How many Booker winning novels have you read?

Anyhoo, I've read the Coetzee books and just a few other things. Is _Paddy Clark..._ worth it? I read a few of Doyle's books a few years back. I borrowed this one from the library, but when I got home, I took two glances at it and wondered why the hell I'd picked up another Roddy Doyle book. Back in the back it went.

I am looking forward to reading _The Sea_ though.
Interesting that _Amsterdam_ is on there, as I had the impression that everyone considers it to be one of Mewanc's weakest novels.

I am never gonna watch the movie tho.

8 is my total.

2002 Life of Pi by Yann Martel
1998 Amsterdam: A Novel by Ian McEwan
1996 Last Orders by Graham Swift
1990 Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt

And I saw three of the movies based on books of this list:

1992 The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (co-winner)
1989 The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
1982 Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally

In retrospective I liked those movies better than the books. Which seems a bit strange.

so did anyone read the 2008 winner : Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger?

Zero. However I'd be interested in reading 'Midnight's Children' after catching a repeat of the Arena doc on the book. Maybe Ishiguro and Barker at some point.

AUSSSIEAUSSIE

What a shitty looking prize:

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2008/10/15/adiga300x230.jpg

as long as the $$$ looks nice..

Six:
2004 The Line of Beauty - just read this, it's fantastic. Enormously recommended
2002 Life of Pi - throwaway, really, but nice enough. Points off for (I suspect) being a book that's really about storytelling
1999 Disgrace - aye, great. It must've been a cliffhanger, I remember finishing it while walking through Westminster tube station as I needed to get somewhere and I couldn't wait to find out what happened. That said, I can't remember much about it now
1998 Amsterdam - shockingly bad. Pointless, no-one in it you'd care about. The praise lavished on McEwan, while occasionally deserved and he's undeniably a great prosewriter, is going to look silly in future. Basically doesn't have much to say
1994 How Late It Was, How Late - fine, a bit bleak really, but a nice thing to win a prize like this
1992 The English Patient - excellent, a great read, full of interesting little details and memorable scenes, like Captain Corelli's Mandolin (though it doesn't seem to have won many prizes)

(I own eight of the others, to my shame)

i have read 14 but like five were because of a contemp brit fiction class i took and one other, the hollinghurst, i won as a prize in that class for a seminar i gave. the nadine gordimer novel is quite beautiful maybe my fav from that list.

i thought in the skin of the lion had won?? love that book >>> english patient.

1998 Amsterdam - shockingly bad. Pointless, no-one in it you'd care about. The praise lavished on McEwan, while occasionally deserved and he's undeniably a great prosewriter, is going to look silly in future. Basically doesn't have much to say

Sooooooooooooooo otm

Columbia College Class of 1997 (and Salutatorian)

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

i can't remember if i read both of the hilary mantel books or just the first one

Was Anne Boelyn alive or dead at the end? (Apologies for the spoiler for everyone else, but she gets beheaded).

Fuck you DC! I'll never read them now!

Nah I should, and will

i really can't recall, it was too long ago. feel free to round my total down to 11 for purposes of booker cred points

https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2020/november/letter-from-america

It isn’t so much that Scotland has achieved a grown-up reckoning with its social history (warts, booze, paedophiles and all), as that these wounds have become a source of cultural and political capital. Can't wait to visit, on the way to Vatican City! Classick clickbait, and of course no consid of the text atall; has he even read it.

Think it was more a report focusing on Scotland attitudes to it's literary culture.

Yeah, but I read it as tainting the book by association with/"enabling" those people over there, who seem reduced: is it not possible that some may be nationalist significantly in terms of being anti-Brexit, anti-Tory for considerations that can be concerning beyond those who want to wear haggis and eat kilts and etc.? I mean, since he brought it up. The premise (they're going from one extreme to another) is worth developing, but stopping where he does seems like a dick move.

This whole thing of reduction, conflation, sideways inflation is irritating: like on ilx, we'll soon see the annual kneejerk reaction against pollwinners because those people over there like them for the rong reasons/so much/at all, also on ilm I've seen Cardi B compared to Trump because she brags, a New Yorker writer compared Post Malone to Trump, said he pretty much is Trump, rather than another miserable little parasite (which he even looks like he knows he is, on some level)

Nothing vs. you for your choice of link, but that's my caffeinated think.

I must admit I have prejudged this book. it does sound like frank mccourt transposed. social realism in thatcherite Glasgow does sound on the nose and not necessarily what I want from a contemporary Scottish novel. having said that I really wish that it wasn't made to stand as an artifact of cultural devolution and in a normal country you would be able to write a grim social realist novel without having that kind of baggage attached.

I know I read Life of Pi and Bone People
THink I may have read The English Patient, know i saw the film or it might stick out better but i do think I read the book too.
THink I read Oscar and Lucinda if it's the one about the glass house on a boat, saw film too. Read a few of his around then

have a few of the others of the original cited list lying around the flkat unread.

& have read Wolf Hall, should have read Bring Out the Bodies by now since I found the prose of Wolf Hall really delicious.

only just realising that Bone People was a Booker winner looked like an interesting read when I found it i a Dublin charity or cheap book shop[ in the early 90s. Liked it at the time. Maori interactions and things, I think a maori woman trying to make it i more Western society, but that was like 28 years since i read it.

I've read 15 of that list.

Stand outs would be:
The Ghost Road
Moon Tiger
Disgrace
The Life & Times of Michael K
Hotel Du Lac

I loved The Bone People at the time but I'd be terrified of re-reading it. I went with my now wife to Keri Hulme's home, er, town, when I was in NZ. Okarito, population 8*, on a lonely fly-blown tear of the west coast. We got dropped off up the road and walking in, a fella stopped in his car and offered us a lift. He said he was 'having a bath' that night, in his garden under the stars and we'd be welcome to come along. We didn't go and I think about it all the time.

*she wasn't there, so population 7, I guess.

John Banville, winner of the 2005 Booker Prize, has suggested that he could not win it now because he is a straight, white male https://t.co/hNT70dug1Z

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) December 1, 2020

well i for one am shocked that Banville would come out with this

I suggest you are a prick and wouldn't win it because everyone has seen through your overwritten shite.

i like some of his overwritten shite but yeah, huge prick energy

Also he's pissed away the last 20 years writing dour, pointless and tedious crime novels, plush a cash-in fake Raymond Chandler, so he's not exactly churning out the masterpieces these days.

Hotel du Lac is lovely! A small, extremely earnest thing ('somewhat Sparklike but more modern and lost' was my immediate response, which also puts it in Rhys territory tbh) that nonetheless pulls a number of sly games en route to terminus. Probably fits in second behind TLOB for me now, a book to which this makes a decent counterpoint, perhaps.

I've read

2004 The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
2002 Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2000 The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
1999 Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee
1993 Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
1992 The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (co-winner)
1989 The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
1986 The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis

And that's it. I didn't adore any of them, really... 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.

Exception to this, of course, was "The Line Of Beauty", which I'm unashamed to state is one of my favourite novels of all time... not just as an effective work of AIDS-related art, and a commentary on Thatcherism, but such an effective skewering of the bourgeois shittiness of "gay" on the whole.

Yeah it really stands clear, my previous post notwithstanding

Since 2005 I've increased my tally from one to six and I thought most of them were fine, but the fact of their Booker Prize was totally irrelevant to my choosing to read them. My participation in I Love Books has been far more influential in leading me to good books.

Re what Banville said above, just in the last ten years Howard Jacobson, Julian Barnes, and George Saunders have all won. Is he mad that three women and a gay man won in a row after Saunders?

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?