The dark, spilling universe
Boyd Tonkin doesn?t like the Booker Prize result. It doesn't take long to find out why. He has history with the chairman of judges John Sutherland as well as with Banville himself, whom he blames for the non-selection of McEwan?s Saturday due to what he calls an ?inept? review in the NYRB. (Of course, the question is begged: if it is so inept ? ). If Tonkin is right, we owe Banville big time!
It was a surprise result for sure, but as Ellis Sharp hilariously points out, British literary prizes do not have a great record in selecting future classics. (Although I'm half-expecting to find that Mr Sharp, after Nabokov, made up all the names and titles).
For a different kind of stimulation, read Lars Iyer's long appreciation of two books by Aharon Appelfeld and watch the video of the Dirty Three?s impressive song Great Waves with vocals by Cat Power (scroll down the alphabetical list to find it).
Regarding Ellis Sharp’s “hilarious” comments on past winners of British literary prizes, I’d say that his inclusion of Patrick Leigh Fermor (author of The Mani) in his hilarious list weakens his argument considerably. Another book by Fermor, considered the greatest travel writer of the 20th century, was recently pubslished by NYRB Classics — Between the Woods and the Water, the 2nd volume of Fermor’s account of his travels on foot from the Netherlands to Constantinople (as he calls Istanbul). Anyone who values good writing will stop sniggering and allow himself to read Fermor, and then wonder if he should try reading the other authors on Sharp’s list too.
Too bad Banville’s “emotional rage is limited”. Unlimited (or at least wide-ranging) rage is the hallmark of fine fiction.
Thanks for the link to “Great Waves”! Spectacular.