Shortlist, Odds, a month of fun
I am having a thoroughly enjoyable month trying to dig details on all the Booker 2006 longlisted books. Ever since the longlist came out on August 14, some books have been featured repeatedly in various mainstream publications, while others still remain invisible, links deeply buried in Google's big basket.
In a few days, September 14, the shortlist will be out and the articles will get more focused as the shortlisted authors get their familiar share of the limelight, once again, some more than the others. As soon as the longlist was out, the Scotsman had an article on the odds of winning and David Mitchell came out tops.
From a lay reader's understanding of the noises in the literary scene, it seems that the following are likely shortlistees:
David Mitchell - Black Swan Green
Peter Carey - Theft: A Love Story
Sarah Waters - The Night Watch
Barry Unsworth - The Ruby in her Navel
Personally, I'd like to see the following shortlisted (going by the reviews, extracts):
David Mitchell - Black Swan Green
Peter Carey - Theft: A Love Story
Claire Messud - The Emperor's Children
James Lasdun - Se7en Lies
Kiran Desai - The Inheritance of Loss
Sarah Waters - The Night Watch
Update: The Observer lists odds for all 19 here.
I shall continue to explore the longlisted books while saving my personal shortlist favourites for after September 14. The links post on Mary Lawson's The Other Side of the Bridge will be up soon.
PS: Got myself a copy of Black Swan Green. Intend to start reading it in a few days. Given its likely shortlist presence, you can expect me to keep returning to that book often this month.
