21st Century Literature discussion

The longlist was announced last night, so I thought we should have a discussion thread here. These are the 13 books:

The New Wilderness by Diane Cook (US)
This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe)
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi (US)
Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze (UK)
The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel (UK)
Apeirogon by Colum McCann (Ireland-US)
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia-US)
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (US)
Real Life by Brandon Taylor (US)
Redhead by The Side of the Road by Anne Tyler (US)
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Scotland-US)
Love and Other Thought Experiments by Sophie Ward (UK)
How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang (US)

I am no expert on the latest US fiction, especially new writers, but I was surprised by how few of these names I recognised. The only two that I have read (Apeirogon and The Mirror & the Light) would both be worthy winners.

The only US authors I've read are McCann and Tyler. McCann's one of my favorite authors. His book Let the Great World Spin is one of my all time favorites and Apeirogon is its equal. Tyler is a good but more conventional than McCann. She's written more novels than McCann. I am completely unfamiliar with the other US authors. In fact, other than Mantel, I'm unfamiliar all the other authors on the list! I'm looking forward to discovering what they have to say.

Two of the British writers (Krauze and Ward) are new to me too, and all of the 11 are writers I have never read, though Anne Tyler is obviously a familiar name and three of the others were tipped by others in my groups.

I find myself in the strange position of being one of very few people to have read the Krauze. I got it via NetGalley earlier this year. It's a very strong book, I think. It's written largely in London slang so bits of it take some getting used to, but a lot of it is very poetic.

Of the others, I've only read the McCann and the Zhang. The McCann is just about my favourite book of 2020 so far, I think. I thought the Zhang was a good read but not as good as the other two I've read.

I'm keen to see what others make of Who They Was now that it should have a wider readership.

I have ordered all 11, but 5 of them (Cook, Krauze, Taylor, Stuart and Ward) are pre-orders that may take some time to arrive, in some cases possibly after the shortlist announcement.

I read Nervous Conditions just a few weeks ago. I thought it was very good. I haven't read This Mournable Body but plan on doing so.

The one I'm really excited to read is Apeirogon. I'm on hold for it in the library. I'm #33, so it's going to be a while.

Thank you so much for posting this list and adding all the links!

This seems like a great selection and I'm curious about almost all of them.

Given this group recently read a Daša Drndić novel, Belladonna, may be interesting to note that in the sequel to that book, E.E.G. the author Maaza Mengiste, who at the time is writing a book on Ethopia, meets the fictional narrator. That book, which she changed completely on Drndić's advice, is now on this year's Booker list, The Shadow King.

Thanks Paul for that insight - fascinating.

The Booker shortlist has been announced. Some very big names omitted:

The New Wilderness by Diane Cook (Oneworld Publications)
This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Faber & Faber)
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi (Penguin Random House)
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste (Canongate Books)
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Picador, Pan Macmillan)
Real Life by Brandon Taylor (Originals, Daunt Books Publishing)

Wow! I really am shocked Mantel didn't make the shortlist. Maybe I've grown a bit too cynical given that I haven't even read TM&TL yet. Thanks for posting the shortlist, Hugh!

I do not even know what to say except perhaps a lot of bleakness, much despair, and maybe a tiny glimmer of hope?

For me both Stuart and Mengiste deserve their selection, but I am pretty angry at the treatment of Mantel and McCann - it would have been better not to longlist them than to rank them below four debut novels. I am quite pleased by the diversity (at least by birth) of the writers, but I can't see how anyone could say that these were the best six books on the longlist.

Who's to say "best" ought to be the key criteria for the Booker Short List?

(I don't know an alternative, just throw out perhaps a bête noire for discussion.)

I hope McCann wasn’t left out because of the allegations. I’m noticing some of the more righteous booktubers are now tackling the shortlist and proud to do so

Lily wrote: "Who's to say "best" ought to be the key criteria for the Booker Short List?

(I don't know an alternative, just throw out perhaps a bête noire for discussion.)"

The award's criteria: "Awarded annually to the best novel of the year written in English and published in the UK or Ireland."

I've only read Shuggie Bain of these so can't comment on overall quality of the list. Shuggie is a wonderful book and I'm happy to see it here. But I'm a bit shocked that these are all considered by the judges to be better books than The Mirror & the Light, which is consistent in quality to the rest of the series. And I've heard much love / admiration for Apeirogon too.

Graphic novels, co-winners, Mantel-snubbing...

The Booker has upped its media game. Grabbing headlines and spurring discussion left and right!

Jen wrote: "The award's criteria: "Awarded annually to the best novel of the year written in English and published in the UK or Ireland." ..."

Uh, huh. But does "best" have a consistent "meaning" over time?

No.

Lily wrote: "Jen wrote: "The award's criteria: "Awarded annually to the best novel of the year written in English and published in the UK or Ireland." ..."

Uh, huh. But does "best" have a consistent "meaning" ..."

I don't think it can have a consistent meaning to two judging panels, or two readers for that matter. It's totally subjective. I expect judging panels discuss what it means to them and try to agree some common criteria to apply. I'm sure those criteria change over time, too.