International Man Booker Prize: Six

shortlisted authors revealed

Two Israelis, three Europeans and an Argentinian have been
chosen for this year's international shortlist.

Six books have been shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker
International Prize
By Duarte Garrido, Entertainment Reporter-Friday 21 April 2017

A shortlist has been revealed

for this year's prestigious Man Booker International Prize.
The UK-based award celebrates works of translated fiction and is
given to both the author and English-language translator.

Each shortlisted author and translator has already received

1,000, and is up for a 50,000 prize to be divided equally
between the winning pair.
This year's list includes two Israeli authors, including the
celebrated Amos Oz, who is competing for the prize for the
second time.

They will be up against three European and one South American

author, which were shortlisted from a longlist of 13 authors.

"Our shortlist spans the epic and the everyday," said Nick Barley,
chair of judges.
"From fevered dreams to sleepless nights, from remote islands to
overwhelming cities, these wonderful novels shine a light on
compelling individuals struggling to make sense of their place in a
complex world."

Here is a look into the authors and the works selected for the
2017 Man Booker International Prize:

Compass, by Mathias Enard (France) - Translated by

Charlotte Mandell

The story of an insomniac musicologist who, in feverish delirium,

recalls the most important bits of his adventurous life, including
his travels to Istanbul, Aleppo, Damascus and Tehran.

"An immersive, nocturnal, musical novel, full of generous

erudition and bittersweet humour," said the judges.

"Compass is a journey and a declaration of admiration, a quest for

the otherness inside us all and a hand reaching out - like a bridge
between West and East, yesterday and tomorrow."
Image:Compass is by French author Mathias Enard
A Horse Walks Into A Bar, by David Grossman (Israel) -
Translated by Jessica Cohen
In a small Israeli comedy club, a stand up artist falls apart on
stage, leaving his audience fascinated by the misery of his act.

"Charming, erratic, repellent," the judges said.

Image:David Grossman's A Horse Walks Into A Bar is about a
stand-up artist
The Unseen, by Roy Jacobsen (Norway) - Translated by Don
Bartlett

A coming-of-age story of a girl born on an island who is sent to

the mainland to work for one of the wealthy families on the coast.

"Even by his high standards, his magnificent new novel The

Unseen is Jacobsen's finest to date," wrote the Irish Times.

"As blunt as it is subtle."

Image:Norwegian writer Roy Jacobson's The Unseen made the
shortlist
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal, by Dorthe Nors (Denmark) -
Translated by Misha Hoekstra

The novel follows an intelligent single woman in her 40s whose

life lacks focus and who is determined to solve all her spiritual
problems.

"Nors' writing is by turns witty, gut wrenching, stark and lyrical,"

wrote the LA Times.
Image:Danish author Dorthe Nors' shortlisted work is Mirror,
Shoulder, Signal
Judas, by Amos Oz (Israel) - Translated by Nicholas de
Lange

Oz's 20th published work of fiction tells the story of a young,

idealist student drawn to a strange house, forced to rethink the
beginning of religion.

"Judas is a tragicomic coming-of-age tale and a radical rethinking

of the concept of treason," wrote the judges.
Image:Amos Oz is a celebrated Israeli author
Fever Dream, by Samanta Schweblin (Argentina) -
Translated by Megan McDowell

The story of a woman and a boy in a rural hospital clinic, one

forcing the other to recall the past.

"Hundreds of novels have flooded me with heartbreak or

compassion, but very few - maybe none - have made me feel
libidinous or spooked," wrote the New Yorker's Jia Yolentino.
Image:Samanta Schweblin's Fever Dream is set in a hospital clinic
The 2017 winner will be announced on 14 June in a ceremony at
London's Victoria and Albert Museum.
The Man Booker International Prize complements the Man Booker
Prize for Fiction. Together, they celebrate the best books from
around the globe, published in the UK and available in English.
Posted by Thavam