Judging Whitbread like comparing 'a Pekinise to an Alsatian', says Hugh Grant

LONDON - For actor Hugh Grant, picking the winner of one of Britain's leading literary awards was as difficult as choosing who should land a top dog show prize.

Grant, whose only literary claim to fame had been playing a bookseller in Notting Hill, confessed that he felt like a student back at Oxford University when put under pressure to read the finalists for the Whitbread Book of the Year award.

Asked if he felt insulted by critics who argue it is dumbing down to choose celebrity judges for big literary awards, he told Reuters at Tuesday's awards ceremony: "It is not insulting to me. I am very dumb as everyone knows."

Grant, famed for his comic roles in Bridget Jones' Diary and Four Weddings and a Funeral, was among the judges who picked Andrea Levy to land the Stg25,000 ($NZ66,600) Whitbread Book of the Year award for her Jamaican diaspora novel Small Island.

It was not an easy literary exercise as the judges had to pick from five finalists who had already won their respective categories -- First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book.

"It is a bit like Crufts," said Grant, comparing the literary award with Britain's most famous dog show. "There is always an overall champion but how do you really compare a Pekinese to an Alsatian?"

Grant, who won a scholarship to Oxford University to read English, felt like a student all over again.

"I had forgotten how dreadful it is to be made to read something under pressure with a deadline."

He went on to say: "Like a lot of people you have a paranoia that you are not well up enough on contemporary writing. So I thought this would do the trick in one fell swoop."

Grant, who is following in the literary footsteps of Texan model Jerry Hall and fellow actor Ralph Fiennes as one of the Whitbread's celebrity judges, found the experience had given him back an appetite for reading.

"It was very good for me. It was just what I needed," he said. "My reading has declined dramatically in the last 20 years. I felt this would give it a little lift. So I read more books in the last three weeks than I have read in the last three months."

Grant had listed "Portnoy's Complaint," Philip Roth's ode to masturbation, as one of his favourite books.

Asked what might possibly be read into his choice, an amused Grant replied: "Contrary to what you might imagine, I think it is one of the funniest books ever written."

- REUTERS