I recently read The Finkler Question for one of my book clubs. I didn’t like it (my review will post soon).
For many years, I was deeply suspicious of books that won literary prizes. I didn’t keep track of what had one or even what the various awards were. More recently, I’ve read some Pulitzer Prize winning fiction that I liked and even loved, so I relaxed my concerns.
After reading The Finkler Question, I looked at my (admittedly brief) history with Booker Prize winners:
- The Finkler Question: Disliked
- Life of Pi: Liked a lot and disliked simultaneously.
- The Blind Assassin: Disliked.
- Amsterdam: Neutral.
- The God of Small Things: Disliked
- The Bone People: Disliked
In contrast, here is my history with Pulitzer Prize (fiction) winners:
- Olive Kitteridge: loved
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: liked
- The Road: Strongly disliked.
- Middlesex: liked a lot
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: liked
- The Color Purple: liked a lot (years ago)
- Angle of Repose: liked a lot
- To Kill A Mockingbird: liked a lot
In general I liked them. Some quite a bit.
My reaction to the Booker Prize winners is particularly telling when I realize how few books I truly dislike. About 1/2 of them are on the list above. Granted, if a book isn’t working for me, I tend to abandon it unless I’ve committed to reading it, such as for book club (and I enjoy most of these books) or blog tours (these I try to choose carefully).
Still, I think the Booker Prize must use criteria that don’t reflect what I like to read, and I will view winners of this prize with some trepidation.
What is your experience with literary prize winners?
Siobhan
May 15, 2011 at 3:53 am
I loved the Life of Pi and Middlesex but generally I find myself quite disappointed by prize winners of shortlisted candidates. I don’t know whether that’s literary pretention at the expensive of a story but I think it’s reinforcing this perception that “good” literature can’t be enjoyable. Which annoys me. Who judges these things?
themisanthropologist
May 15, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Hi. Interesting post. I myself have undertaken to read all Booker Prize winning novels, because in my experience, I enjoy them more than Pulitzer Prize winners. I liked God of Small Things and Life of Pi and I am currently reading The Blind Assassin, which I like so far. Although I didn’t like all Bookers I’ve read (I disliked The Gathering by Anne Enright and Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee), I refer to this list when I want something good to read.
In contrast, I don’t like most Pulitzer winners, but I did love Middlesex and To Kill a Mockingbird. I tried reading The Road, but I never got past the first few pages.