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View Full Version : Rate/Rank Pullitzer Prize Winners (novels)



Qrazy
06-22-2009, 09:33 PM
# 1918: His Family by Ernest Poole
# 1919: The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
# 1920: no award given
# 1921: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
# 1922: Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington
# 1923: One of Ours by Willa Cather
# 1924: The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson
# 1925: So Big by Edna Ferber
# 1926: Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis (declined prize)
# 1927: Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield
# 1928: The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
# 1929: Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin
# 1930: Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge
# 1931: Years of Grace by Margaret Ayer Barnes
# 1932: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
# 1933: The Store by Thomas Sigismund Stribling
# 1934: Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Miller
# 1935: Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson
# 1936: Honey in the Horn by Harold L. Davis
# 1937: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
# 1938: The Late George Apley by John Phillips Marquand
# 1939: The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
# 1940: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
# 1941: no award given [2]
# 1942: In This Our Life by Ellen Glasgow
# 1943: Dragon's Teeth by Upton Sinclair
# 1944: Journey in the Dark by Martin Flavin
# 1945: A Bell for Adano by John Hersey
# 1946: no award given
# 1947: All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren


* 1948: Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener
* 1949: Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens
* 1950: The Way West by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.
* 1951: The Town by Conrad Richter
* 1952: The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
* 1953: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
* 1954: No award given
* 1955: A Fable by William Faulkner
* 1956: Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor
* 1957: No award given[1]
* 1958: A Death in the Family by James Agee
* 1959: The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor
* 1960: Advise and Consent by Allen Drury
* 1961: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
* 1962: The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor
* 1963: The Reivers by William Faulkner
* 1964: No award given
* 1965: The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
* 1966: The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter by Katherine Anne Porter
* 1967: The Fixer by Bernard Malamud
* 1968: The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron
* 1969: House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
* 1970: The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford
* 1971: No award given[2]
* 1972: Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
* 1973: The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
* 1974: No award given [3]
* 1975: The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
* 1976: Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow
* 1977: No award given [4]
* 1978: Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson
* 1979: The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
* 1980: The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
* 1981: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
* 1982: Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike
* 1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
* 1984: Ironweed by William Kennedy
* 1985: Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie
* 1986: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
* 1987: A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
* 1988: Beloved by Toni Morrison
* 1989: Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
* 1990: The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos
* 1991: Rabbit At Rest by John Updike
* 1992: A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
* 1993: A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler
* 1994: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
* 1995: The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
* 1996: Independence Day by Richard Ford
* 1997: Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser
* 1998: American Pastoral by Philip Roth
* 1999: The Hours by Michael Cunningham
* 2000: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
* 2001: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
* 2002: Empire Falls by Richard Russo
* 2003: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
* 2004: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
* 2005: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
* 2006: March by Geraldine Brooks
* 2007: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
* 2008: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
* 2009: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

dreamdead
06-22-2009, 09:47 PM
Embarrassing small amount that I've read. Nonetheless, my rankings:



1) * 1995: The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
2) * 1953: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
3) * 1992: A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
4) * 1979: The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
5) * 2001: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

Qrazy
06-22-2009, 09:56 PM
You liked them all then?

I'm mostly trying to get an idea if this is a decent award or if it's more like Academy Award winners.

dreamdead
06-22-2009, 10:05 PM
You liked them all then?

I'm mostly trying to get an idea if this is a decent award or if it's more like Academy Award winners.

I think Shields-Smiley (My #1-3) all have something rich to offer. Shields merges autobiographical images with narrative in resonant ways. Hemingway achieves something resplendent with his story. And I rather like Smiley's update of King Lear; even though that kind of feminist reappraisal can get old, I think she does a solid job.

Cheever and Chabon are better appreciated in small doses. Cheever's "The Swimmer" and "Goodbye, My Brother" are masterpieces, but it's a bit of a chore to wade through story after story that has that kind of suburban, alienated atmosphere and distraught emotional failings, especially when the climactic pay-off is nowhere near as resonant for most of the other stories. Chabon's text is good and the prose is frequently dazzling, but there's little to discuss or deliberate upon after finishing it.

I should read more of these choices. I've long wanted to read Middlesex.

Qrazy
06-22-2009, 10:10 PM
I think Shields-Smiley (My #1-3) all have something rich to offer. Shields merges autobiographical images with narrative in resonant ways. Hemingway achieves something resplendent with his story. And I rather like Smiley's update of King Lear; even though that kind of feminist reappraisal can get old, I think she does a solid job.

Cheever and Chabon are better appreciated in small doses. Cheever's "The Swimmer" and "Goodbye, My Brother" are masterpieces, but it's a bit of a chore to wade through story after story that has that kind of suburban, alienated atmosphere and distraught emotional failings, especially when the climactic pay-off is nowhere near as resonant for most of the other stories. Chabon's text is good and the prose is frequently dazzling, but there's little to discuss or deliberate upon after finishing it.

I should read more of these choices. I've long wanted to read Middlesex.

I've heard good things about the film adaptation The Swimmer with Burt Lancaster. It's one of Charles Burnett's (Killer of Sheep) top 10 films.

Benny Profane
06-22-2009, 10:49 PM
Out of 4:


# 1940: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck ***1/2
* 1953: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway ***
* 1961: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee ****
* 1967: The Fixer by Bernard Malamud **1/2
* 1976: Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow ***
* 1980: The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer ****
* 1981: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole ***1/2
* 1982: Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike ***
* 1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker **
* 1988: Beloved by Toni Morrison ***
* 1991: Rabbit At Rest by John Updike ****
* 2000: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri **
* 2003: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides **
* 2007: The Road by Cormac McCarthy ****


Wow, I totally suck.

lovejuice
06-22-2009, 10:55 PM
i once had this idea of making a tread in which i bitched about how abysmal pullitzer winners are. (perhaps compared to the better booker prize.) but when i look at the full list, i realize some of them are not half bad and a few are really good.

love
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Reivers by William Faulkner
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

like
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Hours by Michael Cunningham

ok, i guess.
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Beloved by Toni Morrison

um...
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

wth
A Death in the Family by James Agee
American Pastoral by Philip Roth

and people of the book by geraldine brooks are easily one of the worst novel i have ever read.

thefourthwall
06-23-2009, 12:40 AM
I'll rank:
1. 1940: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
2. 1921: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
3. 1961: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
4. 1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
5. 2007: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I've read but can't remember to rank:
1939: The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1953: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Duncan
06-23-2009, 12:49 AM
You liked them all then?

I'm mostly trying to get an idea if this is a decent award or if it's more like Academy Award winners.
My opinion is that it's fairly analogous to the Oscars. Every now and then they award the prize to a deserving book, but overall it's pretty mainstream and milquetoast. Then again, I've only read like five of those winners, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

Raiders
06-23-2009, 01:00 AM
1921: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton [***]
1932: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck [**½]
1937: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell [**]
1940: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck [***½]
1953: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway [***]
**1958: A Death in the Family by James Agee [****]
1961: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee [**½]
1963: The Reivers by William Faulkner [***½]
1980: The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer [***]
1988: Beloved by Toni Morrison [****]
1998: American Pastoral by Philip Roth [*½]
2007: The Road by Cormac McCarthy [****]

** Based on the re-released 2007 version. I have not read the version that actually won.

Kurosawa Fan
06-23-2009, 01:41 AM
Loved:
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer (Haven't finished yet, but I can't put this down. Just brilliant thus far.)

Liked:
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Disliked:
A Death in the Family by James Agee
American Pastoral by Philip Roth (Hated this book. HATED.)

That's a pathetically small number of books, considering their reputation.

Raiders
06-23-2009, 01:53 AM
Damn. I loved Agee's book. Guess I am the only one. Again though, I do not know how different the 2007 version is and what you guys have read.

Mysterious Dude
06-23-2009, 01:55 AM
1. To Kill a Mockingbird ***½
2. The Old Man and the Sea ***

I'm going to read Beloved soon, after I finish Lolita.

Mara
06-23-2009, 02:53 PM
Not ranked, but organized. I haven't read many.

Excellent:
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (This is my mother's all-time favorite book.)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Good:
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Meh:
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Empire Falls by Richard Russo

Bad:
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
March by Geraldine Brooks

lovejuice
06-24-2009, 09:21 AM
March by Geraldine Brooks
terrible writer.

trotchky
07-04-2009, 04:25 AM
* 1953: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway - okay
* 1961: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - bad
* 1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker - great

Llopin
07-05-2009, 05:14 PM
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - ***1/2
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway - ***
A Fable by William Faulkner - ***
A Death in the Family by James Agee - ***
The Fixer by Bernard Malamud - ***1/2
Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow - ***
The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer - *1/2
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole - ***
Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike - ***
Ironweed by William Kennedy - ***
American Pastoral by Philip Roth - ***1/2
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - **1/2

What's with the Roth hate? I think it's one of his better efforts.

Benny Profane
07-06-2009, 12:49 AM
The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer - *1/2



Buh?

Llopin
07-07-2009, 12:04 PM
Buh?

I'll be honest, Mailer is not my cup of tea, he has always bored me. That book in particular struck me as tedious and overlong. I don't think he administers well the content of the story, and as someone who's suffered years of journalistic studies I find that very annoying. Still, it's good to find people who are seemingly captivated by his writing.

monolith94
07-07-2009, 12:54 PM
Very good:
The Old Man and the Sea

Good:
To Kill a Mockingbird

Stupid-bad:
Beloved

Eleven
07-07-2009, 01:07 PM
Watch the movies instead:


# 1919: The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
# 1926: Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis (declined prize)
# 1937: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
# 1947: All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
* 1952: The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
* 1960: Advise and Consent by Allen Drury


Read the book AND watch the movie:


# 1940: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
* 1961: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
* 1988: Beloved by Toni Morrison

Faulkner = awesome, but I prefer The Reivers:

* 1955: A Fable by William Faulkner
* 1963: The Reivers by William Faulkner

Inevitably hit or miss:

* 1966: The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter by Katherine Anne Porter
* 1979: The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
* 2000: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

I like, but I prefer [insert other work by same author]:


# 1921: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton - [House of Mirth]
* 1953: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway [Short Stories]
* 1967: The Fixer by Bernard Malamud [The Assistant, Short Stories]
* 1976: Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow [Augie March, Seize the Day]


I don't like, and I prefer [insert other work by same author]:


* 1996: Independence Day by Richard Ford [The Sportswriter]
* 2005: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson [Housekeeping]

Cool:


* 1958: A Death in the Family by James Agee
* 1968: The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron
* 1981: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
* 1980: The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
* 1984: Ironweed by William Kennedy
* 1998: American Pastoral by Philip Roth


Meh:


* 1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
* 1994: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx

lovejuice
07-23-2009, 11:16 PM
just for the fun of it. this is booker prize winner.


# 1969 P. H. Newby: Something to Answer For
# 1970 Bernice Rubens: The Elected Member
# 1971 V. S. Naipaul: In a Free State
# 1972 John Berger: G.
# 1973 J. G. Farrell: The Siege of Krishnapur
# 1974 Nadine Gordimer: The Conservationist
Stanley Middleton: Holiday
# 1975 Ruth Prawer Jhabvala: Heat and Dust
# 1976 David Storey: Saville
# 1977 Paul Scott: Staying On
# 1978 Iris Murdoch: The Sea, the Sea
# 1979 Penelope Fitzgerald: Offshore
# 1980 William Golding: Rites of Passage
# 1981 Salman Rushdie: Midnight's Children
# 1982 Thomas Keneally: Schindler's Ark
# 1983 J. M. Coetzee: Life & Times of Michael K
# 1984 Anita Brookner: Hotel du Lac
# 1985 Keri Hulme: The Bone People
# 1986 Kingsley Amis: The Old Devils
# 1987 Penelope Lively: Moon Tiger
# 1988 Peter Carey : Oscar and Lucinda
# 1989 Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day
# 1990 A. S. Byatt: Possession: A Romance
# 1991 Ben Okri: The Famished Road
# 1992 Michael Ondaatje: The English Patient
Barry Unsworth: Sacred Hunger
# 1993 Roddy Doyle: Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
# 1994 James Kelman: How Late It Was, How Late
# 1995 Pat Barker: The Ghost Road
# 1996 Graham Swift: Last Orders
# 1997 Arundhati Roy: The God of Small Things
# 1998 Ian McEwan : Amsterdam
# 1999 J. M. Coetzee: Disgrace
# 2000 Margaret Atwood: The Blind Assassin
# 2001 Peter Carey : True History of the Kelly Gang
# 2002 Yann Martel : Life of Pi
# 2003 DBC Pierre: Vernon God Little
# 2004 Alan Hollinghurst: The Line of Beauty
# 2005 John Banville: The Sea
# 2006 Kiran Desai: The Inheritance of Loss
# 2007 Anne Enright: The Gathering
# 2008 Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger

i'll rate them later on, but some of the books here are pretty obscure. say, what's the hell is Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha?

Duncan
07-23-2009, 11:45 PM
# 1989 Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day - 7.5
# 1999 J. M. Coetzee: Disgrace - 9.0
# 2002 Yann Martel : Life of Pi - 4.0

I guess there are a lot of recommendations there for me.

Winston*
07-23-2009, 11:53 PM
i'll rate them later on, but some of the books here are pretty obscure. say, what's the hell is Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha?
Pretty sure Roddy Doyle is extremely well known in the British Isles. Like Hornby level well-known.

Mara
07-24-2009, 05:38 PM
Maybe I should read more Booker Prize winners. I've really liked all the ones I've read:

# 1988 Peter Carey : Oscar and Lucinda: Odd, odd, odd, but very readable.
# 1989 Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day: Fantastic. Also, see the film.
# 1990 A. S. Byatt: Possession: A Romance: Fantastic. Don't see the film.
# 1992 Michael Ondaatje: The English Patient: Better than the film, which was also okay.
# 2000 Margaret Atwood: The Blind Assassin: Love.
# 2002 Yann Martel : Life of Pi: Quite Liked.

Hugh_Grant
07-24-2009, 06:08 PM
# 1990 A. S. Byatt: Possession: A Romance: Fantastic. Don't see the film.

I actually had the opposite reaction--loved the movie, couldn't get into the book.

Hugh_Grant
07-24-2009, 06:20 PM
I've liked all of these except for McEwan's Amsterdam.

# 1975 Ruth Prawer Jhabvala: Heat and Dust
# 1983 J. M. Coetzee: Life & Times of Michael K
# 1989 Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day
# 1996 Graham Swift: Last Orders
# 1998 Ian McEwan : Amsterdam
# 1999 J. M. Coetzee: Disgrace
# 2002 Yann Martel : Life of Pi--One of my all-time favorites...
# 2004 Alan Hollinghurst: The Line of Beauty--thefourthwall (I think) and I were discussing this book on another thread. Great book.
# 2005 John Banville: The Sea


# 2008 Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger
--Unfortunately, I had to return this one to the library unread. I just read yesterday that Hanif Kureishi is writing the screen adaptation.

A lot of these books have been on my to-read list.

Qrazy
07-28-2009, 08:41 AM
# 2002 Yann Martel : Life of Pi - 4.0


That's quite low. I'm not a big fan but what did you particularly dislike about it?

right_for_the_moment
07-29-2009, 07:43 AM
This is pathetic, I really need to read more

In this order...

The Old Man and the Sea
To Kill a Mockingbird
Grapes of Wrath

are all that I've got :(

lovejuice
07-29-2009, 09:34 PM
love
Iris Murdoch: The Sea, the Sea
Margaret Atwood: The Blind Assassin
Yann Martel : Life of Pi

like
Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day
Ian McEwan : Amsterdam
DBC Pierre: Vernon God Little
Kiran Desai: The Inheritance of Loss

lukewarm
Graham Swift: Last Orders
J. M. Coetzee: Disgrace

dislike
Nadine Gordimer: The Conservationist
Salman Rushdie: Midnight's Children
A. S. Byatt: Possession: A Romance
Arundhati Roy: The God of Small Things

wow, i read exactly the same number of booker prize winner as i did pullitzer regardless the former is a shorter list. told ya, my taste is old world.

ledfloyd
07-29-2009, 09:49 PM
Loved
To Kill A Mockingbird
The Stories of John Cheever
A Confederacy of Dunces
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
The Road

Liked
American Pastoral
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Disliked
Beloved

i need to read more.

Qrazy
08-04-2009, 05:14 PM
dislike
Arundhati Roy: The God of Small Things


Why?

Duncan
08-05-2009, 02:05 AM
That's quite low. I'm not a big fan but what did you particularly dislike about it?

Yeah, maybe a 4 was a bit harsh. I don't really rate things much. I thought the book had a lot of arbitrary adventure stuff in it where stuff just happens to be exciting. That's not why I read books. There was also some allegory in there about Self and the beast within us or something. I don't really remember. What I do remember is that the last scene with the Japanese execs was awful. Kid tries to prove God's existence with a "better" story? Weak. It might be just that I was like, "this won the Booker?" and was a bit pissed off at that, because I felt surely there must have been plenty of more deserving books that year.

Qrazy
08-05-2009, 07:40 AM
Yeah, maybe a 4 was a bit harsh. I don't really rate things much. I thought the book had a lot of arbitrary adventure stuff in it where stuff just happens to be exciting. That's not why I read books. There was also some allegory in there about Self and the beast within us or something. I don't really remember. What I do remember is that the last scene with the Japanese execs was awful. Kid tries to prove God's existence with a "better" story? Weak. It might be just that I was like, "this won the Booker?" and was a bit pissed off at that, because I felt surely there must have been plenty of more deserving books that year.

Yeah it should not have won the Booker (I assume, I haven't read enough books from that year). In terms of the adventure stuff I thought the narrative pieces were fairly purposive.

I took something different away from the ending. I felt that he was saying his 'illusion/story' helped him to endure without going completely insane. Well I mean he wasn't admitting to this rather he was saying that's why he believes in God/the supernatural because it allowed him to rationalize and breathe majesty into the horrors of the world. Still, the way he goes about just matter of factly telling them the horrific version of the story does not fit that well with this reading. But then I think that's the point of the ending. I read it that way because I am an atheist. A believer might be more inclined to accept his version of the events. So yeah I don't think the book is trying to prove the existence of God, merely elaborate what it feels to be the (simplified) difference between the two perspectives.

Duncan
08-05-2009, 08:34 AM
What about that meerkat island? I was thinking about that pretty hard and could think of no real purpose for it other than it was odd and imaginative.

I'd have to reread the ending. My memory tells me there's a line in there something like, "And so it is with God," as if that were enough to sum everything up. I remember that line being particularly bothersome.

Qrazy
08-09-2009, 12:37 AM
What about that meerkat island? I was thinking about that pretty hard and could think of no real purpose for it other than it was odd and imaginative.

I'd have to reread the ending. My memory tells me there's a line in there something like, "And so it is with God," as if that were enough to sum everything up. I remember that line being particularly bothersome.

Well on a practical level I think the island accomplishes two things. First it strains the reality of events further than it has been before, leading us to question the sanity of the boy all the more so and drawing that sharp distinction between faith and skepticism at the end of the book. It's easier to believe the tiger bit without having to believe in a meat eating island. Secondly it serves as a faux-paradise, a moment of respite (after blindness) rapidly snatched away when the true nature of the island becomes known. Even plants can kill. This further elucidates the dark and painful nature of the world the character inhabits and the sense of distrust and isolation he has come to know. As to why meerkats, the meerkat is a communal animal and small enough to fit on the island... the story of the island is all about symbiotic relationships and the compromise necessary for cohabitation which ties into the dynamic of the 'realistic' story of what happened on the boat as well as into the nature of man in society in general.

thefourthwall
08-09-2009, 01:47 AM
# 2008 Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger
--Unfortunately, I had to return this one to the library unread. I just read yesterday that Hanif Kureishi is writing the screen adaptation.


Are those two facts connected or incidental?

Hugh_Grant
08-11-2009, 08:16 PM
Are those two facts connected or incidental?
Incidental. Sorry for the non-sequitur. :)
I look forward to reading the book when I have time.

thefourthwall
08-11-2009, 08:31 PM
:lol: Good. I like Kureishi pretty well, but I don't think I'd not read a book just to see his version of it.