And in the end, Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger took the Booker prize. Darn. Just scanning the newspaper coverage in Britian and the blog world however, it seems to have been quite a surprise upset with various reviewers calling it the weakest book on the list. I will eventually get around to reading it - it's quite the coup for a first-time novelist in his early thirties. God, I'm jealous.
In my dream bookstore I would have an exceptions section (have to think up a more interesting name) where I would sell the shortlisted books of major prizes and of course the winners but I'd love to put a spin on the displays. For example, I'd showcase the Booker Prize shortlisted titles on a table along with 5 shortlisted books I'd nominate myself from a time that fit the mandate of my store before the Booker Prize was established, say, 1908. Which was a pretty good year for fiction. So how about Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton, A Room With a View by E.M. Forster, The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett and a possible sleeper, Lady Athlyne by Bram Stoker (hey, it's still in print). Will White Tiger still be read in 100 years, I wonder?
No comments:
Post a Comment