The Booker Prize Project (Part 2)

The Booker Prize Honour-Roll: 1991-2000

1991 - Ben Okri, The Famished Road
This is a strange one; it's a book that I keep thinking I have read, when in fact I have not. It has since become a classic and is on my reading list.

1992 - Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient
- Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger
I have read both books and own a copy of Sacred Hunger. I found Barry Unsworth's remorselessly dark and ultimately, a depressing read. There is no doubting the strength of his narrative line and the clarity of his prose, but the tale of slavery and greed was not entirely to my taste. I am glad to have read it because of what it had to say about the corrupting power of capitalist imperialism.

The English Patient, the book, is such a different animal from The English Patient, the movie. The book moves at a different pace, driven not by the doomed romance of the movie but by the unique voices of its cast of characters. I found this a fascinating read, cleverly constructed and written with great imagination and flair. I liked that Ondaatje was not afraid to make his protagonists unpleasant and sometimes unlikeable, something which the movie sought to do, but not as successfully.

1993 - Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
I was given this book as a birthday present. It took me a fair while to finish reading it. I can appreciate the cleverness and the humour, but this book failed to strike a chord with me. I cannot remember anything about it, apart from struggling through many of the early chapters, adjusting to the Irish vernacular that peppered Doyle's writing. I recall this as being earthy and honest (and I suppose, authentic, although I am not in any position to really know) and somehow not quite my cup of tea.

1994 - James Kelman, How Late It Was, How Late
1995 - Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
1996 - Graham Swift, Last Orders

Not read. Frankly, I know nothing of the James Kelman book. The Ghost Road was much acclaimed when it was released. It was a book I passed up on because it seemed rather bleak. It is, after all, about the culture of death in Europe. I think I may try to read the entire Pat Barker trilogy if I find the time, now that bleakness is not so entirely off-putting to me anymore.

Last Orders was supposed to be a sad book, from the blurbs at the back. I rarely seek out sad books, no matter how acclaimed, hence this was a book I skipped. I don't know that I have change my mind since then, so this book may not get read for a while yet.

1997 - Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
I bought a copy of this book, on the strength of its Booker Prize win, which was much reported in the local press due to the winner being an Asian. I read the first half of the book in a couple of sessions, so riveting did I find Roy's narrative. Thereafter, my reading pace slowed considerably as I found the story turning somewhat predictable and the prose taking a rather florid turn. The early chapters were fascinating in their descriptions of life in India, including the mundane details of domesticity and work. Roy was particularly effective in depicting family relationships and the customs of South Indian society, The love story was touching, yet at the same time, it was the one element in the tale that made the larger story seem more hum-drum, to me. In all, though, this is a fine work which I admired greatly for its skill in weaving a mystery into an exploration of human behaviour.

1998 - Ian McEwan, Amsterdam
1999 - J M Coetzee, Disgrace
Both not read. I remember reading the blurbs and thinking tha these were not the types of books that would appeal to me. Despite the subsequent award of the Booker Prize, I was not tempted to change my mind.

2000 - Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
I have not read this yet, but hope to do so. I had only recently discovered Margeret Atwood's work by reading The Handmaid's Tale. That was truly a chilling, gripping read.