Damon Galgut - The Promise

A White South African family on a farm have a black servant, Salome. The daughter of the family overhears the father promise the dying mother that he would give Salome the tiny house on their property in which she lives. That's the start, and the premise.

We follow the family, and the recent history of South Africa, over the next forty or fifty years...

It's an intensely moving book. Perhaps the story is a little predictable, and the style is a bit difficult - Galgut has a habit in this book of just following a character almost for no reason to see where it takes you. He also seems to be talking to you, the reader, directly. It took me two or three attempts to get started and into the swing of things. But once I got started, I could hardly put it down.

I'm not surprised it was shortlisted. I wouldn't be surprised if it won.

Thanks, Martin. We here at RP have missed your posts and reviews. Glad to see you back.

Glad to see you back, Martin. Whenever I see any news about the Booker Prize I immediately think of you. Looking forward to your reviews!

Well, it's about time! You were missed.

I too am happy you are back.

I know that the Hugo Awards in SF are a completely different kind of thing than the literary Booker Prize, but I was inspired to start reading and voting on the Hugos by your example. I don't think it ever would have occured to me otherwise.

Dear Martin, I echo Bruce Forsythe "Nice to see you, to see you nice!"

Welcome back.

I don't read Booker Prize books but would follow your posts to see what I was missing!

How is the bookcase going?

Thank you all for your kind words. It's nice to be back. I'll try to stick around a bit more often.

Annpan - the bookcase you're presumably referring to is the sliding one I built? That was filled, but I've moved house now, and it stayed in the old house.

But this is a wonderful bookcase that was waiting for me in our new house.

That's where I keep my Bookers now. It's full, but there is more space on the other side of the room.

Martin, that is gorgeous! Did you buy the house for the bookcase? No blame there!

Yes, I was referring to the Booker bookcase you built.

Martin, that is a serious bookcase and if the books are behind glass not too much dusting needs doing!

We too moved recently (the hottest week of the year) to a house which, although, 'roomy' had NO cupboards/closets/shelves in the main areas or even bedrooms*. We decided to 'take-down' one of the book cases that had been built into the chimney breast of our old house and bring it here, but found that the so-called joiner/carpenter had not attached it to the walls either at the sides or back. We had noticed the lurch it had developed as it sagged down against the skirting board and I was held responsible due to my weighty tomes. This time, in a modern house with dry-walling many fixings will be put in place.

* Obviously designed by a man . . .

No-one is Talking About This - Patricia Lockwood

Well, I gave up half way through.

We have a woman who is some sort of internet celeb; she is writing about "the portal" and the world in a series of very short paragraphs, but there seems absolutely no point to any of it. There is a husband, and a mother....

Honestly, if I read the whole of Part 1 (over 50% of the book) and I don't know what the point of the book is, then the book has failed desperately.

I've seen several reviews that say "It's worth perservering, the second half is better" - but I have better things to do with my life. Perhaps I'll go back to it when I've finished the others.

It was shortlisted for the Booker? and for the Women's Prize? Perhaps I'm missing something....

If anyone else has read this (or any of the others, come to that!) please feel free to jump in and give an opinion.

I am swooning over that bookcase! I agree with Annpan, I'd buy the house just for the bookcase ....

Well, it wasn't just the bookcase that persuaded us to buy the house...

Four rooms downstairs and the hall have panelling, and two rooms have these built-in cupboards - the study contains the bookcase and a couple of other cupboards, and the dining room is this photo.

And we think the house itself is very pretty...

It's over a hundred years old, it's going to be non-stop maintenance, it's a so-and-so to keep warm - but we just couldn't resist it.

Lovely house, Martin! Nice to see you back. I think the only Booker prize book I've read was Lincoln in the Bardo and it was because you had reviewed it here. :) Can't say I really liked it, but it was different!

Your review above of No One is Talking About This reminds me of my reaction to the movie Dances with Wolves. I watched the first half one night and didn't bother with the second half and friends told me the second half was the best part. I still haven't seen it. :)

Donna

Martin, I see no roses round the door.

True - I'd forgotten I posted an older picture of this on here a couple of years ago when we'd just moved in - and we did indeed have roses round the door. The roses, sadly, had to be cut back to allow the house to be painted. They are already growing back, though. A couple of years, I reckon, and they'll be round the doors and windows again.

Hi Martin! Glad to see you here - I've had a bit of a hiatus as well.

LOVE the bookcase and the other built-in cupboard, and the house is very pretty.

I'm another who relies on your reviews to know who will win the Booker, so will be back here.

My sister lives in our family farmhouse. We know it is over 100 years old because there is a record that a young man, not of our family, left from it to go to the California gold rush in 1848-49, didn't find gold, and came back to it. My parents bought it in 1948. It has been added onto different times, but it looks nothing like yours, Martin. I wish!

Martin, I am glad you are back too. I am another who has been hit or miss in showing up here. I love the bookcase and your house; it looks like it has stories to tell. And , I enjoy reading your reviews of the Booker short list, even if I don’t want to read the books themselves.

Nadifa Mohamed - The Fortune Men

in 1952, a woman is murdered in a shop in Cardiff. A Somali, Mahmood Mattan, is arrested for her murder. This is his story.

This is based on a true story; it's a very good read, and gives a vivid portrait of the world of the dockside in Cardiff in the early fifties. It's very moving, and well written. Not really my type of book, but I can understand why it might be shortlisted. Winner? well, probably not, to my mind. But I'd certainly recommend it.

Ran across this as I was researching it: (spoiler alert) https://www.thenational.wales/news/19556078.mahmood-mattan-last-innocent-man-hanged-wales/

Jlsch Spoiler post....

Apologies, it was a spoiler post and I neglected to reflect that.

Love the house, Martin. I'd have bought it, too. And I really love the bookcase.

Great Circle - Maggie Shipstead

Well, the first thing to say is this thing is big. Over 500 pages. And it ranges over a hundred years of different families, and I always get everyone mixed up when I read books like this...

And yet - I really liked it. It's the story of a woman aviator, her life, how she starts to fly, and what happens. It's also the story, in parallel, of an actor who is playing the woman in a film, who is interested to find out more about her.

I didn't lose interest. I was always sure who everyone was. It went back and forth in time a few times, but I never found it confusing.

A few not very nice characters, but no-one really awful. No events that you'd rather not read about, described in gory detail. It's a terrific book, and it's worthy of the shortlist. It might even win - I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

Now onto Bewilderment by Richard Powers. I'm about half-way through and, so far, it's fantastic - one of the best things I've read in the last ten years. I've just put a tenner on at 4/1 for it to win.

Bewilderment - Richard Powers

Oh, my goodness, what a book.

Our hero is a scientist who is trying to investigate the possibilities of life on other worlds, via computer simulation and data from other stars. His son is just turning nine at the start of the book. We find out very quickly that his mother was killed when he was seven. The son is clearly very bright, but also has trouble with behaviour at school.

It's set in the near future in the US; the President is a populist character who makes Trump seem like a moderate.

The son is offered an experimental treatment for his problems which is based on feedback of emotions; it seems to start well...

That's all I'm going to give you. But the people are lovely, the story is enthralling, it's beautifully written, and I thoroughly recommend it. And I'm risking a tenner on it !

Richard Powers, btw, has written three books since the Booker was opened to American writers in 2014. Orfeo was longlisted, The Overstory was shortlisted, and now Bewilderment has been shortlisted. He's a bit good, this guy, isn't he? I'll have to look out some of his earlier novels.

Anuk Arudpragasam - A Passage North

Hmmm. I haven't finished this one. I'm 18% into the book, and all that has happened is that someone was looking out of the window, and got a phone call to tell them that someone else has died, and they have now gone out for a walk.

I mean, there's slow, and there's glacial.

Obviously, that's not all that's happened. The person was thinking about the past, and considering things that have happened, and why the person who died was involved - it's sort of a bit meandering like Ishiguro, but without the consistent interest.

Perhaps I'm being unfair, but I just can't get into it at the moment.

I've got a few days yet before the winner (Nov 3rd) so I've tried restarting No One is Talking About This, in the hopes it'll grab me this time. Doesn't seem to have done so....

My main problem with Lockwood's book is that has too many contemporary references - it wouldn't make sense ten years ago, and in ten years time you'll almost need to google a lot of the references. To my mind, a Booker Prize novel should be relevant whenever it's read.

So -

My favourite - Bewilderment - Richard Powers - got a tenner riding on it.

Two close seconds - The Promise by Damon Galgut and Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. If the winner isn't one of those three, I'll be very surprised.

The Fortune Men, by Nadifa Mohamed - I finished it, and I enjoyed it - but I don't think it'll win.

And A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam and No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood are rank outsiders to my way of thinking.

Now watch No One is Talking About This win.

Hello Martin. I stumbled across this post and, as I follow the Booker Prize too and it appears no one else here does, I thought I'd give you my opinion of the books. First off I absolutely agree with you that Girl, Woman, Other was superb. It is one of the few books I've ever read that I thought "I could read that again." when I finished it.

This year's short list (in the same order you've mentioned them):

The Promise - Beautifully written. The story was compelling although actually pretty simple. The writing!

No One is Talking About This - I found the first half humorous (although you are correct, too of the moment). Intensely disliked the second half.

The Fortune Men - I rely on libraries and neither system I belong to has a copy so I have not been able to read this book. I will shame a library into ordering it if it wins (I had to do that with Girl. Woman, Other).

Great Circle - I thought it 200+ pages longer than it needed to be. I found the modern part of the book uninteresting. Overall it focused too much on the characters' love lifes and veered too far towards chick lit.

Bewilderment - Too obvious? The not so subtle references to current events made it seem too preachy (although I agree with the sentiments). Maybe Powers should figure out how to write nonfiction. Just okay.

A Passage North - Definitely not a book for the casual reader: contemplating the correlation between ancient Hindu and Buddhist poems, the story of Siddhartha, and the story in this novel that takes place in present day Sri Lanka. Perhaps we should not encourage Philosophy PhDs to write novels (jk).

My pick is The Promise (This is also Galgut's third time being nominated.). I think either Great Circle or Bewilderment will win though (I really hope that No One... does not) so your tenner may be a good bet. We'll find out in a few days. Happy reading!

Hi there - thanks for your comments - always nice to see an alternative point of view. I don't think we're so far apart in our opinions, are we?

I accept your point about Bewilderment being a bit obvious - particularly the bit about the book they had read together (desperately trying not to give out a spoiler here!) but I was willing to overlook that as it just enthralled me so much. It remains to see if the judges will overlook that minor flaw :)

I also take your point about the length of Great Circle, though I actually enjoyed the modern part quite a lot. And "veered towards chick lit"? Hmmm.... We've had a lot of discussions here on RP as to whether a book is a "boy book" or a "girl book" and whether such a distinction should apply. I don't think I'd have thought of Great Circle as a "girl book" even, let alone "chick lit"...

I'd not mind in the least losing my tenner to Damon Galgut, I must admit !

I have just read about the winner so I came here to see how it was reviewed.

Sorry you lost the tenner, Martin! However you said you wouldn't mind.

At least one of the books you actually liked has won, Martin.

Rosesstink (?) , welcome to the discussions!

Rosefolly

Yes, congratulations to Damon Galgut. A worthy winner. As for my tenner - well, that's what happens when you bet with your heart, not your head :)

It's always hard to know which way the judges are going to go.

Thanks for the welcome, Rosefolly! My user name does indeed summarize my feelings about roses. I can't stand the smell. lol