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THE MAN Booker International Prize, which recognises an author's overall contribution to literature, is one of novel writing's most prestigious. So, when Philip Roth was awarded the coveted accolade recently, one would have thought the decision would be accompanied by the usual torrent of gushing tributes to his unassailable genius. But an undignified spat has since broken out among the 60,000-pound sterling award's three judges. Publisher Carmen Callil made the bizarre step of "withdrawing" from the award's jury in protest at the decision, saying she "didn't rate (Roth) as a writer", despite having participated in the judging process until its final moments. "He goes on and on
and on about the same subject in almost every single book," she
said. "It's as though he's sitting on your face and you can't
breathe." The jury's chair, book dealer and author Rick Gekoski,
has hit back, branding Callil's public outburst
"disrespectful". He told The Independent: "I
regret very much what she has done. I think it is disrespectful to
Philip Roth, as he is the story, Carmen is not the story." The only
member of the jury to remain silent was novelist Justin Cartwright.
The award, whose previous victors include Ismail Kadare, Chinua Achebe and Alice Munro, was announced in a ceremony in Sydney last week. Roth, whose novels include 1969 Portnoy's Complaint, documenting a man's diatribe during an analysis session, and 2000's The Human Stain, the story of a mixed-race man passing himself off as Jewish, said it was a "great honour". Roth said: "One of the particular pleasures I've had as a writer is to have my work read internationally despite all the heartaches of translation that that entails. I hope the prize will bring me to the attention of readers around the world who are not familiar with my work." Before the ink on Roth's cheque even had a chance to dry, Callil, who was the only member of the jury not to vote for him, went public with her disapproval. "I made it clear I wouldn't have put him on the long list, so I was amazed when he stayed there," she said. "He was the only one I didn't admire — all the others were fine." Callil is founder of feminist publishing house Virago, and author of Bad Faith, a history of Vichy France. The shortlist also featured Philip Pullman, Anne Tyler and Marilynne Robinson. Gekoski confirmed there had been a "long and difficult" meeting to decide upon the winner. "In the end, it was decided that two of us wanted Philip to win and one of us didn't," he said. "We decided the majority would prevail. Justin and I felt that he was genuinely a good writer but Carmen didn't." Roth will pick up his award at a dinner in London on June 28. Earlier, American novelist Philip Roth, known for books like Goodbye, Columbus and Portnoy's Complaint was honoured with the biennial 60,000- pound Man Booker International Prize at a glittering ceremony at the Syndey Writers' Festival. Roth, a Pulitzer Prize winner, was among the 13 finalists, who included Canada-based writer of Indian origin Rohinton Mistry. The Man Booker International Prize, which honours a writer's body of work, is distinct from the annual Man Booker Prize for fiction, which is awarded for a single book. Roth's body of work spans nearly half a century. The 78-year-old writer had earlier won the National Book Award, a statement by the Man Booker International Prize said. For more than 50 years, Roth's books have stimulated, provoked and amused an enormous and still expanding audience, Rick Gekoski, the chair of the judging panel, said. "His career is remarkable in that he starts at such a high level, and keeps getting better. In his 50s and 60s, when most novelists are in decline, he wrote a string of novels of the highest, enduring quality," Gekoski said. Roth, in a video message, said he was honoured. He said one of the particular pleasures he has had as a writer was to have his work read internationally despite all the "heartaches of translations that it entails". In 1969, he became a celebrity with Portnoy's Complaint, the humorous and sexually explicit acount of a "lust-ridden, mother-addicted Jewish bachelor". He received a Pulitzer Prize for his 1997 novel American Pastoral. — The Independent, IANS
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Disagreement
