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13 May 2008

Looking for BoB

Posted by Oblivion in General | 9:32pm


The race for the Best of the Booker is into the final lap. Of the 41, the following survived.

Pat Barker's The Ghost Road
Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda
JM Coetzee's Disgrace
JG Farrell's The Siege of Krishnapur
Nadine Gordimer's The Conversationalist
Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children

I'd have doubted the literary sensibilities of the jury if Disgrace hadn't made it to the shortlist. Having won the Booker of Bookers, Midnight's Children is a strong contender. Rushdie has an advantage in that he has a stronger presence in media and is more famous among the circle of average readers for other reasons too. Now that the voting is open to the public to decide the winner, one has more reasons to believe Rushdie will win. For, most Indians will vote for him, driven by the obsession to flaunt the success of an 'Indian'.

However, I put my money on Disgrace. This masterpiece should win by a mile.



7 Comments | "Looking for BoB" »

  1. By Oblivion:

    27 May 2008, 3:32pm [ Reply ]

    @XLNC: "Life of Pi" was a strong contender but unfortunately didn't make it to the shortlist. You should've been among the jury :)

    As regards the two halves of the world, that's certainly an interesting take!

  2. By XLNC :

    23 May 2008, 3:40am [ Reply ]

    Disgrace is the only book in that list that comes close to being a best of booker.I think its farce, I mean I still can't believe that "LIFE OF PI" didn't get shortlisted.

    I guess, and I am almost sure that Rushdie's gonna win. Indians don't care if he's an atrocious writer or a brilliant one as long as he's Indian. I mean look at the tennis scene for instance Sania Mirza plays (play is the wrong word to use though) horribly against anybody who is ranked even remotely above or below her in the WTA rankings yet every Indian expects her to bring home the Wimbledon trophy!!

    Now I don't care who wins, I mean half the world doesn't give a damn about these things, and the other half doesn't give a damn about what the other half think!!!

  3. By deepak:

    16 May 2008, 8:23pm [ Reply ]

    i don't think indians will vote for rushdie - i don't think indians will vote at all. until i saw this post, i didnt even know about this stuff. and i still dont know whgere and how to vote.

    let's face it, literature is not music - or even a national monument.

  4. By Oblivion:

    15 May 2008, 10:04pm [ Reply ]

    @By the fly: On a lighter note - if it's a blessing, you'll enjoy the exploits of the characters you'll read about. If it's a curse, you'll become eligible to be a character yourself in someone's book. Perhaps yours itself, if you pen the autobio :)

  5. By the fly:

    15 May 2008, 3:45pm [ Reply ]

    no i don't know if that will be a blessing or a curse :).

  6. By Oblivion:

    14 May 2008, 9:23pm [ Reply ]

    @By the fly: May your wish be granted!

  7. By the fly:

    13 May 2008, 11:24pm [ Reply ]

    I so wish I had time to read.

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