Author: George Saunders
Genre: Historical fantasy fiction
I think I've learned my lesson about Man Booker Prize winners. The judges (in the two years I've read the winner) seem to go for something that is wildly different. Bravo they say, how brave! We must reward this boldness! But how do readers feel? Well, George Saunders has pulled off an unconventional format and narrative very well. Using quotes from non-fiction sources from the period, to set various scenes and to describe the overarching emotions is an inspired move, and shows how observers of history don't always agree on the details. But this big difference and funky format, for me, does not equal excellent entertainment. I know I wasn’t gripped by it because it took me almost a week to read it, and it's not a long book. The word to page ratio is far from conventional, which helps. There are very good bits but there were sections where I wondered what the point of it all was. The latter is quite possibly just me. So personally I think it suffers from style over substance. I intend to read all the books on the long list at some point, in order to pick my favourite.*
*I'm almost there now and my favourite so far is Elmet, see review.
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