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 2024 Plot Time and Place : Present day Australia Opening sentence : "Arrive finally at about three." Plot summary : Burnt out and in need of retreat, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place where she grew up, taking refuge in a small religious community. She finds herself living a strange, reclusive existence almost by accident. (thebookerprizes.com) Review :   This book is hard to define. It´s written in a diary form, by an unnamed narrator, but it's not boring or repetitive. There isn't much of a plot, but I liked the writing, the themes of grief and guilt, and all the car-crash voyeuristic Catholic saints' lives stuff. Rating :   4/5

  Booker Prize :  WINNER 2003 Plot Time and Place :  Present day Texas, USA Opening sentence :    "It's hot as hell in Martirio, but the papers on the porch are icy with the news." Plot summary : In this darkly comic novel, an acerbic, foul-mouthed 15-year-old boy goes on the run after a mass shooting at his Texas high school. Review :   This is brilliant. It's hard to say I liked it, because it's so depressing, but at the same time laugh-out-loud funny. Funny, smart, satirical, realistic. Rating :  4/5