Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Consumer / Byatt, Coetzee and Mantel top Man Booker shortlist
BackBack

Byatt, Coetzee and Mantel top Man Booker shortlist

Byatt, Coetzee and Mantel top Man Booker shortlist

Premium

London: Familiar names headed the shortlist for one of the world’s top literary awards today with JM Coetzee and AS Byatt two of the six authors left in the running for the coveted Man Booker Prize.

Byatt, 73, who won the prize in 1990 for her novel “Possession", makes the 2009 shortlist with “The Children’s Book", the tale of a famous writer who pens a separate, private book for each of her children, complete with family mysteries.

The novel explores issues of class, love, politics and idealism among families across generations, exploring rebellious sons and wayward daughters who dream of independent futures.

Writers writing about writers also forms the basis of “Summertime", the 2009 entry for South African novelist Coetzee, a mainstay of the Man Booker shortlist in the recent years.

Coetzee, who will become the only writer to take the prize three times if he is named winner on Oct. 6, tells the story of a young biographer who is working on a book about the late writer John Coetzee. As he interviews friends and relatives, a complex picture emerges of Coetzee’s past and character.

The work completes a trilogy of fictionalised memoirs for Coetzee, 69, who has previously produced “Boyhood" and “Youth".

Coetzee, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003, first won the Booker prize in 1983 for “Life & Times of Michael K" and repeated the feat in 1999 with “Disgrace".

Another notable contender on the shortlist -- and one strongly backed by bookmakers who make her favourite for the 50,000 pound ($80,000) prize -- is Hilary Mantel, 57, whose intricately woven historical novels have a strong following.

“Wolf Hall" recounts the life and experiences of Thomas Cromwell, a clerk to Cardinal Wolsey during the reign of Henry VIII.

BOOKIES BACK MANTEL

The youngest author on the 2009 shortlist is Adam Foulds, 34, whose novel “The Quickening Maze" is based on real events that took place near London in the 1840s, telling the story of the incarceration of a nature poet, John Clare, who struggled with alcoholism, critical neglect and depression.

A novel about a house in Czechoslovakia owned by a newly married couple, the Landauers, is the basis for Simon Mawer’s entry on the list, “The Glass Room". The Jewish-Gentile couple prepare to flee as the threat of World War Two grows.

Alphabetically rounding out the shortlist is “The Little Stranger" by Sarah Waters, which tells of Dr Faraday, who returns to a house, Hundreds Hall, that he has not seen for decades only to realise how the family home has declined.

Waters, 43, has twice been shortlisted for the Man Booker before, in 2002 for “Fingersmith" and “The Night Watch" in 2006.

As well as the prize, the winner is virtually guaranteed huge sales in bookstores worldwide.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Published: 08 Sep 2009, 07:13 PM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App