I received a E- mail from Lisa of anzlitlovers the other day inviting me to join her and three other bloggers in reading and judging this years MAN Asian longlist,of course I said yes I really want to read more Asian fiction than I do at moment .She was inspired by the long running Giller shadow list that is run by Kevin of Kevin from Canada where he choose bloggers and they decide on a winner of that prize from the long listed books .Now I have to hold my hand up I was am already planning something similar for next years IFFP and had spoken to book trust about it , but more about that another day, any way. The bloggers Lisa have brought together are –
Matt from novel approach
Sue from Whispering gums
Fay from Read,ramble
and our chair Lisa from ANZlit lovers .
So here are the books in the longlist
2011 Longlist
JAMIL AHMAD (Pakistan) – The Wandering Falcon
TAHMIMA ANAM (Bangladesh) – The Good Muslim
JAHNAVI BARUA (India) – Rebirth
RAHUL BHATTACHARYA (India) – The Sly Company of People Who Care
MAHMOUD DOWLATABADI (Iran) – The Colonel
AMITAV GHOSH (India) – River of Smoke
HARUKI MURAKAMI (Japan) – 1Q84
ANURADHA ROY (India) – The Folded Earth
KYUNG-SOOK SHIN (South Korea) – Please Look After Mom
TARUN J TEJPAL (India) – The Valley of Masks
YAN LIANKE (China) – Dream of Ding Village
BANANA YOSHIMOTO (Japan) – The Lake
The books all link back to the MAN Asian prize pages on the writers .I ve read one already Please look after Mother by Khung-Sook Sin . I ve chosen to read the The wandering falcon ,The good Muslim ,The sly company of people who care and The valley of masks .We all be reading a few so I ll be share the other reviews over the course of the prize .
Have you read any of the books listed ?
Do you have a favourite Asian writer ?
That looks like fun & you’ll get to read 1q84 as part of it as well.It looks a great list of which I already have two – Murakami’s 1q84 & Yoshimoto’s The Lake.
I’ve only read The Lake, although I had The Good Muslim out from the library! 😉 I’m also on the holds list for River of Smoke. They all sound marvelous!
Lovely! I started reading The Lake a few months ago on Net Galley. Unfortunately, I didn’t understand NG’s terms of use as I was new to it, and I when went back my time was up! However, The Lake didn’t really draw me in at all. Which is why I left it waiting on the sidelines after reading the first few chapters. The reviews I read, though were very positive.
River of Smoke – my mom is waiting for that one! I’ve got its prequel, Sea of Poppies, on my shelves. Once I read that I’ll move on to this one. 🙂
All the best with the reading, reviewing and judging! 🙂
What a great idea! I look forward to reading your thoughts.
This is great, Stu. I have several on my hold list at the library and have already read The Lake and The Sly Company of People Who Care. I think The River of Smoke will be next:)
That’s great Stu! I’ve only read The Good Muslim (which I loved but I really believe people should read the prequel too) and The Lake (which I didn’t love as much). I have the Murakami on my shelf and hoping to get to Amitav Ghosh and Kyung-Sook Shin at some point:) Enjoy and looking forward to your thoughts.
How fabulous to be a judge! I’m currently reading IQ84, which could take a while. 🙂 I look forward to hearing what you think of the books you’ve chosen to read.
Like Parrish, I own two: 1Q84 and The Lake. I’m 2/3 of the way through the first, and hope to read the second. I don’t want to give my opinion yet of Murakami’s latest, as I haven’t finished it. It will be a fascinating book to discuss; I’m really looking forward to thoughts from those I respect and admire in the book blogging world. So glad you’re on the committee, Stu, you have a wonderful voice of wisdom which needs to be heard.
What an exciting endeavor! I don’t read much Asian fiction so I love to read reviews that focus on novels from this region. I’m looking forward to seeing who you all choose as the winner!
Good intro Stu … mine will go up later tonight. To answer your question, I think Haruki Murakami is my current favourite Asian writer (but I’m not sure I’ll get to read IQ84 in the timeframe). I like quite a few Japanese writers – Setsuko Ariyoshi is another favourite.
I also like Rushdie (from the three I’ve read) and I loved Mistry’s A fine balance (though he lives in Canada now, so does he count?).
Wonderful to know about the Shadow MAN Asian Booker Judges, Stu 🙂 Hope you enjoy reading these books! Can’t wait to find out which one you judge as the winner. Rahul Bhattacharya’s book won a big award in India recently. I am quite fascinated by Amitav Ghosh’s ‘River of Smoke’ too. Murakami’s ‘1Q84’ is creating the waves now. Banana Yoshimoto is an evergreen favourite. Most of the books are from South Asia or East Asia. The odd one is Mahmoud Dowlatabadi’s ‘The Colonel’. Maybe it is the dark horse?
Stu, I am looking forward to reading your reviews. Waiting for the first couple of novels to arrive in the mail, I found at the library The Surrendered by Chang-rae Lee, one of this year’s Man Asian Prize judges. Might as well give him a try. – Fay
Fascinating. I will await the reviews with interest. I would find it difficult to find the time to take part in something like that! I’ve not read any of the above books other than the Murakami of which I’ve read part 1 only – 2 and 3 for later
I haven’t but I’m watching this space to hear what you think about it. I do think perhaps next year I should read the Man Asian Literary Prize shortlist. Most of the titles intrigues me!
I ve one and a half read ready so my posts be soon ,all the best stu