With so many ardent readers subscribed to The Complete Booker to motivate me, I'm pleased to say I just recently completed two more award-winning books (making a total now of 15 that I've read so far) -- Anita Brookner's Hotel du Lac and Kingsley Amis's The Old Devils. Next, I'm starting Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children.
Hotel du Lac was, as another reader put it, "a gem," but I wasn't as enamored of The Old Devils. Perhaps Amis is just too sophisticated for me, but I thought it difficult to warm up to any of the novel's characters and found their endless rounds of drinking and arguing over their local Wales not nearly as invigorating a read for me as have been so many other Booker recipients and even quite a few of the finalists that did not take home the prize (among them Cloud Atlas, The Master, Arthur and George and Mister Pip.)
Don't overlook the non-winners; many of them are gems as well.
MEL
I have found that the short listed ones are almost always better than the winner - I'm trying to read them all, so I'll be able to tell you exactly how many are better one day!
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