October 16th, 2007
And the Man Booker winner is…
Anne Enright has just been (deservedly) announced as this year’s Booker Prize winner. Am delighted! She’s the first Irish woman in nearly three decades to win the prize, and her win will certainly heightens the profile of Irish women writing literature. Hopefully it will also inspire the next generation of female authors to strive for something other than the current trend for ubiquitous, trashy chick lit.
October 16th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Not quite the first - Iris Murdoch won in 1978 for The Sea, The Sea. But I agree with you that Enright definitely deserved to win this year.
October 16th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Cillian, apologies, I left out “in nearly three decades”. Painkillers, wonky typing, etc are no excuse - duly fixed!
Did you like the book?
October 16th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
I picked The Sea, The Sea for a bookclub I was once in and it got very mixed views from members, but I love Murdoch. The current group I’m in recently read Under the Net and it’s an extraordinary debut.
October 16th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Good on Enright!
Maybe the Iris Murdoch thing is like Oscar Wilde being top of that stupid list this week of “British” wits, ie Irish-born but considered a Brit, especially when very successful.
October 17th, 2007 at 7:35 am
I liked The Gathering but didn’t love it - but then I think it had a built-in resistance to being loved (and Veronica certainly did). It was admirable and well-written but not really enjoyable for the most part. That came for me not from the bleakness (I love a good Richard Yates) but from the relentless, almost overdone misery of Veronica’s outlook. Having said that, I can understand why the judges said it repaid rereading, and I will probably do that and see how my views change, particularly as I’m going to see Enright do a reading and Q&A at the Belfast Festival on Friday.
(My own money was on Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People.)
October 17th, 2007 at 9:13 am
Good news for current Irish novel writing. Congrats on getting that interview with the winner. A scoop!
BTW Is Iris Murdoch Irish? I always knew she had strong affinity to Ireland and set a few of her many novels in Ireland.
October 17th, 2007 at 10:23 am
I was going to buy this last week (on your recommendation), Sinéad, but for some reason I put it back. Now I’m going to look like a total bandwagon-jumper.. Great news, though.
October 17th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Great news indeed!
In terms of the ‘women writer’ and ‘chick lit’ things - she had some interestig comments in her interview on The View the other night - you can watch it here:
http://www.rte.ie/tv/theview/
October 17th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Anne Enright inspires me. I really fell quietly in love with her through her short stories and then hysterically in love with her with this novel. Richly deserved. Eileen Battersby’s piece in the Times today was a bit grudging I thought. The Gathering was better than On Chesil Beach IMHO. I’m kind of inordinately happy about her winning though. G’wan the Anne.
October 17th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
John, it’s certainly not jolly - and it seems incorrect to say I enjoyed it because it depressed the hell outta me, while I was marveling at the writing. I’d love to read Animal People. The general consensus on many blogs and forums, is that it was the best book on the shortlist.
Garreth, Murdoch was born in Dublin and moved to England as a child, and Ireland features in much of her work. I’d claim her as Irish, but I think Murdoch saw herself as Anglo-Irish?
Lauren, jump away and let me know how you get on with it.
PJ, thanks for that. Am having problems with Real Player, but will watch it later, am intrigued!
Edel, ditto. I can’t remember the last book I read that made me want to get out a notebook and start scribbling in the way The Gathering did.
October 17th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
I’m delighted for Anne and all Irish women literary writers. It gives us hope.