“All books are divisible into two classes, the books of the hour, and the books of all time.” – John Ruskin

17th April 2008

The shortlist for the Orange Prize was released this week. The shortlist of six contains three first-time novelists (Sadie Jones, Heather O'Neill and Patricia Wood) along with more established authors like Rose Tremain.

The Orange Prize sparked controversy this year when Tim Lott and A.S. Byatt argued that the prize was sexist, ghettoised women writers and was no longer necessary.

Is this the case?

Do men and women write different types of books?

Do women and men prefer to read things written by their own gender?

Can I stop asking questions?

I certainly seem to have fallen into a rut of reading books written by my own gender. I’d say 95% of the books I’ve ever written were by men. You could argue that by doing this I’m just reading things that confirm my own experience, but men – like women – are not a homogenous bunch. I have no experience of being a New York intellectual of Jewish descent, but I love the books of Philip Roth. I have no experience of time travel and World War Two, but I can relate to Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse 5. These writers have expanded my horizons, not narrowed them.

Therefore, by extension, if I read more books written by women, my horizons should be widened further.

I just never seem to get around to it. The announcement of the Orange Prize sets in motion the following annual:

I stare at the longlist and think “I’ll read all of these”
Two months later I stare at the shortlist (having read none) and say “I’ll read some of these”
Two months later I stare at the winner and say “I should be rereading this by now”.

Maybe all of us reticent types, men and women alike, should read something by someone of another gender as part of the National Year of Reading. Come down to the library and do your best to improve intergender understanding. I’ll do the same… just after I’ve finished the Richard Sennett book.

David H.