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Bad sex in fiction award includes Booker winner among shortlist targets Bad sex in fiction award includes Booker winner among shortlist targets
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Richard Flanagan's Booker-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North, cited by judges of that prize as an "outstanding work of literature", has landed another, rather more dubious accolade: a spot on the shortlist for the Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction award, for a passage in which the act of love is interrupted by a dog killing a fairy penguin.Richard Flanagan's Booker-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North, cited by judges of that prize as an "outstanding work of literature", has landed another, rather more dubious accolade: a spot on the shortlist for the Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction award, for a passage in which the act of love is interrupted by a dog killing a fairy penguin.
"He kissed the slight, rose-coloured trench that remained from her knicker elastic, running around her belly like the equator line circling the world. As they lost themselves in the circumnavigation of each other, there came from nearby shrill shrieks that ended in a deeper howl," writes Flanagan in a section of the passage marked out by the Literary Review as the reason for the novel's inclusion in this year's list of nominees. "Dorrigo looked up. A large dog stood at the top of the dune. Above blood-jagged drool, its slobbery mouth clutched a twitching fairy penguin.""He kissed the slight, rose-coloured trench that remained from her knicker elastic, running around her belly like the equator line circling the world. As they lost themselves in the circumnavigation of each other, there came from nearby shrill shrieks that ended in a deeper howl," writes Flanagan in a section of the passage marked out by the Literary Review as the reason for the novel's inclusion in this year's list of nominees. "Dorrigo looked up. A large dog stood at the top of the dune. Above blood-jagged drool, its slobbery mouth clutched a twitching fairy penguin."
The award-winning Australian author can comfort himself with the fact that he is not the only major literary name to be singled out by the Literary Review for their "poorly written, perfunctory or redundant passages of sexual description". Haruki Murakami also makes the cut, for his critically acclaimed bestseller Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, in which his description of protagonist Tsukuru's threesome with two young women features pubic hair "as wet as a rain forest". The award-winning Australian author can comfort himself that he is not the only major literary name to be singled out for their "poorly written, perfunctory or redundant passages of sexual description". Haruki Murakami also makes the cut, for his critically acclaimed bestseller Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, in which his description of protagonist Tsukuru's threesome with two young women features pubic hair "as wet as a rain forest".
So does Pulitzer prize-winning author Michael Cunningham's The Snow Queen, and Booker winner Ben Okri's The Age of Magic, in which sex sees a woman become "aware of places in her that could only have been concealed there by a god with a sense of humour". An extraordinary passage of writing from the veteran novelist Wilbur Smith, meanwhile, sees him nominated for his novel Desert God, in which a woman's knee-length "glowing" hair "did not cover her breasts which thrust their way through it like living creatures. They were perfect rounds, white as mare's milk and tipped with ruby nipples that puckered as my gaze passed over them." So does Pulitzer prize-winning author Michael Cunningham's The Snow Queen, and Booker winner Ben Okri's The Age of Magic, in which a woman becomes "aware of places in her that could only have been concealed there by a god with a sense of humour". An extraordinary passage of writing from the veteran novelist Wilbur Smith, meanwhile, sees him nominated for his novel Desert God, in which a woman's knee-length glowing hair "did not cover her breasts which thrust their way through it like living creatures. They were perfect rounds, white as mare's milk and tipped with ruby nipples that puckered as my gaze passed over them."
"I think this one of the strongest shortlists in recent years, containing some real literary heavyweights," said the magazine's Jonathan Beckman. "Flanagan swaddles the encounter in so many abstract nouns that the whole experience becomes very obscure and desexualised. The Murakami seems weirdly frictionless, an opportunity for metaphor-making above anything else." "I think this is one of the strongest shortlists in recent years, containing some real literary heavyweights," said the magazine's Jonathan Beckman. "Flanagan swaddles the encounter in so many abstract nouns that the whole experience becomes very obscure and desexualised. The Murakami seems weirdly frictionless, an opportunity for metaphor-making above anything else."
The Literary Review sets out to find "the most egregious passage of sexual description in a work of fiction", and describes itself as "Britain's most dreaded literary prize". Established by Auberon Waugh in 1993, its purpose is to draw attention to "perfunctory or redundant passages of sexual description in modern fiction, and to discourage them", with former winners including Sebastian Faulks, AA Gill and Melvyn Bragg.The Literary Review sets out to find "the most egregious passage of sexual description in a work of fiction", and describes itself as "Britain's most dreaded literary prize". Established by Auberon Waugh in 1993, its purpose is to draw attention to "perfunctory or redundant passages of sexual description in modern fiction, and to discourage them", with former winners including Sebastian Faulks, AA Gill and Melvyn Bragg.
BBC journalist Kirsty Wark makes the shortlist for this year's award with her debut novel The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle. Judges said they also considered Andrew Marr's Head of State. It "started arrestingly", they said, with the lines "they bucked like deer and squirmed like eels. And after that, vice-versa", but the novel "failed to sustain its early promise" and Marr was spared. Instead, the shortlist is completed with Saskia Goldschmidt's The Hormone Factory, Amy Grace Loyd's The Affairs of Others, May-Lan Tan's Things to Make and Break and Helen Walsh's The Lemon Grove. Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark makes the shortlist for this year's award with her debut novel, The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle. Judges said they also considered Andrew Marr's Head of State. It started arrestingly, they said, with the lines "they bucked like deer and squirmed like eels. And after that, vice-versa", but the novel "failed to sustain its early promise" and Marr was spared. Instead, the shortlist is completed with Saskia Goldschmidt's The Hormone Factory, Amy Grace Loyd's The Affairs of Others, May-Lan Tan's Things to Make and Break and Helen Walsh's The Lemon Grove.
Last year, shortlisted author William Nicholson admitted that his nomination was "genuinely wounding", saying that "there's something uniquely dismaying about this particular criticism", because "as well as questioning my talent as a writer, it questions my understanding of sex itself. To write bad sex, I must be either cynical, as a pornographer is cynical, or naive."Last year, shortlisted author William Nicholson admitted that his nomination was "genuinely wounding", saying that "there's something uniquely dismaying about this particular criticism", because "as well as questioning my talent as a writer, it questions my understanding of sex itself. To write bad sex, I must be either cynical, as a pornographer is cynical, or naive."
Nicholson went on to suggest in the Guardian that the Literary Review establish a "Good Sex award" as well, that would "champion writing about sex that is subtle, tasteful, fully developed, and necessary".Nicholson went on to suggest in the Guardian that the Literary Review establish a "Good Sex award" as well, that would "champion writing about sex that is subtle, tasteful, fully developed, and necessary".
"Let them show they take sex seriously, and can do more than snigger about it. Give writers like me examples of how to do it, and at the same time open up a wider discourse on the subject," wrote Nicholson, who didn't go on to win the prize last year. That honour was taken by Manil Suri for The City of Devi, and a threesome set in a Mumbai under threat of nuclear war."Let them show they take sex seriously, and can do more than snigger about it. Give writers like me examples of how to do it, and at the same time open up a wider discourse on the subject," wrote Nicholson, who didn't go on to win the prize last year. That honour was taken by Manil Suri for The City of Devi, and a threesome set in a Mumbai under threat of nuclear war.
"Surely supernovas explode that instant, somewhere, in some galaxy," wrote the novelist. "The hut vanishes, and with it the sea and the sands – only Karun's body, locked with mine, remains. We streak like superheroes past suns and solar systems, we dive through shoals of quarks and atomic nuclei. In celebration of our breakthrough fourth star, statisticians the world over rejoice.""Surely supernovas explode that instant, somewhere, in some galaxy," wrote the novelist. "The hut vanishes, and with it the sea and the sands – only Karun's body, locked with mine, remains. We streak like superheroes past suns and solar systems, we dive through shoals of quarks and atomic nuclei. In celebration of our breakthrough fourth star, statisticians the world over rejoice."
This year's winner will be announced on 3 December.This year's winner will be announced on 3 December.
The shortlist in full:The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan The Hormone Factory by Saskia Goldschmidt Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami The Age of Magic by Ben Okri The Affairs of Others by Amy Grace Loyd Desert God by Wilbur Smith Things to Make and Break by May-Lan Tan The Lemon Grove by Helen Walsh The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark The shortlist in full:
The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
The Hormone Factory by Saskia Goldschmidt
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
The Age of Magic by Ben Okri
The Affairs of Others by Amy Grace Loyd
Desert God by Wilbur Smith
Things to Make and Break by May-Lan Tan
The Lemon Grove by Helen Walsh
The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark