30 years after JG Farrell passed away he has become a member of an exclusive club, those that have won two Booker prizes. Although it would seem that the author lost his shot to win another award after he died in a fishing accident in 1979, through a quirk of history his novel Troubles was offered a second shot.
The Lost Man Booker Prize, which he was the recipient of, was originally set up to award novels that had a publishing date in 1970 that were not considered due to a change in the rules. Thus, in 1971 it was decided that books would be judged from that year instead of the previous year.
Younger brother of the author, Richard Farrell, collected the prize in Central London stating that the success of the book helped to ease the sorrow of losing his brother. He also said that the moment was bittersweet since his brother, who battled polio as a child, had not survived to accept it himself.
The younger Farrell went on to say that the book is like a time machine and that his brother would not have been surprised at the prize, stating he always felt his books would be long lasting, and read long after his time.
Others that knew the author closely stated that Farrell would have loved the award and may have used his acceptance speech as a platform to launch into a political diatribe.
Farrell’s agent, Deborah Rogers, stated that Troubles was well received at the time but never truly got the acknowledgement that it deserved and that Farrell would be happy to see it finally appreciated.
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