The Top Six for the IFFP (Independent Foreign Fiction Prize) and the Conundrum Thereof

It was with great excitement and joy that the Shadow Jury for the IFFP, organized by Stu and Tony, read the list of fifteen books which were long listed on March 8. When we emailed one another our results, we all agreed that the top six should be as follows:

• The Infatuations by Javier Marias
• Brief Loves That Live Forever by Andrei Makine
• The Sorrow of Angels by Jon Kalman Stefansson
• The Mussel Feast by Brigit Vanderbeke
• A Man in Love by Karl Ove Knausgaard
• The Corpse Washer by Sinan Antoon

Content with our decision, I went to bed on April 5 certain that the official short list would include several of the top books from our list. Surely, I thought, it will contain my personal favorite: The Sorrow of Angels.
Nope.
The Independent Foreign Fiction prize short list included instead the following six:

• The Iraqi Christ by Hassan Blasim
• A Man in Love by Karl Ove Knausgaard
• A Meal in Winter by Hubert Mingarelli
• The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke
• Revenge by Yoko Ogawa
• Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami 

Now, I don't want to criticize the judges because who am I, but simply a life-long reader who is passionate about translated literature. I am not a broadcaster, an author, a lecturer, nor even a former stand-up comedienne. Note the judges below:

•   Alev Adil, Artist in Residence, Principal Lecturer and Programme Leader for MA Creative Writing at the University of Greenwich
  
•   British writer, broadcaster and former stand-up comedian Natalie Haynes
  
•   Nadifa Mohamed, award-winning author
  
•   Boyd Tonkin, Senior Writer and Columnist, The Independent
  
•   Literary translator Shaun Whiteside 

Perhaps it will become clear some day, to someone, just why these five judges chose the titles they did. Personally, I suspect that the reasons lie beyond literature and take on more of a political nature. Be that as it may, I can't suggest strongly enough that should you choose to read outstanding translated literature, you take as "must read" titles those from the Shadow Jury's list. Especially those in the top four slots. They will comprise some of my favorite reading of the year, of that I am certain.My special thanks to Stu, Tony, Tony, Jacqui, and David for their thoughts and input on the IFFP long list. Thanks also to The Mookse and The Gripes for review links to the aforementioned books. I so look forward toward determining what we think should be the winning novel, to be announced May 22, 2014.