Reading Booker Shortlist-2022

It’s been on my bucket list for years to read the Booker-shortlisted books of the year once declared. And I could only accomplish it this year.

The following are the six books on the Booker shortlist-2022:

1. Treacle Walker by Alan Garner

2. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

3. The Trees by Percival Everett

4. Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

5. Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo

6. Small Things like These by Claire Keegan

The order of the above list is as per how I liked them. My perception says that Treacle Walker by Alan Garner is the best on the list as far as the literary value of the work is concerned. Hence, its placement at the topmost position. Which means if I were the sole Booker judge, I would have handed over the prize to Alan Garner However, I guess this year’s Booker might go to the next title on the list, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka. It would then be the first ever Booker for Sri Lanka.

Here are the synopses of the books:

Treacle Walker by Alan Garner:

It's about the friendship between an older man and a little boy. There is a beautiful portrayal of the innocent and carefree world of childhood. Different times blend seamlessly. Spaces mix too, and the real world at times looks magical. There is hardly a solid plot or a rounded story, but the sheer exuberance of language beats all others on the shortlist.

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka:

An interesting story narrated against the backdrop of the strife among the Tamil, Sinhalese, and other communities, and the civil war in the Sri Lanka of the eighties. It utilizes several possibilities of fiction effectively.

The Trees by Percival Everett:

A story tied to the history of Black-lynching and racial violence in America. Several personalities involved in that history appear as some central characters in the novel. There is a plot that gets you easily riveted to it until the end.

Oh William! By Elizabeth Strout:

An elder lady recollects and narrates her times with her ex-husband and several others in her life. The style of narration is like someone talking to the reader one-on-one and informally sitting close by. And the extremely simple language employed perfectly suits that style.

Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo:

This book presents the modern socio-political history of Zimbabwe as an allegory in which the characters are animals rather than humans. The imaginary country in the story is called ‘Jidada.’ It vividly elaborates on the tyrannical rule of Zimbabwe in the last few decades and its genocide called ‘Gukurahundi.’

Small Things like These by Claire Keegan:

This has a story from the eighties and has a family consisting of a couple and their five girls in a small Irish town at its centre. It invites the reader’s attention to a stigma that existed in Irish society.

These six books can be classified into two or three groups based on their contents. The three titles The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, The Trees, and Glory deal with the social, political, racial, ethnic, or class conflicts and tensions of some nations. Here, the nations are Sri Lanka, the USA, and Zimbabwe respectively. Treacle Walker stands alone and at the top of the shortlist in terms of the magical effect of words. The work displays the author’s absolute mastery of the craft. And family and relationships are at the core of the plots in Oh William! and Small Things like These. Those who love such themes would perhaps consider these two books the best among all on the shortlist.

Out of the three novels that talk about the social and political issues of nations, I guess The Seven Moons… and The Trees are at the top. You can also see many similarities between these two works on many fronts. The Booker judges must find themselves faced with a dilemma when it comes to deciding which of these two is better than the other. However, The Seven Moons… has utilized more possibilities of fiction and made the narration more colourful, which could become a deciding factor between the two books. While The Trees always stays firmly glued to its core idea and follows the plot in a straightforward manner, in The Seven Moons… you see the plot travelling to different places and encompassing diverse ideas, giving more challenges to the author in his art, thereby allowing him an opportunity to tackle it successfully and prove his worth.

The Booker Prize 2022 will be announced in less than twenty-four hours from now.