G.K. Chesterton, The innocence of Father Brown (1911)
E. David, English bread and yeast cookery (1977)
M. Edwards, The golden age of murder (2015)S. Lewis, It can't happen here (1935)
H. Mantel, Bring up the bodies (2012)
H. Mantel, The mirror and the light (2020)
S. Marai, Embers (1942)
H. Metar, A month in Siena (2019)
C. Slocock, People Like Us (2018)
Lots of very good things in here. I liked Metar and Slocock a lot; and Lewis' 1930s fable of how America can slide into fascism - though it struggled with poor chronology - was compelling. However, their misfortune was to compete with a full read through of the Mantel trilogy which was pretty much as good as it's held to be. I had held back from reading the second in anticipation of reading the three of them. Given the time it has taken for the third to arrive, I could hardly remember the first, so I'm glad I did. On rereading, it was, just, the best, edging out the Mirror and the Light, essentially because I think it had to do the hard work of entering the Tudor world. Thousands of words have been written on all of them and I have nothing to add.
I assume the final volume will win the Booker. I'm not sure the second one should have. I felt Bring up the bodies was the weakest of the three, largely because of its structure, which was tightly built around the fall of Anne Boleyn. As a result, I think that meant we lost the broader immersion, and it had fewer standout passages of writing. Still good, but off a peak.
And so, with a heavy heart, I think that means Will Self should have had the 2012 Booker. My shortlist ranking. It was a fine year, though.
S. Marai, Embers (1942)
H. Metar, A month in Siena (2019)
C. Slocock, People Like Us (2018)
Lots of very good things in here. I liked Metar and Slocock a lot; and Lewis' 1930s fable of how America can slide into fascism - though it struggled with poor chronology - was compelling. However, their misfortune was to compete with a full read through of the Mantel trilogy which was pretty much as good as it's held to be. I had held back from reading the second in anticipation of reading the three of them. Given the time it has taken for the third to arrive, I could hardly remember the first, so I'm glad I did. On rereading, it was, just, the best, edging out the Mirror and the Light, essentially because I think it had to do the hard work of entering the Tudor world. Thousands of words have been written on all of them and I have nothing to add.
I assume the final volume will win the Booker. I'm not sure the second one should have. I felt Bring up the bodies was the weakest of the three, largely because of its structure, which was tightly built around the fall of Anne Boleyn. As a result, I think that meant we lost the broader immersion, and it had fewer standout passages of writing. Still good, but off a peak.
And so, with a heavy heart, I think that means Will Self should have had the 2012 Booker. My shortlist ranking. It was a fine year, though.
- Self, Umbrella
- Mantel, Bring up the Bodies
- Tan, The Garden of Evening Mists
- Thayil, Narcopolis
- Moore, The Lighthouse
- Levy, Swimming Home
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