Rushdie's exclusion from Booker list raises eyebrows

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, AUG 16. The race for this year's Booker Prize has begun, as it always does, on a controversial note with Salman Rushdie surprisingly missing from a longlist that includes V.S.Naipaul, Nadine Gordimer, Beryl Bainbridge, Abdulrazak Gurnah and the U.S.-based Indian debutante Manil Suri for his novel ``The Death of Vishnu'', just the sort of book that Western critics want from India.

The exclusion of Rushdie, whose semi-autobiographical new novel ``The Fury'' is due later this month, has raised eyebrows and the judges' explanation that the novel falls short of his ``usual standard'' is seen as rather specious considering the general ``thinness'' of the long list. But The Times' literary editor, Ms. Erica Wagner, who wrote a scathing review of ``The Fury'', said she was not surprised. She didn't share the view that it was unfair to exclude a writer of his standing while including lesser-known names.

``The Booker prize is for a particular book and not for a writer's overall contribution. When Rushdie got the prize for ``Midnight's Children'', he was not known at all,'' she said.

This is the second time in two years that Rushdie, who won his first Booker with ``Midnight's Children'' in 1981 and then went on to win the Booker of Bookers in 1993, has been excluded. In 1999, his novel ``The Ground Beneath Her Feet'' was kept out amid allegations of backstabbing by his literary foes, of which there is no dearth. So, has London's ``bitchy'' literary establishment which he fled three years ago to seek refuge in New York finally caught up with him?

Naipaul returns to the world of Booker with his new novel ``Half a Life'', due next month, after 22 years. His last Booker appearance was in 1979 when ``A Bend in the River'' was shortlisted, but it failed to win the prize. He has won a Booker Prize only once - in 1971 for ``In a Free State''. The publication of ``Half a Life'' has been preceded by a controversy over Naipaul's recent attack on some of Britain's most sacred literary icons, including E.M. Forster and Somerset Maugham; and for someone who declared that the novel was dead, ``Half a Life'' marks the return of the prodigal. Little is known about the novel except that, in his own words, it is ``easy and light, and a small book and yet full of things.'' Those who have had a sneak preview have described as a reflection on life, about not living life to the full.

There are 24 contenders on the longlist, many of whom have been a part of the Booker literary furniture for years, including Bainbridge who is figuring for the sixth time without ever winning the final œ21,000 prize; Gordimer, Peter Carey, Gurnah and Ian McEwan. This is the first time that a longlist has been made in what is seen as an attempt to attract more attention to the Prize which over the years has established itself as the English- speaking world's most prestigious award. A mere appearance on its long or shortlist pushes up the sales of a book. Only six of the 24 would make to a shortlist, to be announced on September 18; and the winner would be declared in October.

Bookmakers have already got to work declaring Baibridge's ``According to Queeney'', based on the 18th century literary figure, Dr. Johnson's relationship with his benefactress, as a frontrunner. Philip Pullman's ``The Amber Spy'' is the first children's book ever to make it to a Booker list and though it is unlikely to stay on in the race, its inclusion is seen as a growing acknowledgement of children's literature in its own right.

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