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In the world of the Booker Prizes this week: Reflecting on J.L. Carr's life and work; the best magical realism novels; and we revisit The English Patient in our latest podcast episode
The best magical realism books nominated for the Booker Prizes
‘The way in which magic realism actually works is for the magic to be rooted in the real,’ Salman Rushie, winner of the Booker Prize 1981 for his novel Midnight’s Children, once said. ‘It’s both things. It’s not just a fairytale moment. It’s the surrealism that arises out of the real.’
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, nominated for the International Booker Prize for his entire body of work in 2005, set the stage for the much-loved genre with his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, published in 1967, and many authors have since followed suit, several of whom have been nominated for our prizes, including Yann Martel, Maryse Condé and 2022’s Booker winner, Shehan Karunatilika. You can find the best of their works in our handy list.
Headmaster, mapmaker, novelist, non-conformist: the extraordinary life of J.L. Carr
Best-known for his ‘virtually flawless’ novel A Month in the Country, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1980, James Lloyd Carr lived an eccentric life that encompassed, among many other things, cartography, cricket and coal. Thirty years on from Carr’s death, Michael Prodger explores the life of an author whose personal story is every bit as fascinating as his books.
The Booker Prize Podcast, Episode 34: The English Patient, on screen and in print
In the second of our ‘Booker at the Oscars’ mini-series, where we explore Booker Prize novels whose movie adaptations went on to experience awards success, we’re revisiting Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient, the joint winner of the Booker Prize in 1992, and its big-screen counterpart, directed by Anthony Minghella. Tune in to this week’s episode to hear our hosts’ thoughts on the novel and how Ondaatje intertwines nationalism and imperialism within the plot, and to hear them discuss Minghella’s film adaptation, and how it holds up against the book.
This is great 💕📚💕
When books are read aloud, it is extremely important that the reader is understandable , and your mâle participant/reader has a very heavy British àccent and moreover speaks very quickly so I daresay many listeners will unfortunately turn off this important program.