Categories
1980s Booker Prize Recommended books

The Bone People – Keri Hulme

The Bone People won the Booker Prize in 1985. It is set on the South Island of New Zealand, and centres around three characters. The first, Kerewin, is a painter, who having won the lottery builds herself a tower by the sea and lives as a virtual recluse. One day, Simon, a young, mute boy turns up at her tower and they begin a strange friendship. Simon’s foster father, Joe, is then drawn towards Kerewin and the three characters begin to discover secrets lurking in each of their pasts.

The book deals with many difficult issues, but domestic violence is the most dominant. Joe beats his foster son, and the delicate line between punishment and cruelty if seen to be very hazy at times. The characters are all really well developed, deeply flawed and incredibly interesting!

The book is very well written, and the writing is almost poetic at times, but at other times it was a ‘stream of conciousness’ and, particularly in the beginning, was very confusing. I fluctuated between loving it, and being irritated by it!

The book was filled with Maori myths and symbolism, some of which went over my head. I think that this book is one which needs to be read several times, in order to appreicate it’s many layers. In many ways it is very similar to Beloved – difficult to understand at first, complex, moving and full of symbolism.

I’m not sure I’d ever recommend this book to anyone, but I’m glad that I read it.

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2000 - 2007 Booker Prize

Fasting, Feasting – Anita Desai

Fasting, Feasting was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1999.

The book begins in India, telling the story of Uma, the eldest daughter of a close-knit family. Uma struggles to find a suitable husband, and becomes trapped at home, effectively a slave to her oppressive parents. Although set in a different continent, it reminded me of Purple Hibiscus. The character development was excellent, and all the sights and sounds of an Indian village came to life.

The second part of the book follows Uma’s brother, Arun, as he crosses the world to begin life with a middle-class family in America. Arun observes many of problems associated with the developed world, including materialism and eating disorders. I found this section of the book disappointing in comparison to the parts set in India. The characters failed to come to life, and I began to lose interest as this section progressed.

Many important issues were raised in this book, including arranged marriage and the effective imprisonment of women in a household. Comparisons between lives in the two different cultures were made, but no real conclusions were ever drawn.

Overall, the writing was simple, but beautiful. The book began well, but failed to develop to it’s full potential. It was OK, but nothing special.

Categories
Booker Prize

The Accidental – Ali Smith

The book started off quite promisingly, with the meandering thoughts of a 12 year old girl. The writing style was very unusual, but I found it amusing, and although some of the thoughts were a bit too profound for a 12 year old, overall I found it quite convincing. The book continued quite well, with the guilty thoughts of her older brother, but then it went downhill with the introduction of Amber, a stranger introduced into the household. I found her character extremely annoying, and ultimately pointless.

I was then confronted with several chapters of poetry. It wasjust weird, unnecessary, and felt as though the author was just trying to be too clever.

It didn’t improve. The plot disappeared, the characters became more annoying, and the stream of conscious thought became monotonous and dull.

Not for me.

Categories
Booker Prize

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha – Roddy Doyle

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha won the Booker Prize in 1993. It is the first Roddy Doyle book I have read, so I didn’t really know what to expect. 

It follows Paddy Clarke, as he grows up in 1960’s Dublin, witnessing the break down of his parent’s marriage

He has a real talent for being able to describe the thoughts and feelings of a ten year old boy:

I prefer magnifying glasses to matches. We spent afternoons burning little piles of cut grass. I loved watching the grass change colour. I loved it when the flame began to race through the grass. You had more control with a magnifying glass. It was easier but it took more skill.

I found some scenes touching, and I managed to read the whole book fairly quickly, but the plot meandered about a bit too much for me, so I didn’t get drawn into it fully. His childhood had very little in common with mine, so this may be another reason I was not as enthralled with this book as others seem to be. I was only born in 1978, so have no nostalgia for the 60s, and I was never a little boy, who had fights and played jokes on my teachers!

It was OK, but I think I’d only recommend it to older people, who would be able to fully appreciate the nostalgia this book has to offer.

Categories
2000 - 2007 Booker Prize

Darkmans – Nicola Barker

I was really looking forward to reading this book, as the cover makes it sound really interesting.

…..Elen, an enigmatic chiropodist, whose unstable husband, Dory, believes that their only son, Fleet, has been fathered by the deranged ghost of an evil, 500-year old court-jester…….a magical yet somehow instantly familiar world in which language crackles like static….. 

Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. The writing style was very annoying. I felt like I was being treated like an idiot, as obvious things were explained in brackets on a regular basis.

The character build up was OK at first, but failed to develop fully. They just didn’t come across as very believable. The dialogue between the characters wasn’t very natural, and their continual misunderstandings, resulting in large gaps and then:

WHAT?

EH?

really grated on me.

The plot was very sporadic, and had no forward momentum, so I found my thougths wandering off. This happened more frequently as the book went on, and so I finally gave up 250 pages in. This is the first Booker short listed book that I have failed to complete. I agonised over whether, or not, to finish it, so checked as many other reviews as possible. I discovered that people decide they either love or hate this book very quickly. Those that dislike the book, are left even more frustrated by the ending, so as I have nearly 500 pages left to read to reach this point I think I’ll leave it there.

I would, however, still love to read a book about a 500-year old court-jester fathering a child from Kent! If you’ve seen one – let me know!!

Categories
Booker Prize

The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid

The Reluctant Fundamentalist was short listed for the Booker Prize in 2007. It follows Changez, a Muslim from a once wealthy family in Pakistan, as he moves to America to take up a place at Princeton, and then onto a high-flying finance job in New York.

Changez relates his story to an unknown American over a meal, back in his home town of Lahore. I found this writing style slightly irritating at first, and although I could never say that I liked it, by the end I realise how important it was for the book.

The story takes place over the events of September 11th, and we see how reactions to Pakistanis in America, change after this event. The book contains many challenging ideas about prejudice and racism. It is very relevant to the world today, and although I think the book will age fairly quickly, anyone wanting to know the feelings of the world at the beginning of this century should refer to this book. The delicate subject matter of the East – West divide is handled very sensitively, and although the writing is fairly simple, it is very powerful.

When I first finished the book I was very disappointed with the ending. After a few days of reflection, however, I came to realise how clever the ambiguous ending was. Without revealing what happens, I’ll just say that the way you view the events of the last page says a lot about your racial prejudices. A thought provoking, insightful novel.

Recommended.