How many Booker winning novels have you read?

were u friends?

2005 The Sea by John Banville
2004 The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
2002 Life of Pi by Yann Martel
1992 The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (co-winner)
1990 Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt

2002 Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2001 True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
2000 The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
1993 Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle

2001 True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
1998 Amsterdam: A Novel by Ian McEwan
1992 The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (co-winner)
1989 The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
1981 Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
1978 The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch

were u friends?

never heard of him

2004 The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
1999 Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee
1989 The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
1981 Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

2005 The Sea by John Banville - loved it
2004 The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst - loved it, and was really disappointed when I went on to read 'The Swimming-Pool Library'
2001 True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey - loved it, this and Oscar and Lucinda are Carey's only really great books
1999 Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee - broke my heart
1998 Amsterdam: A Novel by Ian McEwan - really dig McEwan, but this is his worst book, a bit of black fluff
1996 Last Orders by Graham Swift - didn't see what all the fuss was about
1994 How Late It Was, How Late by James Kelman - enjoyed it
1993 Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle - OK, but didn't really see what all the fuss was about
1989 The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - loved it
1988 Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey - see above
1987 Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively - it was OK, I guess
1986 The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis - everything after 'Lucky Jim' has been a bit of a disappointment for me
1984 Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner - dull dull dull
1983 Life & Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee - liked it
1980 Rites of Passage by William Golding - enjoyed it, though it seemed strangely old-fashioned
1979 Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald - Fitzgerald is the bee's knees

all my friends loved the bone people so much in the 80's. there is a serious cult for that book.

Here's the updated list with the three most recent ones added:

2008 The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
2007 The Gathering by Anne Enright
2006 The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
2005 The Sea by John Banville
2004 The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
2003 Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
2002 Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2001 True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
2000 The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
1999 Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee
1998 Amsterdam: A Novel by Ian McEwan
1997 The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
1996 Last Orders by Graham Swift
1995 The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
1994 How Late It Was, How Late by James Kelman
1993 Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
1992 The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (co-winner)
1992 Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (co-winner)
1991 The Famished Road by Ben Okri
1990 Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt
1989 The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
1988 Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
1987 Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
1986 The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis
1985 The Bone People by Keri Hulme
1984 Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner
1983 Life & Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee
1982 Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
1981 Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
1980 Rites of Passage by William Golding
1979 Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald
1978 The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch
1977 Staying on by Paul Scott
1976 Saville by David Storey
1975 Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
1974 The Conservationist by Gordimer
1973 The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell
1972 G. by John Berger
1971 In a Free State by V. S. Naipaul
1970 The Elected Member by Bernice. Rubens
1969 Something to Answer For by P. H. Newby

--

I think I've read 12, though several of those were so long ago that I can hardly remember if I genuinely have even read them, let alone what they were like, especially as I was too young to really be able to appreciate them. My Dad used to follow the prize quite closely and would buy and read the winner every year, along with a selection of the shortlist that took his fancy, and had a small archive folder of newspaper cuttings about it over the years.

My personal favourite of those I know is Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day", by quite a way. A wonderful book.

One, The Bone People, and I didn't much care for it. Only other I'm likely ever to read is How Late it Was..., I love James Kelman, but mostly the Booker just doesn't like what I do. I've read maybe a hundred shortlisted ones, tho.

Here's my list. All of them, except possibly The God of Small Things, were worthwhile, and I really loved Last Orders and Remains of the Day.

2005 The Sea by John Banville
2000 The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
1997 The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
1996 Last Orders by Graham Swift
1989 The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
1985 The Bone People by Keri Hulme
1983 Life & Times of Michael K by J. M. Coetzee

Arghh, I forgot that "How Late It Was, How Late" was on there. I think I prefer that to even "Remains Of The Day" actually. Disregard what I said above.

I have still not read any of these books.

same here. I'm guessing my first will probably be Midnight's Children (Satanic Verses was great and I'm sort of getting the Rushdie itch again) or The Famished Road (been meaning to read this for a while now; didn't even realize it was a Booker winner)

six

1998 Amsterdam: A Novel by Ian McEwan
1993 Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
1989 The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
1986 The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis
1981 Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
1971 In a Free State by V. S. Naipaul

3: Rites Of Passage, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, Vernon God Little

Just one, sadly. Possession.

Does The Sea, not The Sea, the Sea, have any of Banville's trademark descriptions of the sky?

2000 The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
1997 The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
1992 The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

All three very depressing books, particularly The God of Small Things.

I've only read this one:
2001 True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey

I have read zero of them.

So, Hilary Mante..
is she really that good?

Mantel

4, ranked (though I enjoyed each of them): The Seige of Krishnapur > Wolf Hall > How late it was, how late > Oscar & Lucinda.
Aborted reads: The God of Small Things, Life of Pi.
In the queue: The Remains Of the Day.

xp mantel chat: itt WOLF HALL the book by hilary mantel and the upcoming hbo/bbc miniseries based on the same

2003 Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
1997 The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
1993 Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
1992 The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (co-winner)

I have 'Life Of Pi' but I havent read it yet

Two that I recognize and recall, possibly a third one since forgotten. Even with the two I know I read, I was unaware they had any connection to the prize.

reread 'remains of the day' recently, just about a perfect novel.

I've added only one from the original list to my 6 posted in 2006: True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey

Here's the newest entries:

2012 Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
2011 The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
2010 The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
2009 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
2008 The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
2007 The Gathering by Anne Enright
2006 The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

I've read 3 of these: both Hilary Mantel's and The Finkler Question.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/23/arundhati-roy-interview-goddess-of-big-ideas

She has recently caused a stir for downplaying another widely admired figure, Malala Yousafzai. After she gave a TV interview in which she suggested Malala was a pawn in game of global politics, the Pakistan writer Pervez Hoodbhoy wrote an article asking why it was that Malala bothered many on the left, citing Roy as an example.

“I have no doubt she did something wonderful,” she says. “But that was not the point I was trying to make.” She says she wanted to draw attention to the fact that Dalit women are similarly mistreated in India but are never heard about. But that doesn’t make Malala a puppet. She stood up against male oppression. Isn’t that an unambiguously good thing?

“I don’t think you can isolate Malala and say ‘Oh this is wonderful.’” Why not? “I don’t think this world of prizes and awards is an innocent world. It is loaded and it’s precious to suggest it’s not.” She thinks Malala’s Nobel peace prize was an extension of the politically corrupt process that awarded one to Obama, whom she characterises as a warmonger, adding, “I’m not trying to take anything away from Malala.”

But of course she is.

Anybody read The Narrow Road To The Deep North? Also considering NBA winner Redeployment, but they're looking pretty grim, Jim, and I'm not exactly lacking that in my reader's digestion. Still...

My flatmate bought all the shortlist in hardback so yes I've read The Narrow Road.... About 1/3 staring unflinching into the abyss of japanese POW death camps, 2/3 a boring novel of relationships, the kind that certain critics periodically love to trumpet the death of.

I'm up to 9.5, maybe I got lucky but would count over half of those as worthwhile - Banville, Hollinghurst, Kelly Gang Carey, the Mantels, Coetzee, will throw a bone to Ishiguro although it's not his best. This year's winner not in that list.

six.

Barry Unsworth is a king.

Devastating read: Just after he turned 80, my father asked me to stop communicating with him. Future letters would be returned, unread. “You were always a difficult child,” he wrote. I wept at that. But there was a miserable kind of relief in the finality. https://t.co/p7RKsJBtuq

— Martin Doyle (@MartinDoyleIT) October 14, 2020

8 and I started the Finkler Question but found it awful

thought it was going to be none ended up being 4.
amis, farrell, rushdie, golding.

lols bazza u.

annoyingly that's quite a touching, thoughtful piece. there is, for me, not a lot worse than close relationships unreconciled before death. sorry for the buzzkill.

Yeah it was a very good piece on a tough subject.

Added list from Wikipedia with newest winners, sorry for formatting (phoneposting).

1969 P. H. Newby - Something to Answer For
1970 Bernice Rubens - The Elected Member
1970 J. G. Farrell - Troubles (retrospective)
1971 V. S. Naipaul - In a Free State
1972 John Berger - G.
1973 J. G. Farrell -The Siege of Krishnapur
1974 Nadine Gordimer - The Conservationist/
Stanley Middleton - Holiday
1975 Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - Heat and Dust
1976 David Storey - Saville
1977 Paul Scott - Staying On
1978 Iris Murdoch - The Sea, the Sea
1979 Penelope Fitzgerald - Offshore
1980 William Golding - Rites of Passage
1981 Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children
1982 Thomas Keneally - Schindler's Ark
1983 J. M Coetzee - Life & Times of Michael K
1984 Anita Brookner - Hotel du Lac
1985 Keri Hulme - The Bone People
1986 Kingsley Amis - The Old Devils
1987 Penelope Lively - Moon Tiger
1988 Peter Carey - Oscar and Lucinda
1989 Kazuo Ishiguro - The Remains of the Day
1990 A. S. Byatt - Possession
1991 Ben Okri - The Famished Road
1992 Michael Ondaatje - The English Patient/
Barry Unsworth - Sacred Hunger
1993 Roddy Doyle - Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
1994 James Kelman - How Late It Was, How Late
1995 Pat Barker - The Ghost Road
1996 Graham Swift - Last Orders
1997 Arundhati Roy - The God of Small Things
1998 Ian McEwan - Amsterdam
1999 J. M. Coetzee - Disgrace
2000 Margaret Atwood - The Blind Assassin
2001 Peter Carey - True History of the Kelly Gang
2002 Yann Martel - Life of Pi
2003 DBC Pierre - Vernon God Little
2004 Alan Hollinghurst - The Line of Beauty
2005 John Banville - The Sea
2006 Kiran Desai - The Inheritance of Loss
2007 Anne Enright - The Gathering
2008 Aravind Adiga - The White Tiger
2009 Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall
2010 Howard Jacobson - The Finkler Question
2011 Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending
2012 Hilary Mantel - Bring Up the Bodies
2013 Eleanor Catton - The Luminaries
2014 Richard Flanagan- The Narrow Road to the Deep North
2015 Marlon James - A Brief History of Seven Killings
2016 Paul Beatty - The Sellout
2017 George Saunders - Lincoln in the Bardo
2018 Anna Burns - Milkman
2019 Margaret Atwood - The Testaments/Bernardine Evaristo - Girl, Woman, Other

Surprised by as many as 9? Of these, Oscar and Lucinda is by far my favourite, I’ve read it about eight times, Midnight’s Children would also make a list of ten books to keep if I could only read ten the rest of my life. Was pretty unimpressed by The Testaments (it’s already marked for our train station’s free books shelf), which was a shame because I loved The Handmaid’s Tale. I know I personally own about five more of these, and there’s at least twenty more around the house, so will probably expand the list during lockdown 2: nothing to do.

a grand total of 2

1994 How Late It Was, How Late by James Kelman
1993 Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle

the Kelman is my favourite novel

I've only read the 2x Coetzee books (Michael K is great imo). Love to read the Kelman, maybe Gordimer.

oh the kelman is superb.

17! including 6 of the last 7 (all but paul beatty). je ne regrette rien. milkman v good, the narrow road to the deep north v bad.

The English Patient was good. Beautiful evocative prose. Postcolonial with a decent amount of sex?(These things are important when you’re 15). Ended up reading some of his other work, liked In The Skin of a Lion a lot too. Obviously not overshadowed by the film/Seinfeld, but a good way to pass the time in itself.

I missed some, I've read 10 actually, but none later than "Kelly Gang." I bought The Milkman and it seems great from looking at in the bookstore but just haven't gotten to it yet.

I have never heard of J.G. Farrell and he won twice in close succession!

Since there's been hardly any discussion here of the Famished Road let me record here that a) I thought it was amazing and b) I remember absolutely nothing about it

Byatt, Kelwood, seems like enough tbh

the Coetzee in particular seemed to have a thesis that I instinctively thought was weird and bad even when I read it in my early 20s.

― what's fgti up to these days? nothing. she's fake (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 7 September 2021 23:00 (ye

What's the thesis you didn't like?