Literary Prizes (polls and chat)

Entertainment! Books
1

We had a bit of a chat about the Booker prize longlist in the 2025 books thread but thought this could do with a dedicated thread. I wasn’t sure whether to make one thread for literary prizes in general but I thought we’d start here because it’s one of the big players and ongoing atm, with the longlist having been announced relatively recently.

Do you tend to read longlisted books?

  • Yes
  • No
0 voters

Do you tend to read shortlisted books?

  • Yes
  • No
0 voters

Do you tend to read Booker prize winners?

  • Yes
  • No
0 voters

Which authors had you previously heard of from the Booker prize longlist for 2025?

  • Leida Xhoga
  • Benjamin Wood
  • David Szalay
  • Maria Reva
  • Andrew Miller
  • Ben Markovits
  • Katie Kitamura
  • Kiran Desai
  • Susan Choi
  • Jonathan Buckley
  • Natasha Brown
  • Tash Aw
  • Claire Adam
0 voters

Which books had you previously heard of from the Booker prize longlist for 2025?

  • Misinterpretation by Leida Xhoga
  • Seascraper by Benjamin Wood
  • Flesh by David Szalay
  • Ending by Maria Reva
  • The Land in the Winter by Andrew Miller
  • The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits
  • Audition by Katie Kitamura
  • The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
  • Flashlight by Susan Choi
  • One Boat by Jonathan Buckley
  • Universality by Natasha Brown
  • The South by Tash Aw
  • Love Forms by Claire Adam
0 voters
  • I plan to read some books from the 2025 longlist
  • I plan to read some books from the 2025 shortlist
  • I plan to read this year’s prize winner
  • I have already read some of the longlisted books
0 voters

Which Booker prize-winning books from this century have you read? (I’ll do the last century when I can be bothered haha)

  • Orbital by Samantha Harvey (2024)
  • Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (2023)
  • The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (2022)
  • The Promise by Damon Galgut (2021)
  • Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stewart (2020)
  • Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (2019)
  • The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (2019)
  • Milkman by Anna Burns (2018)
  • Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (2017)
  • The Sellout by Paul Beatty (2016)
  • A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James (2015)
  • The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flannagan (2014)
  • The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (2013)
  • Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (2012)
  • The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (2011)
  • The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson (2010)
  • Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (2009)
  • The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (2008)
  • The Gathering by Anne Enright (2007)
  • The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (2006)
  • The Sea by John Banville (2005)
  • The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
  • Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre (2003)
  • The Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2002)
  • True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (2001)
  • The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (2000)
0 voters

Which Booker prize-winning books or authors from this century have you heard of?

  • Orbital by Samantha Harvey (2024)
  • Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (2023)
  • The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (2022)
  • The Promise by Damon Galgut (2021)
  • Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stewart (2020)
  • Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (2019)
  • The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (2019)
  • Milkman by Anna Burns (2018)
  • Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (2017)
  • The Sellout by Paul Beatty (2016)
  • A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James (2015)
  • The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flannagan (2014)
  • The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (2013)
  • Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (2012)
  • The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (2011)
  • The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson (2010)
  • Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (2009)
  • The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (2008)
  • The Gathering by Anne Enright (2007)
  • The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (2006)
  • The Sea by John Banville (2005)
  • The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
  • Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre (2003)
  • The Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2002)
  • True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (2001)
  • The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (2000)
0 voters
1 Like
2

Looking at the Booker prize Wiki page for this thread reminded me that although a lot of the winners are meh or uninteresting to me there have been some real gems shortlisted.

3

I am a bit resistant to reading the winners and i don’t know why. I just feel like there’s probably so many cliques and behind the scenes nonsense involved that they’re authors who’d probably succeed either way. I might be totally wrong but i can’t really shake the elitist feeling i have about it.

If booker long or shortlist books appear on offer it might sway me a little to at least know its not a total flop but the title of actual winner sends me running inexplicably

2 Likes
4

I don’t not read them. I’ve read plenty that have, but I don’t actively seek them out

5

The best Booker Prize winner ever is The Remains of the Day

3 Likes
6

That novel is fantastic (as is the film adaptation)

I’ll do a 20th century list a bit later on today :slight_smile:

1 Like
7

It is great - possibly agree.

Watched the 1989 ceremony a few months ago (as you do). They used to be way more acerbic and serious in their discussions on the TV stuff. Interesting how Howard Jacobson (and most of the others) lay into Remains of the Day here: https://youtu.be/S9jEYPQ9pzs?t=2655

8

The Testaments (rubbish) sharing the prize looks so so bad looking back

2 Likes
9

I don’t read everything on the longlist/shortlist but I do have a look through and read the ones that interest me.

I do tend to read the winner most years. The last winner that really blew me away was Milkman. I have liked most of the winners, though.

10

Silly IMO, it’s like calling the Oscars the Filmer Prize or the Brits the Musicer Prize or the Emmys the Television Programmer Prize

2 Likes
11

Or an award for records called the Grammys or something

1 Like
12

Yeah, really silly!

13

woah, I just opened this thread to say this, small boards.

1 Like
14

I’m surprised to see SJP as a judge this year, coming off the back of the universally critically acclaimed and audience loved And Just Like That

15

I’m always about 3 years behind with books

1 Like
16

How’s The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida?

17

You know what I don’t like? When you’ve got an edition of a book where it says things like “Previous Booker Prize winning author” of “Now a thrilling Netflix drama”.

Don’t bake that try-hard advertising on the cover, stop being so needy.

1 Like
18

Which Booker prize-winning books or authors from the previous century have you heard of?

  • Something to Answer For by P.H Newby (1969)
  • The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens (1970)
  • Troubles by J.G. Farrell (1970)
  • In A Free State by V.S. Naipaul (1971)
  • G by John Berger (1972)
  • The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (1973)
  • The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer (1974)
  • Holiday by Stanley Middleton (1974)
  • Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1975)
  • Saville by David Storey (1976)
  • Staying On by Paul Scott (1977)
  • The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch (1978)
  • Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald (1979)
  • Rites of Passage by William Golding (1980)
  • Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981)
  • Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally (1982)
  • Life & Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee (1983)
  • Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner (1984)
  • The Bone People by Keri Hulme (1985)
  • The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis (1986)
  • Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (1987)
  • Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (1988)
  • The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
  • Possession: A Romance by A.S. Byatt (1990)
  • The Famished Road by Ben Okri (1991)
  • The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (1992)
  • Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (1992)
  • Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle (1993)
  • How Late It Was, How Late by James Kelman (1994)
  • The Ghost Road by Pat Barker (1995)
  • Last Orders by Graham Swift (1996)
  • The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (1997)
  • Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (1998)
  • Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (1999)
0 voters

Which Booker prize-winning books from the previous century have you read?

  • Something to Answer For by P.H Newby (1969)
  • The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens (1970)
  • Troubles by J.G. Farrell (1970)
  • In A Free State by V.S. Naipaul (1971)
  • G by John Berger (1972)
  • The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (1973)
  • The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer (1974)
  • Holiday by Stanley Middleton (1974)
  • Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1975)
  • Saville by David Storey (1976)
  • Staying On by Paul Scott (1977)
  • The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch (1978)
  • Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald (1979)
  • Rites of Passage by William Golding (1980)
  • Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981)
  • Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally (1982)
  • Life & Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee (1983)
  • Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner (1984)
  • The Bone People by Keri Hulme (1985)
  • The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis (1986)
  • Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (1987)
  • Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (1988)
  • The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
  • Possession: A Romance by A.S. Byatt (1990)
  • The Famished Road by Ben Okri (1991)
  • The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (1992)
  • Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (1992)
  • Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle (1993)
  • How Late It Was, How Late by James Kelman (1994)
  • The Ghost Road by Pat Barker (1995)
  • Last Orders by Graham Swift (1996)
  • The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (1997)
  • Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (1998)
  • Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (1999)
0 voters
19

Heard of all these books because they’re always in the charity shops, presumably a side effect of folks picking them up purely because of the award

3 Likes
20

As others have mentioned, Remains of the Day truly an all timer.

Always get confused between ‘the sea, the sea’ by Iris Murdoch (great) and ‘the sea’ by John Banville (dogshit)