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The English Patient wins Golden Booker
Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet and novelist Michael Ondaatje’s bestselling novel The English Patient — which moves between a nurse tending to a horribly burned man in an Italian villa at the end of the second world war and a tragic love affair from his past — has been crowned best winner of the Booker prize of the last 50 years.
The Golden Booker was held this year to mark 50 successful years of the much coveted literary prize. The winner was revealed at the closing event of the Man Booker 50 Festival in Royal Festival Hall in London.
A panel of judges read all 51 former winners of the award, with each assigned a decade from the Booker’s history. From 1970s, The Observer’s Robert McCrum chose VS Naipaul’s In a Free State; for the 1980s, poet Lemn Sissay, went for Penelope Lively’s Moon Tiger; novelist Kamila Shamsie’s chose The English Patient for the 1990s; Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall was nominated as the best of the 2000s, and George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo topped the 2010s Booker winners’ list.
The five selected novels were then put to a public vote. “The English Patient is that rare novel which gets under your skin and insists you return to it time and again, always yielding a new surprise or delight,” judge Kamila Shamsie said.
“It moves seamlessly between the epic and the intimate. One moment you’re in looking at the vast sweep of the desert, and the next moment watching a nurse place a piece of plum in a patient’s mouth. Few novels really deserve the praise: transformative. This one does,” she added.
One of the world’s foremost writers, Ondaatje’s work has influenced an entire generation of writers and readers.
MICHAEL ONDAATJE’S BESTSELLING NOVEL THE ENGLISH PATIENT — WHICH MOVES BETWEEN A NURSE TENDING TO A HORRIBLY BURNED MAN IN AN ITALIAN VILLA AT THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND A TRAGIC LOVE AFFAIR FROM HIS PAST — HAS BEEN CROWNED BEST WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE OF THE LAST 50 YEARS.