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
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.