all the small things
 
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Despre radioactivitatea unei carti
The Guardian publica o istorie in anecdote a celor 40 ani de Booker Prize:

1993 Gillian Beer

Olivier Todd, the French novelist, shrugged his shoulders at our second judges' meeting: no lunches with publishers, no approaches from agents, he complained - what an odd English bubble of propriety we were gathered inside. He was joking, but only just. And it is one of the remarkable things about being a Booker judge that no one tempts you with hospitality. You simply sit and read, and talk, and read again, over several months. The pleasure is in the reading, and in the talk. One of the rewards of going to see a new film is the conversation straight after, but reading new novels can be a lonely business.

In 1993 I remember impassioned defences of books one of us had grown attached to, but no quarrels, just engrossing talk. Our chair, Grey Gowrie, came up with an ingenious criterion: novels must have "radioactivity" to stay in the running. He meant we must remember them weeks, months later. They mustn't fade. A self-proving criterion perhaps, but reassuring.

posted by Diana Adela Martin @ 9:39 PM  
5 Comments:
  • At 4:37 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Cu ocazia Nasterii Fecioarei Maria, iti si va doresc un sincer La Multi Ani si toata fericirea din lume!
    o zi minunata iti doresc

     
  • At 5:23 PM, Blogger Indelible Bonobo said…

    dragut crampeiul, chiar radioactiv.
    (seems like you're playing a joke on your readers. not only that it's in English, but it's filled with so many inside jokes & references that I seriously doubt that even 2% of them will make any sense of it..)

     
  • At 4:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    "we must remember them weeks, months later. They mustn't fade"

    now here's a smart guy.

     
  • At 9:15 PM, Blogger Diana Adela Martin said…

    gingav: un tip destept cu o memorie de elefant. i mean... he' a booky jury, he must have read thousands of radioactive books. or maybe my logic it's a bit too optimistic

    inbonobo: welcome in my puzzle ;)

     
  • At 7:11 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    heyo din nou. da ... probabil ca acolo era adresa, dar nu am gasit-o eu :)
    paludes, jos palaria. si acum as reciti-o, cred ca luna viitoare cand merg la paris imi fac un scop din a-mi cumpara-o. am pofta de cartea aia. si sarah kane - oh! da! - puternic este cuvantul care o descrie.
    si asa: sooners-laters!

    o.

     
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