2008 Man Booker Long List:
The titles are:
Aravind Adiga The White Tiger
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
Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs
Mohammed Hanif A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency
Joseph O’Neill Netherland
Salman Rushdie The Enchantress of Florence
Tom Rob Smith Child 44
Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole
A couple years ago I nearly went blind trying to cram the reading of the entire Booker Long List into my reading schedule. Reader, I won’t be doing that again.
Rather, this year I’m going to go at it in a much more relaxed way. I own a couple of the long-listed books, the Rushdie and the Smith (in a signed review copy – joy!). I can get four or five of them from my own library, and I’m interlibrary loaning another three or so. As for the rest of them, if I blow through the eight or so I can lay hands on I may try using WorldCat to get my hot little hands on the others. MAYBE.
More likely, I’ll read as many as I can, then try to make a prediction based on that. Even if I don’t pick the winner I’ll have some good reading ahead of me. Lowering the pressure is so much better than going cross-eyed trying to pack in twelve books in a month and a half, which is when the short list will be announced (September 9).
And yes, I could wait for the shortlist, but that’s not nearly as much of a challenge. Talk to me next year, though. I may be lowering the bar again, depending on how this year goes.
Anyone else reading anything from the long list? I’d love to hear from you and get your take on the book(s). I’ll report back here as I finish them. Wish me luck.
