The Booker Prize Winner is announced, and I didn’t love it…
Well, we made it! A 13 Booker Dozen was narrowed down to a sensational six shortlist, to our final winner.
I read the shortlist. I have followed the trends within book communities, online and in person, to read the Booker Shortlist. They were, ironically, quite short reads and for the most part, quite enjoyable. They, like reading any new book, opened my eyes to new authors, genres and themes that I wouldn’t normally pick up. I read two that I had favourited to win: James by Percival Everett and The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden. But this two didn’t win. The winner was announced on Tuesday 12th November from a ceremony in London, with a star-studded carpet hosted by the comedian Jessica Knappett. The winner receives £50,000 and a lovely gold trophy. It’s no hard feelings for the short-listed authors, as they receive £2,500 and a special bound copy of their book.
And the winner was Orbital by Samantha Harvey
And the winner was Orbital by Samantha Harvey. Yes, our only British entry in the Shortlist only went and won it! This is great win for British authors, adding to their previous 3 wins (in the ten years since the Booker became in international competition). Harvey looked shocked as she went up to receive their award and gave an impactful speech, focusing in on the theme of her book, love for the Earth. Harvey nominated before for The Wilderness (2009) and works on the Creative Writing MA at Bath Spa University. Orbital was, I found, a difficult book to read – being only 138 pages, I thought it would be a quick and impactful read. I see why the book one, it was very well researched, moving and had great descriptive passages but was not a personally favourite for me.
The other shortlisted books were, in the most, fantastic and I wanted to share some thoughts on them (spoiler free – obviously). The Safekeep was one of my favourites to win the prize and explores the post-war period in The Netherlands, presenting the cutest queer love story that you didn’t know you needed in your life! My other favourite, James by Percival James, a re-telling of Huckleberry Finn, explored that world, through Jim’s perspective in the most emotive, and at times, comedic voice.
My advice, if reading the shortlist interests you, is to read the content warnings. Most of the books drew on heavy topics and tainted my experience of reading them for pleasure. Specifically, check for Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood, as it explored a lot of sensitive issues that at points, made it hard to keep powering through the book, as it seemed to show the worst side of humanity.
The day after the winner was announced, Waterstones Picadilly opened a popup library to allow shoppers to explore the shortlisted and winning books from every year, in the Booker’s 55-year history. Shoppers can see a life-sized version of the trophy and is marketed as “an essential destination for all lovers of quality literature”. This seems fun in theory, after most branches of Waterstones promoted the Shortlist in a display in their stores. However, does it extenuate and expand the price divided that is a big downside of the Booker Prize, by placing this event, although free to attend, in one of the more high-end, expensive book shops? I think that it has an impact on how accessible the Booker Prize books are and creates a sense of difference or hierarchy with the connection to quality literature that is associated with the prestige of this award.
Now Harvey has the prestige of being a Booker Prize winning author, it brings me to the end of this journey. Despite not loving the winning book and finding most of them very heavy (emotionally) to read, I would do it again next year. I loved two, like two and disliked two, which is not bad average and found them moving and thought-provoking. Aside from the books, the thing I will take away with me most is the community created around this award.
From watching the live stream, to talking to people in bookshops and scrolling through social media, it is undeniable there is a community of people across the world that come together in the name of prestigious books
From watching the live stream, to talking to people in bookshops and scrolling through social media, it is undeniable there is a community of people across the world that come together in the name of prestigious books. I would recommend everyone read the winner, in order to experience what is conceived to be the best book of 203/2024 and give some of the others a go too.
Comments