tanabata's preliminary list
Wednesday, June 6, 2007 by tanabata
Here's my tentative list of 12 plus alternates, all of which are currently in my stacks. I could easily do the challenge twice without buying any new books! Of course that's unlikely.
Since we don't have to stick to a fixed list, my final choices may, and probably will, change as the challenge progresses. I'd love to hear your thoughts on any of these.
1. The Love of a Good Woman – Alice Munro (Giller Prize 1998)
2. Mercy Among the Children – David Adams Richards (Giller Prize 2000)
3. My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk (IMPAC Dublin Award 2003, Nobel Prize 2006)
4. No Great Mischief - Alistair MacLeod (IMPAC Dublin Award 2001)
5. The Tenderness of Wolves - Stef Penney (Costa/Whitbread 2006)
6. An Artist of the Floating World - Kazuo Ishiguro (Costa/Whitbread 1986)
7. A Spell of Winter - Helen Dunmore (Orange Prize 1996)
8. Larry’s Party - Carol Shields (Orange Prize 1998)
9. A Crime in the Neighbourhood - Suzanne Berne (Orange Prize 1999)
10. Property - Valerie Martin (Orange Prize 2003)
11. The Road - Cormac McCarthy (Pulitzer Prize 2007)
12. The Silent Cry - Kenzaburo Oe (Tanizaki Prize 1967, Nobel Prize 1994)
Other Possibles:
The Polished Hoe - Austin Clarke (Giller Prize 2002)
This Blinding Absence of Light - Tahar Ben Jelloun (IMPAC Dublin Award 2004)
The Line of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst (Booker Prize 2004)
True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey (Booker Prize 2001)
Schindler’s Ark - Thomas Keneally (Booker Prize 1982)
The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (Booker Prize 1978)
English Passengers - Matthew Kneale (Costa/Whitbread 2000)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon (Pulitzer Prize 2001)
A Thousand Acres - Jane Smiley (Pulitzer Prize 1992)
Beloved - Toni Morrison (Pulitzer Prize 1988)
The Great Fire - Shirley Hazzard (National Book Award 2003, Miles Franklin 2004)
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen (National Book Award 2001)
Waiting - Ha Jin (National Book Award 1999)
Snow Country - Yasunari Kawabata (Nobel Prize 1968)
Independent People - Halldor Laxness (Nobel Prize 1955)
L’Étranger – Albert Camus (Nobel Prize 1957)
Doomsday Book - Connie Willis (Hugo Award 1993, Nebula Award 1992)
*cross-posted on my blog In Spring it is the Dawn
Since we don't have to stick to a fixed list, my final choices may, and probably will, change as the challenge progresses. I'd love to hear your thoughts on any of these.
1. The Love of a Good Woman – Alice Munro (Giller Prize 1998)
2. Mercy Among the Children – David Adams Richards (Giller Prize 2000)
3. My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk (IMPAC Dublin Award 2003, Nobel Prize 2006)
4. No Great Mischief - Alistair MacLeod (IMPAC Dublin Award 2001)
5. The Tenderness of Wolves - Stef Penney (Costa/Whitbread 2006)
6. An Artist of the Floating World - Kazuo Ishiguro (Costa/Whitbread 1986)
7. A Spell of Winter - Helen Dunmore (Orange Prize 1996)
8. Larry’s Party - Carol Shields (Orange Prize 1998)
9. A Crime in the Neighbourhood - Suzanne Berne (Orange Prize 1999)
10. Property - Valerie Martin (Orange Prize 2003)
11. The Road - Cormac McCarthy (Pulitzer Prize 2007)
12. The Silent Cry - Kenzaburo Oe (Tanizaki Prize 1967, Nobel Prize 1994)
Other Possibles:
The Polished Hoe - Austin Clarke (Giller Prize 2002)
This Blinding Absence of Light - Tahar Ben Jelloun (IMPAC Dublin Award 2004)
The Line of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst (Booker Prize 2004)
True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey (Booker Prize 2001)
Schindler’s Ark - Thomas Keneally (Booker Prize 1982)
The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (Booker Prize 1978)
English Passengers - Matthew Kneale (Costa/Whitbread 2000)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon (Pulitzer Prize 2001)
A Thousand Acres - Jane Smiley (Pulitzer Prize 1992)
Beloved - Toni Morrison (Pulitzer Prize 1988)
The Great Fire - Shirley Hazzard (National Book Award 2003, Miles Franklin 2004)
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen (National Book Award 2001)
Waiting - Ha Jin (National Book Award 1999)
Snow Country - Yasunari Kawabata (Nobel Prize 1968)
Independent People - Halldor Laxness (Nobel Prize 1955)
L’Étranger – Albert Camus (Nobel Prize 1957)
Doomsday Book - Connie Willis (Hugo Award 1993, Nebula Award 1992)
*cross-posted on my blog In Spring it is the Dawn
The Road is a bleak, but very important book.
I would like to read Larry's Party as well. I've read The Stone Diaries recently and LOVED Shields' writing.
I'm reading My Name is Red, as well! By the way, from your list of alternates, I really enjoyed Waiting.
Oops! Forgot to check for comments here. :P
3M - A lot of people seem to have read, or plan to read 'The Road' this year. I have to admit I didn't really like 'The Stone Diaries' but still want to try more by her.
Bellezza - I've spotted it on a few lists. I've had it here for years, literally. It'll be great to finally read it! I've heard mixed reviews about 'Waiting' but I'll get to it one of these days.