The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri.

This is the story of two brothers, their parents, and their wives and children. It's set in Calcutta and Rhode Island, from about 1960 to "the new millennium".

The brothers are inseperable as children, but as they grow older, they take different paths. One goes to college in America, the other stays in Calcutta and gets taken up in the revolutionary fervour of Calcutta in the late sixties and seventies. (Which is something I knew nothing about, I admit.)

I thoroughly enjoyed the book - I found myself blinking back tears at one part - and yet, there was one very unsatisfiying thing about it from my perspective. Trying not to give any spoilers - one character behaves throughout the book in a totally selfish and unfeeling way which seems at odds with the relationship they have with the other characters. (To the extent that I actually closed the book angrily to shut out the person from me, I was so furious with the way that they had behaved!)

Well written, in a sparse style; it tells you what happened, but doesn't go into long flowery descriptions of what people are seeing or what they are thinking - you work it out for yourself.

I don't think it will win, but I wouldn't be too upset if it did.

PS - I made reference to "closing the book angrily" above. This is something where a real book - especially a hardback - has a major advantage over an ebook-reader. I was reading it on my ereader, and I can tell you that switching off the reader and closing the cover in annoyance doesn't have half the satisfaction of slamming a real book closed !

Martin, I have also found it's much more satisfying and economical to throw a real book across the room in frustration than an ereader.

Thanks for the review. I've read two of Lahiri's books and she seems to mine the same vein in her stories and I'm not sure I really want to go there again.

I remember a library patron telling me that she had thrown her book onto the floor because she was disgusted with it. You wouldn't do that with an e-reader either!

The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin

A very short book indeed, and that, I think, is its main fault. It's a very well written, beautifully told story of Mary, and the story of the last few days of the life of Jesus from her point of view. And, in all honesty, that's about as much as I can say about it. I found it quite moving, and it was an interesting take on the time. But it's incomplete, I think - it could do with more development; there is more that could be told.

I'd be surprised if it won - it would be a controversial winner, because of its length and its subject matter.

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Well, I failed to get into this one when it was long-listed. However, on a second attempt, I enjoyed it much more. It's the story of a young girl called Darling; during the first half of the book, she is in Zimbabwe; in the second half, she has moved to America. I found the first half more interesting than the second. The life of a poor child in Zimbabwe is unfamiliar to me, but the angsty teenager in America is a bit over-familiar - and that, with very little extra, is all the second part of the book seems to be.

My real problem is that nothing much happens. It's a series of disconnected events in the life of the child. There's very little actual plot.

It's well written, and kept me interested - I thought she captured the voice of Darling very well. But I'm honestly surprised that it was shortlisted, and I'd be astounded if it won.

Martin, what do you think of the 'Booker' being opened to all books 'written in English' from next year?
I suppose it will widen the choice but I pity the judging panel who will have to sift though so many more submitted works.

Here is a link that might be useful: Even Americans May Enter!

Not sure, Vee. I'm going to open a new thread on it though, and keep this one for this year's shortlist....!

A Tale for the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki

Two stories in one; the first is the diary of Nao, a young Japanese schoolgirl (who spent the early part of her life in California); the second is the story of a woman in British Columbia called Ruth (a thinly veiled portrait of the author, I believe!) who finds her diary in a Hello Kitty lunchbox (along with some letters and a watch), on the beach one day.

The stories become strangely intertwined as Ruth becomes more and more drawn into the story of Nao, and her struggles to cope in Tokyo, to where she has returned when her father lost his job in California after the dot-com bubble burst.

I found the premise most unlikely, and yet it worked for me. There were a few jarring notes - Nao is bullied at school in a way I thought was completely over-the-top; I also didn't quite believe in a California where all the students are popping pills to help them with ADHD etc. (At least, I HOPE both of these were a bit exaggerated!) But it doesn't detract from a fascinating and very different story. I particularly liked Nao's great-grandmother Jiko, who is a hundred and four and a Bhuddist nun; I also liked Ruth's husband Oliver; and both Ruth and Nao are both wonderful flawed characters.

My personal favourite of all the books - I've now read it twice, and I still love it. I don't think it will win, though - though I'd love it if it did, as I have a tenner on it at 18/1.

Whether or not it wins, I think it would make a very interesting book for an RP discussion.

Martin, I first checked Amazon and then my public library, both of which have the book--and wonder of wonders, I put in a request and am No. 1 on their list. Too bad other people don't have such a good source for a recommendation.

If you would be willing to lead a discussion, I'll join in.

I'm on hold for it at the library. Your review convinced me I had to give it a try!

I'm #17 on my library 's holds list for the Ozeki book, so hopefully i'll get in time to join a discussion here,

Harvest - Jim Crace

This is the favourite of the bookies; the experts all seem to agree it's the likely winner too.

When I first read it, I agreed. But having re-read it - I'm not so sure. It's the tale of a village, of just under sixty people; it starts on the final day of the harvest, and finishes a week later. It's not at all clear when the story is set - it could be anything between the 1400s and the 1800s.

Three things happen together; there is a fire in the land-owner's dove-dote; some outsiders arrive and make camp in the outskirts of the village; and the landowner brings an outsider in to map the village. The three things all intertwine to cause - well, I don't want to spoil anything, but a lot happens in the next week.

It's beautifully written, with a restrained feel about it; it's first person, and the narrator is a member of the village. He came there as a manservant to the land-owner, rather than being born there - he married a girl in the village, and is now a widower. This gives him a sort of outsider's view of the events, for all that he's a member of the village.

But - I don't know - it didn't really work for me the second time; I felt there were too many loose ends, too much unexplained.

But I wouldn't be surprised if it wins, nevertheless.

Now - deep breath - and onto the last - all seven hundred pages of it ! I've got about two and a half weeks to read it before the winner is announced.

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton.

You know what? I only finished this three weeks ago. It's seven hundred pages; it's dense. I can't face reading it again. I enjoyed it, but not that much.

So - it's about a load of people in an interlocking and very complex story about gold mining in New Zealand. The book is set in 1866, but we get a lot of backstory as well.

It's very interesting, once you get into it. But there is are a couple of strange things that really get to me.

The first is the fact that the chapter titles are astrological references, and each part of the book has an astrological chart with the names of twelve of the important people in the twelve places around it. And yet - there is practically NO other reference to astrology in the book - one person reads fortunes, but she pretty well admits to being a charlatan. So what is the point of the astrological bits? No doubt, if you know something about the subject, you might find the references enlightening. But to me, it strikes of being clever for its own sake, and adds nothing to the book.

The other is that the book has the Victorian trick of summarizing the chapter in the heading. For example:- Chapter 1 - Mercury in Sagittarius - In which a stranger arrives in Hokitika; a secret council is disturbed; Walter Moody conceals his most recent memory; and Thomas Balfour begins to tell a story. That's all right, so far as it goes - but near the very end of the book, the summarizing starts to become longer and longer and the chapters get shorter and shorter - some chapters are a page and a half of summary - and only a couple of paragraphs. Why, for heaven's sake?

So, though I thought the book was really good, these irritations got to me - and the more I think about them, the less I like them.

So - I'm not going to read it again.

It won't win. I hope.

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo - good book, but no story - just a collection of episodes. Won't win.

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton - too long and clever-clever. Astrological chapter headings for no reason. I'd be a bit surprised if it did win.

Harvest by Jim Crace - beautifully written, but to me a bit unconvincing on a second reading. I wouldn't be surprised (or too upset) if it did win.

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri - engrossing book, but one unsatisfying character - I don't think it'll win, but it might.

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki - my favourite, but a bit unusual. I'd love it to win, but I don't think it will.

The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin - too short, though beatiful. I'll be very surprised if it wins.

I predict The Harvest to win. I want A Tale for the Time Being to win.

Now watch the judges pick We Need New Names.

The prize announcement is October 15th - next Tuesday - and it'll probably be around 10:30 pm.

Anyone else read any of the shortlist? Any opinions?

I'm happy that most if not all of the shortlist is actually available here in the U.S., which isn't always the case, and I've read a couple.

The Testament of Mary is lovely but I doubt if it will win - just too short.

I felt about Harvest much as you did, although I only read it once. It had a rather unfinished feel to it and I found it quite unsatisfying. As you say, too many loose ends and too much unexplained.

I loved A Tale for the Time Being and am almost finished with my second reading. This time around I am carefully reading all the footnotes and enjoying the details. The first time I was too involved with the plot to spend time on the finer points. Sadly, I believe there are many high schools here in the U.S. as Ozeki describes, and although I am no expert on bullying in Japan, I have read of bullying incidents here that were just as bad.

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. Tsk. A bit disappointing.

Oh dear.

:(

From only reading the synopsis, The Luminaries appeals to my historical fiction inclination. And I think anything about New Zealand is nearly always fascinating (as long as it's not about The Lord of the Rings film). I read your impression of The Luminaries, Martin, and now I wonder whether I would like it as much as I first thought I might. Of course the only way I'll know for sure is to read it, which I'm planning to do when I have a good amount of time and a comfortable space to do so.

A Tale of the Time Being, at first glance, is probably a bit too contemporary for my taste (anything set after 1980). Again though, I may have to reevaluate my notion after the favorable buzz you and others have given it, Martin. If so, I'll join the upcoming discussion, but I will probably come in late.

Martin, your mention of the astrological references in the book sent me off to find a copy (we only have one left of the 20 we had on Tuesday) to have a look. I can't tell what relevance the references might have to the book, but I can tell you that very strangely, the horoscopes have the signs marked in the wrong direction. The signs are supposed to go in an anticlockwise direction and on all the charts I looked at, they were going clockwise.