I'm a couple of days late with this, but the Lost Man Booker Prize shortlist has finally been unveiled. (Thanks to Trevor at The Mookse and the Gripes for the reminder.)
It's been whittled down from 22 titles, published in 1970, to just six:
- Nina Bawden: The Birds on the Trees
- J.G. Farrell: Troubles
- Shirley Hazzard: The Bay of Noon
- Patrick White:The Vivisector
- Mary Renault: Fire from Heaven
- Muriel Spark: The Driver’s Seat
I'm thrilled to see I've read and reviewed three of them (see hyperlinks above).
I suspect that Muriel Spark's The Driver's Seat will win the prize on the basis that it's an easy and delightful read, and is one of those literary novels that has managed to cross the divide into popular fiction. In other words, lots of people will have read it.
But I really hope that Patrick White's The Vivisector gets the gong. White, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature (the only Australian author to have done so) in 1973, is often labelled as a difficult writer -- and an unpopular one. Yet I've read three of his novels and loved each and every one. The Vivisector is no exception.
The book is not an "easy" read. In fact, it's probably one of the most challenging novels I've ever had the good fortune to tackle. But it's so ambitious in scope and style, and features such gloriously wonderful characters, that it's hard to dismiss The Vivisector as anything other that the most entertaining and illuminating of literary fiction. It's also a wonderful account of what it is like to suffer for your art and achieve success in a country that pans creative endeavour.
Up until April 23, you can vote for the book you most want to win via the official website.
The overall winner will be announced on 19 May.
