Booker Mania

I MUST blog daily from today, what Rob Parnell told me in his newsletter about a writer having a blog and being ready for the time when your book is on view to the world is true, I feel....but look, I write a lot of stuff as work, but dont want to write a blog... simply don't want to do it... why is that?

Have I mentioned that I am a Bookermaniac? I simply LOVE reading anything on that topic...and do hunt regularly for it... in fact just an analysis or a book review on a Booker longlisted title gives me a kick like nothing else does...
I am continuing my odyssey into Bookerworld with my severely enhanced Bookermania and find really interesting things to read nowadays ...

Here is a link
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/07/every_year_more_first_novels.html

The current booker list has evoked a broad discussion of the 'Indian (sub continent) presence... read this as the inclusion of Amitav Ghosh, Aravind Adiga, Mohammed Hanif and of couse the omnipresent Rushdie... no its not over, the discussion includes even Michelle de Kretser as a member of this group... now this lady is a Sri Lankan by origin settled in Australia... this link touches this topic.

The article is followed by various informed comments and I found it exciting to read about Preeta Samrasan from Malaysia as a regretted omission... now she is from south India by ancestry but a citizen of Malaysia... I haven't read her work, but will do so as soon as I can lay hands on it.

I quote from the comments

"
So the question is, in lists to come, will Indian writers be recognized by the countries they represent or by their race?
No matter which countries they choose to live in or were born in, they'll still be easily traced back to their homeland. I feel that race will always triumph over country which will eventually be seen as a symbol. I feel that because Indian writers have come into their own in a big way since the time of Rushdie and Roy, they will be around for a while yet and continue to surprise us from different parts of the world.

In the same vein, I do think that Pakistani literature has risen tremendously of late. And this issue came up recently at the South Bank festival where Mohammed Hanif read from his new novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes. It came somewhat as a shock to the audience as to the recollection of just how many Pakistani writers had published novels and short stories in the last 2 years alone.
I also do believe that there are older writers writing first novels. "
The last line is highlighted purely for ...ahem... inspirational purposes...

Anybody listening?