IT would seem the Booker judges have had enough of celebrating the fringe. And controversy. For, no matter which book they pick on November 7, they can be sure it will be a wholesome, old-fashioned exercise in storytelling. However, while the quintet is as solid as can be (in contrast to last year's shortlist which led to fears about the death of the novel), some noteworthies are conspicuous by their absence. Is it a distaste for commercialism which kept out Martin Amis'
The Information ? And why have the judges confined themselves to five books instead of the usual six? It is disappointing that the Booker has not thrown up any fresh, young writer. But what is beyond doubt is that the chosen five make for a perfect autumn reading list.
Salman Rushdie. The Moor's Last Sigh. Cape
.
Rushdie, 48, was a favourite even before the book was published. Marking a return to his
Midnight's Children form, the book is a magic realist lament for India's fast disappearing pluralism. Like the author himself, Moor gasps for breath as he rushes against time to tell his tale. The comic-tragic saga about a Jewish Catholic family symbolises India's journey. The book has also thrown up its fair share of controversy, which has become one of Rushdie's hallmarks. Angering Bal Thackeray and Sonia Gandhi may not match jibes at Islam, but it has ensured an unofficial ban In India. And therein lies the catch: any endorsement of his works is bound to be questioned on considerations beyond the literary.
Barry Unsworth. Morality Play. Hamish Hamilton
.
Like Rushdie, Unsworth, 65, now has a shot at being the first writer to win the Booker twice (his Sacred Hunger was a joint winner in 1992). This whodunit about a medieval troupe which substitutes a real-life murder mystery for the traditional Christian fare, can be read at various levels and is a powerful evocation of the past. Which is only to be expected, for meticulous research and moral puzzles are Unsworth's forte. While one reviewer trashed the book as being "downright ponderous", it's a novel to watch out for and could prove to be the dark horse.
Pat Barker. The Ghost Road. Viking.
The third of a trilogy, It is a satirical comment on the absurdity of war. An army psychologist, who features in the earlier two works, contracts the flu in 1918 and reflects on his earlier work among the Melanesians. While faultfinders have attributed the 52-year-old writer's inclusion in the shortlist to a half-hearted attempt to maintain some sort of a gender balance, The Ghost Road has been acclaimed as a touching, if predictable, moan for the simple things in life and the pointless preoccupations of western culture.
Tim Winton. The Riders. Picador
.
This 13th offering from Winton, 35, is a cross-continent adventure. An Australian setting up home in Ireland is thrown into a tizzy when his wife disappears. With his little daughter in tow, he embarks on a search around Europe. It definitely warrants a read as critics have labelled it a masterly combination of the storytelling and travelogue forms. And since a mixture of the old world and the new appears to be the running theme with this year's Booker nominees, The Riders has also been hailed as "a modern trek through the Old World".
Justin Cartwright. In Every Face I Meet. Sceptre
.
Probably the only really Nineties book on the shortlist, the book draws its title from a Blake poem ("I ... mark in every face I meet / Marks of weakness, marks of woe"). Set in a single day, it reproduces the thought process of two characters: an investment banker obsessed with Nelson Mandela and a pimp. Fifty-two-year-old Cartwright's credentials as a satirist have already been well-established.