|You are in: Entertainment|
Wednesday, 23 October, 2002, 13:09 GMT 14:09 UK
Booker winner: Your views
Yann Martel has won the £50,000 Booker Prize with his surreal fantasy Life of Pi.
Only one judge wavered over Martel's novel, but what you do think about the tale of a shipwrecked boy and a tiger?
This debate is now closed. Please see below for a selection of your comments.
I really wanted Sarah Waters to win the Booker, but feel sure that I'll also be first in line when Life of Pi is published in paperback. One thing that does puzzle me is why the judges made such a stand against the type of books sent to them by publishers in the belief that they were Booker material, only to award the prize to "Pi", the most obviously Booker book on the shortlist. I'd love to hear the reason for the final decision.
I enjoyed the Booker on TV last night and shall look forward to reading Martel's book, although I preferred Tim Winton's from what I have heard so far. How long it will take me to forget the presenter Kirsty Wark's off-putting croaky voice, I don't know!
I'd heard good things about this story earlier this year, and was intrigued by the nature of the story and the claim that by the end of the story, "you will believe in God."
I thought the story was really well written, with a nice measure of description, reflection and theory, and the prose was a pleasure to read. The middle section, when Pi has to try and overcome his fear of the situation and press his authority upon Richard Parker was especially good, but the last few chapters, where Pi lands on the floating island of vegetation, were a bit...daft!
The book's conclusion was quite a nice touch, and by the time I finished, I felt like I knew Pi as if he were a friend.
On the whole, this book is excellent: Clever, thoughtful, beautifully written and a story that I've spent four months recommending to people.
Well done, Yann!
I admit that Life of Pi is a fantastic book, however it pales in comparison to possibly a few books that were written by people who live outside of the "Booker-zone." (e.g. Americans).
I also find it laughable that the chair of this year's Booker panel said that the award would become "blandly generic as opposed to specifically British" if expanded to include America.
Anti-Americanism is always the best way to go. One never has to explain his or her opinion.
I loved this book - it took me a couple of attempts to get into but I'm really glad that I stuck with it. I didn't feel the ending was a dream as one of the judges suggested!!! It is a beautiful story of love, life and tragedy and the fine line between each.
Marc B, England
Yann Martel truely deserves to win this prize for Life of Pi. This book would even make the most secular of us think that there just may be something more out there on a spiritrual level than we allow ourselves to believe. On a lighter note it is simply a great read - very entertaining.
Usual dire Booker award. As in the past the best book is overlooked. Judges got it wrong again.
I loved this book! Life of Pi is a realistic, rousing adventure and a tale of survival that explores the redemptive power of storytelling. The story of the boy, the tiger and the lifeboat makes you question your own spirituality, or lack of it. There is joy on the lifeboat - as well as horror, and gore, and "tense, breathless boredom". The book is unpretentious and readable which sets it apart from many previous winners of this award. Enjoy it!
A Musgrave, Scotland
Fresh, exciting, funny, brilliant,
How Martel's novel could possibly have won over Sarah Waters' Fingersmith is unbelievable. I admit I did not read Martel's novel, but his tale can't even come close to the engaging and wonderful read of Fingersmith. It does make me wonder whether the criteria the Booker Prize once prided itself upon is now just something of the past.
Martel, Waters, Winton, Trevor, Mistry, Shields. Is this REALLY the best the literary world has to offer? I think not!
Martel's novel was a fantastic story with a refreshing original play upon the whole situation. Equally, though for different reasons, Fingersmith by Sarah Waters was also an equally gripping book. I had the fortune to read a manuscript of a new book called From the Brink by Tom Hansen, an Australian living in England. Look out Booker Prize, this book is absolutely incredible.
I have to disagree with Mark B. As colleagues we constantly bicker at the quality of English literature. Mark is obviously not of sound mind as it is plain to see Martel's novel is a masterpiece produced from someone verging on literary genius.
The judges said they'd avoid the portentous, but this unconvincing book reeks of it. Most fables grow tiresome and unfocussed - though Animal Farm and Gulliver's Travels are wonderful exceptions. Sarah Waters should have won.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Top Entertainment stories now:
Links to more Entertainment stories are at the foot of the page.
|E-mail this story to a friend|
Links to more Entertainment stories
To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> | To BBC World Service>>
© MMIII | News Sources | Privacy