The Lost Man Booker Prize Books
In 1971, a major change in how the Booker Prize was awarded eliminated an entire year's worth of publications from consideration. To make amends, the Man Booker Prize Foundation has announced the Lost Man Booker Prize to honor the great works published in 1970.
On May 19, the winner was announced—selected from a long list of 21 books and short list of six. Here are the great reads of 1970!
The Lost Man Booker Prize Winner: Troubles by J.G. FarrellOn May 19, the winner was announced—selected from a long list of 21 books and short list of six. Here are the great reads of 1970!
Forty years after it was first published, Troubles, by J.G. Farrell, is the winner of the Lost Man Booker Prize. It won by a clear majority, winning 38 percent of the votes by the international reading public, more than double the votes cast for any other book on the shortlist.Troubles is the first in Farrell's Empire Trilogy, which was followed by The Siege of Krishnapur (1973) and The Singapore Grip (1978). The Siege of Krishnapur won the Booker Prize in 1973 and was shortlisted for the Best of the Booker, a special award created to mark the 40th anniversary of the prize in 2008.
Troubles weaves the tragi-comic tale of Major Brendan Archer, who, despite the short-lived nature of his business in Ireland, is unable to leave the alluring discomforts of his crumbling hotel, The Majestic. Surrounded by gently decaying old ladies and proliferating cats, the Major passes the summer. But this is Ireland in 1919, and the struggle for independence is about to explode with brutal force.
J G Farrell died in 1979. His brother, Richard Farrell, accepted the prize on his behalf.
Learn about the other books on the Lost Man Booker Prize list
Here are the short list contenders for the Lost Man Booker Prize:
The Birds on the Trees
By Nina Bawden
When their eldest son Toby is expelled from school, the middle-class security of his parents—Maggie, a writer, and Charlie, a journalist—shatters. Is it drugs? Unhappiness? Veering between private agony and public cheerfulness, the novel reaches into the heart of relationship, raising fundamental questions about parents and their children.
The Bay of Noon
By Shirley Hazzard
Lonely and rootless, Jenny finds herself in war-torn Italy. Against the fading grandeur of Naples, her close friendship with the beautiful and talented Gioconda must make room for a dour Scotsman and for Gioconda's new lover. These newfound friends require much more of Jenny than she had foreseen and gradually reveal to her the changing face of love.
Fire from Heaven
By Mary Renault
Just 20-years-old when his reign began, Alexander the Great was once a boy struggling against the years that would shape him—the dark furies of his mother, his father's talent for war and his sexual grossness. Resolute and fearless with a striking beauty, Fire from Heaven shares how Alexander eventually came to terms with his heritage.
The Driver's Seat
By Muriel Spark
Lise is an unmarried woman working in an accounting firm in Northern Europe. Suffering from years of illness, erratic and often confrontational behaviors and a garish and off-putting style of dress, she travels to Naples and begins to contemplate her ideal death. (The book was filmed in 1974 as Identikit, starring Elizabeth Taylor and featuring Andy Warhol.)
The Vivisector
By Patrick White
The men and women who court Hurtle Duffield during his long life are, above all, the victims of his art. He dissects their weaknesses with cruel precision: his sister's deformity, a grocer's moonlight indiscretion and the passionate illusions of his mistress. Until he meets an egocentric adolescent who elicits a deeper, more treacherous emotion.
See the complete Lost Man Booker Prize long list
The Birds on the TreesBy Nina Bawden
When their eldest son Toby is expelled from school, the middle-class security of his parents—Maggie, a writer, and Charlie, a journalist—shatters. Is it drugs? Unhappiness? Veering between private agony and public cheerfulness, the novel reaches into the heart of relationship, raising fundamental questions about parents and their children.
The Bay of NoonBy Shirley Hazzard
Lonely and rootless, Jenny finds herself in war-torn Italy. Against the fading grandeur of Naples, her close friendship with the beautiful and talented Gioconda must make room for a dour Scotsman and for Gioconda's new lover. These newfound friends require much more of Jenny than she had foreseen and gradually reveal to her the changing face of love.
Fire from HeavenBy Mary Renault
Just 20-years-old when his reign began, Alexander the Great was once a boy struggling against the years that would shape him—the dark furies of his mother, his father's talent for war and his sexual grossness. Resolute and fearless with a striking beauty, Fire from Heaven shares how Alexander eventually came to terms with his heritage.
The Driver's SeatBy Muriel Spark
Lise is an unmarried woman working in an accounting firm in Northern Europe. Suffering from years of illness, erratic and often confrontational behaviors and a garish and off-putting style of dress, she travels to Naples and begins to contemplate her ideal death. (The book was filmed in 1974 as Identikit, starring Elizabeth Taylor and featuring Andy Warhol.)
The VivisectorBy Patrick White
The men and women who court Hurtle Duffield during his long life are, above all, the victims of his art. He dissects their weaknesses with cruel precision: his sister's deformity, a grocer's moonlight indiscretion and the passionate illusions of his mistress. Until he meets an egocentric adolescent who elicits a deeper, more treacherous emotion.
See the complete Lost Man Booker Prize long list
The "lost" prize's long list of nominated books includes many distinguished writers whose books have stood the test of time as well as works by previous Man Booker Prize winners like J.G. Farrell and Iris Murdoch. Other notables on the 21-book list include some authors who have had novels short-listed for the prize in the past: David Lodge, Muriel Spark, Nina Bawden and Susan Hill.
Here is a look at the 21 books that made the long list of potential contenders:
The Hand-Reared BoyBy Brian Aldiss
The first British novel to frankly explore the sexual awakening of a young boy as he grows into adolescence, The Hand-Reared Boy uses wit and perception to describe the burgeoning sexuality of Horatio Stubbs as he learns that people are more than just sexual objects.
TrespassesBy Paul Bailey
In 1950s Camberwell, just outside of London, Ralph Hicks is working his way through a restrictive working-class background and his search for something better. Can he find love? Or will it break him to keep trying?
A Little of What You FancyBy H.E. Bates
H.E. Bates' books about the Larkin family inspired a BBC series starring a young Catherine Zeta Jones. In A Little of What You Fancy, Pop Larkin, after having had rather too much of what he fancies, has a has a mild heart attack and is forced off booze, off good food and off the good life generally, much to his own and everyone else's horror and upset.
The Birds on the TreesBy Nina Bawden
When their eldest son Toby is expelled from school, the middle-class security of his parents—Maggie, a writer, and Charlie, a journalist—shatters. Is it drugs? Unhappiness? Veering between private agony and public cheerfulness, the novel reaches into the heart of relationship, raising fundamental questions about parents and their children.
A Place in EnglandBy Melvyn Bragg
Joseph Tallentire has hope and ambition, and like his father before him, he is determined to make something of himself and improve his lot. But life is not easy for an uneducated young man in Cumberland before and during World War II. Suffering hardship and humiliation, the book tells the moving tale of one man's battle against the odds.
Down All the DaysBy Christy Brown
From the author of My Left Foot comes a memoir of life as a young boy with cerebral palsy. His view from the red wagon, pulled by his boisterous brothers, grants him a unique perspective of the Dublin life in the '40s and '50s. Written with a fearless discipline over his own body, this memoir further displays Christy Brown's talent for lyrical language and insight.
BomberBy Len Deighton
Bomber follows the progress of an Allied air raid through a period of 24 hours in the summer of 1943. A terrifying drama, both in the air and on the ground, it follows characters in both Britain and Germany. In its documentary style, it is unique. In its emotional power, it is overwhelming.
TroublesBy J.G. Farrell
His business in Ireland was rather short-lived, yet Maj. Brendan Archer is unable to leave the alluring discomforts of his crumbling hotel. Surrounded by gently decaying old ladies and proliferating cats, the major passes the summer. But this is Ireland in 1919, and the struggle for independence is about to explode with brutal force.
The CircleBy Elaine Feinstein
Lena's family life is coming apart at the seams. Her husband has been having an affair with the au pair and has retreated into his work at the science lab. Lena, desperately lost and seeking an identity of her own, increasingly finds solace at the bottom of a bottle. An exploration of the desperation and magic that marriage can be, The Circle is a poignant and poetic debut novel.
The Bay of NoonBy Shirley Hazzard
Lonely and rootless, Jenny finds herself in war-torn Italy. Against the fading grandeur of Naples, her close friendship with the beautiful and talented Gioconda must make room for a dour Scotsman and for Gioconda's new lover. These newfound friends require much more of Jenny than she had foreseen and gradually reveal to her the changing face of love.
A Clubbable WomanBy Reginald Hill
After taking a nasty knock in a rugby match, Connon finds his wife even more quiet than usual. When he wakes up from a nap, he comes downstairs to discover that communication has been cut off forever—by a hole in the middle of her forehead. Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel has a few ideas but the loyalties of Sgt. Peter Pascoe lie elsewhere.
I'm the King of the CastleBy Susan Hill
Young Charles Kingshaw and his mother have come to live with Edmund Hooper and his father in an ugly, isolated Victorian house. This extraordinary, evocative novel boils over with the terrors of childhood and is a chilling portrayal of childhood cruelty and persecution, parental blindness and our ambivalence about what are supposed to be the happiest days of our lives.
A Domestic AnimalBy Francis King
Antonio Valli is a brilliant young Italian philosopher who arrives to do a year's research at a well-to-do university. His roommate, Dick, a successful middle-aged novelist, is captivated by Antonio's good looks and likable affability. Soon enough Dick has fallen completely in love with his charming—but very heterosexual—lodger. Will this ill-fated relationship end in disaster?
Out of the ShelterBy David Lodge
Sixteen-year-old Timothy is used to the restrictions of a wartime childhood in London, but when his glamorous older sister, Kath, invites him to spend the summer in Heidelberg, he is introduced to a deliriously fast, furious and extravagant lifestyle. Timothy finds his holiday an unforgettable rite of passage in more ways than one.
A Fairly Honourable DefeatBy Iris Murdoch
In this dark comedy of errors, Julius, a cynical intellectual, demonstrates through a Machiavellian experiment how easily loving couples, caring friends and devoted siblings can betray each other. Julius artfully plays on the human tendency to embrace drama,intrigue and the distraction of confrontations over the difficult effort of communicating openly and honestly.
FirefliesBy Shiva Naipaul
The Khojas are an important Indian family in Trinidad. At the head of the family is Mr. Khoja, piously enshrined by his flock of quarrelsome sisters. At the bottom is the girl who will become Mrs. Lutchman, our heroine.
Master and CommanderBy Patrick O'Brian
The first of the famous Aubrey/Maturin novels, regarded by many as the greatest series of historical novels ever written, this is the beginning of the story between Capt. Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent. With plenty of action and excitement, it includes impeccable depictions of life aboard a Nelsonic man-of-war, weapons and life at sea.
Fire from HeavenBy Mary Renault
Just 20-years-old when his reign began, Alexander the Great was once a boy struggling against the years that would shape him—the dark furies of his mother, his father's talent for war and his sexual grossness. Resolute and fearless with a striking beauty, Fire from Heaven shares how Alexander eventually came to terms with his heritage.
A Guilty Thing SurprisedBy Ruth Rendell
The Nightingales are the perfect couple—wealthy, attractive and without an enemy in the world. However, the discovery of their daughter's broken body in the woods prompts Chief Inspector Wexford to probe beneath the placid surface of the to uncover secrets no one ever suspected.
The Driver's SeatBy Muriel Spark
Lise is an unmarried woman working in an accounting firm in Northern Europe. Suffering from years of illness, erratic and often confrontational behaviors and a garish and off-putting style of dress, she travels to Naples and begins to contemplate her ideal death. (The book was filmed in 1974 as Identikit, starring Elizabeth Taylor and featuring Andy Warhol.)
??The VivisectorBy Patrick White
The men and women who court Hurtle Duffield during his long life are, above all, the victims of his art. He dissects their weaknesses with cruel precision: his sister's deformity, a grocer's moonlight indiscretion and the passionate illusions of his mistress. Until he meets an egocentric adolescent who elicits a deeper, more treacherous emotion.
For more information visit the Man Booker Prize website.
Have you read any of the nominees? Who do you think will win? Leave your comments below.
More great reading lists to check out:
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