2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version: January 1, 2011 to January 31, 2012
This challenge pits winners of the English Man Booker Prize against winners of the Scottish James Tait Black Memorial Prize in a British Version of the Battle of the Prizes. Good thing it ran until the end of this month, so I could finish.
Click here for the 2012 Battle of the Prizes, British Version.
Click here for the 2012 Battle of the Prizes, American Version.
I read four books for the 2011 challenge, two Booker winners and two James Tait Black winners. I drew no big conclusions about the two prizes, other than the James Tait Black prize is no "me too" award -- it stands on its own. Both prizes have been around for many years, but only three books have won both. Also, I have a general, perhaps unsubstantiated, feeling that the Bookers get to be more famous but that the Blacks are undercover gems.
MY BOOKS
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Booker; reviewed here)
Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd (Black; reviewed here)
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth (Booker; reviewed here)
The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Sparks (Black; reviewed here)