The 1994 Booker Prize Shortlist- 30 Years On!

[@emmaginationlove]

Thanks for doing a review of this selection. I loved it. Its like a time capsule of that Booker year and the politics around it.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Thank you so much! Really glad to hear it!

[@BookishTexan]

I really liked “How Late It was, How Late” and found it surprisingly moving in the end.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Yes! It’s surprising how it gets you at the end!

[@janicedowson7793]

I loved How late it was, how late. Thought it was brilliant and it really stuck with me.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Glad to hear it! It’s odd to me that it got so much hatred at the time!

[@LiteraryMultitudes]

I love these videos! So interesting to look back on these shortlists.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Thank you so much! It’s so much fun for me!

[@scallydandlingaboutthebooks]

I didn’t read Beside the Ocean of Time back then and you got me quite intrigued by it. Knowledge of Angels was a standout book for me that year.

[@BobTheBookerer]

I feel like Beside is your kind of book- I hope you like it! And yes, Knowledge has made me think she might be my kind of author!

[@jacquelinemcmenamin8204]

My son ( whose around your age?) came in to give me cup of tea. Seeing you on screen he began singing “ Bob the Booker, Did you read it?” To the tune of Bob the builder !

[@BobTheBookerer]

@@jacquelinemcmenamin8204 hahahah, I love this so much!

[@lindylouwho550]

Me again! I have never heard of Beside the Ocean of Time by George Mackay Brown - you described it so beautifully that I simply had to order it immediately from Waterstones 😊

[@BobTheBookerer]

@@lindylouwho550 Ahh! I hope you enjoy it! Something about it just really touched me, and I hope it does for you too!

[@deegrows7589]

Hoping life takes a turn for the better for you. Take care of yourself and good reading!

[@lindylouwho550]

So great to see How Late It Was, How Late being reviewed on booktube. I adored the book and the character of Sammy 😊

[@BobTheBookerer]

@@lindylouwho550 Oh lovely! I’m so glad someone else enjoyed it!

[@dqan7372]

Was expecting, perhaps, to see the list as a time capsule with little to interest outside the winner. But I've already order "Beside the Ocean of Time".

[@BobTheBookerer]

Ooh, I hope you like it- it was such a joy for me!

[@ianp9086]

I read Reef back in 94 and really liked it but have never got to any others on this fascinating shortlist - the Kelman I bought at the time is still on the shelf unread😢 - but I am promising myself to read it next year, along with Beside the Ocean which you have really inspired me to read. Kelman’s book was at a significant moment for Scottish literature I think - Trainspotting was just the year before, and writers such as Ali Smith, Kathleen Jamie, Alan Warner and AL Kennedy were just starting their careers. It really gave a kind of validation to writing in dialect and to the voices of people rarely heard in literature. So it’s about time I read it!!

[@BobTheBookerer]

Yes! So great to see the impact Kelman had on other writers. Douglas Stuart regularly cites him as an inspiration!

[@barbarahelgaker390]

Must look for the Jill,Paton Walsh, I have read some of her children' s book but not her adult output. Sounds like a good one to try.

[@BobTheBookerer]

Ooh, I hadn’t realised she was a children’s author too- I’d imagine they are beautiful!

[@jacquelinemcmenamin8204]

I loved The Folding Star. There’s some great scenes in that book and a few funny pieces of dialogue. I’m delighted to hear that Roddy Doyle is going to be on the Booker judging panel next year.

[@BobTheBookerer]

It’s so much fun, isn’t it? He’s such an enjoyable writer! And glad about Roddy too!

[@tillysshelf]

The only one of these that I'd read or even heard of was Paradise, but Reef and Beside the Ocean of Time both sound very appealing.

[@josephlastname]

i just picked up The Busconductor Hines by James Kelman because the cover gave me Alasdair Gray vibes (and it was a buck lol), didn’t realize he won the Booker, let alone controversially!

[@BobTheBookerer]

@@josephlastname ooh, I’ve only read How late, and A Disaffection (his other shortlisted one), but that’s always fun when you just pick up a book and find out the author’s story later!