Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about award winning books…
Do you feel compelled to read prize-winning (Giller/Booker/Pulitzer etc) books? Why, or why not? Is there, perhaps, one particular award that you favour? (question courtesy of MizB)
I'm a big fan of the Booker Prize and if I'm browsing in a bookstore and I see that a book I'm interested in was nominated for the prize, or won the prize, I'm much more likely to buy it and read it promptly. In the 1990s, I had a lot of really good luck with Booker winners. Possession, The Remains of the Day, The English Patient, The Blind Assassin were all Booker winners I read during that decade, and all of them were stunners. In the past five or so years I've found the prize to be less consistent with my own tastes- John Banville's The Sea and Anne Enright's The Gathering were both disappointing. But then Booker won me back with The Inheritance of Loss and The White Tiger. So I'm optimistic for the future and I really hope that that future includes A.S. Byatt's new, incredible novel, The Children's Book, which I expect to finish this week. Prizes are a great way to find new reads, but they don't all work for everyone. You just gotta find what works for you!
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9 comments:
The Booker prize works for me too. I have read a lot of those.
Mondays: Musings/Mailbox/whereabouts
Hm..I never pay any attention to them. Hmm...I wonder why that is?
I sometimes get the sense that some of the awarding has a political dimension mixed into it. Therefore I am more apt to seek out books based on recommendations, but feel even better about it if they have won awards!
I don't seek out prize winners, but usually enjoy them when I read them.
Possession and The Remains of the Day are among my all-time favourites (as is The God of Small Things). But Hotel du Lac disappointed me, and it seems that many felt the same as you about The Sea and The Gathering. I like Bookers, but all in all I think I prefer Pulitzers.
It seems most people find the award that suits their taste and stick with it. But what I find fascinating are all the less-known smaller awards, like the translation awards. Not only are they focused on less mainstream books but they work in such a way that readers hear about books for the first time through them.
Anonymous, great point. Do you have any specific ones that you follow? I love European/foreign fiction and if you've some pointers I'd love to know!
I find that I sometimes have more urgency to read a prize winning book over a regular book. All the prize winners I have read have been pretty stellar, so I think that it serves me well. Great topic and post!
Interesting response, I've subconsciously avoided award winning books, but I hear good things about Booker prize books.
Like rhapsodyinbooks, I base my choices on recommendations. But the translation award sounds interesting.
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