The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

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The Shadow King
Booker Prize for Fiction
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2020 Booker Shortlist: The Shadow King

I started reading this last week as I was sure it was going to be Booker longlisted (due to links to two judges) but I found it hard to focus on it and read a couple of ARCs (Jack and the new DBC Pierre instead).
It was not that I was not enjoying it, it felt that the scenes were weighted down a little by portent and the sentences by similes.

I started reading this last week as I was sure it was going to be Booker longlisted (due to links to two judges) but I found it hard to focus on it and read a coup..."
This may have been the last book I read before the pandemic really hit here, actually. It is a heavy book. Not just the topics, but the writing too - everything feels weighty, especially at first. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I was in, it really rolled right along.
Just some quick general thoughts b/c it feels like a decade since mid-February to me:
- the book picks up and by the end it's moving at quite a clip.
- she gives everyone - both sides of the war - subtleties and nuance, which is just something I greatly appreciate when writing about war. There are characters on both sides who feature importantly, and there are no "all good" or "all bad" ones.
- her history seemed pretty good when I did check on it, but I'll admit to not diving deeply there. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't reading pure fantasy.
- definitely this is one you want to read visually at least along with audio because there are pictures (photos.) While they aren't urgent to see, it's a nice addition.
- the technology is super interesting
- the women are strong yet still clearly women, if that makes any sense. I was in awe of lots of the characters, for various reasons, by the end, and I was sad that it ended.
- had the pandemic not come, I probably would have spent a while learning and reading a lot more about the two Italo-Ethiopian wars. It's pretty fascinating even without a story laid on top of it.

This was based on a real-life meeting between Drndić and Mengiste at a literary festival in Florence in 2015 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYX28...)
And Mengiste credits the conversation with changing this novel completely - indeed she tore up her previous 800 page draft and started again:
https://thecreativeindependent.com/pe...
We were in Italy having wine. She was smoking. I was talking to her about the troubles I was having finding the story in my new novel. I had done so much research for it, but the story was escaping me. She took a puff of her cigarette and said, “You know, that’s the trouble with all you Americans. You care too much about stories. Fuck stories. Who cares about stories? What do you want to say and how do you want to say it?” I thought back to that moment when I was sitting at my desk and I’d just come back from meeting with my editor. What do I want to say?
I thought, “If I could do anything I wanted and I’m not worried about telling a story but I’m just letting the story come out, what would I do then?” Then I threw away the whole manuscript. Tossed the entire first draft of the book. I started again from page one.
For those who've read it - does it have a Daša Drndić flavour?

That is a very interesting story & thanks for the links, etc.
Unfortunately, I read it the week it came out in the US, which was a while ago (feels like 100 years) and I can't say. I didn't notice it, but I wasn't looking either. Off the top of my head, no. It's still more "story-ish" than Drndić, whom I adore, but maybe someone who has read it more recently can notice better than me. Thanks for the interesting info!

That said the last person Booker longlisted who mentioned Bernhard in a Guardian interview, was the author of my least favourite book on last year’s list.

- this would be longlisted
- you would 100 percent guaranteed to read it and rave about it if it had been translated from Amharic (apologies if that’s the wrong language)
- that she likes Trieste and Bernhard so nanechecks all your favourites
Glad you are finally catching up!!!

- she decided her years of historical research should just be naturally in the background and not pushed into the foreground (someone should tell Ian McEwan and Paul Mendez)
- she should find different ways to tell the story - eg using a chorus of voices and images
Both of these feature from the 120 or so pages I read.
message 9:
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Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer
(last edited Jul 29, 2020 10:18AM)
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rated it 4 stars


That's weird. I know the first photo is a "real" picture (meaning an actual picture of someone somehow connected either to her or the book or something - my brain!) However, my hardback US edition had around 12-15 photos through the book. It's also a signed first edition, so maybe that became untenable financially or something & they limited it? Dunno. I will try to look into why that is different.

I made a very deliberate decision not to put photographs in the book. There are two, the bookends. Writing the word-images inside book was my way of thinking about how to move beyond “bearing witness”—where the witness is always outside and bearing the burden of witnessing—and the act of looking is an unwieldy responsibility that’s put on that person, and it’s not a natural thing, it’s a weight.
https://africasacountry.com/2020/05/c...
She has though prepared an archive of photos including those she gathered during the writing of the book: https://www.project3541.com/

I got this as an Apple e-book from the publisher, and I just developed carpal tunnel flicking through the whole book on my phone to see what the photo situation was in this edition. It has just the two bookends here. You may well have a special book, Ella! I'm jealous since I quite like photographs in my books!

I do recall the Goldsmiths shortlisted Line Made My Walking from 2017 which included picture of dead animals and:
Original Irish version had them at the start of each chapter
UK version had them in the body of the text
US version omitted them altogether
I had the pleasure to ask the author about it in person and turned out the UK version was what she preferred but her original publisher had persuaded her otherwise. And the US one had decided the photos were too distressing.

Strong, fine novel that I'm pleased I had the opportunity to read. Still thinking about where it will fit in my ranking. A potential shortlist contender. For me thee is something about it that perhaps makes it a little stronger than How Much of These Hills is Gold, tough decisions as the quality of writing in Hills is just so good, but there is a grounded coherence maintained through Shadow King that I think I I personally prefer. I could see people putting either ahead of the other. Both outstanding novels.

I can answer the first part of your question :)
Italy wanted to colonize Africa, not just Ethiopia (in fact they manages to take over Libya and a part of Somaliland) because they believed it would improve trade realtions with other countries and because Africa had a lot of natural products for importation.


https://youtu.be/7BO3A5_ZKZ8



I think this is a book where everything is weighted down, blurred and shadowed by history and memory - to the extent that I do think it makes the actual main narrative lack a certain transparency.
Anyway more here
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-fest...
Great question at the end.

“Homer is my homie” should be a bumper sticker if it isn't already.


I'm glad to hear you say this. I was worried that I was being dense about some of the plot elements or that my comprehension was suffering due to my midway switch to audiobook. (I sometimes zone out and miss things when listening to a book that isn't fully engaging to me.) This makes a lot of sense as an explanation for why I found myself struggling.

I very much agree with you, Nicholas. The book definitely gets better in the second half. The first part felt somehow disjointed.
My main issue with the book, though, was the writing style. The language is beautiful but there is an abundance of metaphors and symbolism. Mengiste's most striking stylistic device is the use of photographic descriptions. Instead of showing the characters' thoughts, there are lengthy passages about postures, glances and, most often, light and shadow. This choice is certainly exceptional, but I think it creates a distance between the characters and me as a reader. I didn't feel any sympathy or empathy for any of the characters.
I don't think this is a bad book, the story itself and the historical background are certainly interesting. I attended a wonderful reading by Mengiste at the beginning of March (she was interviewed by Kamila Shamsie) and on the way home from that reading I was sure that I'd love the novel which unfortunately isn't the case.
Here's my full review

I especially liked the fact that although you may want to root for the main characters they all have significant flaws which make you think negatively about them.
Although on the surface a novel about women and war there are also bits about father/son relationships I especially found poignant.
Have to admit this wasn't a bit of history I was aware of but the novel has made me want to find out more.
This feels like quite an important historical novel covering a little known event to many and was a refreshing change from the tedium of Tudor England.
BookerMT2 wrote: "A huge success for me. Loved the writing. Read it in three sittings. Simply great storytelling of the highest calibre.
I especially liked the fact that although you may want to root for the main ch..."
I finished this last night and agree with much of what you said (though my views on Mantel's Tudors are much more positive). It is a very strong longlist on the evidence so far (nine books in). I have not yet written a review.
I especially liked the fact that although you may want to root for the main ch..."
I finished this last night and agree with much of what you said (though my views on Mantel's Tudors are much more positive). It is a very strong longlist on the evidence so far (nine books in). I have not yet written a review.


https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-fest...-..."
I highly recommend watching this session. I enjoyed the book, and was interested in the photography descriptions and the interview enhanced that enjoyment. I'm struggling with my rankings because I feel the list I've read is strong so far.

Ella I wondered if the photos she held up were the ones in your special US edition?
I do find this a book I am enjoying much more now when I look back than when I actually read it.


Ella I wondered if the photos she held up were the ones in..."
That was definitely a good question!


Yes, I'm happy to add my list. I'm just two thirds through The New Wilderness which will be my 9th title so when I've finished that one I'll add my list.



Suzanne - it does change around that time (as the first third or so is mainly set up of the dynamic between the characters before the outbreak of war: the author has said in interviews it was important for her to do this) - but if anything I have the impression most people prefer the book once it more hits its stride. Look forward to your review when you are done.



I don’t see the comparison to Toni Morrison though, Morrison gives us a much more intimate portrayal of her characters, there is no magic realism, and the writing isn’t similar, but it is as good as Morrison.
I hope I like This Mournable Body and Burnt Sugar almost as much.
Books mentioned in this topic
The Wife's Tale: A Personal History (other topics)Beneath the Lion's Gaze (other topics)
EEG (other topics)
EEG (other topics)
The Shadow King (other topics)
The Shadow King, by Maaza Mengiste
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