Orbitalby British author Samantha Harvey, was the title chosen as the winner of this year’s Booker Prize. The announcement was made Tuesday night. A source from the Infinito Particular group told Observador that they will be in charge of the Portuguese edition of this book, with a launch scheduled for the first half of 2025.
Described by the jury as a “novel of great beauty that invites us to observe the splendor of the Earth, at the same time that we reflect on the individual and collective value of each human life,” Orbital Follow the daily lives of six astronauts aboard the International Space Station as it orbits our planet.
“They are there to do vital work, but little by little they begin to ask themselves: what is life without the Earth? What is the Earth without humanity?” reads the synopsis provided by the organization. It is in this meditative register, less focused on a plot and more on the inner lives of the characters, that Orbital, which currently needs to be published in Portugal, develops.
“No Booker speech was given in a perfect world, but it is difficult not to recognize the imperfections of the world we live in today,” he began by saying in his victory speech, after receiving the trophy from Paul Lynch, the 2023 winner.
Using the teachings of Carl Sagan and his pioneering work Cosmos, Harvey wanted to remember that we are “things of the Earth reflecting on the Earth.” “My novel is an exercise in reflection. Looking at the Earth from space is a bit like a child looking in a mirror and realizing for the first time that the person in the mirror is themselves. “What we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves,” he warned.
For this reason, the writer wanted to dedicate the award “to all those who speak for and not against the Earth, for and not against the dignity of other human beings, of other lives, and to all the people who speak and work for peace.”
Author of five books, the desert, his first work from 2009, the only one published in Portugal, published with the title The blank spaces by Bertrand, was part of the 2009 Booker Prize selection. everything is song, Dear thief and The western wind are his other novels, while The shapeless malaise: a year without sleep It was his journey through the world of non-fiction, in a story about living with insomnia.
Of 156 books written in English and published between October 1 of last year and September 30 of this year in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland, a first leak reduced them to 13 candidates. From this group there were six finalists, with the particularity of registering in the final batch the largest number of writers ever recorded: five women compared to one man.
In addition to Orbitalbooks competing for the Booker Stone Courtyard Devotionalby the Australian Charlotte Wood, Heldby the Canadian Anne Michaels, Custodyby the Dutch Yael van der Wouden (the first time that a writer from that country has been a finalist), Jaimeby the American Percival Everett, and creation lakeof his compatriot Rachel Kushner. According to the bookmakers, Everett was the big favorite to win, but Harvey was in second place in the predictions.
Of the six finalists of the contest, two are published in Portugal: creation lake – published as The lake of creation by Relógio d’Água — and Custody — the guardianin the translation edited by ASA.
The jury for this edition was chaired by the British Edmund de Waal, artist, ceramist and author of works such as The amber-eyed hare It also consists of writer Sara Collins, Guardian fiction editor Justine Jordan, teacher and writer Yiyun Li, and musician and composer Nitin Sawhney.
“Sometimes we come across a book and cannot understand how this miraculous event occurred,” says de Waal in his deliberation as president of the jury, highlighting that Orbital was elected unanimously. “It reflects the extraordinary intensity of Harvey’s attention to the precious, precarious world we share,” he concludes, further stating that “everyone and no one is the issue.”
One of the most prestigious literary prizes in the world, the Booker Prize has been won by figures such as Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, George Saunders, Marlon James, Hilary Mantel, Julian Barnes, Ian McEwan, JM Coetzee and Bernardine Evaristo.
Throughout the history of this award, created in 1969, only five authors have managed to win it more than once: Hilary Mantel, JG Farrell, JM Coetzee, Margaret Atwood and Peter Carey.
News updated at 10:25 on November 13, with information that the book will have a Portuguese edition in 2025
Source: Observadora
