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Orange Prize for Fiction 2010


poppyshake

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The longlist/shortlist for the Orange Prize for fiction 2010

 

The Very Thought of You - Rosie Alison (shortlisted)

The Rehearsal - Eleanor Catton

Savage Lands - Clare Clark

Hearts and Minds - Amanda Craig

The Way Things Look to Me - Roopa Farooki

The Twisted Heart - Rebecca Gowers

This is How - M.J. Hyland

Small Wars - Sadie Jones

The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver (shortlisted)

Secret Son - Laila Lalami

The Long Song - Andrea Levy

Black Water Rising - Attica Locke (shortlisted)

The Wilding - Maria McCann

Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel (shortlisted)

Black Mamba Boy - Nadifa Mohamed

A Gate at the Stairs - Lorrie Moore (shortlisted)

The White Woman on the Green Bicycle - Monique Roffey (shortlisted)

The Still Point - Amy Sackville

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters

 

I've read one (The Little Stranger), am listening to one (The Help), have one on the shelf (Hearts and Minds) and one on my Amazon wishlist (The Very Thought of You). I've heard about Wolf Hall and The Long Song but I don't really know anything about the others.

 

So have you read or got your eye on any of these titles?

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Read Lacuna, Wolf Hall and The Help. Pity Help did not get short listed. It was fabulous. Little Stranger is on my wish list. Thanks for the list. I shall research the others as I have not heard of them

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I've read The Lacuna but that's it. I nearly bought The Rehearsal yesterday, as it was on the 3 for 2 table in Waterstone's, and picked it up three or four times, but had to limit myself to six books, and it ended up back on the table, however, I might pick it up at the weekend (as it will be a new month, so the book buying counter restarts :irked:)

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The longlist/shortlist for the Orange Prize for fiction 2010

 

This is How - M.J. Hyland

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters

 

The Very Thought of You - Rosie Alison (shortlisted)

Hearts and Minds - Amanda Craig

The Twisted Heart - Rebecca Gowers

Small Wars - Sadie Jones

 

The Rehearsal - Eleanor Catton

The Wilding - Maria McCann

The Still Point - Amy Sackville

 

Black Water Rising - Attica Locke (shortlisted)

Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel (shortlisted)

 

I've read the first three. This is How is a fantastic read, as is The Help. I was a little disappointed by The Little Stranger, and didn't find it very atmospheric or scary.

 

The next four are on my TBR pile.

 

The next three are on my wishlist.

 

And I've tried the last two and didn't like either of them very much. Wolf Hall is a Marmite book - you either love it or hate it, I think. And Black Water Rising didn't do much for me at all, although I think generally it's got pretty good reviews.

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I haven't read, nor have any particular desire to read any of them :) man, am I out of touch with the times!

 

I think being 'out of touch with the times' ought to be celebrated .. it means you're a literary maverick. You'd only leave them on buses if you did buy them ;)

 

I'm happy as long as there are no titles by Katie Price in the list, I found one of them at the library today (not a Katie Price book *shudders*, I know I'm trying to read my five a day but there is a limit) .. and bought it home with me .. The Way Things Look to Me - Roopa Farooki.

 

Sadly I'm definitely a trend follower rather than setter .. if a book has 'Longlisted/Shortlisted for the Orange/Man Booker/Costa Award' on it I'm automatically more interested. I'm beginning to think if they had 'Shortlisted for the Richard Hammond Outstanding Contribution to Literature Award' written on them, I'd think ooh .. that's bound to be good.

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The only one on the short-list I've read is A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore, earlier this year. Here's what I wrote on my blog about it....

 

A yes-but book. I read it in two long sittings. I loved the voice of it's 20 year old college student narrator, Tassie Kjetlin, a farmers daughter come to study and learn about life in a town much like Madison Wisconsin. She wise-cracks her way through life, and much of the novel is very funny. There is an eerie foreboding, however, that seems to mock the levity.

 

And the sadness comes in droves. Unfortunately, it all seems a bit forced. The boyfriend who may or may not be a terrorist. The mysterious couple who adopt a bi-racial daughter for whom Tassie nannies. The shaggy-dog younger brother who has his eye on the military (the action occurs the year after 9/11). There is an overall formlessness, as there was in Moore's earlier novel, Anagrams. Characters disappear, and plot lines end, with a jarring abruptness.

 

But then, the section in which Tassie bonds with her two year old charge conveys much of the joy inherent in childhood. Little Emma is beautifully drawn. And the long final section with Tassie working on her father's farm has moments of enchantment, and deep tragedy. I have a feeling the novel will linger in my memory.

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I have a feeling the novel will linger in my memory.

 

As long as it's for the right reasons then that seems like a pretty good recommendation :) Most books are 'yes-but's' anyway, there's very few 'definitely yes's' out there.

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  • 1 month later...

Well, the winner's been announced - it's The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, and the only one of the nominees I've read. My review was basically, "I felt there was so much emphasis on getting the historical fact into the fictional diary that it was cumbersome - the reading equivalent of trudging through a muddy field."

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8730935.stm

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Wolf Hall and The Help are the only ones that I have in my collection of that original list. I'd started Wolf Hall a few weeks ago, but was sidetracked by a book on Charles II. After that I wasn't in the mood for anything historical. I'll get back to it I know.

 

I'm not automatically interested in a book on account of being listed for a [whatever] prize, but it does get my attention to at least take a look....sometimes.

 

Can't say I care much for Kingsolver which isn't really fair as I've only tried to read Poisonwood Bible. Without success. Maybe one of these days.

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I read the Poisonwood Bible as well, i thought it was a good book though it took me a long time to get through it & i think it would have benefited from better editing as it did drag in parts.

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Have listened to The Poisonwood Bible and loved it so will be looking out for The Lacuna (especially on audio). Also loved The Help and am about a third of the way through listening to Wolf Hall .. loving that too, I'm in Tudor heaven.

I prefer to listen rather than to read big tomes, I find I'm much less likely to wander or get bored if someone else is reading it to me, especially if the narrators are good which in all three cases they were.

The only other one's I've read are The Little Stranger which I thought was excellent and The Way Things Look to Me which was just ok.

I've got Hearts and Minds and The Very Thought of You on my shelves waiting and I bought home The Still Point from the library a few weeks ago (and have had to renew once already). Hope to get around to reading all three of them soon.

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Poppyshake. My recommendation is NOT to get Lacuna in audio if it is read by Barbara Kingsolver herself. I made that mistake thinking it would be great to have the author read it. It is absolutely terrible. She may be a good writer - not a good narrator. Just my two cents

 

I am actually surprised she won considering the competition. At any rate, worth a read.

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Poppyshake. My recommendation is NOT to get Lacuna in audio if it is read by Barbara Kingsolver herself. I made that mistake thinking it would be great to have the author read it. It is absolutely terrible. She may be a good writer - not a good narrator. Just my two cents

 

I am actually surprised she won considering the competition. At any rate, worth a read.

 

Ah thanks for the tip :smile2:, The Poisonwood Bible wasn't read by her, but I think The Lacuna might be.

Some authors are terrible at reading their own work, most of them in fact. Neil Gaiman does a great parody of a fellow author reading an extract from his own book, though the text should have been exciting he made it sound as dull as ditchwater .. he wouldn't say who it was though.

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  • 3 years later...

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