THE BOOKER SHORTLIST

Yes, it's out!

And I'm half-way there. Was rooting for Mohsin Hamid and Tan Twan Eng. Hamid's made it, Twan hasn't. Not that this in any way diminishes the power of the book. 'The Gift of Rain' is Twan's debut and its encouraging to see it come so far. I am certain this is only the beginning for a promising young writer you should be keeping your eyes on.

Getting back to the Booker, I'm not one for the odds. But if that's the kind of thing that drives your reading, here it is.

I'm all for 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' though those who have read Indra Sinha's 'Animal's People' - a fictionalised story of one of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster victims, point to the tough race ahead.

Then there is New Zealander Lloyd Jones 'Mister Pip'which has already won the
Commonwealth Writers' Prize Overall Best Book Award 2007.

Nicola Barker's 'Darkmans', Ian McEwan's 'On Chesil Beach' and Anne Enright's 'The Gathering' complete the shortlist.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday, October 16th at the Guildhall in London. You have no excuses for not catching up on your reading and telling me all about your Booker picks.

INSIDER/OUTSIDER

Oh yes, the debate is never going to go away. I admit as much. Though one can take heart that this is a paradox facing virtually every literary community. This morning Ashwini Desai points me to this superb point raised by Kamila Shamsie in a piece in The Guardian:

"Of course, one of the features of this list is that it includes writers based in Pakistan, writers who grew up in Pakistan but now live elsewhere, and writers who left Pakistan during their childhood. Within Pakistan there remains much bickering about who exactly should qualify as a Pakistani writer. Do you need to live in Pakistan, have lived in Pakistan, be the child of Pakistanis?"

I love how Shamsie provides the answers to the vexing questions:
"My take on all this is simple: if someone is willing to claim Pakistan for themselves and for the development of their creativity then it seems ridiculous to deny them - and the nation - that right."

There's the obvious sub-continental divide that gets a mention too:
"But while India's writers were attracting the attention of readers and marketing departments, and being an Indian novelist became a viable way of earning a living, Pakistan continued to think gloomily that, in novels as in tourism, the world was far more interested in India. One Pakistani writer might slip through the cracks here and there, but received wisdom had it that our 'Midnight's Children moment' would never come."

I've only read Shamsie, Mohsin Hamid, Nadeem Aslam, Hanif Kureishi and Bapsi Sidhwa, I'm no expert, but each of their writing has left me thinking. I've loved the way they've taken me to some places that have now become a figment of my grand-mother's imagination. I often wish I'd listened to her more carefully, when she spoke about her time in Pakistan, which is why I treat the news of more young people wanting to embrace the realms of Pakistani fiction with optimism. And with the Booker looming, who knows what else will change.

MAN BOOKER LONG LIST

Being on this list means something.

You've arrived, you've been noticed, this could well be your year of flying, speaking, being feted, toasted and being whisked away from your desk for a year of lectures, talks, lit fests, seminars - you get the picture. It's the literary red carpet roll.

It would have most people jumping for joy, announcing it to the world, popping the bubbly because making it to the long list is cause for celebration.

Which is possibly why, Tan Twan Eng shocks me with his modesty. In a one line mail that arrived early this morning, all he tells me is : "Just to share with you - I'm on the Booker Prize Longlist for 2007." I'm over the moon. I was introduced to him by Sharon Bakar. After several email exchanges, the interview almost didn't happen as he waited to hear from me and I from him. And then when the dates were sorted out, he organised his own trip, his accommodation and did a couple of interviews. We spent time talking about his writing process, how he couldn't share too much of his writing while he was working on it, his debut, his characters and what took him to South Africa. He'd dealt with rejection with his manuscript, yet he'd taken it in his stride and he hoped his book would resonate with readers. Having made this cut is proof enough that it has and I am delighted for him.

Just as I am to see Mohsin Hamid on the list as well.

The Guardian tells us about all the big names that have been cast aside in what Waterstone's dubbed 'a giant-felling list.'

All I'll say is, it offers hope to fresh new voices in the literary sphere. Congratulations all....

The long list is:
- Tan Twan Eng 'The Gift Of Rain'
- Mohsin Hamid 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist'
- Nikita Lalwani 'Gifted'
- Indra Sinha 'Animal's People'
- Nicola Barker 'Darkmans'
- Edward Docx 'Self Help'
- Anne Enright 'The Gathering'
- Peter Ho Davies 'The Welsh Girl'
- Lloyd Jones 'Mister Pip'
- Ian McEwan 'On Chesil Beach'
- Catherine O'Flynn 'What Was Lost'
- Michael Redhill 'Consolation'
- AN Wilson 'Winnie & Wolf'

The short list will be announced on September 6th and the winner on October 16th.

A FABLE OF OUR TIMES

Pages 184.
Hamish Hamilton.
March 2007.

This is possibly the longest I've waited from the time I've read a book I loved to the time I've written about it. Since its a day to go before the month changes to March, thought the wait should end. This was after all a brilliant read, and the fingers have been itching to punch out those words and say it aloud.

The story begins at a cafe table in Lahore. Here Changez , a Pakistani man narrates the tale that's led to his fateful meeting with an American stranger. The strains of unease are apparent as Changez starts talking about his life which was in every sense of the term an immigrant's dream of America.

A student at Princeton, he lands a dream job with an elite firm specialising in the valuation of companies. It is the kind of job where you whip your visiting card and you can awe an audience with not your name, rather that of the company. The kind that comes complete with the joy of business class travel, five star hotels and a few shattered dreams that only can the discerning can see. It is typically the kind of job that thrives on the energy of New York. It is here that Changez believes he has found himself and the love of his life.

"Looking back now, I see there was a certain symmetry to the situation: I felt I was entering in New York the very same social class that my family was falling out of in Lahore. Perhaps this accounted for a good part of the comfort and satisfaction I found in my new environment. But an even greater part of my happiness in those days was due to being in the regular company of Erica."

Nothing seems to stop Changez's rise to the top, not even thoughts of home. The power of love gives him that imagined sense of invincibility. Something that has the power to change in an instant. That moment comes in the form of September 11. No, there are no descriptions of the familiar rubble, the cries for help. As you turn page after riveting page, the changes work subtly but more powerfully.

Our worlds get transformed. Author Mohsin Hamid knows. Post 9/11, he has been held in questioning rooms at JFK Airport. While things never got nasty, it did make him feel unwelcome.

It is perhaps that sense of unease that makes 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' take the tone he does in the second half of the book:
"As a society, you were unwilling to reflect upon the shared pain that united you with those that attacked you. You retreated into myths of your own difference, assumptions of your own superiority."

It is such an America that Changez and his creator want to change. With that Hamid brings the clash between the East and the West to the fore in a book that like the name of its creator is all about change - subtle, imagined, nuanced.

No surprise that 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' was the talk of the London Book Fair and went on to get the UK, US, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian and Dutch deals simultaneously. It is Hamid's second novel and looks all set to add to the track record he set with his debut - 'Moth Smoke'. Published in 10 languages, Moth Smoke won a Betty Trask Award and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Clearly, Hamid's is a voice to watch.

ON MY SHELF.....

There's lots more Sri Lanka to go but my books are piling up. I know the publicists want me to wait for this one. It will be out in March. So look out for Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist. I finished reading a proof in two straight nights - yes, the eyes hurt forever and copious coffee drinking followed at work, but it was worth every eye-burning moment. It's post 9/11 America and no you haven't heard the story before. I haven't read his first book - the critcally acclaimed Moth Smoke, though I do know it won the awards and set the bar for the second book. Well, it definitely doesn't disappoint. And buzz, buzz, he will be at this year's Ubud Writers Festival together with lots of other exciting authors. Pull that calendar and start marking the dates.