IBP 2024 Round Up – Reviews One & Two

While it’s early days in this International Booker Prize season, I’ve already been rather busy on the blog.  After announcing this year’s Shadow Panel, and then subjecting you to my laughable ‘predictions’, I summarised the longlist announcement and then shared what we all had to say about it.  Which means it must be time to get to work on the longlisted books…

…or it will be once I get my hands on them!  In the meantime, as is customary, I’ll be recapping my thoughts on the four longlisters I’ve already tried.  Here then, with links to my full reviews, are the first two, one of which I read quite a while back now.  Is there a potential winner in here, or are they both destined to be sent packing when the judges make the cut for the shortlist?  Let’s find out…

*****
Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck –
Granta Books, translated by Michael Hofmann
What’s it all about?
A woman learns of the death of a former lover, and the news is the catalyst for a torrent of memories as she looks back at their relationship.  There’s much more to Kairos than just a simple love affair, however.  For one thing, the story is set in the dying days of the GDR/DDR, allowing us to see how the communist state disintegrates before our eyes.  In addition, this is not your run-of-the-mill relationship, but something slightly darker, with the older man grooming and gaslighting his young lover in a way some readers will find more than a little disturbing.  Stick it out, though – time changes lots of things, and by the end of the story, nobody’s quite the same as they were at its start.

Does it deserve to make the shortlist?
Definitely.  This was one of my top tips before the announcement, and I’m confident Erpenbeck will not only make the shortlist but also be in contention right until the end.

Will it make the shortlist?
Yes, I think so.  In a longlist decidedly short on familiar faces and traditional big hitters, Kairos stands out, and I suspect the judges will be happy to take it, and its writer, on to the next stage of the prize.

*****
Mater 2-10 by Hwang Sok-yong –
Scribe Publications, translated by Sora Kim-Russell & Youngjae Josephine Bae
What’s it all about?
A South Korean worker in 2014 climbs to the top of a factory chimney, prepared to stick it out for as long as it takes in his attempt to bring his former employers to their knees for their feigned bankruptcy, and the subsequent job losses.  However, this is just the frame for a story that takes us back to the Japanese colonial era, allowing us to see how we got where we are now, and showing us that the struggle between the rich and the poor has always been there.  Visited (literally…) by the ghosts of the past, the lonely man at the top of the tower learns all about his ancestors’ own fight, and what happened to those who stood up for their rights.

Does it deserve to make the shortlist?
As much as I’d like to say yes, I’m afraid this is unlikely to make my top six.  It’s an interesting book, but one that dragged for me, and I’m not convinced the magical realism and historical elements come together as nicely as they should have.  With some of the setting echoing that of Yu Miri’s The End of August (translated by Morgan Giles: Tilted Axis Press), I’m a little surprised they went for this over Yu’s marathon effort.  Once again, I do wonder how, of Hwang’s recent work in English, the wonderful Familiar Things missed out while this and At Dusk made the cut…

Will it make the shortlist?
I have a sneaking suspicion that it might, if only for the fact that it’s the only book on the longlist from outside Europe and South America.  The shortlist will look a lot better if there’s an Asian contender left standing!

*****
That’s two down, but there are still two to go.  Come back next time for a trip to Italy and some camping by the river in Argentina.  No passport required – just bring your reading glasses 😉