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October 11, 2005
Damn you, John Banville
I was very excited about the Booker Prize announcement yesterday. How could I not be? It's like the Oscars for nerds.
I didn't really love (get? I'm not that smart.) Never Let Me Go, but The Remains of the Day was so good that I wouldn't really mind if they gave him a booker for his grocery list. I'm still reading On Beauty, and sadly, none of the other books are out in the States yet. (NB - If you will be flying from London to DC anytime soon, let me know. I have some shopping for you.)
Still, I was not happy to hear that John Banville won. Why? Because I met him once and he was very, very mean to me. He claimed Hemmingway wasn't an American! He said he was "just putting the last touches" on the modernist project started by Joyce! He said that modernism "never lapped the shores of America"! He scoffed at my observation that his stupid book The Book of Evidence contained reference to crime and punishment! He also wore an ugly scarf.
Anyway, I still wish we had a major, trashily administered literary prize in the states. Oh, well. We can all still look foward to the Nobel. {C'mon Margaret Atwood!)
Posted by Drew at 08:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack