Two Irish writers have been shortlisted for this year's Man Booker Prize. John Banville and Sebastian Barry are among the six novelists featured on the list, which was announced yesterday in London. Eileen Battersby, Literary Correspondent, reports.
Also included is the favourite Julian Barnes, while a former Booker winner, Kazuo Ishiguro, as well as Ali Smith and Zadie Smith, complete the list.
The winner of the £50,000 (€74,000) prize will be announced on October 10th.
Banville (59) has been shortlisted for The Sea, in which the narrator, an ageing man, humorously conscious of his physical decline, looks back on his life and in particular recalls his childhood summers spent in an Irish coastal town. This is a significant shortlisting for Banville. Although he has an international reputation and is consistently well-reviewed in Britain, he has only once been previously shortlisted. The Sea marks something of a departure for him as it is less overtly intellectual and far more personal. The familiar laconic voice and irony are present, yet so too is a fresh, more human tone of regret.
For Barry (50), more established as a playwright thanks to the international success of The Steward of Christendom, the shortlisting of A Long Long Way is less a breakthrough than an answer to his critics. The novel, a period work set during the first World War, continues the story of Barry's family, which runs parallel to the history of Ireland.
Barry's fiction debut, The Engine of Owl Light, published back in 1985, indicated he was a writer of talent. Plays such as Boss Grady's Boys (1988) and Prayers of Sherkin (1990) confirmed this well before the success of The Steward of Christendom. Always praised for the beauty of his prose, Barry experienced a critical backlash to his political satire, Hinterland (2002).
Britain's Julian Barnes is the favourite with Arthur & George. Should Banville's The Sea win, the best novel will have won. Yet if there is to be a dark horse on what is a good shortlist, it must be A Long Long Way.
Ladbrokes has Barnes favourite at 6/4, Barry second favourite at 4/1 and Banville joint third at 5/1 with Ishiguro.