It’s midweek already, which means another WWW Wednesday update. WWW Wednesday is a bookish meme originally hosted by SAM@TAKING ON A WORLD OF WORDS. The mechanics for WWW Wednesday is quite simple, you just have to answer three questions:
- What are you currently reading?
- What have you finished reading?
- What will you read next?
What are you currently reading?
My Man Booker Prize reading month is picking up as I am reading, or is about to start reading, my third Man Booker Prize winner in my last four reads (the other one was shortlisted). I am a fan of Irish writers. I do find their writing lyrical and their storytelling riveting. This are two of the things I am looking forward to in the 2007 Man Booker Prize Winner, The Gathering by Anne Enright. I am start reading it but I am rather held back by the rather low rating it had in Goodreads. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to what the book has in store.
What have you finished reading?
In the past week, I managed to complete two novels. The first book I completed is 2020 Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel, Real Life by Brandon Taylor. It was one of several debut novels longlisted in the prestigious award and it was enough to pique my interest. I was really looking forward to reading the book. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it either. The novel drew inspiration from Taylor’s own experiences studying in a predominantly white university town. Taylor was brilliant in depicting the feeling of alienation and isolation in a new and intimidating environment. However, it was a challenge making a connection with the primary narrator and protagonist.
Another novel I found middling was Thomas Keneally’s Schindler’s List. Published in the UK as Schindler’s Ark, it was the winner of the 1982 Man Booker Prize. It is a fictionalized account of the heroics of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist who helped save over 1,400 Jews during the Second World War. Schindler’s heroics were laudable, to say the least. He knew the risks he was taking yet he never wavered from protecting and saving as much Jew as he can from the oppression brought about by the Führer. However, the writing was faulty. With the bland writing, it felt like I was reading a history book rather than a novel.
What will you read next?
February is shaping up to be another Man Booker Prize month. I’ve had one last year and the year before that. With this in mind, I have William Golding’s Rite of Passage and Ahadaf Soueif’s The Map of Love on deck. Rite of Passage was the winner of the 1980 edition while The Map of Love was shortlisted in the 1999 edition. The latter was a random purchase as well. I am not familiar with both author’s body of work so I am both excited and worried on what they both have in store.
Thus concludes another WWW Wednesday update! I hope everyone is having a great midweek! Do keep safe and as always, enjoy reading!
The Pine-Scented Chronicles 