Once again it is International Booker time, which is my one of my favourite yearly events. This year’s longlist is surprising. There are books I expected to see listed, such as The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk (translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones) or We Do Not Part by Han Kang (translated by E. Yaewon & Paige Aniyah Morris). Maybe even Herscht 07769 by László Krasznahorkai (translated by Ottilie Mulzet), but all three authors have previously won the International Booker so might have been the reason they were left off this year’s longlist.
- The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem, translated from Arabic by Sinan Antoon
- On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Barbara J. Haveland
- There’s a Monster Behind the Door by Gaëlle Bélem, translated from French by Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert
- Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated from Romanian by Sean Cotter
- Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda, translated from Spanish by Heather Cleary and Julia Sanches
- Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated from French by Helen Stevenson
- Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated from Japanese by Polly Barton
- Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from Japanese by Asa Yoneda
- Eurotrash by Christian Kracht, translated from German by Daniel Bowles
- Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated from Italian by Sophie Hughes
- Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi
- On a Woman’s Madness by Astrid Roemer, translated from Dutch by Lucy Scott
- A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated from French by Mark Hutchinson
I was hoping for Darkenbloom by Eva Menasse. I’ve just read it and thought it was representative of all that is fine and thoughtful in European literature.
Oh well.
Would have been nice, I wish there was more South American literature here but the booker often prefers European literature. I’m sure Anton Hur fought for the Asian literature inclusions
Only one of these on my TBR: Under the Eye of the Big Bir
The ones translated from the French didn’t impress French readers, lol
It is amazing just how different the longlist in depending on who judges it. Like Max Porter chairing this year, I expected weird books
This is a weird list! I will still read We Do Not Part and The Empusium, maybe the Krasnakorhai,, but I’m sourcing quite a few of these as well…
It’s been difficult to source most of these books here in Australia and I’m a slow reader so I won’t try for the full list. Mainly using it as an excuse to buy the books and finally read Solenoid