Reading All the Bookers!

  Booker Prize:   WINNER 2001 Plot Time and Place :   Australia, 1870's Opening sentence :  "I lost my own father at 12 yr. of age and know what it is to be raised on lies and silences my dear daughter you are presently too young to understand a word I write but this history is for you and will contain no single lie may I burn in Hell if I speak false." Plot summary :  This is a fictional account of Ned Kelly, the famed Australian bushranger. This is the captivating tale of an outlaw who was considered a national hero. Standing up for the underdog and defying the corrupt powers of the time, Kelly robbed banks, stole horses and murdered police officers with the help of his gang of outlaw misfits. (from thebookerprizes.com) Review :  Well written, fun to read and full of adventures, but I thought it was too long and at times just felt like more of the same. Rating :   3/5

  Booker Prize:   Shortlisted 1981 Plot Time and Place :   Vienna, Kiev, Palestine; 1920's and 1940's Opening sentence :  "Dearest Gisela, I give you a warm bear-hug from the new world!" Plot summary :  This story follows the life of Lisa Erdman, an Austrian opera singer treated by Sigmund Freud for psychosomatic pain. Lisa, who possesses prophetic abilities, shares her erotic hallucinations with Freud, which hint at her future, rather than her past trauma.  Blending fictional narratives with Freud's real case study techniques, the novel delves into Lisa's complex life, and eventual fate. (from supersummary.com) Review : I had never he ard of this book before, and I went into it without knowing anything about it. So at first, I thought it was just a badly wriiten piece of erotic fiction, mixed with a fictionalization of Freud's life. (The erotic parts are not particularly well written). Then I read some reviews on Goodreads and I still couldn't un...

  Booker Prize :   Shortlisted 2023 Plot Time and Place :   Ireland, present day Opening sentence :   "In the next town over, a man had killed his family". Plot summary : " Clocking in at more than 600 pages, it is the story of a well-to-do Irish family in financial, emotional and existential trouble: Dickie Barnes, who has taken over his father’s car showroom; his wife Imelda, a local beauty; daughter Cassie, preparing for university; and 12-year-old son PJ. The after-effects of the financial crash have crippled the motor business, and now that the money and the good times have run out, Dickie hides away in local woods, building a shelter against the collapse of civilisation while Imelda furiously eBays their possessions. Cassie fears for her future; PJ fears divorce. We see the same few months through the eyes of each in turn, during floods and drought, as slow‑building ecological disaster parallels the family’s own unfolding apocalypse." (by Justine Jordan in...

Booker Prize :   WINNER INTERNATIONAL BOOKER 2018 Plot Time and Place : 17th-century Netherlands, 18th-century Austria, 19th-century Paris and Warsaw, Present-day Croatia Opening sentence :   "I'm a few years old. I'm sitting on the window sill, surrounded by strewn toys and toppled-over block towers and dolls with bulging eyes." Plot summary : From the 17th century, we have the story of the Dutch anatomist Philip Verheyen, who dissected and drew pictures of his own amputated leg. From the 18th century, we have the story of an African-born slave turned Austrian courtier stuffed and put on display after his death. In the 19th century, we follow Chopin's heart as it makes the covert journey from Paris to Warsaw. In the present, we have the story of a young husband whose wife and child mysteriously vanish on a holiday on a Croatian island.  (from the cover of Fitzcarraldo Editions) Review :   I liked Tokarczuk's other book, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the D...

Booker Prize :   Shortlisted 1999 Plot Time and Place :  India and USA, present day Opening sentence :   "On the veranda overlooking the garden, the drive and the gate, they sit together on the creaking sofa-swing, suspended from its iron frame, dangling their legs so that the slippers on their feet hang loose." Plot summary :  This book is about three siblings in a typical middle-class Indian family, and how they navigate their overbearing parents, sibling jealousy and rivalry, and societal and parental expectations. Review :   Really enjoyed this. The writing is really fluid and the dialogues are realistic. I enjoyed the comparison between the two cultures (Indian and American), but especially the main character, Uma. The way she longs to escape, but doesn't dare, the overbearing parents, the jealousy she feels of her sister, the sadness and resignation of the character and the latent misogyny are all interesting themes. Rating :  4/5

Booker Prize :   Shortlisted 2022 Plot Time and Place : Ireland 1985 Opening sentence :   "In October there were yellow trees." Plot summary : In Catholic Ireland, a man named Bill Furlong discovers the truth about what goes on inside one of the Magdalene "laundries". Review :   A short book, but very powerful. A meditation on what it means to do the right thing, or to look away. Delivers a pretty strong punch. Rating : 4/5