Today, the 2024 International Booker Prize Longlist was unveiled!
After watching the (very cool) announcement video earlier today, I frantically found myself researching a little more about the titles that I hope to read this year ahead of the winner announcement on 21 May this year.
About the International Booker Prize
The International Booker Prize introduces readers to the best novels and short story collections from around the world that have been translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland. (Booker Prize Foundation 2024)
Why do I want to read it this year?
Give me commercial fiction anyday; I am not a literary-fiction type of person at all, but after my experience of reading the 2023 Booker Prize winner, Prophet Song, I’m determined to continue widening my reading rainbow.
My hypothesis is: by absorbing myself in such fiction written in literary prose, I will come to understand the books a little easier.
We’ll see.
I’ve often remarked about how I ‘don’t feel smart enough for these novels’, but the only way we can get better and understand is to practice more, right? When watching the video announcement (which oozes cool and trendy), the quotes made the books sound more interesting than the blurbs, which honestly tend to confuse me.
My choices
Whilst I’m not predicting a winner here, I give my verdict on books that I look forward to reading, which may inspire you too… (I’m hoping I can get a hold of these; it seems to be quite difficult to get physical copies!)
Spot a theme? If you’ve delved into the longlist, you’ll see a lot draw upon themes of family, love, loss and self discovery. Everything I traditionally love about a coming-of-age novel. If you fancy, you can read more up on the judges and their thoughts on this year’s longlist.
See a theme in the books I like? Any going on your TBR? Drop a comment or feel free to follow me on Instagram.
THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2024 LONGLIST
Not a River by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott
Simpatía by Rodrigo Blanco Calderón, translated by Noel Hernández González and Daniel Hahn
Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann
The Details by Ia Genberg, translated by Kira Josefsson
White Nights by Urszula Honek, translated by Kate Webster
Mater 2-10 by Hwang Sok-yong, translated by Sora Kim-Russell and Youngjae Josephine Bae
A Dictator Calls by Ismail Kadare, translated by John Hodgson
The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov, translated by Boris Dralyuk
What I’d Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma, translated by Sarah Timmer Harvey
Lost on Me by Veronica Raimo, translated by Leah Janeczko
The House on Via Gemito by Domenico Starnone, translated by Oonagh Stransky
Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior, translated by Johnny Lorenz
Undiscovered by Gabriela Wiener, translated by Julia Sanches
Lizzie's Week 