2014 Booker Prize longlist preview

The longlist for this year's Man Booker Prize will be announced this coming Wednesday, July 23. As you probably know by now, starting this year any novel written originally in English and published in the UK for the first time between October 1 of last year and September 30 of this year is eligible, regardless of the author's country of origin. This, of course, means that books from the United States and other non-Commonwealth countries are eligible for the longlist, which has caused some consternation among authors, journalists and the reading public.

The Mookse and the Gripes 2014 Speculation Thread has been quieter this year than last, as many members, including myself, have had difficulty coming up with a list of 12 or 13 eligible novels. So far I've only found one site which has published predictions for the 2014 longlist, which comes from LT member Jackie (@farmlanebooks) on her blog,
Farmlanebooks Book Blog. Here is her list:

Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole
The Emperor Waltz by Philip Hensher
The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

From her list I've read The Shock of the Fall, which won the Costa Book Award earlier this year, and Arctic Summer. I think that both books would be good candidates for the longlist, although I wouldn't be surprised if neither one made it.

I haven't read any other novels yet that I feel strongly about. I did buy three books last month in London that should be longlist candidates, In the Approaches by Nicola Barker, I Am China by Xiaolu Guo, and A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie. I also bought Lost for Words by Edward St Aubyn, but from what I've read it seems to be a bit lightweight for inclusion in the longlist. I'll read All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu this coming week, and if it's as good as I've heard I think it also stands a chance.

Are there any books that you feel should be included in this year's longlist?

If you run across any other predictions I'd appreciate it if you would post the books, or a link to the web page, here.

The Booker Prize always draws me back to LT, and I am excited for Booker season to begin again on Wednesday! Of the books mentioned above, I've only read The Signature of All Things, which I gave 4 stars. It was a sweeping historical novel that reminded me of a less well-written The Children's Book or The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. I enjoyed it, and wouldn't bemoan its inclusion on the Booker list, but it also wouldn't be my pick for the best book of the year.

I own The Orenda, and look forward to reading it soon; Boyden is wonderful, and I always root for Canadians, so I hope he gets nominated.

I am so, so, so excited for the new Sarah Waters, David Mitchell, Damon Galgut, and Kamila Shamsie novels, and will read them all regardless of whether or not they are nominated.

Colm Toibin has a new book out this year too - Nora Webster. I haven't read it, but I do really enjoy his writing.

Good to see you here, Cait! I'm also excited to see which books the judges will choose for the longlist, and I'm sure that there will be some level of controversy when the Booker Dozen is announced.

I did buy The Signature of All Things, after it was chosen for this year's Wellcome Book Prize shortlist, but I was disappointed by several of these books and never got around to reading it.

I'll definitely buy the new Waters and Mitchell as well when they come out. And I'm also a Tóibín fan, so I'll get Nora Webster as well. Oddly enough its publication date in the UK is October 2nd, so it will just miss being eligible for this year's longlist. The Orenda sounds interesting, but Joyce gave it a lukewarm review, so I've been a bit hesitant to give it a go.

Of the 13 in the list above I haven't read any of them but I've heard of 10 of them - a lot - and have only heard good things. If a list like that comes out I'll be very excited.

I can't wait! I also googled a bit now and again since May, but didn't find anything that seemed half-reliable. Those new rules probably don't help.
I don't think I'll make it through the complete LL this year, I am having another reading funk.. and I haven't yet read any of the books mentioned here.

I suspect with the new rules, there will have to be a few non-Commonwealth writers on the long-list.

My tips are The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham, and An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine.

Last week I found this: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/46848.Man_Booker_Prize_Eligible_2014 -- (I find Goodreads is not loading well this morning, but by refreshing the screen it fixes itself)

description: Man Booker Prize Eligible 2014
This is a list of novels that may be considered for the Man Booker Prize in 2014.

Eligible novels are those published between Oct 2013 - Sep 2014, with new rule changes broadening the countries of origin from the Commonwealth (inc. Ireland & Zimbabwe) to include all novels written originally in English and published in the UK. The most significant implication will be the inclusion of American authors, though their published work in Britain must be by "an established imprint." The number of submissions allowed per publishing house will now depend on the number of their novels which have been shortlisted for the prize in recent years.

---------------------------

Of the 154 eligible books, I've read The Orenda and I own Pure Gold Baby. There are a handful of others that look interesting.

The Orenda sounds interesting, but Joyce gave it a lukewarm review, so I've been a bit hesitant to give it a go.

I was terribly put off by the violence when I wrote my review, but now, a few months later, my memories of the violence have faded and I am thinking of it in a more positive light. I've come across quite a few people who have since read it and everyone raves about it. I always agree and say "but it was too violent," and they always have the same reaction--sort of a "oh yeah, it was sort of violent, wasn't it." So don't go by what I say!

I've only read The Goldfinch and Boy, Snow, Bird. I can see how both might make the list, although the latter is so "American" I'm certain it couldn't win.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Perfect by Rachel Joyce make the list, as Harold Fry was so popular. They also typically include an African novel, although (to my shame) I am not familiar enough with what was published there recently to speculate what it might be. (When was Americanah published?)

I'm rooting for Every Day is for the Thief although I suspect The Goldfinch will be a strong contender. I didn't like Boy, Snow, Bird so I wouldn't mind it coming in at the bottom of the barrel.

I read Offill's Dept. of Speculation this afternoon - at under 180 pages, it was a quick read, but a complex one, à la The Testament of Mary and The Sense of an Ending. I loved the stream-of-consciousness narrative, with quotations from novelists, philosophers, musicians, etc., mixing in with the thoughts of the unnamed narrator. Very contemporary, and somehow both excessive and restrained, if that makes any sense. I don't know if I think it will be longlisted (it is very female, and I don't really know if would appeal to the male judges, though that may be presumptuous of me...), but I'm very glad I read it - if not for this thread, I doubt I would have discovered it.

I was looking at Every Day is for the Thief today as well. It's another shorty, so I will probably spend another afternoon sitting in my local bookstore so that I can read it. Book prices in Canada are ridiculous, and I just can't justify spending $25+ for a two hour reading experience.

Stuart Kelly, who was a judge on last year's Booker panel, posted his predictions (sort of) in the Guardian. The article is here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/jul/22/man-booker-prize-2014-con...

The books he mentions as contenders - not all of which he recommends - are:
The Children Act - Ian McEwan
J - Howard Jacobson
Shark - Will Self
The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell
In The Approaches - Nicola Barker
How To Be Both - Ali Smith
The Zone of Interest - Martin Amis
Their Lips Talk Of Mischief - Alan Warner
The Sex Lives Of Siamese Twins - Irvine Welsh
The Emperor Waltz - Philip Hensher
The Lives Of Others - Neel Mukherjee
Dissident Gardens - Jonathan Lethem
The Fifty Year Sword - Mark Z Danielewski
Southern Reach trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance - Jeff VanderMeer
The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
Lagoon - Nnedi Okorafor
Broken Monsters - Lauren Beukes
Tommy Taylor And The Boat That Sank Twice - Mike Carey

And here's the longlist:
To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, Joshua Ferris (Viking)
The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan (Chatto & Windus)
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler (Serpent's Tail)
The Blazing World, Siri Hustvedt (Sceptre)
J, Howard Jacobson (Jonathan Cape)
The Wake, Paul Kingsnorth (Unbound)
The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell (Sceptre)
The Lives of Others, Neel Mukherjee (Chatto & Windus)
Us, David Nicholls (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Dog, Joseph O'Neill (Fourth Estate)
Orfeo, Richard Powers (Atlantic Books)
How to be Both, Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton)
History of the Rain, Niall Williams (Bloomsbury)

See more at: http://www.themanbookerprize.com//news/longlist-2014-announced#sthash.qiDGPvms.d...

http://www.themanbookerprize.com//news/longlist-2014-announced

Interesting list, with The Goldfinch notably absent. As much as I liked that book, I'm glad it's not on the list. I'd be interested to see a breakdown of author nationality, and Commonwealth vs. non-Commonwealth. I don't have time to do that right now but suspect the media will cover it in due course.

>13 danieljayfriedman: Thanks for posting the longlist first, Daniel! I created a new longlist thread here, so that it was clear that the longlist is now out.

>14 lauralkeet: Laura, I posted the announcement from the Man Booker Prize web site about the breakdown of the authors by nationality. There are "four Americans, six Britons, two Irish writers and one Australian" on the longlist.

I have to start hospital rounds soon, so I'll check back in this afternoon or evening.

>14 lauralkeet: From the first link in >13 danieljayfriedman::

Following much discussion, the six judges chaired by philosopher Anthony Grayling chose 13 books by four Americans, six Britons, two Irish writers and one Australian. - See more at: http://www.themanbookerprize.com//news/longlist-2014-announced#sthash.qiDGPvms.a...

Yay - and 9 of them are already available for Kindle in my region and the rest is to be relased in September.
Yesterday I went through that list in #12 and gave up when I saw that of the first 7 books only 1 was available for me.

I just bought We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves which cost me only 3,37 USD as Kindle version. Probably still cheaper for US citizens?

I really liked We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves but I'm surprised to see it made the list. Good choice, though!

That's the only one I've read. I'll have to scope out the others.

>15 kidzdoc:, >16 LoisB: Thanks ... I obviously hadn't clicked through to the full prize announcement.

I have not yet read a single novel on the long list, and I usually wait for the short list. Although I can't comment on the included novels, I'm glad to see Richard Flanagan, David Mitchell, Ali Smith, and Howard Jacobson represented. But with four Americans, six Brits, and two Irish writers, I hope that this year's long list doesn't foreshadow squeezing out writers from the broader Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations.