Julian Barnes won the Man Booker Prize for his 150-page novel “The Sense of an Ending,” in what was his first win after being shortlisted three previous times.
The chair of the five-judge panel, Stella Rimington, told Reuters: “We thought that it was a book which, though short, was incredibly concentrated and crammed into this very short space a great deal of information you don’t get out of a first reading. It’s one of these books, a very readable book, if I may use that word, but readable not only once but twice and even three times.”
The annual award comes with a check for 50,000 pounds ($80,000), and writers from the British Commonwealth, Ireland and Zimbabwe are eligible for the prize.
British novelist Barnes, 65, whose previous nominations were for “Flaubert’s Parrot” in 1984, “England, England” in 1998 and “Arthur and George” in 2005, has been critical of the award in the past, likening it to “posh bingo.” Other members of the literary community have slammed the award for being too oriented toward “readability” and even set up a rival award for loftier literary works.
Others shortlisted this year include Carol Birch for “Jamrach’s Menagerie,” Patrick deWitt and Esi Edugyan for “The Sisters Brothers” and “Half Blood Blues,” Stephen Kelman (“Pigeon English”) and A.D. Miller (“Snowdrops”).
The Sense of an Ending concerns a man named Tony who who discovers his memories are not reliable. Rimington said the panel was initially split on the decision to choose Barnes.
“I can tell you there was no blood on the red carpet, nobody went off in a huff and we all ended up firm friends and happy with the result,” she told Reuters.
Man Booker Prize
| Man Booker Prize | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best full-length English novel |
| Presented by | Man Group |
| Location | Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, and Zimbabwe |
| First awarded | 1969 |
| Official website | themanbookerprize.com |
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and success; therefore, the prize is of great significance for the book trade. It is also a mark of distinction for authors to be nominated for the Man Booker longlist or selected for inclusion in the shortlist.
Man Booker Prize Winners:
In 1993, the Booker of Bookers Prize was awarded to Salman Rushdie for Midnight’s Children (the 1981 winner), as the best novel to win the award in the first 25 years of its existence. A similar prize known as The Best of the Booker was awarded in 2008 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the prize – this was also won by Midnight’s Children.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Booker_Prize and http://www.thirdage.com/