The 2024 Booker Prize Longlist- A Review, Key Themes and My Shortlist Hopes

Great video, thank you for your reviews

Great video Bob! I so appreciate your thoughtfulness and insights. (Plus now your homework is done, read whatever strikes your fancy!)

After reading the longlist, I find it much more surprising Alexis Wright didn't make than when it was initially announced. Wright's love it or hate it writing style, seems very at home on this list.

Always enjoy your thoughts on a longlist.

I’d be very happy with your shortlist! I’m the end, I think of James and his pencil… and Percival Everett’s long career and body of work ..,and hope James will ultimately win.

Does anyone know how I can get hold of Playground Richard Powers. Ive now read 11 of the books. I am just starting Creation Lake which came out yesterday and I desperately want to complete the full 13 before the shortlist is announced. Ive got the time but Ive looked at my library and it’s not there and Waterstones have it on pre order. I cant believe it’s not out until the after the shortlist announcement. Any help Bob or anyone!!! Ralph

Great video. I just finished the longlist yesterday and thought it was quite strong. Personally I would be surprised to see both Headshot and Orbital on the shortlist, and while I liked but did not love it, I think Creation Lake will almost certainly be shortlisted. Enlightenment, James, My Friends, Playground and Stone Yard Devotional all struck me as very worthy. A good year to be a Booker fan!

Inspiring as ever. Thanks for doing the heavy lifting. For your project, I really enjoyed The Western Wind by Harvey.

Remarkable accomplishment ✅✅

Great video! I’ve only read three and enjoyed them all (James, Headshot, The Safekeep). I don’t know that I’ll complete the entire list, but I hope to finish several more by the end of the month.

No one. And I mean no one does the Booker better than THE BOOKERER! We are all certainly in agreement on that point!
Excellent job of elucidating the ties that bind this seemingly disparate stack of books
Into a cohesive thought process.
I also was struck by the panel’s interest in ~groups~ of humans (as opposed to a single protagonist) coexisting and communicating in ways both beneficial and sometimes harmful. Orbital, Headshot, My Friends, Wild Houses etc demonstrate this. Very interesting and obvious (to me.. but i could be wrong lol) that the longlist was chosen with this in mind.
My preferred shortlist :
1. My Friends
2. Held
3. James
4. Playground
5. Wandering Stars
6. The Safe Keep

Thank you, Bob! BBE (Best Bookerer Ever)

I was gutted when Percival Everett's The Trees did not win the Booker in 2022. I've been a huge fan of his work for decades. After being the best kept secret in American fiction for so long, it's gratifying to see his work receive the attention of award committees. James is my top book of 2024. Those looking for the next Everett title to explore, you really can;t go wrong. That being said, The Trees and Erasure are both audacious novels worth checking out. For something on the lighter side, Dr. No or his story collection, Damned If I Do, are good examples of his range. The darker the material, the more humorous the book. But his linguistic playfulness and philosophizing intellect are there in everything he writes. And his ability to find the absurdity in any situation. For all that, James might be his most restrained piece of fiction to date. Perhaps his best.

Interesting how we all have different shortlists- mine would be James, My Friends, Orbital, Held, Playground ( probably) and then I am not sure - perhaps Enlightenment.

I guess I'm going to have to read Praiseworthy.

This year's Praiseworthy = last year's Demon Copperhead. Expect that single, epic Booker snub every year moving forward.

Great wrap up. I'm currently reading Creation Lake but not sure it will make my shortlist. I'm hoping Orbital is not shortlisted as I've committed to reading the shortlist and Orbital doesn't seem like a book I will enjoy. Hoping to see James and My Friends which have been my benchmarks

I've only read half of them and I might read one or two more. From that half, I hope that James, My Friends and Wandering Stars make the short list and I hope James takes it all.

I've read earlier books by Claire Messud and Anne Michaels, but I'm not sure I would recommend either. If you haven't read The Essex Serpent then you're in for a treat.

Loved this thematic overview. This is my first foray into the long list and sadly I didn't like any of the 5 I read. Maybe next year. Fantastic idea to read other books of shortlisted authors!

That was impressive reading pace :)

Bob The Bookerer is truly the best bookerer!!!!!

I agree with James being on the shortlist but would definitely put 'This strange eventful history' by Claire Messud on it too which is magnificently written.

I really liked your description of books that have a theme related to the natural world. I work in the field and books that address the relationship between humans and the natural world are particularly poignant to me. After watching your video I can't wait to get my hand on Playground! I'm sure it will make me weep too..

What an accomplishment! And I really appreciate you sharing the stories with us so that we can decide which ones we'd like to read.
On another note, I'm wondering if you've ever read 'That They may face the Rising Sun'? John mcgahern.

Loved Orbital and James felt like a future classic; currently reading Wandering Stars and am so glad there’s such a book on the Longlist; Playground is probably my most anticipated read of the year - love Richard Powers . 📕🪱💚

My picks so far are 'Stoneyard Devotional' and 'Playground ' - I love 'Wandering Stars', but agree with your point on that.
I've also bought 'Praiseworthy' because of your passion for it ❤

Interesting shortlist. I have read 10 so far and agree with you on James and My Friends, but I am undecided on the other 4 spots. I hope Playground is on the shortlist just so I won't feel like I missed out on having an opinion, as it's still a few weeks away to being in bookstores.

I'm interested in your description of Headshot as intense because I felt just the opposite about it. Despite there being intense things that happen to these girls (I think the dead boy at the pool is mentioned in the first couple of pages), I never felt like the reader comes up against those traumatic things very forcefully. And even though punches are thrown.... it all feels very controlled, and actually the word that keeps popping into my mind to describe this book is "elegant". I quite enjoyed it too (not quite as much as you) but it does seem like we read different books.

What a lovely video. A contemplative style that fits with the Booker themes. I won't get through them all before the shortlist is announced, and not just for the obvious reason that I don't have access to Playground 😆 But your shortlist is a good mix of books I really like and books I really look forward to reading, so I hope you get it your way! (Especially nice to see Orbital on there. I think for many people that's one of the books that make them go, "We could have had Praiseworthy", but like you I appreciate it more and more as time go by. If it makes the shortlist I think I'll re-read it, as it has been six months since I read it.)

LOVED this thematic review , Bob REALLY, excellent!

Re: wanting to read another book by a longlisted author. I enjoyed My Friends by Hisham Matar but I really loved his previous book the Return. Both books focus on similar themes but I found the earlier one more engaging. You should definitely check that one out.

Your shortlist has 3 I’ve read & 3 unread. Playground? Hasn’t been released yet. ( Why does the Booker do this??) My enthusiasm has waned. Maybe it will spark again after shortlist.

thinking Playground will be my first Powers. excited to see what the fuss is about haha

Thanks, Bob!🌷I’ve pre-ordered Playground and am very much looking forward to it! Of the rest, I’ve read only two, My Friends and Orbital, loved them and would like very much to see them both on the shortlist🤞

I have not and will not have read enough books from the list to create my own shortlist so I enjoyed seeing yours. I think you are the only champion of Headshot that I have seen.

Ok but what if we actually lock the judges in a room. Would we get a different list?

Yay!!!!!! It feels good to complete this challenge! I know how you feel. I just put my head down and try to plow through the books without influence from others. And then I review them, start talking to people and then I start to question some of my takes. It’s a rollercoaster

Did you enjoy this longlist more than last year’s?