Man Booker Prize Shortlist 2013

I was planning on putting together a preview of the shortlist, of course only based on the ones I have read. I intended to reveal my thoughts of Eleanor Catton's "The Luminaries" even though I'm only 500 pages into the 830 odd page book, telling you it is a moral to make the list as it is one of the most entertaining and well written novels I have come across for sometime. However the judges beat me to it and revealed their shortlist before I had time to comment. Here it is:

We Need New Names - NoViolet Bulawayo
The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton
The Harvest - Jim Crace
The Lowland - Jhumpa Lahiri
A Tale For The Time Being - Ruth Ozeki
The Testament of Mary - Colm Toibin

Three of these I have reviewed in previous posts and as you can see above I'm a fair way into the fourth. Having not read Crace or Lahiri's works at this time (The Lowlands is yet to be published!!!) I can't confidently predict a winner but I must say none of the selected works surprise me, even though Toibin's is too short to qualify, and demands a christian understanding, in my opinion.

I am happy that "Almost English" didn't make the cut but as a gesture of goodwill I will still donate a sum to the Indigenous Literary Foundation to assist our original settlers with having the same opportunities as us all in education, employment and societal skills.

I of course will be back with my thoughts on Catton's work along with Crace's and Lahiri's (once it's published) - good luck to them all.