Tale of Gay Life in Britain Wins a Top Literary Prize
October 20, 2004 By SARAH LYALL LONDON, Oct. 19 - "The Line of Beauty," Alan Hollinghurst's lavish novel about a young gay man negotiating the confusions, delights and horrors of life in Thatcherite Britain in the mid-1980's, won the Man Booker Prize on Tuesday night, defeating David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas," which had been widely considered the favorite to win. The novel is the fourth by Mr. Hollinghurst, 50, a former English teacher whose books have long explored themes of gay life and gay sex in Britain. Speaking to reporters after the prize was announced at a black-tie dinner at the Royal Horticultural Halls in Westminster, Mr. Hollinghurst said he was "exhilarated" but had not yet begun to think about what he might do with the prize money of £50,000, or about $90,000. The Booker Prize, Britain's premier fiction award, is given every year to a novel by a writer from Britain, the Republic of Ireland or one of the Commonwealth countries, including Australia, Canada and India. The winners are usually guaranteed huge sales - last year's winner, DBC Pierre's "Vernon God Little," has sold almost half a million copies. In winning the 2004 prize, Mr. Hollinghurst's book beat 132 novels initially read by the judges, 115 of them submitted by publishers, and 17 brought in specially by the panel. The candidates were winnowed down to a shortlist of six finalists, of which "The Line of Beauty," "Cloud Atlas," and "The Master," Colm Toibin's fictional account of the anguish and genius of Henry James, were considered the most likely winners. Chris Smith, the chairman of the judges' panel this year, said the choice of a winner had been difficult and the voting close. "The search for love, sex and beauty is rarely this exquisitely done," he said, adding that "The Line of Beauty" was "exciting, brilliantly written and gets deep under the skin of the Thatcherite 80's." The other finalists this year were Sarah Hall's "The Electric Michelangelo," about a tattoo artist in Coney Island; Achmat Dangor's "Bitter Fruit," set in a modern South Africa struggling to come to grips with its stormy past; and Gerard Woodward's "I'll Go to Bed at Noon," a loving and harrowing account of the havoc alcohol can wreak on a family. Speaking to reporters after the announcement, Mr. Smith, a member of Parliament, said the winning book's focus on gay life had not figured in the judges' discussions as they considered it for the prize. "This is a novel that happens to be about gay sex and gay relationships," Mr. Smith said. "The fact it can be considered as a perfectly valid part of contemporary fiction without regarding that as unique shows how much times have changed." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/20/books/20booker.html?ex=1099265423&ei=1&en=6181ebff9ed226af Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
