Booker International Longlist 2022 – After the Sun
After the Sun Written by Jonas Eika Translated by Sherilyn Hellberg
Book 4
Reviewed by BookWorm, Tracy & Rachel
Synopsis from Booker Prize website: With irrepressible urgency, Eika’s astonishing fiction juxtaposes startling beauty with grotesquery, and balances the hyper-realistic with the fantastical.
After the Sun opens portals to our newest realities, haunting the margins of a globalised world that’s both saturated with yearning and brutally transactional.
Under Cancún’s hard blue sky, a beach boy provides a canvas for tourists’ desires, seeing deep into the world’s underbelly. An enigmatic encounter in Copenhagen takes an IT consultant down a rabbit hole of speculation that proves more seductive than sex.
Meanwhile, the collapse of a love triangle in London leads to a dangerous, hypnotic addiction. And in the Nevada desert, a grieving man tries to merge with an unearthly machine.
BookWorm’s Thoughts: Another short story collection me and the Booker judges do not see eye to eye. That said I mostly enjoyed this collection of stories some interconnected and some not. Once again I am sure I am not intellectual enough to work out why this deserved its place on the longlist.
Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 2/5
Character development: 2/4
Plot development: 2/4
Overall enjoyment: 1/2
Total: 10/20
Tracy’s Thoughts: I confess, I read this a long time ago, and don’t remember much about it. I remember an Alice in Wonderland vibe, but the rabbit hole was weirder than Wonderland.
It is another collection of stories, with queer underthemes. I also remember there being some graphic situations.
Mostly, I remember it being something I won’t pick up again.
Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Character development: 2/4
Plot development: 2/4
Overall enjoyment: 1/2
Total: 11/20
Rachel’s Thoughts: Huh. Where to begin? There were parts of this I loved, parts I actively disliked, and parts… I really just don’t know! Four distinct short stories with totally different plots and settings, yet somehow maybe related a bit. Possibly
I thought Eika’s ability to conjure up a sense of place was fantastic. Whether on the beach in Mexico, in Casey’s flat, or in the Nevada desert, I was there. I admit to hitting Google to find out whether Karen Ruthio was a real person. And the surreal elements knocked me quite off-kilter.
On the other hand, I’m not a fan of weird sex scenes (and some of these were Weird). I was quite disappointed by the ending of Me, Rory and Aurora, which felt far too much like ‘normal short story’. And yet I very often didn’t know what was going on. I would probably have got more out of this one if I’d read Eika’s interviews about the book beforehand. But I find it so frustrating to have to have a book explained to me.
In short, I’m confused by this one. I’m just not sure it’ll stay with me, for all its weirdness!
Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 4/5
Character development: 2.5/4
Plot development: 2.5/4
Overall enjoyment: 1/2
Total: 13/20
Rankings
Elena Knows 18.25
Heaven 16.5
Happy Stories, Mostly 16
After the Sun 11.33
The premise of this book really puts me off. Sometimes the Booker lists are just too ‘weighty’ for my tastes.
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