THIS IS HOW THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD SAW THE STORY
NZ AUTHOR IN LAST SIX FOR WORLD'S BIGGEST BOOK AWARD
New Zealand writer Lloyd Jones' novel Mister Pip has been named on the six-book shortlist for the prestigious Man Booker Prize.
The shortlist was announced yesterday for arguably the literary world's most sought after awards with the winner to be announced in London on October 16.
Penguin publishing director Geoff Walker said Jones' success was "almost unbelievable".
"It's just so far ahead of anything that a New Zealand novel has achieved for a long time. You have to go back to the early 1980s and the success of The Bone People (by Keri Hulme) to reach this exalted state."
Mister Pip is set amid the chaos of war-torn Pacific island of Bougainville in the early 1990s.
It is narrated by 13-year-old Matilda, who becomes transfixed by Pip, the character in Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations, which is read to her class by an eccentric teacher.
It was three years and 10 drafts in the making. Jones titled the 11th draft "last chance", and once it all clicked he poured it out in nine months.
The shortlist was announced yesterday for arguably the literary world's most sought after awards with the winner to be announced in London on October 16.
Penguin publishing director Geoff Walker said Jones' success was "almost unbelievable".
"It's just so far ahead of anything that a New Zealand novel has achieved for a long time. You have to go back to the early 1980s and the success of The Bone People (by Keri Hulme) to reach this exalted state."
Mister Pip is set amid the chaos of war-torn Pacific island of Bougainville in the early 1990s.
It is narrated by 13-year-old Matilda, who becomes transfixed by Pip, the character in Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations, which is read to her class by an eccentric teacher.
It was three years and 10 drafts in the making. Jones titled the 11th draft "last chance", and once it all clicked he poured it out in nine months.
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1 comment:
Given that I was only in intermediate school at the time, I wonder if Bookman Beattie or other blog readers remember whether The Bone People had the same level of commercial and critical success before the Booker McConnell shortlisting and prize win? The acclaim for Mister Pip has been massive and completely international even before its NZ publication. I also seem to remember reading that Bone People was a very controversial winner (even in Booker circles!).
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