The prize and fall

Is 2011 the annus horribilis of the Man Booker Prize? Since its inception in 1969, the award has had its years of crisis. Mistakes of omission (such as Beryl Bainbridge) and commission (such as The God of Small Things) have been made along the way. Indeed, frequent shortlistee Julian Barnes once referred to the selection process as "posh bingo". Still, there has been no year quite as bad as this.

First there was the clumsy handling of the Bainbridge affair. The novelist had been shortlisted five times but had never won; a former Booker judge described her, patronisingly and chauvinistically, as "eternal Booker bridesmaid". As an afterthought, readers were invited this year to vote for a posthumous award in which the only contender was — Beryl Bainbridge herself. The public voted to select the Man Booker Best of Beryl, one out of five of her novels. Her 1998 historical novel Master Georgie won.

The next controversy was the Man Booker International Prize, awarded every two years (the last winner was the superb Alice Munro). First, spy thriller writer John le Carre politely asked to have his name removed from the 13-member shortlist (it wasn't removed). Then, upset over the selection of Philip Roth for this year's prize, jury member Carmen Callil, author and founder of Virago Press, withdrew from the jury. She described Roth's work as "tedious", containing "the swish of emperor's clothes". Finally, Roth himself chose not to attend the award function, appearing only on video-link and leading to speculations whether he would have done the same for a Nobel.

As for comparisons with the Nobel: in a bizarre comment, the chair of the Booker Prize Foundation, Jonathan Taylor, described the Nobel as "whimsical" and "at best political", claiming that the Man Booker Prize process had greater transparency.

In a selection process where the stakes are high and the conversation involves much bitching, transparency has been a mixed blessing. In its early years, juries included Elizabeth Bowen and George Steiner. This year's jury chair, Stella Rimington, is a former head of British intelligence, writes spy thrillers and has been accused of being unqualified to judge literary merit. Admittedly, Booker judges don't have an easy time of it: they have read over a hundred novels, selecting first a longlist and then a shortlist, both of which are subjected to intense public scrutiny and discussion. While no discussion about books can be a bad thing, judges have to face charges of all sorts of bias, including homophobia (this year's shortlist leaves out Alan Hollinghurst and Ali Smith).

... contd.

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