Analyitics

Thursday, November 17, 2011

What do the National Book Awards Mean to Me?

The National Book Awards were distributed last night. As an avid reader, I know I should be more interested and excited about these awards, but here's the thing. As a prospective marathoner, a parent of two children, and a full-time employee, there are just so many hours in the day that I can devote to reading. And those of you that know me realize that I can get quite obsessive about things - for example, i'm currently reading my third Murakami novel in two months. So my reading tends to follow my obsessions - either I get into an author, or a subject, and I follow it down the rat hole. Recently, it's been Murakami. Previously it's been books about Russia or mid-Asia, or Picasso, or Thomas Pynchon. I just never seem to get inspired by the books that make up award lists.

Having said that, it looks like there was a surprise winner in the fiction department. I know Joel touched upon this before, but has anyone out there read Salvage the Bones? I'd love to hear more about it.

Related Posts:
National Book Awards: The Finalists
Review: The Sense of an Ending (Julian Barnes)

2 comments:

  1. I've not read it.

    But Amazon describes it as "A big-hearted novel about familial love and community against all odds."

    So, just the book you would expect to be chosen.

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  2. Just the book I'd expect to be chosen and just the book I make an effort to avoid. So are the National Book Awards just like the Oscars?

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