Prize Winning Books?

What does it mean when a book is nominated for a major award? Or when it’s named An Oprah Book? Or is at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list for weeks or months? As an avowed book lover, I do pay attention to these announcements and accolades. But I’m often disappointed in the books chosen or recommended by these “experts.”

For example, last week the Man Booker long list was announced. This prestigious award is given to the best work of fiction published in English in the United Kingdom each year. American authors are also eligible and for the last 45 years, it’s been one of the best known awards given. This year, I’ve read three of the 13 titles on the long list (one I Ioved, two I didn’t care for). A few others are on my To be Read list but I don’t know if I’ll get to them. I’ve learned that being a nominee or even a winner is no guarantee that a book will appeal to me. The list is narrowed down to six in September with the winner announced in October. There’s a cash prize and also a lot of fame (and hopefully sales) for the winner.  So what’s the book I loved? Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. I’m glad to see it getting some acclaim since it really was an amazing book. (Hard to describe but amazing).

The Pulitzer Prize for Literature is another prestigious award. This year’s winner is The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Unfortunately this is one of the prestigious books that I didn’t care for at all. It was reading this book and hearing how much acclaim it had received that made me really think about the value of these awards.  I wanted to like The Underground Railroad because it is SUCH AN IMPORTANT BOOK. But I had no emotional response to it, although it was a very violent and harrowing tale of slavery in the American south. Most of the characters meet incredibly violent ends and many simply vanish into the background of the story. I also found it confusing because the author kept wandering off into tangents and backstories about minor characters. So this was definitely not the book for me.

Another REALLY IMPORTANT BOOK this year was George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo. I hadn’t read any of his previous works (primarily short stories). I listened to the audiobook and found it incredibly confusing with its cast of hundreds. Perhaps the print book would have worked better. It was an ambitious work with a style that should have been fascinating and engaging. Unfortunately, I didn’t find it either.

Oprah Winfrey carries a lot of weight with the reading public. I’ve generally found her recommendations uninteresting and am skeptical of any of the books she names. In looking at the list of 51 books she’s recommended in the last 20 or so years, I’ve found only a few I enjoyed (Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi, Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides). Three out of 51 isn’t a great average. And she also named The Underground Railroad as a top book.

So what’s the value of these rewards and reviews? Why don’t I like more of them? I think titles and authors get more publicity for being nominated but it doesn’t mean you or I are going to like them any more than we might like a small title that is never acknowledged on a bestseller list or by Oprah.

To be fair, I have to mention that one of my favorite books of all time is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. This wonderful book won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction, was on the top of the New York Times Bestseller List for weeks.  It was also shortlisted for a National Book Award. I recommend this book to everyone and I know I’m not alone in my love for it. So not every prize winner is a loser. It all comes down to taste – your taste and mine over that of distant judges and critics. If you hear of a book being nominated for a special award, it could mean it is wonderful but there are no guarantees. I have much more success reading books recommended by friends and co-workers. But again, no guarantees.