So, the shortlist for the Booker Prize was announced yesterday. Like many of you on the blog'o'sphere, I didn't do a post on what I'd expect to see on the longlist. There's a good reason for that - it's because I had absolutely no idea! I figured that Mitchell and McEwan would make it, but that's it. Hmm, even there I was wrong.
So, that's the longlist:
- Peter Carey - Parrot and Oliver in America
- Emma Donoghue - Room
- Helen Dunmore - The Betrayal
- Damon Galgut - In a Strange Room
- Howard Jacobson - The Finkler Question
- Andrea Levy - The Long Song
- Tom McCarthy - C
- David Mitchell - The Thousand Autumns of Zacob de Zoet
- Lisa Moore - February
- Paul Murray - Skippy Dies
- Rose Tremain - Trespass
- Christos Tsiolkas - The Slap
- Alan Warner - The Stars in the Bright Sky
I've read the David Mitchell, and enjoyed it despite finding it a bit of a difficult read. Not read the others, but I do want to read a few of them. Do any of you have any suggestions? I don't really intend to read the entire longlist...
I really don't want to read the Peter Carey (do you really think he'll be the first author to win the Booker Prize three times?), as I really really didn't enjoy the only one of his books that I have read. Yes, I've used the word "really" four times in the previous sentence....
I guess the ones that appeal to me most at the moment are :
- Paul Murray - Skippy Dies
- Rose Tremain - Trespass
- Christos Tsiolkas - The Slap
Have you read any of them? What did you think?
Do you plan on reading the longlist this year? Maybe the shortlist? Or, just the winner?