I can never help getting swept up in the excitement of a new Booker Prize list and the longlist for this year's main award has just been announced. It's an interesting group with many well established writers and previously Booker-nominated authors. There are only two debuts which is a big change from last year's prize list which included a lot of new voices. There's a fairly even gender balance and a range of nationalities are represented although, as always in recent years, most of the authors are British or American. I didn't do so well with my predictions for what would be listed but two really strong contenders I was certain we'd see are here - “Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo Ishiguro and “The Promise” by Damon Galgut. They're both utterly absorbing and thoughtful novels which also tell a gripping story and have left a lasting impression on me. I've also read “A Passage North” by Anuk Arudpragasam which is an extremely compelling book in its deliberations about human nature and the specific concerns of post-civil war Sri Lanka. However, it did feel too ponderous in some sections. I also felt “No One is Talking About This” by Patricia Lockwood gives a very humorous and, later in the book, an emotional account of the dilemma of living a life that's mediated through the internet, but it didn't move me as much as it has some other readers.
Out of the remaining novels on the list I'm most looking forward to reading “The Fortune Men” by Nadifa Mohamed and “Bewilderment” by Richard Powers. With Powers I felt “The Overstory” was mostly compelling and made a striking statement overall but was a tad too bloated so the fact that his new novel is slimmer feels like a good sign. I'm also highly anticipating “An Island” by Karen Jennings as it sounds like it gives another interesting slant on South African politics by telling the story of a man's interrupted solitude. The stories of “China Room” by Sunjeev Sahota and “Great Circle” by Maggie Shipstead sound so absorbing I'm looking forward to getting stuck into them. I first heard about “The Sweetness of Water” by Nathan Harris because it's on Obama's Summer reading list so it'll be interesting to see if this novel will become better known in the UK because of this award. I'm very partial to Anne Tyler's fiction and “A Town Called Solace” by Mary Lawson has been likened to her books so I'm sure I'll enjoy this novel. After reading “Outline” by Rachel Cusk I didn't feel motivated to carry on with reading that trilogy but I would be keen to give her writing another try by reading “Second Place” though it has received some rather critical reviews. Finally, I've been wanting to read historian Francis Spufford's writing since his debut novel made such a splash and I do enjoy alternate histories in fiction so I'm looking forward to “Light Perpetual” as well.
That gives me quite a reading list for the next few months! I'll see how much I can get to before the shortlist is announced on September 14th. What books on the list are you keen to read? What novels are you disappointed didn't make the list? Will you take on the challenge of reading all 13 or pick and choose?
