautiful; while also envious for those of us who have never witnessed it. The same can be said with snowdrops, beautiful delicate little white blossoms, which signal the end of winter. I have yet to see such delicate flowers in the brisk and bracing winters of a Canadian winter.

“The Wood: The Life & Times of Cockshutt Wood,” is a marvelous seasonal journal and daybook of a working countryside writer. John Lewis-Stempel provides a palpable anatomy of a rarity: a natural wood, which is now a bastion against encroaching development and the facelessness of industrial farming, which has all but bulldozed the good old family farm, reducing it to marketing campaigns and packaging. “The Wood: The Life & Times of Cockshutt Wood,” evades slipping into the didactic and dry academic essay, by combining both narrative and overview of what agroforestry is, its importance not only in maintaining tradition and heritage, but also its ecological benefits, all the while providing personal and lyrical touches throughout, in addition to indulging in literary allusion and reflection, surveying history, and sharing recipes and facts in equal turn. “The Wood: The Life & Times of Cockshutt Wood,” becomes its own literary woodland ecosystem, which is only vaguely described as nature writing. Of course, the entire book thrives on John Lewis-Stempel’s prose which maneuvers between sure footed earthen diction and softened impressionism flights of flourish; though I would not go so far as to describe John Lewis-Stempel as a writer who follows in the tracks of the Romantics. The English countryside remains subject, muse, and piece of fascination, and this in turn is shared by readers, who are looking for a book which can be mediative and casual in reading. “The Wood: The Life & Times of Cockshutt Wood,” is a true pleasure to read, further affirming the enduring appeal and legacy of the English countryside as the pastoral ideal.

 

Thank you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
 
M. Mary