Booker Longlist Read-a-long/discussion

I’m well into If I Survive You, which I’m enjoying. It’s essentially a linked group of short stories depicting the American immigrant experience. I would agree with @Stokey that it’s been a low key, depressing choice of books this year, with some strange omissions. Not sure I can face Prophet Song right now. I would really like Bee Sting to win.

Placemarking really but have started The Bee Sting.

I've only just seen this thread. I've read 9 altogether, but only 3 from the shortlist.

Of the shortlist that I've read, I think it's probably between the Irish Pauls, both of which I thought were good.

Prophet Song was a tough read as it is relentlessly depressing but it is very convincing and well characterised. This is probably my pick to win of the shortlist.

The Bee Sting was a great page turner, although I think I preferred the children's narratives. The mother's narrative was the weakest for me, possibly due to the stream of conscious nature of it. I didn't mind the ambiguous ending but wondered if he'd tried to fit too many characters and themes in, some parts seemed a bit random.

I didn't really like Study For Obedience. It was too opaque and stilted for me.

Have just started I will Survive You.

Of the non short-listed books in my order of preference:

All the Little Bird Hearts - really strong story with original autistic voice - would have loved to see this go further. 5/5
Old God's Time - another unreliable narrator. I actually liked this more than I was expecting to, especially the descriptions of the sea, but not as much as some of Barry's others
The House Of Doors - evocative historic novel set in Penang. Felt like he was trying to fit a bit much in too, I was more interested in Lesley's story than the Somerset Maugham parts 4/5
In Ascension - ambitious, good atmosphere, was frustrated at some of the plot lines being left hanging when it moved from section to section 4/5
A Spell of Good Things - I would have liked the two stories to come together a bit more. It didn't quite capture my imagination, I felt the same as @Rae36 3/5
How To Build A Boat - a little bit too twee, especially compared with All the Little Bird Hearts. The guy was a bit too much of a saviour and didn't think the teacher's story fitted. Would have liked more about his father - 3/5

On the whole I think it was a bit of an odd selection this year. Quite insular, depressing books with quite a bit of stream.of consciousness and unreliable narrators. I may get to the other 2 on the shortlist if I see them on offer but am not desperate to read them.

Read How to Build a Boat - enjoyed it, but perhaps not a classic.

Just finished the Bee Sting - really loved this one. Kept you guessing, and thought the ending was gripping (controversial I know!). Has to be a contender for the win.

Moving on to Prophet Song now - third one by an Irish writer, they seem very well represented this year.

Will hopefully get half of the shortlist read before the award!

I'm not enjoying A Spell of Good Things at all. I keep trying but I just can't seem to care about any of the characters. I can't relate to any of them. That doesn't usually put me off a book but I'm just not interested in any of them.
I'm giving up and moving on to How To Build A Boat.

I’ve come to this late, so I’ll attempt to read the shortlist (is there another thread for that?)

I’ve read and loved House Of Doors. Like @lilyfire, I’d read the author’s previous two books and I love his style of writing. Look forward to reading more of your reviews.

Well finally my library reservations are starting to arrive, clearly lots of demand in my town for Booker longlists. I've started on A Spell of Good Things but it's taking me a while to get going.

I've finished a couple now:

Old God's Time this took me a while to get into, but I'm glad I stuck with it as I did enjoy it overall. I thought the subtle plot development was brilliant and how you never quite knew what was real or not - some of it was very hard to read in an uncomfortable way though.

Study for Obedience I didn't really get this - I can see it is an accomplished piece of writing, but it was too vague and everytime I started to get into it and think something was happening that I could get a handle on, it would shift back.

I'm half way through Pearl now which I am loving and has me completely gripped!

Just finished How to Build a Boat, which I quite enjoyed. It’s difficult to create a believable neurodiverse child character, but it works here. However I wasn’t totally convinced by the school. Would marital breakdown really be a sackable offence for a teacher? In 2020? Also, I’m afraid I got a little bored by Tess.

Have now finished All The Little Bird-Hearts which was really readable. Characters were so well drawn and Vita very believable and chilling.
Also finished Pearl which I enjoyed.
Now on How to Build a Boat which is fairly compelling from the start.
Agree about the plethora of dead mothers.

I've found my people! I've read the longlist the last couple of years - but I am so behind this year and there is no way I'm going to finish by the time the prize is announced!

Usually I've read at least 2-3 before the longlist is announced, but I'd read none this year. I've ordered all the ones available at the library, but so far only picked one up (the Sebastian Barry) so I need to get cracking when I've finished the book I'm reading at the moment.

I shall be back when a few come in!

Ooh, I'm more interested in reading the Paul Lynch novel now. Though countries with strong trade union traditions are precisely those where the government turns on them, or gets together with powerful business interests to do so. Including Britain, France, the US. The Dublin lockout was 110 years ago! And now many of those traditions have been divided if not smashed, the industries where they were strongest have gone, or if they remain, unions have been seriously weakened. I wish I didn't find the scenario you mention in Prophet Song all too believable.

I have just finished Old God’s Time. I hadn’t read anything by Sebastian Barry before and loved the rhythm and style of his writing. Beautiful.

Prophet Song sounds right up my street @Taytocrisps. I am not sure which way to turn next, so maybe that one is next!

I was really struggling with 'Old God's Time' so I moved onto my third nominee - 'Prophet Song' by Paul Lynch. This book is really compelling and chilling. In the book, Ireland is in the grip of a totalitarian regime which has taken a stance against the trade union movement. The main character's husband (a trade union official) goes missing and the main character has to try to keep her family safe as society begins to unravel and violence and chaos ensues.

Ireland has a strong tradition of trade unionism and workers rights (Connolly, Larkin, the 1913 Lockout etc.), so I found it a little difficult to imagine an Ireland where a government would turn on trade unions. But that's probably irrelevant. The book illustrates how powerless you can be when you end up on the wrong side of the law, through no fault of your own. It also describes how quickly normal life can be upended and society can turn on itself.

Highly recommended.

I've read two - I found Old God's Time sad and interesting but have liked another book by Sebastian Barry more. I would love to see A Spell of Good Things on the shortlist. I have The House of Doors out from the library but like another poster, am struggling with all my reservations come at once syndrome! I don't have the money for new hardbacks but am always on the lookout for bargains! I've bought the Elaine Feeney as a Kindle Daily Deal a few months ago before the Booker longlist came out, I have at least one as a Netgalley copy, and am on the lookout for several of the others - my experience is that a surprising number do come up on offer, there will be some I may be looking out for for years, or still planning to read at some point in 2 or 3 years time (I'm easily distracted!).

Yay I’ve found my people! For the first time I’m also trying to read as many Booker long-listed books before the short list / winner is announced. A surprising number of books about dead mothers but hey ho.

The Bee Sting - one of my favourite books all year. I raced through this book. Some parts were hilarious and others were tragic but at no point did I see what was coming. Each time I felt I knew what the downfall of a certain character would be, the plot would switch direction. I think this book will definitely make the short list if not win the main prize.

In Ascension - beautifully written and a very interesting science fiction story that was broad in scope, from microbiology to space. Many topics were touched upon: the environment, parental relationships, the pressure on women to care for elderly relatives. I think that this book will make the short list.

Western Lane - Personally I struggled with this one and I don’t think I would have finished it if it were longer. I found it a bit cold. I am not interested in sport or playing squash and the only bits I really enjoyed were when they talked about food. I think the author is talented, this book just wasn’t for me.

All the Little Bird-Hearts - I found this book to be a real page turner. I wanted to know what and how Vita did what she did. It felt like a really authentic story about a person with autism.

How to Build a Boat - an emotional read that touched me much more than Western Lane. The author nearly brought me to tears whenever the topic of Jamie’s dead mother came up. It was beautifully written and captivating.

Pearl is in paperback and quite short too .

Would these books be published in paperback yet? I like physical books but hard back is just too heavy.

@JaneyGee
Have a look at the Booker lists (or other award lists) of the 1970s and 1980s if you think who you were didn't matter then. Or the review pages of newspapers etc. Often a lot more men than women even got put forward or even considered in the first place, they were mostly white. Writers educated at Oxford or Cambridge or the equivalents in other countries dominated.

I can't think of any award list, short or long, that I've got round to reading all of and I follow quite a lot of them, but given how many books I want to read and how few of them I'm actually going to get to, I'm unlikely to go out of my way to read a book that doesn't appeal just because it's listed. However, books that are listed are far more likely to be bought by libraries and get coverage, so I think it's good that literary awards now are helping to make the literary canon more interesting, more varied. And there are far more books being "cancelled", as you put it, by conservative school boards and other authorities in the US, than by people saying, ooh, I'm interested in reading this novel by a Nigerian woman, or a Malaysian man's take on a British writer who spent several periods of his life as an expat.

I think Larkin and Hughes still get read, more than 37 years after Larkin died, and I think over 20 since Hughes died. Whereas many many poets and novelists of the same generation aren't even in print, and that includes some of the work of the Booker Prize winners and nominees. And some of the books that are back in print have been brought back in thanks to feminist reprint publishers like Virago. I think. Maybe, ironically, feminist publishers have shown publishers that there is a genuine market for other reissues of literary fiction (including books by men, even white men)?

I don't tend to use the word woke, but I think in the sense that people are using it sincerely it's a perfectly good idea

I've ordered a few from the list at the library, I'm skint so not buying books right now. But they're all in high demand so I might have to wait a while.
Sometimes you wait weeks and weeks at the library for reservations then they all turn up at once.
I'll read what you all think about them in the meantime.

I decided to go through the long list in the order of bookies’ favourites. Have just finished The House of Doors which I loved. I read The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng years ago and really liked it but then forgot about him so was good to discover another of his books.
Am about half way through All the Little Bird-Hearts which am also really enjoying and finding pretty gripping.
Not sure how far will make it through before the short list is announced but it’s a good way of accessing new writing.
Was also really surprised that Demon Copperhead didn’t make the list as thought it was fantastic - although a pretty traumatic read.

Just finished Pearl. Marianne is 8 when her mother disappears and the book shows how this affects Marianne and the rest of the family. Beautifully written and very sad. I liked it but I don’t think it’s a winner.

Forgot to say that I've started on 'Old God's Time' by Sebastian Barry.

Joining in for the chat although it's very unlikely I'll have read all of the books by the time they announce the shortlist. Hoping to have read the four Irish nominees at any rate.

Anyway, I finished the first one - 'The Bee Sting' by Paul Murray. I really liked it overall although it dragged a bit here and there and I wasn't altogether sure about the ending. I liked the way it captured small town Irish life - the Tidy Towns group and the importance of the GAA and the begrudgery. Although my local Tidy Towns group is a really busy group and doesn't sit around gossiping all day . I also liked the way that events and characters from the past re-emerged (never went away in some cases). It was all done in a much more sophisticated manner than the usual trope of young relative clears out their grandparent's attic and finds letters written by/to the grandparent.

Thank you for starting this thread. Without fail, I always read the ones first that don’t make it to the short list. Apologies to the authors that will be condemned by this spell.

I am reading Old God’s Time first. And am enjoying it.

I like to follow the Booker because it gets me into reading very contemporary fiction. And it falls over the summer holiday, which is helpful.