Sometimes you have to read the judges rather than the books.
I used to believe that doctors cured you, Presidents led you, and book awards went to the book best written.
Not anymore. (Especially since the IFFP went to The Iraqi Christ by Hassan Blasim.)
In his inimitable style, a blend of the most delicious sarcasm and facetiousness, Edward Sr. Aubyn describes the farce involved with a prestigious literary award. Neither writers nor judges are spared so much as a scratch from his sythe.
The Elysian Prize, more than vaguely resembling the Man Booker prize, is chaired by Malcolm Craig. It is a prize “confined to the Imperial ash heap of the Commonwealth.
Judges on the committee include Jo Cross, a well-known columnist and media personality; Vanessa Shaw, who is interested in “especially good writing”; Penny feathers, who is the Secretary of the Foreign Office’s old girlfriend. “The point was to build a consensus and come up with a vision of the sort of Britain they all wanted to project with the help of this prize: diverse, multi-cultural, devolutionary, and of course, encouraging to writers.
Some of the writers are Sam Black, preoccupied by psychological contracts, writing The Frozen Torrents; Katherine Burns, a lady novelist who surrounds herself with artists, thinkers, scientists and writers, as well as multiple lovers; Sonny Badanpur, who could trace his ancestry to Krishna and wrote The Mulberry Elephant; Penny who is a judge, but also the author of the thriller Roger and Out.
Halfway through the novel we find that some assistant sent Sonny’s auntie’s cookbook, instead of Katherine’s novel, to the judges. The cookbook finds its way to the long list and subsequently the short list. I could not stop laughing at the utter absurdity, which plausibly smacks of truth, in this situation. No one seems able to admit that the cookery book is not a splendid piece of fiction. (John Elton, the American literary agent says, “Playing with textuality can be dangerous, but the audacity of putting it in a “cookbook” is sheer genius.”)
I curiously awaited the disclosure of the Short List, as if it was something real, just to read the following titles:
The Frozen Torrent by Sam Black
The Enigma Conundrum by Tim Wentworth
All The World’s A Stage by Hermione Fade
wot u starin at by Hugh Macdonald
The Palace Cookbook by Lakshmi Badanpur
The Greasy Pole by Alistair Mackintosh
Really, it’s enough to make me laugh out loud. Or, vomit violently into a sink. Or, as one of participants says, to “go to one of the nearby bookshops to buy something good to read on the way home, to…remind him what literature was before he went to the Elysian Prize dinner the next night.”
The Patrick Melrose novels are my very favorite works of Edward St. Aubyn’s, for the raw emotion they so powerfully convey; enough to make this American woman feel she had experienced the life of a British man.
Lost For Words is an entirely different kind of novel, as it points to a gigantic literary farce rather than a grim childhood and it’s subsequent effects. While St. Aubyn’s satire in the novel may seem like a touch of sour grapes to some, to me it seems to more closely resemble Shakespeare’s line in King Lear: “Many a true word hath been spoken in jest.”
(Find Victoria’s excellent review here.)
I really like the sound of this one! A book about book awards? Count me in!
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I added The Patrick Melrose novels to my wish list after your reading your reviews. Just a few evenings ago while perusing my amazon list, I moved them up to the top. This post must be a sign 😉
Lost for Words sounds like fun, too.
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It was especially interesting to me in light of the recent Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. As a member of the Shadow Jury, I read most of the books for the long list, and couldn't have been more shocked (disappointed) at the announcement of the winner. I feel that what St. Aubyn points at here must be in part truth; the winner is not necessary the best book, but the one that fits an agenda. Or even one that is arbitrarily arrived at? Without a full consensus?
Anyway, I find his writing marvelous.
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JoAnn, the Patrick Melrose novels are some of my favorite books ever. They are piercing and poignant and bitter and courageous. I do hope you get to them. Even before this one.
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thanks, adding this to my TBR
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I have yet to read anything by this author and am now intrigued. How could I not read this book about book awards – love it! So glad you wrote about it 🙂
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I think you'll really like St. Aubyn's style. There's no one who writes like he does. I'd not relish being under the scrutiny of his pen.
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It's about book awards to be sure, but not to glorify them by any means. Still, I think his portrayal is more accurate than not (from my observations).
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I am fascinated by this book if only because readers with whom I would normally identify have such very differing views about it. Clearly the only thing to do is to get hold of a copy and make up my own mind.
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Perhaps you speak of Victoria's review at Tales From The Reaading Room? I loved her review, as I do all her thoughts. The only place I differ is my newly complete distrust over prizes, especially since reading for the Indeoendent Foreign Fiction Prize. I used to think that the best writers won; now I see it for the political game it appears to be. I do hope you read it, and tell me/us your thoughts.
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I loved your review! It strikes me as quite fascinating that you can now bring your experience to bear on this book. I'll bet it does change the reading experience. And Edward St Aubyn certainly can write – he is an extremely stylish wordsmith – I'll willingly give him that!
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It's been great to share this book with you; how serendipitous (to me) that we each read it within the same week.
I always value your opinion.
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So glad to hear this is as enjoyable a read as I'd hoped when I put it on my Wishlist a few weeks ago – excellent review too.
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Well, not everyone loved it (as you'll see if you read Victoria's), but we both found value in the writing if nothing else. I just thought it was the perfect way to highlight flaws in literary prizes. Which I once thought were so well earned. Glad you liked the review.
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I've yet to read any of this author's work, but the Patrick Melrose novels have been sitting on my wishlist for some time now. I must get around to trying him at some point.
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Oh, Jacqui, the Patrick Melrose novels are incredible! I could read them all over again as it's been a year and a half since I did, they're that good.
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Your obvious enjoyment of it makes it sound such fun and has me wanting to read it! I've not read St Aubyn at all yet. Should I read a Patrick Melrose novel or two first?
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Stephanie, I'd definitely read the Patrick Melrose novels first. They're a great introduction to St. Aubyn, better than this one I think.
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Blogs are very fine for each one the place we're asked heaps of data for just about any topics nice career preserve it up, nice sharing
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