Who will win the Golden Man Booker Prize?

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Five books, including "In a Free State" and "Lincoln in the Bardo," have been picked to a shortlist of former the Booker Prize winners good enough for the Golden Man Booker, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the outstanding literary prize.

Five judges, one responsible for each decade of prize winners, made the final shortlist decisions.

'In a Free State'

As one of the five judges, also an editor and writer, Robert McCrum chose the 1971 Booker Prize winner, "In a Free State" by Naipaul.

The book "In a Free State" /Photo from Douban

The theme of this novel is displacement, the yearning for the good place in someone else’s land, the attendant heartache. It tells the story of two characters, an Indian servant in Washington, and a West Asian Indian in London, but at last the story ends up in a fictional country similar to Uganda.

The characters once found Africa liberating, but now it has gone. They are created with an intelligence and sensitivity that is rarely read in contemporary writing.

The Times described the book as one of such genuine insight, that it somehow manages to agitate, amuse and excuse the reader all at the same pitch of experience.

'Moon Tiger'

Written by Penelope Lively, "Moon Tiger," which won the prize in 1987, was selected by the poet Lemn Sissay. "Moon Tiger" is a haunting story of loss and desire.

It starts with two lovers, Claudia and Tom. Tom is about to return to the frontline, and death, as the two lovers have hardly had time to get to know each other. The coil burns away as Claudia tries to get Tom to tell her his life story. Eventually, he comes to her.

Photo from Douban

Sam Jordison, who looks after the Guardian's Reading group and the weekly Tips, Links and Suggestions page, said in The Guardian the novel is so wonderful that he was pleasantly surprised, especially since it hadn't drifted onto his radar before.

He also believes the book asks hard questions about memory and history and it's stylistically demanding and inventive.

'Wolf Hall'

A broadcaster and novelist, Simon Mayo, picked "Wolf Hall" written by Hilary Mantel, which was the 2009 prize winner.

The book was set in the period from 1500 to 1535, and it is a sympathetic fictionalized biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII through to the death of Sir Thomas More.

VCG Photo

As Better Reading says, Wolf Hall is an excellent English novel exploring the intersection of broader politics and individual psychology. "With a vast array of characters, and richly overflowing with incident, it peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society."

'Lincoln in the Bardo'

The shortlist also includes George Saunders' "Lincoln in the Bardo," which won the 2017 Man Booker Prize. George is the only American writer among five.

George Saunders won the 2017 Man Booker Prize. /VCG Photo

The novel "Lincoln in the Bardo" is covered with George Saunders' grace, and humor. It takes place during and after the death of Wallace Lincoln－ Abraham Lincoln's son and deals with the president's sadness at his loss.

In this book, George created a new form for the first time, and the novel raised a timeless question that everyone had to think about-“How do we live and love when everything we hold must end?”

'The English Patient'

Adapted into an Oscar-winning film, Michael Ondaatje's "The English Patient" is shortlisted from 1992. The big picture of the story is the Italian Campaign of Second World War, and the book follows the story of four different characters, a Canadian thief, the eponymous patient, his Canadian Army nurse and a burned man.

The story focuses more on the revelations of the patient's actions accompanied his injuries, and the emotional effects of these revelations on the other characters.

Photo from Douban

The novel was adapted into a film in 1996, and received nine Academy Awards at the 69th Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Director.

Sam Jordison also said in the Guardian that the book impressed him most was its hard center. “That comes wrapped in musky perfume, but Ondaatje's prose could go a few rounds with Hemingway and probably knock out Kipling, too.”

The five novels on the shortlist each represent a decade of the most famous literary prize in Britain. There is no doubt about the good reputation of these books. However, the emphasis now is on which of the shortlisted books had best stood the test of time, continuing to have an enormous impact on readers today.

According to The Man Booker Prize website, voting has been open from Saturday 26th May until midnight 25th June. Who is going to be the winner ultimately? Now the readers have final say.