G. (1972)
Who wrote it?
John Berger (1926-2017, active from 1958), born London, England. Marxist firebrand, televisual art critic, prolific polymath. Perhaps best known for his set text on art criticism, Ways of Seeing, published alongside a BBC TV series in the same year as G.
What's it about
The eponymous "G" shags his way around early 20th century Europe, while largely ignoring various major events happening around him. It's a somewhat episodic and definitely non-linear narrative, padded out with a whole lot of philosophizing about how men and women supposedly all think, and how romance and shagging work. This is by some distance the hardest book to summarize in the series so far.
What I liked
There are some spectacular historical sequences - notably for me the first manned flight over the Alps and the graphic and depressing vignettes of the WW1 Trenches.
Similarly, the denouement, and especially the ball section, is pretty gripping.
It's certainly different. One of the more structurally and technically unusual winners so far.
There are a couple of amusing penis doodles which provide a welcome bit of levity in the midst of all the heavy.
What I didn't like
There are frequently pages at a time of ponderous philosophizing. It's all incredibly well written and the sort of thing that if used in moderation would be stunning. But the balance feels off. Maybe that's part of the point, and the idea of story punctuated by occasional insight is being deconstructed. But damn, it's exhausting.
Many of the points within these sections hit home, but often they feel dated and overly broad generalisations. Lots of "this is how men think about sex" etc that feels wholly reductive.
I get that it's the point, but the central character is really not endearing. His single-mindedness and political apathy is interesting for a while, but soon gets boring.
Overall it felt like a lot of hard work with only occasional reward. When it flies, it really flies, but there's a lot of slog in between.
Food & drink pairings
Cherries. Obviously. (Quite a memorable single-entendre sequence)
Pretty sure there's a lot of champagne in this one too.
Fun facts
Berger used his platform when collecting the award to lay into the Booker family's - let's say- troublesome history regarding slavery and ongoing exploitation of trade in the Caribbean. It's not something I'm going to dive into now, but certainly worth being aware of - a decent article here summarises the gist of the issue.
He also gave half of the prize money to the British Black Panther Movement.
You might think this went down badly with the Booker organisation, and in some senses it did. But it was also their first real headline-grabbing controversy, and that seemed to be something that wasn’t exactly discouraged in future years. It essentially brought the Prize to a much wider audience, and continued its ascent from niche concern to occasional tabloid obsession.
Vanquished Foes
Susan Hill (The Bird of Night)
Thomas Keneally (The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith)
David Storey (Pasmore)
A shorter shortlist for this one. But I've still not read any of them. Should I? Should anything else have been nominated that was written in 1972?
Context
In 1972:
Bloody Sunday massacre in Northern Ireland; Anti-British riots throughout Ireland
Nixon visits China; Re-elected for 2nd term; Watergate scandal
Pakistan commences nuclear weapons programme; withdraws from Commonwealth
1972 Munich Olympics, at which 11 Israeli athletes are massacred by Black September terrorists
Biological Weapons Convention signed by 70 nations
Idi Amin expels Asians from Uganda
Strikes in Britain by miners, dockers
Arrest of key Red Army Faction members in Germany
East and West Germany recognise each other.
Last major smallpox epidemic in Europe occurs in Yugoslavia
Apollo 17, to date the last manned mission to the moon
Legal sale of cannabis in the Netherlands begins
The Godfather
Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange is pulled at the director's request and doesn't screen again in the UK for 27 years
M*A*S*H begins on US TV
The Joy of Sex is published
Atari releases Pong, the first commercially successful video game
Life Lessons
Men love shagging. All men; and nothing else.
Don't bother engaging with society. Stick to shagging because as soon as you decide to have a political epiphany you will die.
Score
6
Again, more to admire than enjoy. And a few aspects that I didn't even especially admire. I'm very conscious that this is a fairly well regarded winner but unfortunately for me - for the most part - it didn't do it.
Ranking to date:
Troubles - J.G. Farrell (1970, "Lost Booker") - 8.5
The Elected Member - Bernice Rubens (1970) - 7
In a Free State* - V.S. Naipaul (1971) - 6.5
G. - John Berger (1972) - 6
Something to Answer For - P. H. Newby (1969) - 5.5
*Read in later condensed edition.
Next up
More J.G. Farrell, with 1973's The Siege of Krishnapur. Looking forward to this one!
