The Man Booker Prize Longlist is announced on the 23 July 2014. I can’t say that I am a big fan of the Man Booker Prize as many of them seems arid and uninteresting; so for many years I have not attempt to read the shortlists nor the winners.
2014 is the first year of the new rules, which will see the prize opened up to writers of any nationality, writing originally in English, for novels published in the UK by an established imprint between 1 October 2013 and 30 September 2014. The expanded prize will recognise, celebrate and embrace authors of literary fiction writing in English, whether from Chicago, Sheffield or Shanghai. Looking at this year’s longlist, I am right to say that this is not a list that the judges want you to have your opinion on as most of them are published very close to the shortlist announcement in September 2014 and it would take even longer for my local library to be able to stock most of them in time.
Many book bloggers in the community do like to read ahead of the judges decision, not so much that we want to score one up with the bookies but have the pure pleasure of predicting the right shortlist and eventually the winner, in addition to having an appreciation of why the judges select some of them to go through the second round. I am fortunately to have 4 out of the 13 longlists and would like to read some of them if my work schedule permits.
- To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, Joshua Ferris (Viking) – I have a copy
- The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan (Chatto & Windus) – I have a copy
- We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler (Serpent’s Tail) – I have a copy
- The Blazing World, Siri Hustvedt (Sceptre) – I have a copy
- J, Howard Jacobson (Jonathan Cape)
- The Wake, Paul Kingsnorth (Unbound)
- The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell (Sceptre) – published in 2 Sept 2014
- The Lives of Others, Neel Mukherjee (Chatto & Windus) – I have a copy
- Us, David Nicholls (Hodder & Stoughton) – published in 30 Sept 2014
- The Dog, Joseph O’Neill (Fourth Estate)
- Orfeo, Richard Powers (Atlantic Books)
- How to be Both, Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton) – published in 4 Sept 2014
- History of the Rain, Niall Williams (Bloomsbury)
JoV's Book Pyramid 
I gave up on Orfeo but will pick it up again. It was just me at the time trying to get some tour books read. It’s a special book and deserves a little more of my attention than what I gave it the first time around,
Posted by Ti | July 29, 2014, 9:13 pmHey Ti,
Glad you feel that way. I would have moved on and try other books. Life’s too short. 😉 Thanks for dropping by.
Posted by JoV | July 29, 2014, 9:18 pmI haven’t heard of any of these books (except for The Lives of Others, which I hear is very good.) I need to look them up. Thanks for posting the longlist.
Posted by Nish | July 30, 2014, 3:05 amNish,
Thanks for dropping by… A good endorsement from you. I wasn’t sure if I want to read another Bengal lit on the Naxal after The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri but I always like another escapism read about India so I’ll most likely go for it!
Posted by JoV | July 30, 2014, 11:06 amI was surprised to see David Nicholls on the list, I like his books but they don’t seem to be Booker material.
Posted by Sam (Tiny Library) | July 30, 2014, 4:20 pmSam,
True. Same here but it’s a delight for a change! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
Posted by JoV | July 31, 2014, 8:26 amI’m very unexcited about a lot of these books (sadly!), but thrilled to see the Karen Joy Fowler with a place on the list. I thought that book was terrific, and I love any attention it can possibly get.
Posted by Jenny @ Reading the End | July 31, 2014, 2:00 pmJenny,
I am reading it now and can’t help but to draw a smile on a mention of “Harlow”. 🙂 but I am sure there are plenty more reasons to laugh throughout the book. It captivates me at 12% and I think it is just going to get better!
Posted by JoV | July 31, 2014, 9:13 pmI have to confess to being underwhelmed by this year’s Booker, but I haven’t read any of them yet, so it’s early days!
Posted by Brona | August 23, 2014, 10:27 amBrona,
Thanks for your first visit on my blog. Interestingly I thought this year’s Man Booker was more reader friendly than the last. Then again, what do I know? I am not a big fan of Man Booker winners that are chosen year on year!
Posted by JoV | September 10, 2014, 1:10 pm