October 10th, 2005
Don’t mention the B-word (til after 10.30pm)
After an initial mountain of over one hundred books, a 17 strong longlist and now the final six, the 2005 Man Booker Prize will be announced tonight.
There’s probably still time for a a flutter if you’re so inclined. I stuck some money on Ishiguro with Paddy Power, but the option of betting on the Booker seems to have disappeared from their website for the moment.
BBC2 will broadcast the ceremony live at 10pm tonight and I might trundle online afterwards to grumble about the result unless of course either John Banville or Kazuo Ishiguro win. Then you won’t hear any curmudgeonly griping from me.
October 10th, 2005 at 10:33 pm
Banville! Hope you didn’t lose too much on that bet, Sinéad
October 10th, 2005 at 10:36 pm
A very well-deserved win, I’m delighted for him. I interviewed him in Dublin earlier this year and he was a gent. I liked him a lot.
October 10th, 2005 at 10:40 pm
Yep.. I have your interview linked. Although, personaly, I do have some trekking to do before I’ll get around to reading The Sea.. It’s on The List.. but other interests take precedent.
October 10th, 2005 at 10:40 pm
Or even “personally”.. sheesh.
October 10th, 2005 at 10:55 pm
Heard Vincent Browne squeal like a piggy on his radioshow when it was announced.
October 10th, 2005 at 11:02 pm
Vinnie squealing? Say it ain’t so…
A great win. I’m off to watch the Newsnight interview with the man himself.
October 10th, 2005 at 11:13 pm
Damien.. that’s worth the price of admission by itself
October 10th, 2005 at 11:55 pm
You may say that, I couldn’t possibly comment.
October 11th, 2005 at 4:22 am
A grand win. I feel guilty about the fact that I’ve only read three of his novels. Roddy Doyle’s books are a good laugh, and the film of The Committments was a landmark in the portrayal of contemporary urban Ireland, but he can’t be considered a literary heavyweight. Anybody care to start a blog opinion poll on “The ten most significant Irish novels published since 1970″? Our novelists have managed to crawl out of the shadow of Joyce, but has anything great been written that can hold its own in world company? Anyway, I’ll pop open a bottle of wine to celebrate Banville’s achievement. Slainte folks.
October 11th, 2005 at 4:04 pm
Sinead, I’m not sure, but I think it may have been one of your posts that persuaded me to read Banville. If so, I’m most grateful–and especially happy about the well-deserved win.
I loved his response when asked what he planned to spend the money on: “Good works and strong drink.”
October 11th, 2005 at 4:14 pm
Sinead if it’s any consolation i also lost money on ishiguro who i backed at 9/1 when the longlist came out… *grumble* but seriously ’twas well deserved by mister banville, and a lovely book it is too.
October 12th, 2005 at 9:36 am
Wonderful to see John Banville at last picking up the Booker. Long overdue.
October 12th, 2005 at 10:58 am
There’s something of an unexpected, up-yours, rebelliousness about Banville’s win. I’m glad he won, relieved that Mr Barnes didn’t, but fail to understand the buzz surrounding Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. I might start reading it again. Reading five Booker shortlisted titles simultaneously probably does none of them any good.
October 16th, 2005 at 3:01 pm
Belated congrats to Banville.
Those who know me will know that I consider him to be Ireland’s greatest writer, not only du jour but also of the last 40-50 years. No one else comes even close.
The behaviour of the British literary establishment towards his triumph is nothing short of disgraceful. It’s gutter politics, of course – ever since he had the temerity to offer an honest appraisal of McEwan’s “Saturday” in the NYT. Today’s Independent on Sunday managed to avoid giving him more than a thumbnail mention. (On the other hand, the IOS has now become a tabloid in spirit and content as well as format, so we shouldn’t be too surprised.)
I’d like to think that there’s a sea-change (pun intended) taking place in the book world, but will hold my breath another while. We still have to void our system of an awful lot of “shopgirl vomit” and other mediocrity that passes for literature.
Good on yer, Banville!