The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

The longlist. Will be adding links later.

The Wind that Lays Waste by Selva Almada, translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews (Argentina, Graywolf)

The Book of Collateral Damage by Sinan Antoon, translated from the Arabic by Jonathan Wright (Iraq, Yale University Press)

Welcome to America by Linda Boström Knausgård, translated from the Swedish by Martin Aitken (Sweden, World Editions)

Animalia by Jean-Baptiste Del Amo, translated from the French by Frank Wynne (France, Grove)

Vernon Subutex 1 by Virginie Despentes, translated from the French by Frank Wynne (France, Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

A Girl Returned by Donatella Di Pietrantonio, translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein (Italy, Europa Editions)

EEG by Daša Drndić, translated from the Croatian by Celia Hawkesworth (Croatia, New Directions)

Space Invaders by Nona Fernández, translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer (Chile Graywolf)

Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman, translated from the Russian by Robert Chandler and Elizabeth Chandler (Russia, New York Review Books)

Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz, translated from the Spanish by Sara Moses and Carolina Orloff (Argentina, Charco Press)

Will and Testament by Vigdis Hjorth, translated from the Norwegian by Charlotte Barslund (Norway, Verso)

Good Will Come From the Sea by Christos Ikonomou, translated from the Greek by Karen Emmerich (Greece, Archipelago Books)

Tentacle by Rita Indiana, translated from the Spanish by Achy Obejas (Dominican Republic, And Other Stories)

China Dream by Ma Jian, translated from the Chinese by Flora Drew (China, Counterpoint)

Parade by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell (Japan, Soft Skull)

Death Is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa, translated from the Arabic by Leri Price (Syria, Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

The Boy by Marcus Malte, translated from the French by Emma Ramadan and Tom Roberge (France, Restless Books)

The Cheffe: A Cook’s Novel by Marie NDiaye, translated from the French by Jordon Stump (France, Knopf)

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa, translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder (Japan, Pantheon)

A Dream Come True by Juan Carlos Onetti, translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver (Uruguay, Archipelago Books)

77 by Guillermo Saccomanno, translated from the Spanish by Andrea G. Labinger (Argentina, Open Letter Books)

Beyond Babylon by Igiaba Scego, translated from the Italian by Aaron Robertson (Italy, Two Lines Press)

Labyrinth by Burhan Sönmez, translated from the Turkish by Umit Hussein (Turkey, Other Press)

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Poland, Riverhead)

Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima, translated from the Japanese by Geraldine Harcourt (Japan, Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Not a bad list but feels less 'indie' this year if that makes sense... Overlap between books which were also published in the UK feels greater this year.

Yes, & like you said on the other thread, it feels like some of these books were published a long time ago now.

Does anyone know why such an early announcement (6am EST)?

Generally I'm impressed with list and have read 11/25.

Big omissions for me are the two books I'd have picked as the winner:

The White Book or indeed anything from the Korean - I'm biased but BTBA does seem to have a blindspot for Korean fiction (as opposed to poetry)

Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming misses out on both BTBA and Booker

Antonomasia wrote: "Yes, & like [Q] said on the other thread, it feels like some of these books were published a long time ago now"

Tricky one. I think BTBA isn't high profile enough (cf Booker/National Book Award) to demand ARCs to review or even secret embargoed copies. Indeed BTBA doesn't actually request entries per se but treats every eligible book as eligible. So it does rather have to end up with an eligibility date in the past (cal year 2019) than Booker-style include books not even published yet.

Of course the UK/US thing can make some seem even older - I read Die My Love 2.5 years ago in October 2017.

National Book Award has almost same eligibility - runs to end November 2019 rather than end Dec 2019, but announced much earlier.

From National Book Award of 10 only 7 were strictly fiction and of those:

Winner - not on BTBA
Finalists - 2/3 on BTBA (Memory Police, Death is Hard Work)
Longlist - 3/3 on BTBA (Drive your Plow, Space Invaders, Will & Testament)

So 5/7 overlap which is high - indeed only Baron W and Crossing didn't make the BTBA

So yes (also Q comment previous thread) it isn't really distinguishing itself from National Book Award

Paul wrote: "Generally I'm impressed with list and have read 11/25.

Big omissions for me are the two books I'd have picked as the winner:

The White Book or indeed anything from the Korean - I'm biased but BTB..."

I would add Silvina Ocampo The Promise to that list, but am pleased with what they included.

I think I was most pleased with the inclusion of the three Japanese women authors, although I was surprised at the inclusion of Parade over Ten Loves. I suggest that one reads all of the women as they complement one another, thus helping define Japanese women's literature.

I am quite happy with the list. I find it a good complement to the Booker International. I smiled as I noticed the list has quite a few prequels or sequels, intended or unintended. Although reading some without the companion books is acceptable, others I feel would leave the experience incomplete.

Stalingrad needs Life and Fate and the two make for the most classic read on the list.

Parade is a companion to Strange Weather in Tokyo and I halted my reading until I read its predecessor.

EEG follows Belladonna and again I refrained from reading it till I finished the first.

Die My Love is the first of what is called an involuntary trilogy, with the second novel Feebleminded out already.

Vernon Subutex 1 is the first of a trilogy.

Welcome to America's appreciation would be enriched, if one read Linda's spouse, Karl's My Struggle I-VI

There may be more. Yuko Tsushima wrote other books concerning a single woman raising a child, but I haven't read her other books yet

I disagree that reading 3,600 pages of My Struggle would enrich 100+ paged Welcome to America, which is fiction, not auto fiction. However, she has a new book out now in Sweden called Octoberbarn which does relate to her ex husband’s books. (So you have time to start reading them now before her next one appears in English!)

June wrote: "I disagree that reading 3,600 pages of My Struggle would enrich 100+ paged Welcome to America, which is fiction, not auto fiction. However, she has a new book out now in Sweden called Octoberbarn w..."

Lol June! I quite agree with you and hardly would recommend it. The book quite stands on its own. I certainly have not finished My Struggle. I think having read the husband's perspective of Linda and father would add a dimension to one`s enjoyment.

The dynamic rankings thread is now open

I have read only 3: Die, My Love, The Memory Police, and the outstanding Animalia; I have 4 on my shelf: EEG (I recently read Belladonna,) Death Is Hard Work, Beyond Babylon, and Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead.
The only books I feel I must order are The Wind That Lays Waste and A Girl Returned.

They all sound appealing of course, but it seems The Wind that Lays West is a favorite and in my job I see a lot of children being removed from mother to live with grandmothers, aunts, older sisters, and then back to mom and I wonder what it does to the children. I hear women say, “I’m getting my kids back...” in the same tone that they say I got a new job, but the regularity with which this happens in populations where poverty, addiction, and homelessness are constants can’t mean it doesn’t impact the children and the mothers who of course would never choose to be separated from their children if they had better options.

ETA-why did I think The Wind that Lays Waste was a favorite? It looks like Territory of Light is the book I should order.

Sam wrote: "June wrote: "I disagree that reading 3,600 pages of My Struggle would enrich 100+ paged Welcome to America, which is fiction, not auto fiction. However, she has a new book out now in Sweden called ..."

Yes, that would be alot of prep work. ;-) I agree that in her book one can see glimpses of the mother and father as they are portrayed in MS Book 2. But as you point out, her work definitely stands on its own.

WndyJW wrote: "I have read only 3: Die, My Love, The Memory Police, and the outstanding Animalia; I have 4 on my shelf: EEG (I recently read [book:B..."

Wndy, sounds to me that you should try both!

I am, Sam. I can’t decide to buy a book then find a different book instead, it’s always a different book as well. I am going to exercise some control and try to wait until I finish the 4 I have then see if I’m still as eager to get them right away.

Although Paul mentioned it earlier on the speculation page, I too noticed the lack of activity on speculation. Now that the list has been announced, I've noticed the absence of familiar names whose opinions I enjoyed reading. I miss those opinions and wish, like most of us here, that those people are well, wishing them the best and hoping for their return.

Good Will Come from the Sea is available as a free ebook from the publishers:

https://archipelagobooks.org/book/goo...

Thank you, Emily!

Yes, thank you!

A Vlog of my attempt to read the Longlist again this year https://youtu.be/KtFBkqZ-iho
Does anybody know when the shortlist announcement is? The final seems to be May 27 which is soon enough!

Great to watch, Peg, thanks!

I haven't seen dates mentioned for shortlist, but they don't generally allow time for anyone to have a realistic chance of reading the books beforehand (although Lascosas somehow manages most years)

Paul wrote: "Great to watch, Peg, thanks!

, but they don't generally allow time for anyone to have a realistic chance of reading the books beforehand (although Lasco..."

Thanks! I keep hoping Lascosas will show up....she always has such great reviews for this prize list!

Peg, that was great, and I look forward to more of your vlogs as you read the longlist. I’m not nearly as systematic as you with how I’m tackling the list: I’m starting with Vernon Subutex because I’ve been meaning to read it for a while. Animalia may follow immediately because so many folks on here have spoken so highly of it...that’s as much of a plan as I’ve made, but will keep reading from the list this month and next.

Thanks June! Will look forward to hearing your thoughts on these. Some of the free ones on Scrib’d are very short so you may want to squeeze those in between the longer ones...I may if I find myself running out of time. Happy reading!

I saw that too peg. There are 12 titles from the longlist on Scribd, many of them short.

Antonomasia was kind enough to contact me and ask where I was. Ah...living a life a million miles away from books I'm afraid. But now that I know it is BTBA time, I will make a sincere effort not to let down the team.

I can't say I am wild about this list, but since I've not read most of them, maybe surprises are in store. I have read 5 of the longlist:
Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman
EEG by Daša Drndić
Vernon Subutex 1 by Virginie Despentes
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Welcome to America by Linda Boström Knausgård

My favorite was EEG. My least favorite was Stalingrad, which was as huge surprise to me because when I read Life & Fate I found it an important book. Well actually my least favorite was Welcome to America which I found utterly forgettable. Clearly the wildcard for one of the judges.

I was surprised, but happy that Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming wasn't included. While I appreciate the author's ability to change style and content with each book, I found this one needlessly leaden and lacking in the lyricism found in his other books.

Oh, and I have read 2 of the books in Spanish:
A Dream Come True by Juan Carlos Onetti
Space Invaders by Nona Fernández

I read Cuentos Completos by Onetti in a literature class decades ago and thought they were absolutely wonderful. I bought the Archipelago paperback, curious to see whether I would still enjoy his stories. I lugged it to & back from Mexico this winter, but still haven't opened it.

As always I will read the list by the length of the book, starting with the longest.

Nice to see you back Lascosas.

So glad to see you back Lascosa! How brilliant to start with the longest and happy reading. Tackling this list is the perfect escape for me right now.

Welcome back, Lascosas!

Welcome back, Lascosas. Nice to see you.

I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of Welcome to America. My wife asked me what it was about and I could only tell her "I know it was short?".

Is Animalia gruesome? I have enough trauma without having to think about animal abuse too.

Since the time before the short list announcement is so, well, short, I thought it might be worth noting the length of the books (based on goodreads info):

96 p - Space Invaders by Nona Fernández, translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer (Chile Graywolf)

96 p - Parade by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell (Japan, Soft Skull)

123 p - Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz, translated from the Spanish by Sara Moses and Carolina Orloff (Argentina, Charco Press)

124 p - The Wind that Lays Waste by Selva Almada, translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews (Argentina, Graywolf)

128 p - Welcome to America by Linda Boström Knausgård, translated from the Swedish by Martin Aitken (Sweden, World Editions)

160 p - A Girl Returned by Donatella Di Pietrantonio, translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein (Italy, Europa Editions)

160 p - Tentacle by Rita Indiana, translated from the Spanish by Achy Obejas (Dominican Republic, And Other Stories)

176 p - China Dream by Ma Jian, translated from the Chinese by Flora Drew (China, Counterpoint)

192 p - Death Is Hard Work by Khaled Khalifa, translated from the Arabic by Leri Price (Syria, Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

192 p - Labyrinth by Burhan Sönmez, translated from the Turkish by Umit Hussein (Turkey, Other Press)

192 p - Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima, translated from the Japanese by Geraldine Harcourt (Japan, Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

255 p - Good Will Come From the Sea by Christos Ikonomou, translated from the Greek by Karen Emmerich (Greece, Archipelago Books)

274 p - The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa, translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder (Japan, Pantheon)

274 p - Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Poland, Riverhead)

280 p - 77 by Guillermo Saccomanno, translated from the Spanish by Andrea G. Labinger (Argentina, Open Letter Books)

304 p - The Cheffe: A Cook’s Novel by Marie NDiaye, translated from the French by Jordon Stump (France, Knopf)

312 p - The Book of Collateral Damage by Sinan Antoon, translated from the Arabic by Jonathan Wright (Iraq, Yale University Press)

336 p - Will and Testament by Vigdis Hjorth, translated from the Norwegian by Charlotte Barslund (Norway, Verso)

352 p - Vernon Subutex 1 by Virginie Despentes, translated from the French by Frank Wynne (France, Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

380 p - EEG by Daša Drndić, translated from the Croatian by Celia Hawkesworth (Croatia, New Directions)

383 p - The Boy by Marcus Malte, translated from the French by Emma Ramadan and Tom Roberge (France, Restless Books)

432 p - Animalia by Jean-Baptiste Del Amo, translated from the French by Frank Wynne (France, Grove)

464 p - Beyond Babylon by Igiaba Scego, translated from the Italian by Aaron Robertson (Italy, Two Lines Press)

557 p - A Dream Come True by Juan Carlos Onetti, translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver (Uruguay, Archipelago Books)

1088 p - Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman, translated from the Russian by Robert Chandler and Elizabeth Chandler (Russia, New York Review Books)

Sara G wrote: "Is Animalia gruesome? I have enough trauma without having to think about animal abuse too."

The humans don't get off to lightly either - but it is ultimately about industrial farming, with all that that entails.

And great to see Lascosas!

And about French pig farming in particular - and all that entrails.

The language though is a stunning feat of writing and translation - some of the most evocative prose I've encountered. A worthy winner of the Republic of Consciousness Prize,

I agree Paul! As I was reading Animalia it occurred to me that there were scenes that I couldn’t bear to look at in real life (or even a movie) but with the magic of great writing I was just glued to the scenes, though I did read those particular descriptions quickly before my stomach or sense of smell could start reacting.

If I wasn't already vegetarian, I would become so after reading Animalia, but I am still glad I did read it. The book has some of the shock effect of a PETA video, but it is (as Paul says) 'a stunning feat of writing and translation - some of the most evocative prose I've encountered.'

Sara-
It is difficult to find the correct page numbers anywhere on line. I use Amazon, but that is often ludicrously off. But for A Dream Come True by Juan Carlos Onetti I have the paperback, and it is 547 pages with about 10 pages at the front. So call it 557. It is the second longest on the longlist.

Thanks Lascosas, I updated the list. With that change, Stalingrad can no longer be said to be twice as long as the next longest book.

I'm just finishing Good Will Come from the Sea and have really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed Tokaczuk and Stalingrad though that last was definitely an endurance test.

I had read Territory of Light, Welcome to America, Space Invaders, Death is Hard Work, Will and Testament, The Memory Police, The Wind That Lays Waste, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, and Die, My Love when the longlist was announced. Of those, I loved the first four and enjoyed the rest.

I just finished Vernon Subutex and was surprised that it didn't really move me one way or another since I'd heard it has been polarizing. I'm having trouble concentrating on work, reading or anything else, so perhaps a certain numbness has set in. Anyway, I'm moving on to EEG. The only other book by Daša Drndić I've read was Doppelganger, and that was awe-inspiring.

I don't think Stalingrad is in the cards for me!

Sara, I was hesitant to read Animalia because I can’t read or watch an individual suffering, I can watch a battle scene though, proving, I guess, that one death is a tragedy, a thousand deaths is a statistic. This is much more all the animals live in deplorable conditions than it is one animal is tortured. And as Paul says the people aren’t very happy either. Having said all of that it is an outstanding book, one of the few books that left me buzzed, as if I had too much whiskey, it took me another full day before I could bring myself to start another book.

I asked on twitter when shortlist is due. Reply:

It's a little bit in flux. Was meant to be the 27th, but that was scheduled with an in-person announcing of the winner and in a world where people had their full wits about, so we may push it back.

I’m sorry to hear so many plans are in question, I know that’s a hardship on publishers and authors, but it does give me more time to read for prizes (I vowed I was not going to center my reading around.)

I just stumbled to the end of Beyond Babylon, which I disliked rather intensely. It took me 2 weeks to force myself through it. It is a long story of (mostly) women who arrive in Rome from Somalia and Argentina and then a few of them travel to Tunis to attend a classical Arabic school (for reasons never adequately explained). Then the author takes scissors and cuts up the manuscript at random and sticks it back together, again at random, leaving the poor reader to figure out who the narrators are for much of the book. I sincerely hope this is not shortlisted.

I read that one pre BTBA and thought it was OK (3 star read) although I do remember almost having to prep for the book by working out who each character was and who narrated the sections before I started reading. The political stuff I found interesting. My biggest issue was that having brought all the characters together in one place, nothing really happened as a result.

I also found the inclusion of Argentina in the 1970s to be gratuitous.

I updated my rankings on the ranking thread and noticed that no one had read Good Will Come from the Sea yet. I read about 20% of it yesterday and am enjoying it. The ebook is currently free from Archipelago.

I read it and really enjoyed it. Very stylishly written and intriguing.