2016 Man Booker Longlist: Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal

Country: France
Translated by Jessica Moore

Maylis de Kerangal won both the Prix Franz Hessel and Prix Médicis in 2010 for her novel Naissance d’un Pont translated as Birth of a Bridge. Published in 2014, her Mend the Living translated by Jessica Moore has been nominated for the Man Booker Prize this year.

Three close friends-Chris, Johan and Simon go surfing, but a lot more happens to them. On the way back, their van goes off-road. Chris and Johan suffer injuries but scrape through. Simon Limbeau, however, goes into a coma. His brain is dead, but his young heart, diffidently beats on with anger and determination. The rest of the novel revolves around how different characters in the novel pin their hopes on Simon’s heart; love, ambition, jealousy and life, all gets entangled with it.

Claire Mejan, is suffering from myocarditis and is in need of a heart transplant. Simon and Claire’s life will be joined in an inimitable way.

De Kerangal spins a story of human emotion blending it with impeccable medical facts. Read this one!

Book Details:-        

• About the Author

About Rit Chattapadhyay

A student of literature, I was born in Kolkata, now, reside at Howrah. I completed my high school from St.Thomas' Church School Howrah,and then went on to study English Honours at Asutosh College. Presently, I am pursuing my Masters in English Literature from Calcutta University. Not an avid reader from childhood. My experience with literature intensified in high school and Asutosh College. I love reading works of literature and I am an amateur poet myself. My poems mainly highlight the agonies of modern existence and the complications of love. Being a very opinionated person, I bear distinct opinions about what I read.