[Sam Jordison, Blogs / The Guardian, February 27, 2008]. The Conservationist's portrait of a dangerous man lent dangerous power by apartheid is great writing, but not brilliant reading
News that there is to be a one-off best of Booker award this year has brought a new edge to this regular blog. For a while at least, it's going to be hard to resist speculation about current relevance and popularity and the laying on of odds - an especially interesting set of concerns when it comes to The Conservationist.
This book might be expected to be a big player. Nadine Gordimer is a writer for whom the award of a Best of Booker prize would be little more than a footnote; one to put in her overflowing display cabinet alongside her 1991 Nobel prize, her appointment as Chevalier de la legion d'honneur and her 15 honorary degrees (including one each from Oxford and Cambridge).
Even so, The Conservationist must be seen as an outsider at best. Arguably because - as a book inextricably tied up with apartheid - it's lost some of its political urgency. Partly because it didn't even win outright in 1974 (it shared the award with Stanley Middleton's Holiday). Mainly because the poll already looks like it's shaping up to be a popularity contest as much as a serious literary competition and it's hard to imagine The Conservationist coming top in anyone's affections...
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