The Man Booker 2014 Readalong discussion

The shortlist is out next week. How is everyone doing? Personally, I have read 10.5 of them. The 0.5 is "To rise again..." after which I will be on to "The Bone Clocks" which is out tomorrow in UK. That just leaves "Us" which isn't published and which I don't think I am interested in reading, anyway! I plan to do my own version of the shortlist to compare - who else is going to do that and shall we all put them on here to see how they vary and compare?

Wow! 10.5 is amazing! I have read 5, including "The Narrow Road to the Deep North," "The Blazing World," "History of the Rain," "To Rise Again at a Decent Hour" and "We are All Totally Beside Ourselves." Finished "History of the Rain" earlier today and plan to start "Orfeo" soon. I pre-ordered "The Bone Clocks" and anticipate that it will arrive around the time I finish "Orfeo."

Although I haven't even read half of the books, I have my favorites and would enjoy taking a stab at guessing the short list books. Great idea!

I am pretty confident I know what my shortlist will be, even though there are a couple of books I haven't read (one is on the list, the other is not). So, here goes:

1. How to Be Both (Ali Smith)
2. The Bone Clocks (David Mitchell)
3. The History of the Rain (Niall Williams)
4. The Blazing World (Siri Hustvedt)
5. The Lives of Others (Neil Mukherjee)
6. J (Howard Jacobson)

The only debate for me is whether 6 should be replaced by Orfeo.

What do you think about my list?

My tentative list is similar to Neil's. Even though I have not read half of the books on the list, I have my suspicions based upon reviews by others and author reputation:

Agree with Neil on :

1. How to Be Both (Ali Smith)
2. The Bone Clocks (David Mitchell)
3. The Blazing World (Siri Hustvedt)
4. The Lives of Others (Neil Mukherjee)

I would also include:

5. The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Richard Flanagan)

I haven't picked my sixth book yet. I'm suspecting it might by "Orfeo" or "The History of the Rain." I am going to read "Orfeo" next and will know more after I get into that one.

I have read just To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, now I am half through J, by Jacobson. I will try to finish it tonight, and if so, I will face a dilemma: which one should be next? I have bought We Are Completely Besides Ourselves, Orfeo, Bone Clocks and How to be Both. Which one would you suggest me?
In addition, I would like to suggest you, I downloaded the podcast from The Guardian Books into my phone. In the previous podcast they talk about the Man Booker list and they have some interesting points of view.

I would recommend Ali Smith, but you might want to save the best for last!

I've finished The Blazing World and History of the Rain. I'm halfway through We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and The Lives of Others. I dropped The Wake but will try again if it's shortlisted.

You've done brilliantly Neil, I think your shortlist looks great! Can't wait to read How to be Both and The Bone Clocks.

So, the short list has been revealed? What do you think of it? In my humble opinion, I was surprised for two things: the absence of David Mitchell and the inclusion of Joshua Ferris. What do you think? Here is the shortlist

To Rise Again At a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
J by Howard Jacobson
The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee
How to Be Both by Ali Smith

source: the guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014...

Really surprised at that list!

Really surprised, I was certain The Bone Clocks would have won.

Surprised The History of the Rain was not included

.

Disappointed The History of the Rain didn't make it. A lot of people are expressing their surprise that Joshua Ferris made it, and for that reason I am not looking forward to reading it. I'm starting the Flanagan novel tonight.

I was disappointed that The Blazing World and Orfeo were not selected. I finished Orfeo last night and was surprised at how much I liked it.

@EstaAmeliaR: The Flanagan novel has been my favorite of the six long list books that I have read so far. And I wouldn't shy away from reading the Ferris novel. It is enjoyable, humorous and a rather quick read. I just didn't think it rated above the others that I have read on the long list and some that didn't make the long list (dare I say Goldfinch?)

I recently received my copy of The Bone Clocks and was planning to read it next. I may switch to The Lives of Others, since it IS on the short list.

Of the ones left on the shortlist, my vote would be for Ali Smith to win, so I would definitely recommend How To Be Both. It's just a shame that books like History of the Rain and The Bone Clocks are no longer in the running.

I've read We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and it was really a nice surprise. And now I'm reading History of the Rain but I don't know what to think about it so far. I would like to read The Bone Clocks and The Lives of Others too.

I just started "J." I'm on page 65, and I'm not really sure how I feel about this book yet. I am not a fan of dystopian novels, so this is not something I would have read had it not been for wanting to read as many Man Booker books as I can.

The is the 5th short list book. So far "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" gets my vote.

I'm on the last of the short-listed books, The Lives of Others. Of the long-listed I've read two, The Bone Clocks and The Blazing World both of which I admired but neither I would have seen as a winner.

For me The Narrow Road To The Deep North is just ahead of How To Be Both.