Booker Prize

[pippistrelle]

Is anyone reading the Booker nominees this year? What's your favourite, and what do you think will win?

'London Falling' is indeed a great read. Enjoy! Although that might not be quite the right word. But it's a story that stays with you. That poor boy, and his parents.

Anyone reading the shortlist?

I've read four of the six, @Cherrypi , and I'm not planning to read any more. Of the four I read, the Elizabeth Strout was the one I admired most at the time, but 'May We Feed the King' seems to be the one that has stayed with me.

I’ve read 5 and not far off finishing the 6th.
My favourites have been John of John and The Disappearers, but I suspect @pippistrelleis right and May we Feed the King may win.

This sums up the Booker Prize for me.

It is no longer a badge of good writing, simply a trawl through the available books to make sure that the Long List and the Short List reflect inclusivity.

They mostly fit into that popular genre of writing: Hogwash

Someone has bought me, "May We Feed the King" and so, I will read that but I usually avoid the recomendations of a bunch of woke numptys.

I see Jarvis Cocker has bought himself some publicity by making a blanket statement to the effect that women writers are better than men writers. Good Lord- what a subtle and nuanced judge he must have been.

So, let's get this right - you haven't read any of them, but you're quite prepared to judge them all as 'hogwash' while criticising someone who has read all of them for something he said? A masterclass in "subtle and nuanced" indeed.

Going on my past experience of reading recent Booker shortlists and reading the blurb of this year's offering then yes, I am prepared to bring my extensive literary experience to the table and confidently say that they will mostly be, as recent year's offerings have been, "hogwash."

I don't need to take a magnifying glass to a cowpat to know that it is, indeed, a cow pat.

You may be less experienced than I and will find this out for yourself in due course.

I don't know if Jarvis Cocker has read all the offerings: it is a known fact that not all the judges read all the books, despite what you may have been told.

However, for Jarvis Cocker to make a sweeping statement-and it was about Literature in general-not just about the Booker hopefuls that he may or may not have read, shows the paucity of his grasp of Literature.

He, nor indeed anybody, can say that women are better writers than men; that Europeans are better writers than Africans; that homosexuals are better writers than straight people or that Catholics are better writers than Muslims.

The reason he-or indeed anybody- cannot say this is because each book has to be judged on its literary merit and not by what box it ticks.

This brings me back to the point-a point that many have made-which is that the Booker Prize in recent years has been nothing more than finding an author to tick the correct boxes.

Jarvis Cocker has demonstrated this for those who naively think the Booker is about recognising good Literature, no matter who has written it.

I do hope that this explanation helps you to-in your own words-"get this right."

Well I'm glad you're so pleased with yourself and your extensive literary experience that allows you to absorb the contents of books by some form of osmosis. I'll carry on keeping an open mind and reading those I like the look of, and not excluding a book just because it's on some longlist or shortlist.

You do that and I hope it stays for fine for you.

Eventually, you will come to realise that life is too short to keep your mind so open that it welcomes all sorts of crap, just because it is on a politically motivated list.

One day, you will learn to close your mind to the genre known as Hogwash but until then, may I wish you Happy Reading!

What recent books would you recommend?

I tend to avoid conflict on Mumsnet but it seems against etiquette to come on to a thread specifically to look down on the thing being discussed- even more so when it’s from a place of no knowledge of the particular list being discussed.
The book pages on Mumsnet are one of the most pleasant places on the internet without sniping attempts at superiority or politics. I for one would like to keep them that way.

Yes, sorry for my part in this. I shouldn't have risen to the bait. But still very happy to read what could have been on an alternative longlist. I love a book recommendation.

I loved the Elizabeth Strout and hadn’t read her before, so am now stuck into Olive Ketteridge.

Well said! That poster hasn’t exactly covered herself in glory.

As for making sweeping statements about books without having actually read them - O tempora, o mores! as Cicero would say.

Tbh I find that the type of book shortlisted for the Booker varies considerably from year to year, which isn’t surprising given that the judging panel is different every year.

The Women's Prize is the same - some years they go for popularity, some for weird, some for 'literature', which is surely what it all is, but I suppose it's what they consider higher brow. Certainly sometimes makes my brows go higher.. I just like readability really, so will definitely be reading the Elizabeth Strout and might give John of John a go once I've reduced the TBR pile on the kindle which has reached alarming proportions.

Whatever Jarvis Cocker may have said, the shortlist has actually ended up with more men than women on it (4:2). I think it's a strong short list.

I've thoroughly enjoyed all 4 that I've read and would recommend them:
John of John
The Things We Never Say
Black Bag
May We Feed The King.

The last of these is the most experimental so probably the one to swerve if that's not your thing.

I'm planning to read the other two but not sure I'm ready to deal with the intensity of The Disappearers and not convinced I'll like The End of Everything.

I really enjoyed the Olive Kittridge although I think I listened to it. ( so performance plays a part in it ). Olive tends to divide readers because she can be abrasive but I really liked her. There’s a sequel if you enjoy it.

Olive Kitteridge is my favourite Elizabeth Strout!

Today I finished my last Booker read- The Disappearers. It is brutal and violent- these men violence (and sex) is graphic so maybe think of this as a trigger warning. It is also excellent on how people deal with trauma. I’ve seen it compared to A Little Life (which I don’t like)- it is much better and more real than that, but only if you have a strong stomach.

Apologies for autocorrect- it should read ‘the violence (and sex) is graphic. Not these men- iPhone predicting (wrongly) too much.

I see that 'The Vivisectors', my least favourite on the longlist by a quantum has got itself nominated for the Goldsmiths Prize too. Otherwise, an entirely different selection.

www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-prize/archive/prize-2026/

I see Francis Spufford is a judge on the Goldsmiths Prize. I wax hot and cold on his work so interesting to see what they choose out of those books.

I can see how The Vivisectors fits the Goldsmiths prize although I didn't really like it and struggled with the ableism.

I've been stuck about halfway through Said The Dead for a while. I put it down and haven't really wanted to pick it up again, I think it's a bit too close to non fiction for me. I'm going to an Irish writers day in a month or so where Ghriofa is speaking so will try and finish it before then.

I do like China Mieville so glad to see he's nominated - think the new book is very long so not sure when I'll get round to it.

Thanks for the link to the Goldmiths list. I wasn’t a fan of The Vivisectors either. I do own Said the Dead and picked up the two fitzcarraldos when they were having a sale. I plan to catch up with them somewhere along the line but I’m planning on a relaxing October of crime, hist fic, gothic and classics so I don’t hit lit fic burnout!

Apart from The Vivisectors, the only one I've read is 'Attention Seeking Behaviour'. I've consulted my reading log (I know, but I lose track and end up buying copies of things I've already read...) because I couldn't really remember it that well even though it was only the beginning of August when I read it which, by itself, speaks volumes. I've written 'superficially clever but actually pretty vacuous'. Oof, I was harsh that day.

I have 'What Am I, A Dear?' on the shelf, attracted by the beautiful Fitzcarraldo cover.

I've never read any China Mieville. I think I'm not sure where to start or what to expect.

I'm planning a similar sort of thing myself actually but with ghost stories - both new and classic, folk horror and maybe a bit of crime/thriller. My TBR shelf has reached capacity and I need to read a good number of what's on there to make room for new material. But maybe the Polly Bartion moves up the list as it's just become more topical thanks to Goldsmiths.