I find that shocking, the book is appalling: no plot, totally pointless showing-off. It is as though she had entered a contest to see how many obscure erudite references she could fit into each page. The book jacket blurb called it a "touristic tour-de-force", that says it all and I should have taken that as a warning. Does anyone see any worth in these Hav books (she had the temerity to come out with a sequel).
2006-11-12 23:19:46 · 1 answers · asked by domangelo 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Apparently it really was short listed for the Booker Prize in 1985. I have given you a link to a review in The Guardian which confirms this.
In short, the fact that Jan Morris's book failed to be chosen proves that it did not meet with the approval of every member of the Booker panel. Since it is a fictitious land (located in Jan Morris's imagination), this meant that a population, hinted geographical location, a history, etc., had to be fashioned in order to make the place believable. This obviously didn't work for everyone.
2006-11-14 00:49:21 · answer #1 · answered by sincerely yours 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋