G. (novel)

G. is a 1972 novel by John Berger, set in pre-First World War Europe.^[1] Its protagonist, named "G.", is a Don Juan or Casanova-like lover of women who gradually comes to political consciousness after misadventures across the continent.

G.

First edition
Author	John Berger
Language	English
Publisher	Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Publication date	1972
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print
Pages	318
Awards	Guardian Fiction Prize; James Tait Black Memorial Prize; Booker Prize
ISBN	0-297-99423-9

Berger's experimental, non-linear narrative novel won the Guardian Fiction Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction and the Booker Prize.^[2]

At the 1972 Booker Prize ceremony, Berger criticized the sponsor Booker-McConnall for exploiting trade in the Caribbean for the past 130 years.^[3] Berger also gave half of the prize money to the British Black Panther movement, declaring his intention "to share the prize with those West Indians in and from the Caribbean who are fighting to put an end to their exploitation."^[4][5]

Reception

Reviewing the novel in The New York Times, academic Leo Braudy stated: "Part of the power and fascination of 'G.' comes from this extraordinary mixture of historical detail and sexual meditation—for at the intersection of G. and history is Berger's attitude toward heroism. ... 'G.'—in addition to its vividly portrayed characters and the crashing immediacy of its historical settings—is a complex novel of ideas that sets off in the reader meditations about sex, history and the nature of the novel."^[6]

Kirkus Reviews described it as "an arresting, inordinately vital, impersonal, and remarkable work."^[1]