The Free-Range Bookclub
Bookclubbers without boundaries in Nelson, New Zealand
2007 Bookerthon
In 2007 we began our Bookerthon journey. We’d kept up to date with Man Bookers of the past and we’d shared thoughts and comments. In 2007 there were a couple of attractions to the shortlist. First of all Lloyd Jones, a New Zealander, featured upon it. Secondly, another of the contenders was one of our favourite authors, Ian McEwan. It seemed logical to keep reading. Someone had the idea to read them all before the winner was announced. The other announced “it will be like a Booker-thon”.
And just like that, history was made!
In picking our winner, we considered the following categories: readability, significance and style. Who knew if that was how the judges based their critiques also, but from our novice point of view, it seemed logical enough.
The thing that hit us in our first Bookerthon was the way in which extraordinary characters took control of the narratives and forced themselves into our lives. It was as if these authors knew a likeable protagonist or lead character of the past was not enough anymore. To be recognised, their book needed an extravagant leading figure, who would entertain, horrify and mesmorise us.
First, in Darkmans there is a jester who haunts the pages and forces the characters to speak unexpectedly and act with comedic or shocking outbursts. In Animal’s People a boy deformed from a chemical disaster walks on all fours and abuses passers by with language like you’ve never heard. On Chesil Beach introduces a privileged, well-to-do young couple on their honeymoon who speak of nothing but their inability to make love. At the other end of the scale is Mister Pip, in which an English teacher wears a red clown’s nose and tows his wife about in a trolley in Bouganville reading Great Expectations to native children during a conflict. Depressed Irishman Liam Hegatry takes his life in The Gathering, but wears a high-vis vest so his body can easily be located in the turbulent waters of the local river. And a nameless American in The Reluctant Fundamentalist questions a Pakistani living in New York who admits he smiled when the Trade Towers came down.
This cast was a brain explosion of character development and relationships, with idiosyncrasies, troubles and societal beliefs not so prevalent in one’s every day reading. The Man Booker Prize delivered in ways we had not predicted, in the expansion of our understanding of people, of types of people, of all people, far and wide. The shortlist might be called the best six books of the year but to us they were the best representation of the state of the world and the state of literature at that moment.
After this appreciation, we knuckled down to our evening of judging. Wine, a cheeseboard, six revelatory books later we concluded: five of the six to have qualities worthy of winning: Mister Pip, The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Animal’s People are all profound and human, set amongst real-life atrocities, and Darkmans is a detailed and unique story. On Chesil Beach is from the master himself, and while we do both respect his genius, we have differing views of where this one sits in the shortlist favourites order.
The book we did not think was a contender was The Gathering. Yes it spoke to families, to mental health, to discovery. And we agreed the misery was complete and all-encompassing and therefore stylistically impressive. However, something so dreary failed our readability criteria and couldn’t make enough gains in the other two categories.
In the end we both picked our favourites for the same reasons: slap-in-the-face reality, highly developed characters, unputdownable readability and the promotion of a cause through a fictionalised truth. So for Rachel it was Animal’s People and for Suzy Mister Pip.
Best book 1-6: Rachel:
Animal’s People
Mister Pip
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
On Chesil Beach
Darkmans
The Gathering
Best book 1-6: Suzy:
Mister Pip
On Chesil Beach
Animal’s People
Darkmans
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
The Gathering
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