The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

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The full 2021 International Booker longlist is:

I Live in the Slums: Stories by Can Xue, translated from Chinese by Karen Gernant & Chen Zeping, Yale University Press

At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop, translated from French by Anna Mocschovakis, Pushkin Press

The Pear Field by Nana Ekvtimishvili, translated from Georgian by Elizabeth Heighway, Peirene Press

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories by Mariana Enríquez, translated from Spanish by Megan McDowell, Granta Books

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, translated from Spanish by Adrian Nathan West, Pushkin Press

The Perfect Nine: The Epic of Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, translated from Gikuyu by the author, Vintage, Harvill Secker

The Employees by Olga Ravn, translated from Danish by Martin Aitken, Lolli Editions

Summer Brother by Jaap Robben, translated from Dutch by David Doherty, World Editions

An Inventory of Losses by Judith Schalansky, translated from German by Jackie Smith, Quercus, MacLehose Press

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, translated from Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette, Fitzcarraldo Editions

In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova, translated from Russian by Sasha Dugdale, Fitzcarraldo Editions

Wretchedness by Andrzej Tichý, translated from Swedish by Nichola Smalley, And Other Stories

The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard, translated from French by Mark Polizzotti, Pan Macmillan, Picador

My adjusted weightings method:

Pos, Book, Average, Adjusted, Count, First Places, STD
1, When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, 1.94, 1.11, 16, 12, 0.92
2, The Employees by Olga Ravn, 3.67, 2.82, 9, 2, 1.07
3, In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova, 4.11, 3.41, 9, 1, 1.42
4, Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, 4.88, 4.77, 16, 1, 2.07
5, At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop, 4.71, 4.97, 17, 0, 2.24
6, Summer Brother by Jaap Robben, 5.75, 5.17, 8, 0, 1.57
7, The Perfect Nine by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, 6.00, 5.90, 11, 0, 1.95
8, An Inventory of Losses by Judith Schalansky, 5.73, 5.94, 11, 0, 2.06
9, The Pear Field by Nana Ekvtimishvili, 7.70, 7.23, 10, 0, 2.27
10, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez, 7.77, 7.62, 13, 0, 2.84
11, I Live in the Slums by Can Xue, 10.00, 9.00, 4, 0, 1.81
12, Wretchedness by Andrzej Tichý, 9.13, 9.64, 8, 0, 2.78
13, The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard, 11.00, 10.73, 11, 0, 3.43

Paul-style aggregate of comparisons

Pos, Book, Average, Relative ranking, Count, First Places
1, When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, 1.94, 97, 16, 12
2, In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova, 4.11, 41, 9, 1
3, The Employees by Olga Ravn, 3.67, 38, 9, 2
4, Summer Brother by Jaap Robben, 5.75, 11, 8, 0
4, At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop, 4.71, 11, 17, 0
6, Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, 4.88, 10, 16, 1
7, The Perfect Nine by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, 6.00, 6, 11, 0
8, An Inventory of Losses by Judith Schalansky, 5.73, 0, 11, 0
9, The Pear Field by Nana Ekvtimishvili, 7.70, -16, 10, 0
10, I Live in the Slums by Can Xue, 10.00, -23, 4, 0
11, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez, 7.77, -38, 13, 0
12, Wretchedness by Andrzej Tichý, 9.13, -50, 8, 0
13, The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard, 11.00, -87, 11, 0

(5*)
1 When We Cease to Understand the World
2 In Memory of Memory
(4*)
3 Wretchedness
5 The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
6 Minor Detail
7 The Perfect Nine
8 The Employees
(3*)
9 At Night all Blood is Black
10 The War of the Poor

Links are to my reviews

1. When We Cease to Understand the World (5* 1/56)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2. In Memory of Memory (4* 5/56)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
3. At Night All Blood is Black (4* 9/56)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4. The Employees (4* 12/56)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
5. An Inventory of Losses (4* 16/56)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
6. The Perfect Nine (4* 19/56)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
7. Summer Brother (4* 22/56)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
8. Minor Detail (3*-4* 29/56)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
9. The Pear Field (3* 37/56)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
10. Wretchedness (3* 40/56)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
11. I Live In the Slums (3* 42/56)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
12. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed (3* 44/56) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
13. The War of the Poor (2* 56/56)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The rankings x/56 are my rankings among all 56 of the eligible books I've read.

One left to read
Rankings so far

1 “When We Cease to Understand the World” – 5*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2 Minor Detail – 5*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4 At Night All Blood is Black – 4*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
5 The Employees- 4*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
6 - “The Perfect Nine” – 4*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
7 - “An Inventory of Losses” – 4*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
8 “Summer Brother” – 3*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
9 “The Pear Field” – 3*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
10 “The Dangers of Smoking in Bed” – 3*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
11 – “I Live in the Slums” – 3*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
12 “Wretchedness” by Andrzej Tichý – 2*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
13 – “The War of the Poor” – 1*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

1. When we Cease to Understand the World
2. The Employees
3. At Night all Blood is Black
4. Summer Brother
5. Minor Detail
6. An Inventory of Losses
7. The Pear Field
8. Wretchedness

1) When We Cease to Understand the World
2) At Night All Blood is Black
3) An Inventory of Losses
4) The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
5)
6)

7) The Pear Field
8) The Perfect Nine
9) Minor Detail
10)
11) Summer Brother
12)
13) The War of the Poor

1. When We Cease to Understand the World
2. The Employees
3. Minor Detail
4. In Memory of Memory
5. Summer Brother
6. The Perfect Nine

7. The Pear Field
8. At Night All Blood is Black
9. An inventory of Losses
10. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
11. The War of the Poor
12. Wretchedness
13.

1. When We Cease to Understand the World 5*
2. At Night All Blood is Black 4*
3. Minor Detail 4*
4. Summer Brother 4*
5. The Perfect Nine*
6. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed 3*
7. Wretchedness 3*
8.
9.
10.

Not sure how much I will read from the list...

1. When We Cease to Understand the World
2. Minor Detail
3.
4. At Night All Blood is Black
5.
6.
7. The War of the Poor
8.
9. The Perfect Nine
10.
11.
12.
13.

Planning to read about half the longlist before the shortlist comes out. Seems a decent goal. Will edit as I go.

1. When We Cease to Understand the World
2.
3. Summer Brother
4. At Night All Blood is Black
5.
6.
7.
8. The Perfect Nine
9. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
10.
11. The War of the Poor
12.
13.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5. The Pear Field
6. An Inventory of Losses
7.
8.
9. When We Cease to Understand the World
10.
11.
12.
13. In Memory of Memory

1. The Employees
2. In Memory of Memory
3. Minor Detail
4. At Night All Blood is Black
5. When We Cease to Understand the World
6. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. The War of the Poor

I won’t get to all of them but will join in where I can.

1. When We Cease To Understand The World
2.
3.
4.
5. Minor Details
6. At Night All Blood Is Black
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. The Pear Field
12.
13. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed

1. Minor Detail
2. An Inventory of Losses
3. At Night All Blood is Black
4. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
5. The War of the Poor

Mine :-) Hope the libraries open soon :-)

1.
2. When We Cease to Understand the World
3. The Employees
4. At Night All Blood is Black
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
13.

Bit late to the party because I wasn't planning to read any books other than the ones I had already read. But, the best laid plans... (what have men got to do with it?):

1. When We Cease to Understand the World
2. In Memory of Memory
3. Minor Detail
4. At Night All Blood is Black
5. An Inventory of Losses

Seeing as this ranking also corresponds almost exactly with the order in which I read the books, something tells me I should stop now!

1. When We Cease to Understand the World
2. Minor Detail
3. The Perfect Nine
4. At Night All Blood is Black

Planning to read In Memory of Memory but not sure when.

This is tough- depending on my mood, the top 11 could change places at any moment, but the bottom 2 will remain in the bottom.
1. The Employees
2. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
3. When We Cease to Understand the World
4. Summer Brother
5. The Perfect Nine
6. In Memory of Memory
7. I Live in the Slums
8. At Night All Blood is Black
9. The Pear Field
10. An Inventory of Losses
11. Minor Detail
12. The War of the Poor
13. Wretchedness

1.
2.At Night All Blood is Black
3.
4.
5. In Memory of Memory
6. An Inventory of Losses
7. Minor Detail
8. Dangers of Smoking in Bed
9. Pear Field
10.
11.

1. In Memory of Memory
2 When We Cease to Understand the World.
3. The Perfect Nine
4. Summer Brother
5 The Pear Field
6 An Inventory of Losses
7. The Employees (projected)
8. Minor Detail
9. Wretchedness
10. At Night All Blood is Black
11. I Live in the Slums
12 The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
13. The War of the Poor