I have to admit that I don't pay much attention to the Booker Prize. I don't read many novels and I am just not that interested in prizes for literature. There are some names on the list of winners that I don't even recognize and only four whose books I've read (and I've only read one of the actual winning books).
A few years ago I read The Untouchable by John Banville. I thought it was really good. I liked it a lot more than I liked the True History of the Kelly Gang (winner 2001).
When I heard the other day that John Banville won the 2005 Booker Prize I wasn't surprised because I'd read one of his books and thought it was good. However, I was shocked to discover that so few people bought his books. I can't understand that at all. I'm not really an artsy kind of guy or anything like a literary critic, but the book I read was not hard to read and was really enjoyable. I can't help thinking that he must have had very bad marketing.
