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Original poster

Booker Prize shortlist announced

38 replies

elkiedee · 09/09/2009 00:09

The titles are:

The Children's Book by A S Byatt (Random House, Chatto and Windus)

Summertime by J M Coetzee (Random House, Harvill Secker)

The Quickening Maze by Adam Fould (Random House, Jonathan Cape)

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (HarperCollins, Fourth Estate)

The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (Little, Brown)

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Little, Brown, Virago)

Have you read any of them, do you want to, do you have any opinions on them or on books that have been left off the shortlist from the longlist? Who would you like to see win, and why?

OP posts:
LadyGlencoraPalliser · 09/09/2009 19:08

Pielight - I think he is a reader's writer IYKWIM. He has his loyal followers like you and me, but he doesn't have the public profile of a lot of IMO inferior writers.
Which do you like best, his novels or short stories?

nickytwotimes · 09/09/2009 19:05

I thought The Little Stranger would be fantastic, but it left me cold.
Haven't read any of the others.

Pielight · 09/09/2009 19:02

Yes I love William Trevor too Lady P. Is he under-rated? I think he's v. well respected. Also agree about Brooklyn

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 09/09/2009 18:58

I am very disappointed that William Trevor's book was left off the shortlist. I think he is a hugely under rated writer and I am not sure why. Colm Toibin is also a favourite of mine, so I shall putting them both on my next Amazon order
Of the shortlist, the only one I am looking forward to reading is Wolf Hall.

Pielight · 09/09/2009 18:56

Oh I think it's a good list this year. I'm looking forward to the Coetzee (because he's so v. good) and Wolf Hall in particular. Also the Adam Foulds, which sounds v. interesting and I love the title without even understanding it

TheWorstWitch · 09/09/2009 18:51

NQC - will you read them all before they announce winner?

NotQuiteCockney · 09/09/2009 18:30

I will read them all, I always read them all. Not that impressed with the other Sarah Waters I read before, am not sure I've read anything by any of the others.

But I always end up adoring at least one of them, so it's worth it to read them all.

hollytom · 09/09/2009 18:29

therealbanksy: Read Wolf Hall enjoyed it but found the fact that it was written in present tense third and used a lot of 'he said' very irritating. I thought it was confusing as to who it was at times but otherwise did enjoy it.

vacaloca · 09/09/2009 17:44

I finished The Little Stranger a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoyed it - really liked the style.

I haven't read any of the others.

And while we're at it. I just finished Mudbound by Hillary Jordan. It's her first nove and I loved it. It's probably the fastest I've read any book. Stayed up until really late a couple of nights to finish it.

TheWorstWitch · 09/09/2009 17:40

I'm intrigued by The Little Stranger and Wolf Hall, so like FlyingMonkey will order from library.
The Coetzee seems a bit odd - is it a biography?

therealbanksy · 09/09/2009 09:28

I'm already 100 pages into Wolf Hall and I'm absolutely gripped. Fantastic style.

FlyingMonkey · 09/09/2009 09:17

I have The Little Stranger and Wolf Hall on order from the library. I didn't really enjoy the last Hilary Mantel book I read (Beyond Black) but I think that was more to do with the content rather than her writing style. I've loved all of the Sarah Waters books I've read and likewise with A S Byatt.
Coetzee doesn't really appeal to me and I've never heard of Adam Fould or Simon Mawer.

Original poster
elkiedee · 09/09/2009 00:12

I'm currently reading The Little Stranger, and have read several previous books by AS Byatt, might seek out this one at some point, and I don't know anything about the others or the longlist. I used to be better informed and better read but read much more slowly than I used to at the moment.

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