The Man Booker Prize, 2003-2004

Winner 2003:
Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre

Shortlisted:
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut
Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller
Astonishing Splashes of Colour by Clare Morrall

2003 Judges:
John Carey
A. C. Grayling
Francine Stock
Rebecca Stephens
D.J. Taylor

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2004 Winner:
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst

Shortlisted:
Bitter Fruit by Achmat Dangor
The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Master by Colm Tóibín
I'll Go to Bed at Noon by Gerard Woodward

2004 Judges:
Chris Smith
Tibor Fischer
Robert Macfarlane
Rowan Pelling
Fiammetta Rocco

I've read nothing from 2003. From 2004: The Electric Michelangelo, which I thought was only so-so, and The Master. The Master is a must-read novel for Henry James fans. I did some fact checking with an online edition of the letters of Henry James and found that Toibin's novel is meticulously accurate.

I read Brick Lane last year, and thought it was...meh.

Nothing, but I regonize at least the title "the cloud Atlas" which I have on my vague TBLOMTBRL

For you "Sales-people" out there that is my "Suspect" list

I didn't read anything on this list. I have Alentejo Blue by Monica Ali and thought it was an OK novel.

I read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and found it a good read. It falls into my category for Genre Bending books. It is accepted as mainstream/literary and yet has strong science fiction elments in part of its tale. A good book.

2 - Added The Master to my wishlist. I recently finished James's The Lesson of the Master so it would be an interesting follow up.

According to my LT zeitgeist, only 34 percent of the authors in my library are alive. This Booker prize thing certainly confirms it. Pretty much if they're alive, I haven't read 'em.

Curmudgeonism looks like my last redoubt right now.

I read Oryx and Crake -- not a bad sci-fi/dystopia. That's it.

Loved Cloud Atlas. Loved it, loved it. Interesting structures make me tingly.

Interesting structures make me tingly.

Is that a dare to take the ball and run with it?

What do you think Mac, Martin?

sounds more like an architect kind of thing : )

I loved The Line of Beauty, primarily for the un-named portrayal of Margaret Thatcher. Absolutely masterful.

This one's my second-favourite Alan Hollinghurst. I doubt anything will top The Folding Star for me, ever.

I loved The Line of Beauty, primarily for the un-named portrayal of Margaret Thatcher. Absolutely masterful.

This one's my second-favourite Alan Hollinghurst. I doubt anything will top The Folding Star for me, ever.

>12 absurdeist: for real! I'm always dismayed when I don't like something self-consciously "experimental" usually it's because it came out of the sixties and/or involves a drum circle, and always surprised when I have the patience (as I did with Les Mis) to get through a 1500-page 19th-century realist novel without skimming. To paraphrase Thomas Pynchon: When books come for you, make sure they find you under very weird circumstances. Yeah?

Oryx and Crake - I loved this book.
Brick Lane - I enjoyed this book, but I will probably recycle it at some point in the future.
Bitter Fruit - I quite liked this book.

Loved, loved, loved The Line of Beauty. My review:

This is a very good book that I found compelling and with a complexity that I appreciated the most after I'd turned the last page. Scene: London, the early eighties. A shy, newly out 20(21?) yo Oxford grad finds himself lodging with the posh family of a school chum, the son of an egotistical Tory MP. Supposedly working on a thesis on Henry James, Nick Guest (rather obviously named, ya think? First and last.) tries to manage a discreet and active sex life and his place as retainer to a high society family under Margaret Thatcher’s thrall. Without adopting or rejecting their political philosophy, he adores his new family, which adopts him as a sort of useful pet, especially adept in dealing with their mentally ill daughter, someone they do not particularly want to deal with. Like many very good books, its impact is not felt until it is over. I have particular admiration for the way Hollinghurst ended the story: with a bang. It was mostly a pleasure to read. Some details seemed tedious until I realized how they underscored the effect of the conclusion. It’s a book that leaves you thinking. Really, what more can you ask?

18> Well it's settled then! Note to self: procure copy of The Line of Beauty pronto.

:D

Bravo ctiygirl! Great review!

I enjoyed the line of Beauty very much as well. The Swimming Pool Library is my fav, though.

14/15 What did you especially like about The Folding Star?

#21 - First, let me say that I read The Folding Star quite a long time ago, at the time of its publication, so at this remove, it's difficult to be very specific in my analysis of the book. I also have to say that I was predisposed to love the book because Bruges (which is not named, but which is obviously the setting of the book) is a place I love. Once I began to read The Folding Star, it was primarily the beautifully elegiac tone and the tragedy in the main character's inability to separate love from physical beauty that made it so resonant for me.

If you enjoyed The Line of Beauty and The Swimming Pool Library, I'd recommend you give The Folding Star a try.

Both are going on the wishlist.

yep, I'll give it a go. thank you.