Thaindian News

By Meena Kar
Oct 13, (THAINDIAN NEWS) British author Howard Jacobson received the prestigious Man Booker award for his comic novel ‘The Finkler Question’. The win came as a surprise to many as bookmakers had almost written off the chances of his novel winning the most prestigious of the English speaking world’s literary awards. At 1/10, ‘The Finkler’s Question’ was a rank outsider, with the favorite being Tom McCarthy’s ‘C’.

Howard Jacobson said that he was flabbergasted at the news of him winning the Man Booker. He said that he was tired of being called the underrated author. The British author specializes in the plight of the Jewish people of today. He said in an interview that he wanted to make people laugh and cry at the same time. Some critics said that though his novel was a comic one, it had elements of darkness and tragedy. Poet Laureate and chairman of the judges that decided the Man Booker for the year described Howard Jacobson’s ‘The Finkler Question’ as funny but nearly adjacent to tragedy. He also added that it was very clever, very subtle and the deserving winner of the great prize.

Though Howard Jacobson has been writing for the last 27 years, he felt he would never win the honor in his lifetime. Apart from the $80,000 cheque that comes alongside the honor, Howard Jacobson will also see a huge soar in the sales of his novel. The novel tells the story of two friends Libor and Sam who are widowers. In their struggle for identity and coping of loss they also end up raising some profound spiritual and religious questions in the mind of the reader.