Man Booker Prize 2018 Preview – October 16th, 2018
The date of the announcement of the winner of this year’s Man Booker 2018 Prize is almost upon us. That will be October 16th. There is plenty of betting interest going on in the market at the moment.
This is a literary award for an original novel of fiction which has been written in English and published the UK.
This is actually is a controversial award because instead of being decided by a wide vote, from saying the public, only a small number of people vote. It’s basically decided upon by a very small number of people from inside the literary world.
Table of Contents
Man Booker 2018 Winner Odds*
Richard Powers – The Overstory 11//4
Esi Edugyan – Washington Black 9/2
Robin Robertson – The Long Take 7/2
Daisy Johnson – Everything Under 10/3
Anna Burns – Milkman 11/2
Rachel Kushner – The Mars Room 7/1
* (Betting Odds were taken from William Hill on October 8th, 2018 at 9:35 p.m.)
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Growing US Influence
The last two winners of the Man Booker Prize have been American and in this year’s shortlist there are two US Authors in there. They are Rachel Kushner and the outright favourite Richard Powers for his novel The Overstory at 11/4 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from October 8th, 2018 at 9:35 p.m.).
Up until 2013 only Commonwealth, Irish and South African (later Zimbabwean) could enter. It was controversially opened up in 2014 to anyone which a lot of people found strange for such a strong award based in British culture.
Richard Powers – The Overstory
The general theme of Powers’ works is science and technology and what effect that they have on society. The Overstory is his twelfth novel and it is about trees. More so about nine different people who come together in one way or another to try and prevent the destruction of them because of the environmental impact it has. It is obviously a lot deeper than that on a spiritual, humanitarian level.
Esi Edugyan – Washington Black
The novel Washington Black is based in the sugar plantations of Barbados. It is a story about escape and always hope even in the darkest of times. The escapees totally change their environment (to a juxtaposed extreme). There seems to be a strong theme of hope throughout these nominations this year. Edugyan (Canadian) is the author of the award-winning Half-Blood Blues.
Robin Robertson – The Long Take
Again there is a strong undercurrent of pervading hope in this novel by Robin Robertson who is a poet having won various awards for his work throughout his career. The Long Take is a sequence of poems which leads the readers through the life of Walker, a soldier unable to face up to going home after duty, who instead goes on a quest to find himself.
Daisy Johnson – Everything Under
After holding such a tight bond with her mother, to the point of having created their own language, Gretel has moved on. The novel is a new twist on a very infamous myth and it follows the protagonist Gretel as she has to go back to a life which she had left behind. She has to face up to childhood memories of life on the river and explore an identity which she had left behind since her teenage years. This is the debut novel of Daisy Johnson.
Anna Burns – Milkman
Burns was shortlisted for the 2002 Orange Prize for No Bones and is back with Milkman. The story is based around the protagonist who is trying to basically keep her potential new beau from being discovered by her mother. But secrets come out, gossip can’t be contained and that becomes a problem. Suddenly becoming interesting is a dangerous thing.
Rachel Kushner – The Mars Room
Kushner has a rich history behind of prize nominations for her work. Her Flamethrowers book is perhaps her most favourite and made it to the New York Times Top Five Novels of 2013. The Mars Room is seen as a claustrophobic depiction of life inside a prison for protagonist Romy Hall while her son remains in the outside world.
Predictions
We are going to oppose the favourite in this and go with Daisy Johnson’s novel to break the current grip US authors have on the Man Booker Prize. Everything Under at 10/3 odds with William Hill is our nod* (Betting Odds were taken from October 8th, 2018 at 9:35 p.m.).
This is a sparkling, vivid book of imagination. It can easily be painted as weird and at the same time wonderful. It’s based on mythology and fairy tales, but it engrossing, haunting and illuminating. It has quietly taken a lot of backing in the markets and we are tipping it to go all the way.
