The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award has unveiled its
massive 2013 longlist. Recall that libraries around the world can nominate books for the prize, and these nominations, taken together, comprise the longlist. This year there are 154 novels on the list, nominated by 120 libraries in 44 countries. All of the books must have been published in English in 2011 (including translations).
Because of the award’s global reach and egalitarian process, it’s always interesting to dig deeper into the longlist. Taken as a whole, the literary tendencies of various countries become evident, and a few titles recur again and again, revealing which books have made a global impact on readers.
Overall favorites: books that were nominated by at least seven libraries.
The Sense of an Ending by
Julian Barnes (15 libraries representing Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United States)
The Art of Fielding by
Chad Harbach (9 libraries representing Belgium and the United States)
The Sisters Brothers by
Patrick deWitt (9 libraries representing Canada, Ireland, and the United States)
The Tiger's Wife by
Téa Obreht (9 libraries representing Austria, Ireland, Norway, and the United States)
The Cat's Table by
Michael Ondaatje (7 libraries representing Belgium, Canada, and the United States)
The Stranger's Child by
Alan Hollinghurst (7 libraries representing Belgium, the Czech Republic, England, Greece, New Zealand, Russia, and the United States)
You can also look at the list and see which books are favorites in different countries. Several books were nominated by multiple libraries in the same country. Here’s a few:
In Canada,
Half-Blood Blues by
Esi Edugyan
In Australia,
Autumn Laing by
Alex Miller
In New Zealand,
The Conductor by
Sarah Quigley
In the Netherlands,
Julia by
Otto de Kat,
The Book of Doubt by
Tessa de Loo, and
Caesarion by
Tommy Wieringa
There were also several countries with only one library nominating just one or two books. Here are a few of those:
From Iceland,
The Map of Time by
Félix J. Palma
From India,
The Sly Company of People Who Care by
Rahul Bhattacharya
From Jamaica,
The Goat Woman of Largo Bay by
Gillian Royes
From Mexico,
My Two Worlds by
Sergio Chejfec
From Sweden,
The Dewey Decimal System by
Nathan Larson
Didn’t this guy die like a couple days ago? I wouldn’t be surprised. If they wanted to give it to a dead guy why not one of the nineteenth century great Russians, unless they have a one week expiration date, or something like that.
Also, was this guy really a transformer or was that just his name? Because that would explain a lot, giving the prize to a transformer — one moment a killing machine, the second some dweeby poet, the third a compact car! — even if he was dead. Transformers are cool.
Really ML?! You sound like a stoned 12 yr old? Don’t you filter for stuff like this C. Magee?
I don’t know. Sometimes I like to leave the comments from morons up for posterity so that we do not forget there are morons in their midst. Also, my fervent but likely too optimistic hope is that the likes of ML will one day return and be embarassed that such an inane comment has been sitting there all this time.
I was so hoping Transtromer would win this year (comfortably before he passes away . . . ). Hooray!
As to M.s one nearly cogent thought, Ralph M. Steinman, one of the 3 winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine this year, died after the award was granted but before the announcement of the award was made. The Committee has decided that the award will stand.
I think this year I’m going to do something different and not complain about the fact that my choice (Roth) did not win the prize. I will simply go on appreciating the work of the authors that I love and no that Nobel or not they bring me a great deal of joy.
I’ll also take this as an opportunity to discover something new. I’ve heard the name Transtromer before since his name has been thrown around for the past few years as someone who is expected to receive the prize. I have never really sought out his work, however, and in general I haven’t always been a great follower of poetry, especially more contemporary poets.
There’s always some eccentricity and unpredictability associated with this prize and I’ve come to accept that.
I’m with Ravi.
I agree wholeheartedly with the morons being left up for posterity. If you’re gonna hate, hate with a reason, a rationale, a purpose, rather than sequestering yourself in the anonymous space of the internet, like a real contrarian…
No disrespect to Mr. Roth but I’m glad the Pultizer went to a poet I’d never heard of, just because now myself and plenty of more people will be exposed to the work. And besides an octagenarian gets a nice payday before he shuffles off the mortal coil…Isn’t that what these kinds of prizes are for, anyway?
Jesus, The Millions, take yourself a little more seriously. Pretty sure ML was making a joke. Maybe you thought it was a bad joke. Fine. Move on with your day. Perhaps I type this because I’m 23 and not yet full of despair and misdirected anger.
I know we’re talking about Literature and Prizes and Opinions, but man, unclench your collective buttholes.
(Seriously, not related to ML in any way.)
I hold out no hope for Roth winning the Nobel and I don’t think it matters. I KNOW who Roth is.
I am not familiar with Transtromer and I am now gifted with something new to read. This is always great. As problematic as major literary awards can be, they are such a bonus for those of us seeking out something new and noteworthy.