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Booker 25 - a thread

131 replies

Trojanbores · 22/06/2025 09:21

Hello. I always try to read the Booker longlist.

Can anyone guess what might be on there this year? Any dead certs?

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elkiedee · 26/10/2025 12:41

I'm enjoying Sonia and Sunny (nearly 200 pages in) and Flashlight - I made more than one reservation for S&S so I now have an extra couple of weeks, and I need to prioritise Flashlight and another reserved library book that are due back in the next few days.

But maybe, @InTheCludgie, if you don't feel motivated to read a library reservation now, cancel it this one - you can always rejoin the queue, now or later (although having free reservations obviously helps with this....)

pollyhemlock · 26/10/2025 12:36

I have now read them all except Sonia and Sunny and I’m not sure I’ll get round to it before the prize announcement. I haven’t changed my mind that Land in Winter should win- personally I think it’s a masterpiece. However I really enjoyed Flashlight and could live with that winning. I can see that Flesh has a lot going for it , but I just didn’t warm to it. If either Rest of Our Lives or Audition wins I shall give up on the whole prize.

InTheCludgie · 26/10/2025 08:56

Not sure, I've only read half the shortlist. I've got Sonia and Sunny waiting for me at the library but I've no motivation to collect it as heard very mixed reviews, tempted to just cancel the hold on it. If Flesh or Flashlight win i might read them after. I'd like to see The Land In Winter win from the ones I have read.

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Trojanbores · 26/10/2025 07:55

Do we have any final predictions? I have found the list underwhelming this year. No gems as in previous years.

I see that there is a Booker for children being planned … I hope that reveals new talent and gives us some alternative to all the celebrity children’s writers.

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pollyhemlock · 11/10/2025 17:53

It doesn’t improve . It’s ok I suppose but it doesn’t do anything original or exciting. Also there’s too much about basketball, a subject in which I have zero interest.

pollyhemlock · 10/10/2025 19:19

I’m about halfway through The Rest of Our Lives and finding it really heavy going - a drab tale about an American law professor’s midlife crisis which doesn’t seem to me to be doing anything new or interesting. No idea at the moment why it would be preferred over Seascraper. I will finish it though in case it improves.

BookEngine · 08/10/2025 21:47

Audition - i think it was technically interesting but wouldn't it have been better if you'd been manipulated into investing in a character and the different ways that life could play out.

I did feel invested in the people in The Land in Winter.

AtomicBlondeRose · 08/10/2025 20:44

That’s my short answer anyway! It enraged me to be quite honest. I know others here have enjoyed it though so it’s divisive. I found it shallow and basically pointless. It tries something interesting with form but takes it nowhere, and by the end I felt I had no real insight into the protagonist at all. She was so 2-D to me.

AtomicBlondeRose · 08/10/2025 20:42

No 😂

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Trojanbores · 08/10/2025 20:41

Is Audition any good?

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AtomicBlondeRose · 08/10/2025 20:40

Each time I see the list I’m surprised again that The Rest of our Lives is on it. I actually really enjoyed it but it’s…just a novel. Not particularly experimental or doing anything new.

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Trojanbores · 08/10/2025 20:37

Shortlist
Flesh
The Land in Winter
The Rest of Our Lives
Audition
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
Flashlight

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ÚlldemoShúl · 08/10/2025 20:31

I really liked Flesh- I think the style takes a while to get into but it eventually helps you see through Istvan’s eyes a lot more. Now that Seascraper is out, it’d be my first choice for winner.
Has anyone read The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny? I’m 200 pages in and really struggling. Some of the people in the wider families are somewhat interesting but Sonia and Sunny themselves are boring the pants off me. Is it worth persevering?

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Trojanbores · 08/10/2025 20:31

I have just finished ‘Flesh’. I have never enjoyed reading a book that I really didn’t like before. He is a great writer and it is well-structured. Just empty. I guess that was the point.

i wonder where to go next.

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BookEngine · 08/10/2025 07:59

Thanks everyone, will keep going.

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Trojanbores · 07/10/2025 19:30

He is a sympathetic character. Used by others and extraordinarily unlucky at the beginning, but he is not embittered. Life just seems to happen to him. He is passive in his own life.

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AtomicBlondeRose · 07/10/2025 19:09

The content of Flesh is interesting because although I do agree with the implausibility, there's a disconnect between the body and the mind that keeps it compelling - he inhabits his body and basically profits from it most of his life but seems so separate from it, which fits with the title.

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Trojanbores · 07/10/2025 18:37

I think it is beautifully written and paced, but I don’t like the content. The writing makes it worthwhile. Better than McEwan I think.

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BookEngine · 07/10/2025 09:53

So I started Flesh, and it's giving me Ian McEwan, Lessons vibes. 15 year old boy seduced by middle aged woman.
Does this actually happen as often as these authors suggest. A straw poll of my book club suggested it wasn't likely. Where are all the 15 year old girl groped by older men books?
Is it worth me preservering?

Stowickthevast · 06/10/2025 09:05

I listened to Seascraper, Love Forms and Flesh which were all good on audio. Flashlight was ok too.

BookEngine · 05/10/2025 21:32

I listened to The Land in Winter, it's narrated by the author himself.
He said at a book event he found it tough but he is correct in that because he knew it so well, he could really nail the emphasis when needed. - I recommend
The Audition in contrast sounds like they used a robot, dreadful, have switched to text.

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Trojanbores · 02/10/2025 17:44

It’s really good. Beautifullly written. I’m not sure about what the story is, but I am really enjoying reading it.

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InTheCludgie · 02/10/2025 16:27

How are you getting on with Flesh @Trojanbores? I reserved this via Libby ages ago and it's just become available, I'm now in two minds whether to read it or not

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Trojanbores · 24/09/2025 09:35

Ok. I’m going for Flesh.

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Stowickthevast · 23/09/2025 21:09

I'm absolutely gobsmacked to see The Rest Of Our Lives on there. I'd read it a few months ago and was shocked that it made the longlist let alone the shortlist. It'll probably win now.

Audition is very readable and interesting to think about and discuss.
I really liked The Land In Winter, liked Flashlight but found it a bit bloated and found Flesh weirdly compelling.

Very sad not to see Seascraper and surprised not to see Endling.

Not sure whether to listen to Sonia & Sunny or buy it - the audio is half the price of the Kindle copy but sometimes it's confusing listening to a behemoth of a book.