Martin, so out of the four you've read so far, which do you think has the best chance with the judges? They always seem to be a rather contrary lot. Then, which do you think is best, if it's the same or not? Personally, I trust your judgment better than theirs!

After finishing last year's winner just yesterday, The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, I definitely trust Martin's judgment over the judges'.

I found Enright a bit unconvincing. But I suspect others here might well like it. (Dare I say "girl book"?) I'd have no objections to Hamid, Jones, or - reluctantly, I have to admit it - McEwan. I didn't and don't fancy either of the other two, but I've bought them now and I should read them. Managed to get first editions of all of them and only paid over the odds for one - Mister Pip - which is signed.

Colormeconfused - I must mark my admiration for your precise use of the apostrophe in your post.

Thanks, Martin. After I hit the "Submit Message" button, I had a moment of doubt.

Now reading Animal's People by Indra Sinha. It's a first-person story about a crippled young man in a city called Khaufpur in India. He's crippled as a result of a huge chemical explosion in the city twenty years earlier - clearly, Khaufpur is a fictionalized Bhopal. He's called Animal because he has to go on all fours, and his legs are practically useless.

The premise did not appeal to me at all. But so far (thirty pages or so), I'm finding it utterly rivetting.

OK, finished Animal's People. Hmmmm...

On the upside, it's compelling reading, with a fascinating narrator. But - the story is, to my mind, unconvincing; some of the incidents are just downright unbelievable. (I don't want to specify - one of the major unlikely events is a major plot point, so I don't want to post a spoiler.)

I'd be astonished if it wins.

Now, I've been exercising my wrists and arms, put wrist supports on, and started reading the 800-page brick that is Darkmans by Nicola Barker.

One immediate irritation - paragraphs in books, generally, are indented, right? Well, not in this book. Most of them are but some of them aren't. I suspect it's just sloppy computerised typesetting - but it is extremely annoying.

But if I can get over this, and the somewhat unpromising first chapter, it's had some wonderful reviews. So let's see how I get on....

Here is John Crace's rather wicked digested shortlist. Obviously, spoilers abound here!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Digested Shortlist

OK. I've got to page 130 of Darkmans. It's set in Ashford, Kent, and involves a drug dealer, his father, a Kurdish boxer, an anorexic girl, and a chiropodist and her German husband who appears in a car-park riding a horse, except that he hates horses. There's a distinct whiff of the supernatural about it.

Or, to put it another way, it's sort of a cross between Douglas Adams (without the wit), Neil Gaiman (without the enthralling writing) and Robert Rankin (only set in Ashford, rather than Brentford.)

You know what? It's all been done before, and I'm not desperately impressed by it.

And it's eight hundred pages, and my arms are aching, and I'd rather re-read The Reluctant Fundamentalist or Mister Pip.

So - final summary.

Nicola Barker - Darkman

An 800 page monster, with shades of Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman and Robert Rankin. Got bored after 135 pages. Nothing new or original. Even the trick of the foreign language being in a different font was done first by Jasper Fforde. I'm amazed that something as derivative as this was short-listed. I'll be appalled if this wins.

Anne Enright - The Gathering

An Irish family yarn, with twelve kids. (Though we only really hear about three of them, plus the mother). Tedious. Don't expect this to win.

Mohsin Hamid - The Reluctant Fundamentalist

A young Pakistani guy talks to an American in a cafe in Lahore. First person narrative all the way through. Very tense, and it turns into quite a nice little thriller. A bit slight to win, I would have thought. But I wouldn't be too upset if it did.

Lloyd Jones - Mister Pip

In a war-torn island in the South Pacific (I think), the last remaining white person re-opens the school and starts to teach the children, by reading Great Expectations to them. I found the first half much better than the second, but I did enjoy this one very much. The bookie's favourite, and my personal favourite. I wouldn't be surprised to see this one win.

Ian McEwan - On Chesil Beach

Everyone knows about this one. A pair of virgins in 1962 go to their honeymoon in a hotel in the South of England. Marvellously written, I have to admit. Very short indeed, which might go against it. But this is the one I expect to win.

Indra Sinha - Animal's People

A story about a young man, who was crippled as a result of a major chemical explosion in a fictionalized Bhopal, and his relationship with an American doctor and a local activist and his girlfriend. A good idea, but all a bit unconvincing. I don't think this will win.

I just finished McEwan's work - beautiful but naturally depressing. Even though I knew what was going to happen, I couldn't stop reading. I hope this one wins.

I hope McEwan wins, too. He has such an excellent body of work already behind him, as well. I have decided to re-read all his novels.

Anyone else got any comments about any of these? Seems everyone has read McEwan and a few people have read Hamid...

I am a third of the way through Mister Pip, and would describe it so far as a gentle read. I am enjoying the references to Great Expectations too as my dd is studying it for her GCSE, and we are both very familiar with the story!

I just finished Mr. Pip today. I read On Chesil Beach back in June, and although my memory is not completely fresh about it since it's been several months, I can honestly say that between the two novels, Mr. Pip is the one that I hope wins the Booker.

As I mentioned back in the June thread, I think it was, there was a major plot point in On Chesil Beach that I've never been able to resolve to my satisfaction, although it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book. McEwan's writing, of course, is as beautiful as always. However, Mr. Pip is the one that has stolen my heart. I intend to read The Reluctant Fundamentalist but haven't had the opportunity yet.

Anyone else read any?

The prize is announced on the evening (normally around 10:30 UK time) on 16th October.

I know I'm a miserable reader but I just cant bring myself to read any of these novels - yet - at least - possibly one may stand the test of time - I'll get round to reading it and find it wonderful.
I'm so saddened by the ever increasing paucity of the Booker selections - and by contemporary literature anyway - but I'm always pleased to praise what IMHO is 'good writing' - latest being' We need to Talk about Kevin' although I know it's been around some time - superb.
I wouldn't read McEwan again anyway - I think he's a bit of a con.

"I wouldn't read McEwan again anyway -- I think he's a bit of a con."

Jankin, would you mind explaining, or elaborating a bit?
Thanks....

Color, I would love to know the plot point you mentioned. I noticed a couple of minor ones, and I was a bit bothered by one thing - it would be fun to hear your views. I don't want to post anything for fear of spoilers.

I have absolutely no time for any leisure reading as I am deep into my penultimate semester at school, but I still can't help it. I fit in 15 minutes or so before bedtime and whenever I have to wait anywhere (I don't drag my 40-lb. textbooks to the dentist). From your descriptions, I have to read Mr. Pip. I hope it's not too long.

Hi - McEwan -
I read so closely 'The Child in Time' (teaching it) and although I had problems with his characters even then - his accurate reading of contemporary/futuristic politics was masterly as was his inclusion of quantum physics theories -- I stayed with it - and then experienced the aweful let down as he obviously got bored with the whole thing and borrowed a Mills and Boon ending.
The only novel I was satisfied with was 'The Cement Garden'.
Anyway I think he writes to a formula - intellectual and artistic characters - but cold cold cold - I dont think even McEwan gives a damn about them after he's worked out his plot - I think he is distant and manipulative as a writer - witness 'Atonement' an up market Barbara Cartland 'novel'.

Jan - I have some sympathy with you about McEwan, I have to admit. But aren't all writers a bit formulaic?

However, I can't let your assertion about "the ever increasing paucity of the Booker selections" go unchallenged. This year has not been a bad selection by any means; last year was a bit disappointing (all statements IMHO, of course!) - but the year before was quite marvellous. John Banville won with The Sea, The Sea and Julian Barnes, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ali Smith, Zadie Smith and Sebastian Barry were all shortlisted - and McEwan actually missed the shortlist that year with Saturday - a book that plenty of people reckoned was good enough to win. There were five quite marvellous novels out of the six on the shortlist. The year before that, Cloud Atlas was on the shortlist - that book in itself is one I would set against your statement about the paucity of modern literature.

People forget that in the "good old days" there was also a hell of a lot of trash too. Perhaps your idea of waiting a few years and see which ones survive is a good one. Me, I think the Booker shortlist is normally a fairly good pointer to at least some of the future classics.

Hello, Jankin. Thanks for your response re McEwan. I was a bit surprised because often, you and I have shared the same reading tastes, e.g. "The Go-Between", "The Secret History", et al.

IMO, McEwan's point of view has to do with what he is trying to express about the fragmentations within post-modern society, thus his "cold" style. Maybe this is precisely his point, especially in "Saturday" and "The Comfort of Strangers." (I recently re-read both of these and appreciated them even more).

And I would tend to agree with Martin that all writers are a bit "formulaic."

I think I'm becoming a bit of a curmudgeon about my reading - and Martin my problem with the Bookers is really I just havn't the patience (or the time - getting busier and busier now with 2 grandsons 10 and 16 living with us).
Yes - there always has been a lot of 'trash' around - and I salute many of our 'new' writers in their attempts to set a different menu before us. However I am still not convinced that literary awards - Booker, or otherwise - have much relevance for the common reader (me).
McEwan - he can write - he knows it - we know it - but he is bored and really cant be bothered about his readers anymore - sorry but that's how I feel - I wont read him because of his writing but because of his, IMHO, contempt for me.

Anne Enright - The Gathering

Here's my summary from the longlist thread.

Reading The Gathering by Anne Enright. Liam commits suicide. His sister tells the story of the family. Middle-class angst with Irish guilt thrown in for good luck. I'll finish it, but I can't say I'm desperately impressed - be surprised if it's shortlisted.

Wrong again.

My apologies for being nearly twelve hours late with the news. But this one sneaked up on me - for some reason I had it in my mind that it was on Thursday evening - so the first I knew of it was when I saw it in the papers this morning. Ooops.

Siobhan, I'm so sorry I missed your question earlier. I was out of town for several days and haven't caught up on everything yet.

MINOR SPOILER AHEAD for McEwan's On Chesil Beach: My biggest problem with the plot was the idea that if the characters were so sexually inexperienced, naive, and clueless since this happened before the sexual revolution of the '60's, then why did they both so casually accept that divorce was the outcome to the little mishap that occurred in the wedding bed? It just seemed like a very modern solution to me. END SPOILER

I picked up The Reluctant Fundamentalist at 50% off the other day, so I'll be reading it soon. Unfortunately, our library doesn't have The Gathering, and I haven't seen it in local bookstores either. I guess I'll be browsing Amazon again, even after I promised myself I wouldn't buy any new books for a while.