Book Box: Five Pulitzer Prizewinners For You
Dear Reader,
Trust is a fashionable book; in an era of false news, it has four versions of the same story. This years co-winner for the Pulitzer fiction prize, this novel is spot on.
Starting from it’s character of a ghost writer.
Truly, the ghost writer is today’s storyteller. If you are in doubt, note this year’s biggest literary celebrity – Prince Harry’s ghost writer J M Moehringer – who by the way, happens to be a Pulitzer prizewinning memoirist himself.
Coming back to the prizewinning Trust, we find ourselves careening through a concourse of conflicting versions, three of which are in todays most read genre- the memoir.
At the centre of this novel is the shadowy figure of a Wall Street financier and his philanthropist wife, each with their rendition of events. Add to this a public version, and a commissioned version and we find ourselves looking at the conundrum of our lives – whose transcription do we trust ? Is it to be the pulp fiction writer, the ghost writer, the financier or the philanthropist wife?
Set largely in Wall Street in New York, a neighbourhood juxtaposed against working class Brooklyn, with a few excursions to Swiss sanatoriums, Trust taps into the tensions between the capitalist and communist ideologies, and also the patriarchal and feminist manifestos. It’s a clever construct, even though it feels contrived, with everything from the story to the characters, subordinate to this overarching architecture.
Its co-winner this year, is another book that dazzles with its design.
Author Barbara Kingsolver was nominated for the Pulitzer prize in 1998, for her The Poisonwood Bible, about a missionary family in the Congo. Quarter of a century later, she finally wins the Pulitzer for Demon Copperhead, a modern retelling of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
Here are three reasons to read this 560 pages longish book
>If you are a fan of The Catcher in the Rye or Vernon God Little you will be instantly drawn to the scathing and irreverent voice of young Damon, as he tells us his story.
>Dickens devotees will marvel at the brilliance of this retelling of David Copperfield. That a novel with a Dickensian cast of characters can work so spectacularly in the rust opioid belt of Appalachia is a revelation- literally Hillbilly Elegy on a high. From the alienation of the industrial revolution to child labour to a wretched Welfare State, its astonishing to note nothing substantial has changed.
>Readers of Empire of Pain, the expose on the wilful creation of an oxycontin addiction epidemic, will find this book the perfect complement.
And if you’ve read none of the above, Demon Copperhead is a perfect standalone – a vivid, fast paced story that gets you in the heart of the biggest crisis of modern day America – loneliness , addiction, opoids, state services that turn draconian (check out The School for Good Mothers for more of that)
Still on the subject of Pulitzer prizes, here are three powerful previous prizewinners for you –
Prizewinner 1 of 3 : Historical fiction
If you enjoy an Austenian ironic sensibility set in the Gangs of New York era, go straight to the 1921 Pulitzer prize winning The Age of Innocence. Edith Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer prize, she is a treat to read. Follow up her prize winning novel with her lesser known gem, a story of the life and times of an ambitious young woman called Lily Bart in The House of Mirth
Prizewinner 2 of 3 : Post apocalyptic survival story
Follow ‘the man’ and ‘the boy’ as they journey in a post apocalyptic world, in this amazing creation of the 2007 prizewinning novel. There are no names and nobody much else. There’s not much action either, yet The Road is riveting. It’s bare, it’s simple, its poetry in prose. It casts you down, yet it makes you grateful for your life and your world. Recommended reading for everyone on this planet.
Prizewinner 3 of 3 : East vs West psychological spy story.
Only American citizens are eligible for the Pulitzer prize. There is an emphasis on depicting American life and prize winning novels tend to be US centric, though some like the 2000 winner Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri are immigration stories that straddle two countries. Outstanding among these two country stories, is the 2016 prizewinning The Sympathizer, which is set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. I loved its writing and it’s superbly self aware narrator, a man of two minds, the eastern and western, whose individual loyalties clash with his ideology.
I could go on and on, with other prizewinners like Underground Railroad and classics like Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Color Purple by Alice Walker and To Kill a Mocking Bird – clearly we have problems of plenty, as far as the Pulitzers are concerned. But five books is a good number to stay with for the week ahead.
Also Happy Mothers Day weekend! Here are Mothers Day Gift ideas and also seven provocative books for mothers. Next week, as May finally hots up, I bring you books and book podcasts for the summer holidays.
Until then, happy reading!
Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and the founder of Sonya’s Book Box, a bespoke book service. Each week, she brings you specially curated books to give you an immersive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading recommendations or suggestions, write to her at [email protected]
The views expressed are personal
Enjoy unlimited digital access with HT Premium
Subscribe Now to continue reading
Dear Reader,
Trust is a fashionable book; in an era of false news, it has four versions of the same story. This years co-winner for the Pulitzer fiction prize, this novel is spot on.
Starting from it’s character of a ghost writer.
Truly, the ghost writer is today’s storyteller. If you are in doubt, note this year’s biggest literary celebrity – Prince Harry’s ghost writer J M Moehringer – who by the way, happens to be a Pulitzer prizewinning memoirist himself.
Coming back to the prizewinning Trust, we find ourselves careening through a concourse of conflicting versions, three of which are in todays most read genre- the memoir.
At the centre of this novel is the shadowy figure of a Wall Street financier and his philanthropist wife, each with their rendition of events. Add to this a public version, and a commissioned version and we find ourselves looking at the conundrum of our lives – whose transcription do we trust ? Is it to be the pulp fiction writer, the ghost writer, the financier or the philanthropist wife?
Set largely in Wall Street in New York, a neighbourhood juxtaposed against working class Brooklyn, with a few excursions to Swiss sanatoriums, Trust taps into the tensions between the capitalist and communist ideologies, and also the patriarchal and feminist manifestos. It’s a clever construct, even though it feels contrived, with everything from the story to the characters, subordinate to this overarching architecture.
Its co-winner this year, is another book that dazzles with its design.
Author Barbara Kingsolver was nominated for the Pulitzer prize in 1998, for her The Poisonwood Bible, about a missionary family in the Congo. Quarter of a century later, she finally wins the Pulitzer for Demon Copperhead, a modern retelling of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
Here are three reasons to read this 560 pages longish book
>If you are a fan of The Catcher in the Rye or Vernon God Little you will be instantly drawn to the scathing and irreverent voice of young Damon, as he tells us his story.
>Dickens devotees will marvel at the brilliance of this retelling of David Copperfield. That a novel with a Dickensian cast of characters can work so spectacularly in the rust opioid belt of Appalachia is a revelation- literally Hillbilly Elegy on a high. From the alienation of the industrial revolution to child labour to a wretched Welfare State, its astonishing to note nothing substantial has changed.
>Readers of Empire of Pain, the expose on the wilful creation of an oxycontin addiction epidemic, will find this book the perfect complement.
And if you’ve read none of the above, Demon Copperhead is a perfect standalone – a vivid, fast paced story that gets you in the heart of the biggest crisis of modern day America – loneliness , addiction, opoids, state services that turn draconian (check out The School for Good Mothers for more of that)
Still on the subject of Pulitzer prizes, here are three powerful previous prizewinners for you –
Prizewinner 1 of 3 : Historical fiction
If you enjoy an Austenian ironic sensibility set in the Gangs of New York era, go straight to the 1921 Pulitzer prize winning The Age of Innocence. Edith Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer prize, she is a treat to read. Follow up her prize winning novel with her lesser known gem, a story of the life and times of an ambitious young woman called Lily Bart in The House of Mirth
Prizewinner 2 of 3 : Post apocalyptic survival story
Follow ‘the man’ and ‘the boy’ as they journey in a post apocalyptic world, in this amazing creation of the 2007 prizewinning novel. There are no names and nobody much else. There’s not much action either, yet The Road is riveting. It’s bare, it’s simple, its poetry in prose. It casts you down, yet it makes you grateful for your life and your world. Recommended reading for everyone on this planet.
Prizewinner 3 of 3 : East vs West psychological spy story.
Only American citizens are eligible for the Pulitzer prize. There is an emphasis on depicting American life and prize winning novels tend to be US centric, though some like the 2000 winner Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri are immigration stories that straddle two countries. Outstanding among these two country stories, is the 2016 prizewinning The Sympathizer, which is set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. I loved its writing and it’s superbly self aware narrator, a man of two minds, the eastern and western, whose individual loyalties clash with his ideology.
I could go on and on, with other prizewinners like Underground Railroad and classics like Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Color Purple by Alice Walker and To Kill a Mocking Bird – clearly we have problems of plenty, as far as the Pulitzers are concerned. But five books is a good number to stay with for the week ahead.
Also Happy Mothers Day weekend! Here are Mothers Day Gift ideas and also seven provocative books for mothers. Next week, as May finally hots up, I bring you books and book podcasts for the summer holidays.
Until then, happy reading!
Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and the founder of Sonya’s Book Box, a bespoke book service. Each week, she brings you specially curated books to give you an immersive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading recommendations or suggestions, write to her at [email protected]
The views expressed are personal
Enjoy unlimited digital access with HT Premium
Subscribe Now to continue reading
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