Brida Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 (edited) Hello fellow BCF members http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/smile.gif This is a reading challenge I want to take part in myself, and if anyone else wants to participate - feel free! There's an attachement in this post, containing the list of all the Man Booker Prize winners from 1969. to 2009. The challenge is, of course, to read all the books from the list http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/biggrin.gif Many of you have probably read many books from the list, but you might want to reread them or share a few thoughts about them. So, in this thread you can keep other members posted on how you're coming along with the challenge, give advice on the books from the list, mention the ones you've already read (and what you thought of them)...generally, discuss the challenge! Happy reading, and hope to see you around this thread! http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/smile.gif MAN BOOKER PRIZE-Whos_who_2009.pdf EDIT - List of winners from 1969 to 2014 on goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/award/show/13-man-booker-prize EDIT: There's a list of titles and authors from the pdf^^ posted in post #10, as well as a link to the MBP website where you can read the info on the books (synopsis, author bio...). EDIT #2 : Reading : 1978 The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch Edited September 20, 2015 by Brida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ooshie Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 That's an interesting idea, Brida; were you thinking of people just reading random books as they fancied, or sometimes choosing a book to read at the same time like the Rory Gilmore challenge? I have had a quick glance through and have read far fewer of them than I thought I might have! I will have to do a proper list later, along with any I own but haven't read yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted September 11, 2010 Author Share Posted September 11, 2010 (edited) So far, from the list I've read only 2 books. Let's hope it changes soon! 2002 Life of Pi by Yann Martel 2007 The Gathering by Anne Enright EDIT: Hi there Ooshie! Well I think it would be interesting if we chose a book to read at the same time, but I guess that would depend on how many people would like to be involved (meaning, anyone else other than myself ). As far as I'm concerned, sounds good If others agree with Ooshies suggestion, please post it here so we can ''set the rules'' lol. Edited September 11, 2010 by Brida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 An interesting challenge Brida. I think you will realy enjoy it. At a quick glance I have read 5 of the books, and enjoyed each of them very much, 'Midnight's children' by Salman Rushdie is an absolute favourie book of mine. 'The Remains Of The Day' by Kazuo Ishiguro, a brilliant author of nuanced emotions. 'The Famished Road' by Ben Okri. I adore his writing, it is so textured and full of colour. 'Last Orders' by Graham Swift. I know others that have had difficulty getting into his writing, but I loved this book. 'The God Of Small Things' by Arundhati Roy. a well written and structured book, so evocative you can almost smell the setting. I have one o two of the others on my TBR shelves, so I may dip in and join you from time to time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted September 11, 2010 Author Share Posted September 11, 2010 (edited) Excellent! Thanks Chrissy for the post, it's great to see what you thought of the books. I was thinking, and in case we don't agree on reading the same book at the same time, it might be a good idea just to pop in the thread and say if the next book you intend to read is from the list (and of course, which book). That way in case someone else is about to read it, you can agree in pairs or smaller groups to read it at the same time. How does that sound? Edited September 11, 2010 by Brida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Nice idea! I will Booker my TBRs and as and when I go to read them, I'll check in and mention it. I'll be reading the thread in the mean time anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted September 11, 2010 Author Share Posted September 11, 2010 Haha the ''I will Booker my TBRs'' sentence sounds so cool ! And I've just noticed I wrote you can agree in pairs or smaller groups to read it at the same time when I meant to say we...I've excluded myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ooshie Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 Well, I have had a good look, and as far as I can tell: I have read Hotel du Lac - Anita Brookner The Good Apprentice - Iris Murdoch An Artist of the Floating World - Kazuo Ishiguro The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro Possession - A S Byatt Black Dogs - Ian McEwan Amsterdam - Ian McEwan When We Were Orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro Atonement - Ian McEwan Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro Darkmans - Nicola Barker On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry I have a feeling that I have read Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym, too, but over 20 years ago so I can't quite remember. Actually, my list doesn't look quite so short now I have written it down - it just looks bad marked on the list where there are so many, many more that I haven't read! The only one of the above that I wish I hadn't bothered reading was Darkmans. It was really long and, as far as I can remember, ultimately pointless. Presumably I just didn't understand it. On My Shelves The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood The Gathering - Anne Enright The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones I'm looking forward to seeing who else might fancy joining in, and thanks, Brida, for having such a good idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 I've read a few of these and have a number of the others on my shelves. As Chrissy has done, I'll Booker my shelves and join in. Nice idea. My Waterstone's on town has a case full that's already been 'bookered', which is useful... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted September 12, 2010 Author Share Posted September 12, 2010 (edited) I've copied the titles and authors here so that others can mark what they've read/intend to read. And here's a link to the MBP website for more info on the books CLICK Man Booker Prize 1969 - 2009 List 1969 Something to Answer For by P H Newby 1970 The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens 1971 In a Free State by V S Naipaul 1972 G by John Berger 1973 The Siege of Krishnapur by J G Farrell 1974 The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer Holiday by Stanley Middleton 1975 Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala 1976 Saville by David Storey 1977 Staying On by Paul Scott 1978 The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch *group read #2* 1979 Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald 1980 Rites of Passage by William Golding 1981 Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie 1982 Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally 1983 Life & Times of Michael K by J M Coetzee 1984 Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner 1985 The Bone People by Keri Hulme 1986 The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis 1987 Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively 1988 Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey 1989 The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro 1990 Possession by A S Byatt 1991 The Famished Road by Ben Okri 1992 The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje *group read #1* Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth 1993 Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle 1994 How Late It Was, How Late by James Kelman 1995 The Ghost Road by Pat Barker 1996 Last Orders by Graham Swift 1997 The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy 1998 Amsterdam by Ian McEwan 1999 Disgrace by J M Coetzee 2000 The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood 2001 True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey 2002 Life of Pi by Yann Martel 2003 Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre 2004 The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst 2005 The Sea by John Banville 2006 The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai 2007 The Gathering by Anne Enright 2008 The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga 2009 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel Edited December 26, 2010 by Brida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted September 12, 2010 Author Share Posted September 12, 2010 I'm looking forward to seeing who else might fancy joining in, and thanks, Brida, for having such a good idea! No problem, I'm glad you like it and want to join! Also thank you for sharing your thoughts again, it helps chose books from the list. You've done quite a nice job with the challenge so far I've read a few of these and have a number of the others on my shelves. As Chrissy has done, I'll Booker my shelves and join in. Nice idea. My Waterstone's on town has a case full that's already been 'bookered', which is useful... Nice to see you joining in, Mac! Looks like this might work people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 What a neat idea! I've only read a few of the winners, but have several more in my TBR stack. I've read: The Sea by JohnBanville [loved it!!] The Remains of the Day That's it! Have to remedy that for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 (edited) Haha, don't worry pontalba, I haven't read more than two either So you guys, have you already thought of what you'd like to read? I was thinking of chosing a book for October or November, so if you have any suggestions/plans, post them here so we can see if we agree on a book, or if everyone will be reading a book of individual choice. Also, I've noticed that you've mentioned books that were shortlisted as well (e.g. Atonement, When We Were Orphans, The Reluctant Fundamentalist...). Since the list is huuuge if we include those, I thought of splitting this into 2 challenges. The first one being like in post #10 (including only the winners of the prize, I.e. the awarded books), and the second one including ALL the books from the list. How does that sound? Edited September 13, 2010 by Brida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 How does that sound? Frightening! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 Frightening! Haha well I thought this way it would sound less frightening Guess I was wrong... I myself will try to complete the shorter challenge first, and I'll see what to do about the huge one later. No one is obliged to take both if they join the challenge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 Well, the ones I have in my TBR stack are: 1981 Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie 1982 Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally 1990 Possession by A S Byatt 1992 The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje 1995 The Ghost Road by Pat Barker 1996 Last Orders by Graham Swift 1998 Amsterdam by Ian McEwan 1999 Disgrace by J M Coetzee 2000 The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood 2006 The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai 2007 The Gathering by Anne Enright 2008 The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga 2009 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel So, I'm pretty flexible as to what to read first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 (edited) I'm thinking of starting with one of these: - The English Patient - The Remains of the Day - Last Orders - Possesion leaning toward The English Patient the most. I must say, Possesion sounds very very interesting, but I see it's over 500 pages long, which troubles me because Uni starts soon, and I'm not sure if I'll have the time to read it, so I'd rather make it my 2nd or even later choice. Ooshie, I see you've read it - what do you think? Is it a slow or a fast read? EDIT: pontalba, I've read The Gathering a few weeks ago, and there's a review of it in my thread, for what it's worth. Edited September 13, 2010 by Brida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ooshie Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 Starting with the winners first definitely makes it less scary to me! I have read The Remains of the Day a few times, but not for a while, so I would happily join in with a group read of that. I haven't read either The English Patient or Last Orders, so they would be fine for me too. It's only a couple of months since I read Possession, so I probably wouldn't re-read it just yet even though I did think it was a wonderful book. I didn't find it a quick read, it always took me a couple of pages to get back into the atmosphere when I picked it up again, and I think it would have spoiled a lot of the enjoyment for me if I had tried to rush it. However, there were bits I could have happily skipped over - part of my review on my book list says: "The book includes the correspondence between the two Victorian poets, as well as their (sometimes very long) poems, and I can applaud the writer's skill in bringing such true voices to her characters. However, to me, I actually found these hard going to read and would have enjoyed the book more without them - when I come to reread it, I will just skim over the letters, and probably not read the poems at all." I'm sure they were probably lots of people's favourite bits of the book, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 Interesting. In that case Possesion is definitely going to have to wait for a while...I'm not in the mood for that kind of book at the moment anyway :/ Great. I'll put these three titles in the first post and we'll wait until, lets say Monday to see if there'll be any other suggestions. Then on Monday we'll see which book will be chosen for October/November (and decide on anything else that might pop up). It'll be interesting to see how this will work Is that ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ooshie Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 Sounds good to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted September 19, 2010 Author Share Posted September 19, 2010 Have we decided on one book? I've decided to vote for The English Patient (I would vote for The Remains of the Day, but I see that pontalba didn't mention it as part of her TBR pile, so I don't want to complicate things). Tomorrow is D day. Decision day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 Have we decided on one book? I've decided to vote for The English Patient (I would vote for The Remains of the Day, but I see that pontalba didn't mention it as part of her TBR pile, so I don't want to complicate things). Tomorrow is D day. Decision day Hey. Thanks Brida, The English Patient will be fine with me. I've read Remains of the Day, and while I want to reread it someday, today isn't that day. Heh. Now...to find it. I know it's here somewhere..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ooshie Posted September 19, 2010 Share Posted September 19, 2010 I will get The English Patient ordered, then! When are thinking of starting? I have Vanity Fair to read for the October Reading Group, and should start that later this week, but could start The English Patient any time after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted September 20, 2010 Author Share Posted September 20, 2010 Great,then it's settled. Since this is our first try at this, and we all have other books to read for October too, lets make it an October/November read. In case other things get in the way and we won't have time to read and stuff like that, the ''goal'' is to finish it by the end of November We'll probably finish it sooner but lets just see how it goes If you like, you can come here and discuss the book while you read or when you're finished... I'm probably not going to get it before next week, so I guess I'll start reading it sometime at the begining of October. Happy reading guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ooshie Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 A nice, relaxed read, then - that sounds grand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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