It doesn't surprise me that there is some variance in the two lists. The numbers were crunched for the Shadow Jury's short list yesterday, and our top six for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize are listed in order as:
- The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck
- Zone by Mathias Enard (added at the Jury's suggestion)
- The Ravens by Tomas Bannerhed
- The Dead Lake by Hamid Ismailov
- Bloodlines by Marcello Fois
- Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
Meanwhile, Booktrust announced the official short list for the IFFP on April 9 (UK time), and their list is composed of these six:
- By Night The Mountain Burns by Juan Tomas Avila
- Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
- F by Daniel Kehlmann
- The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck
- In The Beginning Was The Sea by Tomas Gonzalez
- While The Gods Were Sleeping by Erwin Mortier
In common to both our lists are Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami, and The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck. Personally, the book I'd like to see take the prize this year is The End of Days. Those of you who know me, and are aware of my passion for Japanese Literature in general, and Haruki Murakami in particular, will be surprised that I don't choose his book for the prize. Yet, I really don't feel it can compare to the outstanding novel which Jenny Erpenbeck wrote.
We will have to see if the Shadow Jury and the official jury agree, or which book each group chooses to win the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize on May 27, 2015. You can keep up with us at #IFFP if you're so inclined.
(And, don't forget you're welcome to join in the read-along of John Crowley's this May!)