MAN BOOKER PRIZE LONG LIST

When the thirteen titles making up the long list were announced last week I observed that I had only read two of them – The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry and The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser. Both enormously impressive works of fcition.
Oops I thought, I had better acquire and read the others before the shortlist is announced as before then I would like to select my own shortlist but first I have to read them all.

Well yesterday I read, and greatly admired, Netherland, (Fourth Estate) by Joseph O’Neill. This novel is a real knockout and for me had the additional appeal of being set in contemporary New York, a city I know and love. The plot is very cleverly developed and the characterisation is hugely impressive with Hans van den Broeken a Dutch oil analyst and Chuck Ramkissoon a Trinidadian American being protagonists I shall long remember. The two meet while playing cricket and their developing friendship and shared experiences make up a large part of the story. The oil analyst is coping with the foundering of his marriage while the Trinidadian dreams of forming the New York Cricket Club to create a new cricket stadium on an old airfield with a view to hosting the Cricket World Cup.

Author O’Neill is an Irish barrister who lives in New York, this is his third novel, and it is a cracker.
So three down, ten to go of which so far I have six here and I must say I am feeling quite daunted as two of them run to around 300 pages, another comes in at 400 pages, two are 500 pages and the other is 700 pages plus! Oh dear………. And there are still four more for me to get. I’d better get back to my reading.

Oh, I wouldn't want to be judging this event, so far all three I have read are on my shortlist!