The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award has unveiled its
massive 2012 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 147 novels on the list, nominated by 122 libraries in 45 countries. All of the books must have been published in English in 2010 (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 proclivities 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.
Room by
Emma Donoghue (20 libraries representing Australia, England, France, Ireland, the Maldives, New Zealand, and the United States)
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by
David Mitchell (13 libraries representing Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United States)
Freedom by
Jonathan Franzen (12 libraries representing Canada, England, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the United States)
To the End of the Land by
David Grossman (10 libraries representing Brazil, Canada, Germany, and the United States)
Purge by
Sofi Oksanen (8 libraries representing Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland)
Matterhorn by
Karl Marlantes (7 libraries representing the Czech Republic, Ireland, the Netherlands, 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,
Annabel by
Kathleen Winter
In Germany,
Fame by
Daniel Kehlmann
In Ireland,
Skippy Dies by
Paul Murray
In the Netherlands,
Counterpoint by
Anna Enquist and
The Book Club by
Marjolijn Februari
There were also several countries with only one library nominating just one or two books. Here are a few of those:
From Bermuda,
Gorée: Point of Departure by
Angela Barry
From Cyprus,
A Watermelon, a Fish and a Bible by
Christy Lefteri
From Hungary,
One Amazing Thing by
Chitra Divakaruni
From India,
Serious Men by
Manu Joseph
From Japan,
The Book of Heroes by
Miyuki Miyabe
We Need New Names was fantastic, best of the shortlist I’ve read so far. Of these six, only still haven’t read The Lowland and The Luminaries, but I’m really looking forward to them, The Luminaries especially.
Ah, unfortunately Aw’s “Five Star Billionaire” didn’t make it. Too bad. But “We Need New Names” is indeed great. I’ve got a couple more to read, but I really hope Bulawayo will win.
I realize Colm Toibin is a regular when it comes to (short/long)listing for the Booker but The Testament of Mary is very deserving. A beautiful and tragic story told with compassion and wonder.
A few days ago I finished reading the last of the six books in the short list. In my view the shortest book is out first as it has too many allusions and needs specialized knowledge of Christianity to understand. The longest is out next as it’s simply too long for a whodunit and doesn’t end with any kind of a surprise factor. Bulawayo’s book has far too many characters and all of them seem to be protagonists. Between the last two Lahiri’s is a strong contender but the two halves of the novel do not jell – though I admit that might be the express intent of the author. The winner is Ruth Ozeki’s book with its stark juxtaposition of contrasting characters and time frames.