LONDON:
An Indian lost out on winning the Man Booker prize second time in as
many years as Australian author Richard Flanagan took away the literary
world's most coveted prize for his book 'The Narrow Road to the Deep
North'.
Flanagan's book is the story of his father as a prisoner during war in a Japanese prison and was called a literary masterpiece by the jury.
Flanagan - the Tasmanian-born author is the third Australian to win the coveted prize which, for the first time in its 46-year history, is now expanded to include entries from writers of all nationalities, writing originally in English and published in the UK.
He joins an impressive literary canon of former winners including fellow Australians Thomas Kenneally (Schindler's Ark, 1982) and Peter Carey (Oscar & Lucinda, 1988 and The True History of the Kelly Gang, 2001).
'The Narrow Road to the Deep North' is the sixth novel from Flanagan which centres upon the experiences of surgeon Dorrigo Evans in a Japanese POW camp on the now infamous Thailand-Burma railway.
Named after a famous Japanese book by the haiku poet Basho, The Narrow Road to the Deep North was described by the 2014 judges as 'a harrowing account of the cost of war to all who are caught up in it'. Questioning the meaning of heroism, the book explores what motivates acts of extreme cruelty and shows that perpetrators may be as much victims as those they abuse.
Interestingly, the book is the real story of Flanagan's father as a prisoner of war. He was a survivor of the Burma Death Railway. The author took 12 years to write it.
Ironically, Flanagan's father died the day he finished the book
Flanagan was announced as the 2014 winner by AC Grayling, chair of judges, at an awards dinner at London's Guildhall.
He was presented with a trophy from The Duchess of Cornwall and a £50,000 cheque from Emmanuel Roman, Chief Executive of Man Group.
Grayling said "The two great themes from the origin of literature are love and war: this is a magnificent novel of love and war. Written in prose of extraordinary elegance and force, it bridges East and West, past and present, with a story of guilt and heroism. 'This is the book that Richard Flanagan was born to write".
Nominees for the 2014 Man Booker prize for fiction. (AP photo)
In addition to his £50,000 prize and trophy, Flanagan also receives a designer bound edition of his book, and a further £2,500 for being shortlisted.
On winning the Man Booker prize, an author can expect international recognition, not to mention a dramatic increase in book sales.
Sales of Hilary Mantel's winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, have exceeded a million copies in their UK editions. His novels have subsequently been adapted for stage and screen, with the highly acclaimed theatre productions of both novels arriving on Broadway in April 2015.
Granta, publisher of Eleanor Catton's 2013 winner, The Luminaries, has sold 300,000 copies of the book in the UK and almost 500,000 worldwide.
Kolkata boy Neel Mukherjee was among the six short listed authors for his book Mukherjee's latest novel The Lives of Others.
In 2013, Indian writer Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland lost out to Eleanor Catton who became the youngest writer to ever win a Man Booker prize.
The 28-year-old New Zealander's book The Luminaries - an 832-page murder mystery based on the gold rush in the 19th-century is also the longest novel to ever win the coveted literary prize.
Flanagan's book is the story of his father as a prisoner during war in a Japanese prison and was called a literary masterpiece by the jury.
Flanagan - the Tasmanian-born author is the third Australian to win the coveted prize which, for the first time in its 46-year history, is now expanded to include entries from writers of all nationalities, writing originally in English and published in the UK.
He joins an impressive literary canon of former winners including fellow Australians Thomas Kenneally (Schindler's Ark, 1982) and Peter Carey (Oscar & Lucinda, 1988 and The True History of the Kelly Gang, 2001).
'The Narrow Road to the Deep North' is the sixth novel from Flanagan which centres upon the experiences of surgeon Dorrigo Evans in a Japanese POW camp on the now infamous Thailand-Burma railway.
Named after a famous Japanese book by the haiku poet Basho, The Narrow Road to the Deep North was described by the 2014 judges as 'a harrowing account of the cost of war to all who are caught up in it'. Questioning the meaning of heroism, the book explores what motivates acts of extreme cruelty and shows that perpetrators may be as much victims as those they abuse.
Interestingly, the book is the real story of Flanagan's father as a prisoner of war. He was a survivor of the Burma Death Railway. The author took 12 years to write it.
Ironically, Flanagan's father died the day he finished the book
Flanagan was announced as the 2014 winner by AC Grayling, chair of judges, at an awards dinner at London's Guildhall.
He was presented with a trophy from The Duchess of Cornwall and a £50,000 cheque from Emmanuel Roman, Chief Executive of Man Group.
Grayling said "The two great themes from the origin of literature are love and war: this is a magnificent novel of love and war. Written in prose of extraordinary elegance and force, it bridges East and West, past and present, with a story of guilt and heroism. 'This is the book that Richard Flanagan was born to write".
Nominees for the 2014 Man Booker prize for fiction. (AP photo)
In addition to his £50,000 prize and trophy, Flanagan also receives a designer bound edition of his book, and a further £2,500 for being shortlisted.
On winning the Man Booker prize, an author can expect international recognition, not to mention a dramatic increase in book sales.
Sales of Hilary Mantel's winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, have exceeded a million copies in their UK editions. His novels have subsequently been adapted for stage and screen, with the highly acclaimed theatre productions of both novels arriving on Broadway in April 2015.
Granta, publisher of Eleanor Catton's 2013 winner, The Luminaries, has sold 300,000 copies of the book in the UK and almost 500,000 worldwide.
Kolkata boy Neel Mukherjee was among the six short listed authors for his book Mukherjee's latest novel The Lives of Others.
In 2013, Indian writer Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland lost out to Eleanor Catton who became the youngest writer to ever win a Man Booker prize.
The 28-year-old New Zealander's book The Luminaries - an 832-page murder mystery based on the gold rush in the 19th-century is also the longest novel to ever win the coveted literary prize.
"There is a very powerful cohort of contemporary American writers, but
neither the longlist nor the shortlist was overwhelmed by them," he
said.BANGALORE:
Oracle India looks to be in the middle of yet another bribery issue,
and multiple sources told TOI that Sandeep Mathur's sudden exit as
managing director of the company is linked to this.
Mathur quit soon after returning from an Oracle conference in San Francisco earlier this month. Shailender Kumar, group VP-key accounts for Oracle India, has taken over as interim MD.
Mathur quit soon after returning from an Oracle conference in San Francisco earlier this month. Shailender Kumar, group VP-key accounts for Oracle India, has taken over as interim MD.
