Eleanor Catton, you guys. What the what?! I know prizes aren't everything blah blah blah (I say that as someone who hasn't won a prize that didn't include a draw since fourth form), but man, this is SOMETHING, and by something, I mean COOL. Catton is only twenty-eight, and The Luminaries is her second novel. What the what?! I KNOW. After finding out, I spent a little while rueing my squandered youth, too, but then I decided to be INSPIRED.
There's nothing I can tell you about Catton that isn't in the article, except that I think she's awesome, and I think her book is going to be awesome too (I haven't read it yet, and at my current rate of getting halfway througha book and then forgetting about it, it could be a while before I do). I don't hold to the bollocks "if she can, I can" attitude; it sounds nice, but completely ignores individual talent and everything else Malcolm Gladwell talks about in Outliers. As much as I'd love to win the Booker prize, it ain't going to happen. But I do think that we're all capable of doing SOMETHING awesome, and seeing someone else do their awesome thing (and be recognised with the MAN BOOKER PRIZE, WHAT!) is a really cool reminder of that, and an impetus to do it.
Go Eleanor!
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