2009 Man Booker Prize Winner Prediction

The TurboBookSnob is excited to make her pick for the winner of the Man Booker Prize for 2009. This year, this isn't a prediction, but more of an affirmation of who the TurboBookSnob thinks should win the prize. It is quite likely that the judges will make an entirely different decision. The prize has been trending towards more popular books in recent years, and seems to value books that will generate high sales numbers. The TurboBookSnob believes that bestseller lists are the barometer for popularity; the Booker should represent the truly best literary book of the year, regardless of how difficult or highbrow the public may find it.

The Quickening Maze, by Adam Foulds, is an elegant novel about the interactions of the owner of a mental asylum, Dr. Matthew Arnold, and his family, with the famed nature poet John Clare and the poet Alfred Tennyson. It is capably written, and there are several notable passages throughout, however it does not have the depth or resonance of other novels on the shortlist.

The TurboBookSnob desperately wanted to love The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters. She has loved the work of Sarah Waters for many years now, and thought that either Fingersmith or The Night Watch were deserving of winning the Man Booker Prize. While The Little Stranger was competently written and shows a master novelist displaying her considerable powers, the TurboBookSnob felt that the narrative was not compelling and did not carry the suspense one would normally feel in a ghost story. The ghost in this story, in fact, does not make a real appearance for several hundred pages into the book. The TurboBookSnob admittedly loves Sarah Waters in part for her strong female protagonists, and missed the presence of one in this novel. She understands why the character of Dr. Faraday existed as he did, to bridge the gap between the traditional world of Hundreds Hall and the modern world, however she still felt it hard to rally behind such an apathetic and distasteful character. The TurboBookSnob genuinely hopes that Sarah Waters will win a Booker Prize some day, but would like to see her win for a novel that is in the same class as Fingersmith or The Night Watch.

J.M. Coetzee is shortlisted with Summertime, a fictional autobiography of the writer John Coetzee. It is written in the form of notes by his biographer upon reviewing Coetzee's diaries, and also includes interviews with women the biographer deems relevant in Coetzee's life. It is amazing how self-deprecating Coetzee can be, even in the form of fiction about himself. His writing flows beautifully, and portrays with poignance and awareness the inequalities and injustices of life in South Africa in the 1970s. It is a stunning book, but the TurboBookSnob does not believe that it is the best novel on this year's shortlist. It would be interesting, however, if Coetzee were granted a record third Booker Prize win.

The TurboBookSnob has been a fan of Hilary Mantel for many years. Her writing is wicked and dark and unexpected. Her body of work ranges from A Place of Greater Safety, an historical novel about revolutionary France , to a modern fairy tale Fludd, to the dark portrait of modern England in Beyond Black. Her memoir, Giving Up the Ghost, is perhaps one of the best examples of that form. In Wolf Hall, she retells the story of England during the time of Henry VIII from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell. This is a story that has been told, and retold, ad nauseum, however Mantel brings something altogether fresh and new, and darkly humorous, to the tale, in her unique way. In any other year, this is a novel that would earn her the Man Booker Prize, a prize the TurboBookSnob yearns to see her win. This year, however, she is competing with the formidable powers of Dame Antonia Byatt.

Likewise, The Glass Room, by Simon Mawer, is a modern masterpiece of a novel that, in any other year, the TurboBookSnob would be proud to predict as a Man Booker Prize Winner. In elegant and compelling prose, Mawer spins a modernist tale of decades of history of a Czech family, seen through their landmark architectural home that, like the period, eschews embellishments and furbelows, and relies on stark, clean lines and a glass room to merge form with the beauty of nature. It is a brilliant novel.

The TurboBookSnob believes that, despite stiff competition this year, the only possible choice for the winner of the Man Booker Prize is The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt. The novel is a veritable feast for the intellect. It is set from the late 1800s through the start of World War I, and informs this period in a way that is astonishing, fusing together the Arts and Crafts movement, Fabianism, Socialism, German political and philosophical thinking, the origins of feminism, and the beginnings of the electrical age in a way that is not only fresh and new, but also inspires the reader to learn more. It is a dense book, not only in length, but also in ideas. But what should a Man Booker Prize winner be, other than a novel to stimulate the mind and provide a wealth of information to be studied and discussed, all in the format of prose that is often dazzling and narrative that connects ingeniously, as Byatt herself says, as a “jigsaw” of interlocking pieces, which she believes a good novel ought to do.

When the TurboBookSnob reads Booker prize contenders, she always does so with a journal dubbed “Book Book” at her side. In this book, she will jot passages she finds remarkable, and thoughts and ideas gleaned from the novel, often jumping-off points for research she wants to do to learn more about the novel's content.

Many of the novels in this year's shortlist inspired multiple entries into Book Book. The Children's Book generated over 60 pages of ideas, research into the Fabians, Hesiod's Five Ages of Man, and the art of Rodin. A myriad of passages sparked conversations, and the TurboBookSnob was left with an overwhelming respect for the time period between 1900 and World War I. In America at least, history during this period is glossed over, with time spent on Reconstruction to World War I. Byatt illumines the advances during this timeframe, the least of which is the foundation laid by early feminists to secure the freedoms women have today.

Byatt's prose in this novel is exceptional. Her description of the Paris World Exhibition of 1900 is brilliant and alive, and could easily stand alone.

The Children's Book is Byatt's best work since Possession, and shows one of the best contemporary novelists at her shining best. It will be a travesty of the most serious nature if Byatt does not win the Man Booker Prize this year, and the TurboBookSnob hopes the judges have the courage to choose a serious, intellectual novel that will stand the test of time and provide material for study for posterity.