Booker prize

[teaandtoastwithmarmite]

I'm thinking to work my way through these. I've been through the list since it started and I've only read 4. How many have you read, which ones and have you enjoyed them. I've read
Shuggie Bain
Life of Pi
A Sense Of An Ending
Girl, Woman, Other

I have The Remains of the Day on my bookshelf and Prophet Song on order.

I’ve read 15 of the winners and have a further 11 on my shelves / Kindle including the two Wolf Hall books that I’m definitely reading this year.

Of the ones I’ve read, Schindler’s Ark, Shuggie Bain, The Ghost Road, The God of Small Things and The Blind Assassin are my favourites. I also enjoyed Girl, Woman, Other, The Seven Moons…. and Lincoln in the Bardo. I very quickly gave up on Vernon God Little and wish I hadn’t bothered with The English Patient.

I bought Prophet Song in the 99p kindle deals recently so I’m looking forward to reading that.

Hi @TattiePants thank you for sharing. Wow 15 is impressive. Definitely going to prioritise those ones you have enjoyed. Interested to see what Prophet Song is like. Wish I'd seen the 99p deal.

What did you think of Prophet song OP? I did it for a book club recently.

Six for me:
Wolf Hall
Lincoln in the Bardo - loved it!
Bring up the Bodies
The Blind Assassin
Amsterdam
The God of Small Things

I thought I had read more but many turned out to have been runners up.

I’ve “read” 26, going back to the very first one.

By which I mean, either read or listened to the audiobook.

The Sense of an Ending

White Tiger

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha

I honestly thought I'd read more too.

I've read 21 of the actual winners, and lots of the nominees (I've read the entire long list for the last 4 years).

My favourites of the winners I've read are Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea; Bring Up the Bodies which still makes me catch my breath with how brilliant the pacing is; Lincoln in the Bardo and probably Shuggie Bain.

Possession by AS Byatt
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
Both Hilary Mantel winners
Amstersam
Last Orders by Graham Swift
Sense of an Ending

I seem to be the only person who didn’t like Lincoln in the Bardo.

I’ve read a few others too, seem to prefer the 80s/90s ones.

I've read ten of the winners and 21 of the ones shortlisted. The Remains of the Day is my favourite, and possibly my all-time favourite novel. Notes on a Scandal didn't win, but that is also a superb book and so much better than the film.

Since they expanded eligibility, my interest has waned, but Prophet Song intrigues me.

I've been steadily working through the complete list for a number of years. I've read everything nominated for the past 5 years. Overall I've read 26 winners, 48 shortlisted and 46 longlisted. I'm slacking on the International Booker with only 2 winners and 5 listed. My reading is heavily weighted towards more recent end of the list.

I'm hoping to work through a lot more this year, but I also read the Women's Prize list in full every year and I'm working through the full backlist of those too. I'm not sure I'll ever finish both full lists.

My favourites from any level of nomination have been

Paul Lynch - Prophet Song
Paul Murray - The Bee Sting
Claire Keegan - Small Things Like These
Audrey Magee - The Colony
Leila Motley - Nightcrawling
Damon Galgut - The Promise
Maggie Shipstead - Great Circle
Douglas Stuart - Shuggie Bain
Gabriel Krauze - Who They Was
Hilary Mantel - All 3 Wolf Hall series
Lucy Ellman - Ducks, Newburyport
Valeria Luiselli - Lost Children Archive
Max Potter - Lanny
Anna Burns - Milkman
Daisy Johnson - Everything Under
Jon McGregor - Reservoir 13
Kamila Shamsie - Home Fire
Colson Whitehead - Underground Railroad
Graeme Macrae Burnett - His Bloody Project
Ian McGuire - The North Water
Sarah Waters - The Little Stranger + Wintersmith
Anne Enright - The Gathering
Mohsin Hamid - The Reluctant Fundamentalist
David Mitchell - Black Swan Green
Margaret Atwood - Alias Grace + The Handmaid's Tale
Barry Unworthy - Morality Play
Penelope Lively - Moon Tiger
J.G. Ballard - Empire of the Sun
Thomas Keneally - Schindler's Ark
J.L. Carr - A Month in the Country
Iris Murdoch - The Sea, The Sea
Penelope Fitzgerald - The Bookshop
J.M Coetzee - everything he's written

I hope you find some great books via the full list as there are loads of brilliant books on it.

I tried reading the Booker longlist every year for several years.....but it turned out that I hated almost every single one on there, soooo many characters who needed to just talk to each other and then make a decision and get on with their lives! I now read the Royal Society Science Prize list instead. :-) Past Winners & Shortlisted Books - Science Book Prize | Royal Society So be aware that there's that option as well, if you find that like me, you are struggling with Booker after a while. Thinking Allowed (on Radio 4) also used to do a good ethnography book prize for a few years: BBC Radio 4 - Thinking Allowed - Ethnography Award

There are some absolute stinkers that make the list and it does make me question what they were thinking. The 2023 list was a very weak one for me.

18 winners for me and 38 from the shortlists. (Thought I'd read more than that!)

I'll join you in not enjoying Lincoln in the Bardo @Santasbigredbobblehat !

Had no idea, so counted. 17, including some absolute crackers!

Iris Murdock - The Sea, The Sea
Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children
Kazuhiro Ishiguru - The Remains of the Day
A. S. Byatt - Possession: A Romance
Roddy Doyle - Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
Arundhati Roy - A God of Small Things
Ian McEwan - Amsterdam
Yan Martel - Life of Po
D. B. C. Pierre - Vernon God Little
Alan Hollinghurst - The Line of Beauty
John Banville - The Sea
Anne Enright - The Gathering
Hilary Mantal - Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies
Elenor Catton - The Luminaries
Margaret Atwood - The Testaments
Bernadine Evaristo - Girl, Woman, Other

Favourites were both Wolf Hall books, The Line of Beauty, Amsterdam, and A God of Small Things.

It's a nice idea, but personally I wouldn't bother. I no longer trust the literary establishment. Too often, things like the Booker and T. S. Eliot Prize are mere box ticking exercise. People often win awards not for the quality of their writing but for being who they are. Or they'll win because their novel tackles a worthy cause, even though the novel itself is mediocre.

Harold Bloom was the last critic whose opinion I trusted. I use him as a guide for who to read. Bloom was ruthlessly honest, and made a point of judging books purely on their literary merit – nothing else.

13 winners for me but not many of the recent ones.

Favourites I think were
Possession - AS Byatt
The two Hilary Mantel winners
Amsterdam - Ian McEwan
and The English Patient- Michael Ondajte

I'm still waiting for it from the library 🤦🏻‍♀️😂. What did you think?

Wow I'm really happy there's been more posts! Thank you so much. All this information is great and really helpful. I will definitely work my way through some log these. I'm planning to read the two Hilary Mantel titles soon and will come back 😍

I've read almost 22. I'm Irish so I have to read the Irish winners. The Narrow Road to the Deep North, The Bone People and Possession would be my favourites so far, and I'm 170 pages into Prophet Song and it's amazing so far.

I'm actually posting tonight because I logged in to see if there's a thread on Prophet Song. Definitely worth a discussion.

Aah brilliant. I'm 8 in the queue for prophet song so hope to get it soon and will come back to let you know 😃

I've read the following 19 and have a few on my TBR pile as well. Most were read fairly close to the time they won so while I remember what I thought at the time there's no guarantee I'd feel like that now.

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo. I really liked this but Mr Loverman is supposed to be better
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. Should have won for The Handmaid's Tale.
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. Very long and curiously masculine. On paper I should have adored this but was slightly disappointed.
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. One of the best books I've ever read.
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. Old man looks back at youthful love affair. I got very annoyed at this book.
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Loved.
The Sea by John Banville. Beautiful writing but another old man looks back at his past.
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey. Loved this.
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. Loved this.
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Can't remember how I felt about this at the time.
The Ghost Road by Pat Barker. Last in the Regeneration trilogy. Read Regeneration instead.
Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle. Easy read, would probably hate now because I struggle with child narrators now.
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. Loved this, loved the film (which turned it much more into an old man looks back at life story).
Possession by AS Byatt. Adored this.
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Loved this even though it was an old man looks back at unrequited love story.
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey. Loved this.
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively. I know it's an 'old woman looks back at her life' but I remember nothing about it, I suspect I was too young to appreciate it when I read it.
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner. Hated at the time, my Mum (reading it in her 40s) loved it, I keep meaning to reread because I suspect I'd appreciate it much more now.
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch. I was a child when this came out and read it much later. It's a bit of a piss take of the 'old man looks back at life' Booker trope and I think I appreciate it more looking back at it than I did at the time. Definitely worth reading.

I think that list shows I like the female winners of the Booker more than the men. I have several other female winners on my TBR shelves.

Did you read Prophet Song yet @teaandtoastwithmarmite ?
If so what did you think ?

All of the above - but one of my favourites to add is ‘A history of seven killings’ by Marlon James

Just checked and I've read 15.

Favourites- The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst
Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Possession by AS Byatt.

Tried and gave up on Vernon God Little, also Midnight's Children. The Luminaries seemed underwhelming.

Have read very few of the recent winners, last decade. They don't appeal.

Might try to read some of the older ones- never read Penelope Lively or Peter Carey for example.