Long listed for 2011 Booker Prize

Derby Day by DJ Taylor

Derby Day instantly transports you back to Victorian England. It is meticulously researched and the dialogue is so realistic that I often felt as though I was reading a book written in the 19th Century.

The story begins with a typical Victorian courtship:

‘But of course he smiles at you in the park, so I had better be silent.’
‘I suppose you are cross because you were not sat next to Mr Happerton,’ Harriet suggested.
‘There are things that make me cross beyond sitting next to Mr Happerton. You are a goose, Harriet, to say such things.’
And Harriet, like Mr Happerton half an hour since, thought that she could not make her cousin out.

The friends and relations of the couple are slowly introduced into the book, along with a race horse and those who work in horse racing circles.

I initially loved the atmosphere, but slowly became bored by the lack of action. I have no interest in horse racing so the snippets of information about it held no interest for me either. After about 100 pages I realised I had no emotional connection to the characters and considered abandoning the book, but for some reason I gave it another chance. I read another 60 pages before finally declaring defeat.

If you enjoy slow, atmospheric books and have a passion for horses then this book may be for you, but I need more action and emotion to excite me.

 Long listed for 2011 Booker Prize

Far to Go by Alison Pick

Far to Go is probably fantastic, but has the disadvantage of being very similar to numerous other books I’ve read. It is different in that it is set in Czechoslovakia, but in reality the country makes little difference – the story of Jews persecuted during WWII has been told so often that I have little tolerance for it now.

Far to Go has a confusing start, but once I got past this I encountered a well written, emotional story. The problem was that I felt I knew exactly what was going to happen. I could see the relationships between the Jews and non-Jews being set up and I knew that the war would change it all. After about 70 pages I started to skim read and then I read the last couple of chapters.

If the premise of this book appeals to you then I’m sure you’ll fall in love with it, but I’m afraid it wasn’t original enough for me.

The Booker long list has been subjected to a lot of criticism this year. I was under the impression that it gets attacked every year, but a bit of research revealed that people may get upset that a favourite book hasn’t made the cut (eg Solar in 2010) or criticise the inclusion of an individual book (eg Me Cheeta in 2009) but they don’t seem to attack the entire list in the way they have this year.

When announced this week, the general reaction was bemusement, both by its inclusions and its omissions. Telegraph 2011

Much has been made of the fact that several of the judges have written thrillers in the past:

This Booker prize is too much of a thriller. Guardian 2011

But the long list doesn’t include anything I’d recognise as a thriller. In fact I wish that a complex, multi-layered thriller had made the cut as I haven’t been thrilled by anything I’ve read on the long list so far this year.

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Mainstream Choices

I think the main reason people are upset about the 2011 long list is because many of the choices lack any “literary” element. The judges have a more populist taste than in previous years and chair of the judges, Stella Rimington, admitted on Radio 4’s Front Row, that their aim was to choose books:

“that people would both read and enjoy reading”

This sounds like a good plan, but the problem is that the publishers won’t have submitted their most enjoyable, readable books. The Booker is about finding the best quality books published each year – the ones that will stand the test of time and reveal more with each re-read.

Waverton Good Read Award

If you want to find the best fiction of the year, the perfect book to take away on holiday with you this Summer, then I highly recommend browsing the selections made by the Waverton Good Read Award. This award is judged by a whole community of ordinary readers and year after year they select a wonderful range of intelligent, but gripping reads. They haven’t put a foot wrong with their 2011 short list and the only book I hadn’t heard of (The Breaking of Eggs by Jim Powell) has just gone straight on my wish list. The point is that none of these books are likely to have been submitted for the Booker and so they will have been looking for enjoyable books amongst a pile of miserable, but worthy selections.

What should the Booker do?

The Booker should provide lots of food for thought. The long list should be packed with books that question the way we see the world, create lively debate and have so many layers that Professors can spend years analysing every paragraph. I’ve attempted to read half the long list and so far the greatest success has only managed to mildly entertain me. I hope that the remaining books have more depth and that they can select a winning book that does more than just entertain the reader for a few days on their Summer holiday.

Do you think the Booker should be enjoyable?