Ursina's Shelf - Pulitzer Prize Winners (part 1)

Issue 61

Dear Readers,

Recently my book club read The Orphan Master’s Son and I decided to stop reading the book, because I was struggling with it too much. This was not an easy decision, as I like a sense of completion and it is a Pulitzer Prize winner after all.

But not every Pulitzer Prize winner has to be a difficult read. Today I’d like to share three Pulitzers that I could never have put down.

Page-turning Pulitzers

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014) 

This book was previously featured in August 2020’s Historical Fiction issue and is certainly one of my top 5 books of all time (even if I cannot commit to an exact list or order).

My Description: Set in France and Germany during World War II, the protagonist is a young blind girl in France trying to make sense of her surroundings and what is happening in the world around her. The reader also experiences that world through the perspective of the young German boy soldier with a knack for fixing radios. As the story develops, the characters grow and are faced with many choices both small and large.

My Take: When I told Vera, I was considering a historical fiction focused issue, she immediately responded with a plea to include this book. I agree, it is one of my all-time favorites. Not only is this a beautiful story that is both somber and uplifting, I loved the sensory descriptions of the sounds and feels. While this is set amidst war and destruction, this is a story that will make you reflect on the human spirit. (Buy it here).

Bonus Fact: Saint-Malo and its picturesque city walls are one of the main locales and have been on my travel wish list for a while. I have also featured the author’s latest Cloud Cuckoo Land in my Repeat Authors issue.

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (2019)

This novel was featured in my 2020 review of my favorite books of the year.

Description: The story starts with Ellwood Curtis, a black youth in Florida in the ‘60s, who dreams of college and equality. He mistakenly gets into trouble and is sent to reform school. While trying to stay out of trouble there, his sense of justice and injustice make him a magnet for just that. While this is a work of fiction, it was extensively based on the accounts of survivors of the Dozier School, as well as archaeological findings on the school’s grounds.

My Take: This was a book selected by my book club, and I probably would not have read it after finding Whitehead’s acclaimed The Underground Railroad fascinating, but a little tough to get through. This rather short book uses such beautiful English, it made a devastating story flow from page to page and earned 4 or 5 fingers from all members of the book club. After finishing the book and reading the author’s afterword, I was terrified to learn how much of the fictional narrative was based on real fact. An important story that Whitehead has masterfully brought into the open. (Buy it here).

Bonus fact: The Nickel Boys won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize. After already receiving the 2017 Pulitzer for The Underground Railroad, Whitehead is now one of four authors to have won the fiction category twice. Booth Tarkington, William Faulkner, and John Updike are the other three authors in this group. I would add here that I had read The Underground Railroad prior to reading The Nickel Boys and, while I appreciated it, I would not strongly recommend it.  

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2010)

This story was previously featured in my I Heart New York newsletter. The follow-on book, The Candy House, which was also but not quite as good appeared in last year’s The future is coming issue.

Description: This 2011 Pulitzer-prize winning novel travels between characters in different time periods and different locales, mostly in and around New York. The time periods not only include the past and present, but also the future. Across time and locales, we get to know the characters and how time catches up to them.

My take: What I loved most about this book, which I read shortly after it was published, were Egan’s vision of what a future New York and future world may look like, including the impacts of climate change and technology, especially envisioning what kids might perceive as completely normal. A small example is how everyone will be attached to their phone, but there are also more stark changes that are mind-stretching. (Buy it here).

Bonus fact: There is an entire chapter written as PowerPoint presentation. Oh, and Egan went to Penn and dated Steve Jobs. Talk about someone who it would be fun to get a drink with.

Currently reading: Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn (buy here).

I’d like to read a few prize-winning books this year and have several Pulitzers on my night stand and reading list already: The Road, Empire Falls, Olive Kitteridge, Tinkers, and A Confederation of Duncas.

What Pulitzer (or other) Prize Winners would you recommend?

Thank you for reading and I look forward to hearing your prize-winning thoughts :) Have a great weekend!