Hello

[France]

This looks like a really intersting group...

I live in La Belle F, naturally, up a track in the forest of Les Landes to be exact. I'm a writer, suffering from pretty terminal writer's block at the moment, and read most things apart from horror and sure-fire nominees for the Booker prize.

 

[mehastings]

Hi France. Welcome. What's with the Booker aversion? I've read a few Booker winners (and many Short/Long Listers) and haven't been too disappointed.

 

[France]

Sure, there are some very good Booker winners etc but readability doesn't appear to be one of the criteria that the Booker selectors consider when making up the long list which is why I rarely get around to looking at what is on the Booker list whereas I actively search out books on the Whitbread short list and Pullitzer prize winners.
It's rumoured that the reason why Mary Wesley was never on the Booker short or long list was because she was too "popular" - obviously the selectors then didn't think it was possible to be both literary and accessible.

 

[Stewart]

It's rumoured that the reason why Mary Wesley was never on the Booker short or long list was because she was too "popular" - obviously the selectors then didn't think it was possible to be both literary and accessible.

That sounds like nonsense. There are many popular authors who appear on the Booker lists. Ian McEwan, for example. Julian Barnes and David Mitchell, with Arthur & George and Cloud Atlas respectively, have both popped up in the Richard & Judy book club, a surefire ticket to higher sales that seals their popularity.

Perhaps Wesley's publishers didn't think entering her books was worthwhile. Let's face it, publishers can only nominate two of their own for the prize and those they enter will no doubt be picked especially for their writing rather than how popular they are. It's a panel's decision, not a public vote. It all depends, really, what the panel is looking for and what they think is the best of the bunch.

 

[France]

Stewart, you would have been about 5 when the rumours about why Mary Wesley was never included on the Booker longlist were circulating so it isn't surprising that you've never heard of them, but they appeared in several places including the Sunday Times book supplement (a quite different animal to today's version) and they were generally accepted to be true - which I know doesn't mean anything definite but still...

Again, I repeat there are usually some good books on the Booker list but what I mean by 'sure-fire Booker nominee' are books where form appears to take precedent over content and in my opinion there are usually too many of those on Booker lists.