~ Writing my Oxford crime post a few months ago had me making several additions to my wish list, among them the novels of Sarah Caudwell. Happily, some of them (Thus Was Adonis Murdered, The Shortest Way to Hades
and The Sirens Sang of Murder
) are re-issued today in both paperback and e-book form, so a little purchase may be in order ...
~ When I give away books via the blog I certainly don't expect anything in return, but Alison - who recently won a copy of The Snow Child - has most generously sent me a gift. Helen Dunmore's The Greatcoat
is a book I noted when I saw it reviewed recently, and I'm delighted to have this "elegant, literary flesh-creeper" and I'm looking forward to reading it. Thankyou, Alison!
~ Lastly today, 'social engineering' for the book business? I don't agree with this article's point at all: "Another prize for Hilary Mantel was unnecessary, and a missed opportunity to invigorate the books world". Whatever happened to merit? Surely it is the job of the judges to award the prize to the book they consider to be the best of those entered (see Ion Trewin, Literary Director of the Booker Prize Foundation, on the sole criterion here); their choice is not to be based on what might "invigorate the books world", support small publishers or smooth the publishing path for "innovative, genre-bending writers" - those aims or concerns are not part of their remit. "Mantel does not need a second Booker," says the article; since when was the prize awarded on the basis of need?
"Mantel does not need a second Booker," - what a bizarre view point in that article!
Posted by: Juxtabook | 18 October 2012 at 11:50 AM
Grr just the sort of article to confirm the prejudices of those people who somehow think that reading books is elitist!
I have no idea who the author is but as a mere middlebrow reader, i would have thought that the best way to invigorate the books world is with books like Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies - ones that 'ordinary' people will read and which will hopefully encourage them to read more authors who manage to combine literary merit and readability and don't regard the latter to be a dirty word.
PS I would advise reading The Greatcoat with the lights on (it had to be lunchtime reading at the office for me!) but I am sure that you wil enjoy it.
Posted by: LizF | 18 October 2012 at 11:50 AM
It's wrong-headed and poorly argued.
Posted by: Cornflower | 18 October 2012 at 11:58 AM
Thankyou for the tip about The Greatcoat!
Re. the article, it makes no mention of the fact that Hilary Mantel's work has done much to raise the status of historical fiction (an often underrated genre and one at which the writer of the article appears to sneer), and that the publicity her winning for a second time has brought to the prize is a good thing for the book trade as a whole.
Posted by: Cornflower | 18 October 2012 at 12:08 PM
Merit definitely! anything else is ridiculous.
P S I do not know why but find it difficult to post comments!
Posted by: Mystica Varathapalan | 18 October 2012 at 12:33 PM
So sorry you're having difficulty with comments, Mystica - I'll see if there's anything I can do to improve matters.
Posted by: Cornflower | 18 October 2012 at 12:39 PM
After reading your Oxford crime post (which I shamelessly borrowed for my own blog) I got the four Caudwell books with Gory illustrations on the covers. Delightful.
Posted by: Mary | 18 October 2012 at 02:50 PM
So glad to know the books are good, Mary (and delighted to have posted material worth spreading!)
Posted by: Cornflower | 18 October 2012 at 02:53 PM
Just read the article and what I most disagree with is the suggestion that last year's award to Julian Barnes was 'a lifetime achievement award'. I thought A Sense of an Ending was brilliant. But then, we hate clever men in this country. If we didn't, Will Self would have won this year.
Posted by: Barbara | 19 October 2012 at 07:43 AM
Completely agree - ultimately Mantel won because the judges deemed her book most worthy of the prize. The fact that she's won before isn't important - in fact, I'm really pleased the judges didn't bow to the pressure of awarding a 'first time' winner...
Another great post, thanks Karen
Posted by: The Willoughby Book Club | 19 October 2012 at 08:52 PM