Thursday, July 31, 2008

Booker time

I know, I know but when were we on time? Plus I am going through one of my non-fiction phases and somewhere halfway through Keay's latest. But the Booker doesn't wait of course and the longlist has always been a great way to find new writers, so well, we shall do the Mela as usual. The only one I have read so far on the list is the Rushdie which was all about "Look, how cool I am!" and because it was Rushdie, it just about worked but nothing to write home about.

The longlist:

Aravind Adiga The White Tiger - n!'s review
Gaynor Arnold Girl in a Blue Dress
Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture
John Berger From A to X
Michelle de Kretser The Lost Dog
Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies - Space Bar
Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs - Falstaff, Veena, Fëanor
Mohammed Hanif A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency
Joseph O'Neill Netherland - Falstaff's note
Salman Rushdie The Enchantress of Florence
Tom Rob Smith Child 44
Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole - Falstaff

As always, drop me a line / link if you plan to read and review any of these before they announce the prize in Oct.

Previous Booker Melas: 2005, 2006, 2007

11 comments:

Fëanor said...

Are you reading Keay's history of China? How's it going?

Veena said...

feanor: yep, local library had it prominently displayed. 150 pages in. Very good so far. Though must say that Keay doesn't seem very emotionally involved in China like he seems to be in all the India books.

Just wish I knew something of the language - can't get any name right.

Fëanor said...

Just follow the story Lion Eating Poet in the Stone Den with the appropriate intonation, and all the language will be revealed.

Ludwig said...

i've read "The Sea of Poppies". me! me!! me!!!

you woman. you still haven't told me where the Keay is to be procured.

Veena said...

feanor: Ya, I tried this a while ago and gave up after the first two 'shi's.

luddo: Okey. Go be a good boy and write review now.

As for Keay procurement, the key is to drive four hours to the new airport and take a flight here. The book waits for you.

Cheshire Cat said...

Speaking of melas, do Bill and you have any plans of making it to the Edinburgh festival?

Unknown said...

Cat: Haven't bought tickets but hope to be there sometime week of the 18th.

Have you finally moved to Edinburgh?

Cheshire Cat said...

Indeed. We should meet up sometime when you're here. BTW, if you guys don't already have accommodation, you're welcome to stay with me - I have a ton of extra space in my flat.

Unknown said...

So we can call you Prof Cat now? Cool.

And thanks! Should def meet up. Some part of the visting parental unit also needs to be entertained so not sure of details yet.

Anonymous said...

Here is my review of "Enchantress..":

Flatulent.

n!

PS: maybe this year, we can do reviews of reviews?

Unknown said...

n!: We like one-word reviews. Awesome.

Of course. If you promise to do reviews of reviews, I will start a new blog devoted just to that. n!'s digested reviews of reviews!