This year’s winner – Northern Irish author Anna Burns – was announced on Tuesday 16 October. Her novel Milkman, is a coming-of-age story about a young girl’s affair with a married man. Set in an unnamed city in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, it was an unexpected win for the author. British author Daisy Johnson (27), the youngest person to ever be nominated, was tipped for the prize for her debut novel Everything Under – a reimagined take on the the Greek myth Oedipus told through th lens of a troubled mother daughter relationship in modern Britain.
The Man Booker Prize 2018 Shortlist
Winner: Anna Burns (UK) | Milkman
Esi Edugyan (Canada) | Washington Black
Daisy Johnson (UK) | Everything Under
Rachel Kushner (USA) | The Mars Room
Richard Powers (USA) | The Overstory
Robin Robertson (UK) | The Long Take
To celebrate the talent this award recognises, we’ve rounded up some the best of all the winners since its launch in 1969: each one as equally gripping and ground-breaking as the last.
1. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989 Winner)
Being a favourite of the GCSE and A Level English Literature curriculums can be both a blessing and curse for a novel, but Kazuo Ishiguro’s snapshot of post-war Britain shouldn’t be dismissed as only this. Speaking of lost love and traditions, The Remains of the Day is a modern classic that follows an English butler as he reflects on his past and struggles against the confinement of his own pomposity and reserved nature. Kazuo Ishiguro has been nominated for the prize four times over the course of his career, proving his mastery in the telling of stories.
2. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (1992 Winner)
The film version of this received critical acclaim and international recognition, but the languid writing style of Ondaatje makes this a book worth reading. As the Second World War comes to a close and troops begin to leave Italy, army nurse Hana stays behind at the makeshift hospital she has worked at to tend to her last remaining patient. Suffering from amnesia and burnt beyond recognition, the ‘English’ soldier intermittently recalls moments from his life before the accident.
3. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (2000 Winner)
The Blind Assassin’s protagonist is Iris: a once young and rich, but now old and frail, woman who spends a lot of her time ruminating over the tragic death of her sister. The title reflects that of the dead sister’s scandalous novel, which earned her a cult following and possibly led to her death. This dark and humorous novel tells a story within a story and reveals Atwood at her very best.
4. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2002 Winner)
Yann Martel’s surrealist tale of a young boy surviving on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with only a tiger for company questions the very meaning of life and its vast following has conjured up religious metaphors and comparisons in an attempt to explain it. Whilst the ending may leave you with more questions than answers, it is the unlikely companionship between man and beast that makes this is such an extraordinary novel, and one definitely worth reading.
5. The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer (1974 Winner)
Unsettled South Africa creates the backdrop for this story in which a wealthy farmer, who seemingly has it all, endures the dissolution of his family, the increasing indifference of his workers and the destruction of his land.Echoed by the upheaval in the country at that time, Gordimer’s work is both a racial commentary and a challenge of materialism as a whole.
6. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981 Winner)
Not only did Midnight’s Children win the 1981 prize, but in 1993 it was judged to be the ‘Booker of all Bookers’- the best novel ever to have won the Man Booker. Saleem Sinai is born at the exact moment that India gains independence and consequently develops telepathic powers that connect him to 1,000 other ‘midnight’s children’ who also have special powers.
7. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (2011 Winner)
Narrated by the now-retired protagonist, Tony Webster, the story follows his memories of how he and his sixth form friends met a boy called Adrian Finn. Having vowed to be friends for life, Webster’s past begins to catch up with him, culminating in a thriller-like ending that leads Webster to question the accuracy of his own memories.
8. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (1997 Winner)
As Roy’s literary debut, this was the book to read in the 90s. Set in the heart of Kerala, it follows the story of young twins Rahel and Estha as they explore the meaning of love and family, and how the small things in life can affect everything.
9. The Sea by John Branville (2005 Winner)
We follow main character Max Morden as he returns to a seaside village he visited as a child. Recovering from a recent tragedy and escaping an oncoming trauma, he gets lost in memories of the childhood summer spent there, not knowing at the time that his meeting of twins Miles and Chloe would haunt him for the rest of his life. Branville writes poetically and descriptively, creating a rich and intricate vision of the setting and characters. You’ll want to read this novel again and again, just to soak up every detail.
10. Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee (1999 Winner)
After partaking in a scandalous affair with a student, lecturer David retreats to his daughter’s isolated farm on the edges of Cape Town.
Thinking his troubles are behind him, David settles into the quiet predictability of country life. But when he and his daughter are savagely attacked, it tests their relationship to the very limits. This is a truly exhilarating examination of family and deception.
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