Independent Foreign Fiction Prize: Lars Saabye Christensen on the long list

The long-list:

Alaa Al-Aswany, The Yacoubian Building (translated by Humphrey Davies from the Arabic, and published by Fourth Estate)
Bi Feiyu, The Moon Opera (Howard Goldblatt; Chinese; Telegram)
Lars Saabye Christensen, The Model (Don Bartlett; Norwegian; Arcadia)
Jenny Erpenbeck, The Book of Words (Susan Bernofsky; German; Portobello)
Pawel Huelle, Castorp (Antonia Lloyd-Jones; Polish; Serpent’s Tail)
Ismail Kadare, Agamemnon’s Daughter (David Bellos; [...]

The Shepherd, by Frederick Forsyth

Published in 1976, The Shepherd is a story seemingly based upon Forsyth’s own experiences as a RAF pilot. It is the story of a De Havilland Vampire pilot, going home on Christmas Eve 1957, whose aircraft suffers a complete electrical failure over the North Sea en route from Celle in northern Germany to RAF Lakenheath [...]

The Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger

In October 1991 the “perfect storm” — of the kind that occurs only once a century — was created by a rare combination of factors. It could not possibly have been worse. Winds of 120 miles an hour, waves ten stories high.
The Perfect Storm, which has been #1 on the New York Times bestseller lists, [...]

Fourth book by Stieg Larsson will not be published

The Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet today published an article that stated that the manuscript for Stieg Larsson’s fourth and unfinished book will neither be completed nor finished.
The family confirms that there exist a draft for a fourth book. Approximately 200 pages have been written. However, Stieg Larsson’s familily strongly feels that it would be inappropriate to [...]

Run, by Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett is a talented American story teller and writes beautifully. She is the author of, among other books, Bel Canto and the excellent and marvelous The Magician’s Assistant, a great novel that also became a very entertaining movie.
This is a different, but equally interesting story. Since their mother’s death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have [...]

Icon, by Frederick Forsyth

The context for Frederick Forsyth’s Icon is post-Glasnost Russia. The country is in crisis, and a new post-Fascist political party emerges, with a new, strong presidential candidate. A highly popular and charismatic politician, victory was all but guaranteed for Komarov.
Then a secret document surfaces in the West. The document contains extremely very sensitive [...]

Antony and Cleopatra, by Colleen McCullough

I like the Masters of Rome by Colleen McCullough a lot, and have read all the books in the series. Therefore I have been looking forward to Antony and Cleopatra for a while.
This is the follow-up to The October Horse. After the death of Julius Caesar in 41 BC, Mark Antony, Caesar’s ambitious and brash [...]

The Camel Club, by David Baldacci

David Baldacci is a great thriller writer, and writes the best conspiracy thrillers. His plots are interesting and the action is fast.
However, the Camel Club books (three now, and this is the first), differ a lot from his other books. The main reason for this is the Club itself. It consists of four misfits, drawing [...]