Comments on: 2011 Shadow Giller Prize winner

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:44:25 +0000

Owen: I’ll join you in hoping that your library gets up to speed — there is some excellent reading here. And the Shadow Jury is impressed enough that we are already planning for 2012.

By: Owen

Owen — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:45:05 +0000

Kevin,
my thanks as well. I picked the winner this year, first time in years. Aside from my vain glory what I want to say is that I agree that this is the best Giller Prize for sheer number of must read books. In recent years my pocket book has barely been cracked but this year, when ironically I have less, there are way more titles calling out to me including the Shadow Giller titles. Hope out library gets busy and gets these titles in. Thanks again to you and your co-Shadows.

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:56:25 +0000

I’d love to say the Shadow Giller has a set of established criteria, but that would be a total lie. Each of us has our own way of evaluating each book (and for me that often varies from book to book). With three of us blogging, those reviews offer a pretty good indication — Alison both comments on the blogs and we have some background e-chatter.

This was the first year we tried the 100 point system. It was apparent early on that we all thought highly of many of the shortlist titles and I was looking for a system that would indicate some “depth” of feeling when it came to the rankings. For me, it worked because it quickly focused our discussion on Bezmozgis and Eudgyan.

Good luck with the Shadow Man Asia award. It is a prize that I’ve always wanted to be more interested in and your project will help me do that.

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:37:57 +0000

Kerry: You are most welcome and we appreciate your very kind words. This year’s Giller was a very enjoyable (and rewarding experience) with a wide range of titles that were well-executed. A reader cannot ask for anything more.

By: Kerry

Kerry — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:14:45 +0000

I love the Shadow Giller process.

Bezmozgis goes on my TBR. The unanimity of the judges in the end and the near unanimity of the judges in the initial stage of deliberations suggests this is a very good book indeed (as did the individual reviews along the way). Also, the fact that the consistent strength of the prose was, at least for one or two judges, a big factor in its selection makes me think this is the type of book with which I will get along.

I will also probably read the de Witt. Both the Booker and the Giller saw it a worthy competitor and Trevor’s comment above (though never a true contender “I really enjoyed the de Witt”) seems typical of the responses. It sounds like a nice change of pace from what I usually enjoy.

Thanks Kevin, Alison, Trevor, and Kim. I have enjoyed your thorough and entertaining coverage and I already know you’ve given me another book to enjoy.

By: Lisa Hill

Lisa Hill — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:21:11 +0000

Hello Kevin, well done to all of you and wow, I’m now feeling not quite as intrepid as I did when I set out to emulate your Shadow Award with our Shadow Man Asia Award! My team hasn’t yet negotiated all of the finer points but I like the way you’ve done it. Clearly we need to decide on our criteria, so I’m more than curious to know what those 100 points were allocated for: Kim’s comment tells us that some of the criteria were ‘plot, character, prose style etc’ – but what’s the ‘etc’ please?

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:50:52 +0000

Bradley: Well, the Globe panel split two-to-one for Eudgyan on personal preference, but then one panelist switched to Ondaatje as a Real Jury prediction. At the Shadow Giller, we don’t allow that kind of protective dual predicting . I can build a whole slew of scenariors for the Real Jury — I do think they are going to come down to either Bezmozgis or Edugyan, just as the Shadow Jury did.

By: Bradley

Bradley — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:30:42 +0000

Thanks for including the ballots! After the Globe and Mail’s panel picked Ondaatje (2-1 over Edugyan), it was great to see how the Shadow Giller ranked the books.

By: RickP

RickP — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 20:43:31 +0000

kimbofo, I’ll give you that it may just be the style that irks me. I don’t like to think of myself as one who prefers a conventional structure but maybe I am biased that way.

She writes very deliberately in the style but I do think she needs to keep some measure oif control on her writing and each story that I”ve read thus far goes into a zone that I want to find interesting but don’t.

By: kimbofo

kimbofo — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 18:31:45 +0000

Hi Rick, but isn’t the “spin out of control” element of her stories the point? She writes in what I call a hyper-real style, which is exactly what Chuck P does. It’s almost as if both authors find something real that is slightly absurd — ie. new age husbands — but then push it to a new, exaggerated level to show you how ridiculous 21st century life really is. Admittedly, the style is not for everyone, but I quite like it — it makes me realise the absurdity of the age we live in.