January Voting!

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

And the nominees are...

A Separate Peace
A Month of Sundays
An American Tragedy
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Atonement
Beowulf
Catch-22
Crime & Punishment
Daisy Miller
Demons
Ethan Frome
Galapagos
Howl & Other Poems
Jane Eyre
Just a Couple of Days
Life of Pi
Madame Bovary
Middlesex
Mrs. Dalloway
Of Mice and Men
Oracle Night
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Sense & Sensibility
Slaughterhouse-Five
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Kitchen Boy
The Kite Runner
The Polysyllabic Spree
The Portable Dorothy Parker
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

With 31 total nominations, I would ask that we list our top ten in order. The voting will end at midnight PST on the 30th.

On a personal note, I am currently at a relative's home with very limited connectivity *sob* so I won't be as available this week... But I'll try to poke my head in now and then!

Happy Christmas every one!

Oh, and "God bless us, every one!" Heh!

[Sarah]

Ugh! So many good ones! I'm going to have to think about this...

One question though, what is considered a classic? Of Mice and Men might be considered a clssic by some, but it's written in the 20th century... Maybe we should decide as a group what to call a classic and what to call a contemporary?

[Robbie]

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
2. Catch-22
3. Ethan Frome
4. Month of Sundays
5. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
6. Madame Bovary
7. Of Mice & Men
8. Portable Dorothy Parker
9. Life of Pi
10. Middlesex

[Kas]

1. A Separate Piece
2. Galapagos
3. Just a Couple of Days
4. Middlesex
5. Month of Sundays
6. Demons
7. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
8. The Count of Monte Cristo
9. Of Mice and Men
10. Jane Eyre

[Sarah]

Gosh, this was a hard choice. Really hard. In order...

Life of Pi
Of Mice and Men
Atonement
A Separate Peace
The Count of Monte Cristo
Slaughterhouse-Five
Catch-22
Oracle Night
Reading Lolita in Tehran
The Kite Runner

[Cody]

I've read all of them except for one, lol, so I honestly don't really mind what gets picked, I'd love to re-read any of them. But I put em in a list any way.

Atonement
An American Tragedy
Crime and Punishment
The Kite Runner
THe Portable Dorothy Parker
Demons
Madame Bovary
Life of Pi
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

[Arctic]

1. Galapagos
2. Jane Eyre
3. The Portable Dorothy Parker
4. Crime & Punishment
5. Howl & Other Poems
6. Madame Bovary
7. Atonement
8. Just a Couple of Days
9. The Polysyllabic Spree
10. Demons

[Laura]

This was really hard.

1. Demons
2. Galapagos
3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
4. Atonement
5. Jane Eyre
6. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
7. Slaughterhouse Five
8. Middlesex
9. Reading Lolita in Tehran
10. Kite Runner

[Arielle]

Wow, too many good choices!!

Atonement
Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Slaughterhouse Five
Madame Bovary
Life of Pi
Galapogos
A Separate Peace
Ethan Frome
An American Tragedy
Just a Couple of Days

[Dini, the master of meaning]

1. Atonement (am really hoping this one gets picked!)
2. Ethan Frome
3. Sense & Sensibility
4. The Kite Runner
5. Jane Eyre
6. Madame Bovary
7. Life of Pi
8. The Count of Monte Cristo
9. Mrs. Dalloway
10. Catch-22

[Sarah]

I just want to say that there isn't a single book on the list that I DON'T want to read! I'll be happy with anything that gets chosen, honestly. You guys have great taste! I love this group.

[Beth]

my vote:
1. An American Tragedy
2. Ethan Frome
3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
4. Atonement
5. Crime and Punishment
6. Galapagos
7. Mrs Dalloway
8. Of Mice and men
9. Count of Monte Cristo
10. Portable Dorothy Parker

[Debra]

Happy Holidays:

1) Atonement
2) Kite Runner
3)A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
4) Jane Eyre
5) Middlesex
6)Reading Lolita in Tehran
7)Crime and Punishment
8)Sense and Sensibility
9) Madame Bovary
10)Ethan Frome

[Erin]

1. Atonement (I really want to read this one as well Dini!)
2. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
3. Jane Eyre
4. Ethan Frome
5. Life of Pi
6. A Separate Peace
7. Kite Runner
8. Madame Bovary
9. Of Mice and Men
10. Beowulf

[Sera]

The Kitchen Boy
The Kite Runner
Atonement
An American Tragedy
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Daisy Miller
The Portable Dorothy Parker
The Count of Monte Cristo
A Month of Sundays
Of Mice and Men

[Courtney]

Atonement
Portable Dorothy Parker
Middlesex
Ethan Frome
Kite Runner
An American Tragedy
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Jane Eyre
Slaughterhouse-Five
Mrs. Dalloway

[Mary]

Life of Pi
Galapagos
Atonement
Ethan Frome
The Kite Runner
The Polysyllabic Spree
The Portable Dorothy Parker
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Madame Bovary
The Count of Monte Cristo

[Nicole]

A Seperate Peace
Atonement
Catch-22
Life of Pi
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Sense and Sensibility
Jane Eyre
A Month of Sundays
Daisy Miller
Crime & Punishment

[Gwynne]

there really are lots of great choices.

1.The Kite Runner
2.The Kitchen boy
3.Galapagos
4.Atonment
5.Slaughterhouse-five
6.Of Mice and Men
7.Daisy Miller
8.Middlesex
9.Catch-22
10.Demons

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

Sarah, as far as what is a classic and what isn't... does it make a difference for voting? Because this question came up before and we had decided then to just take it as it comes and decide at the time. Until we nominate one in a gray area, it's not really an issue. Even then, maybe we'll decide just to make the second place book our other selection. Anyway, I'm of the "cross that bridge when we come to it" camp of thinking on this.

Right. It's bed for me. Six hours sleep total in the last two night. Ugh. Nighty-night!

[Caryn]

1. Atonement
2. Sense and Sensibility
3. Madame Bovary
4. Jane Eyre
5. Life of Pi
6. The Polysyllabic Spree
7. Middlesex
8. Mrs. Dalloway
9. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
10. Portable Dorothy Parker

[Meghan]

1. The Portable Dorothy Parker
2. Howl & Other Poems
3. Slaughterhouse-Five
4. The Polysyllabic Spree
5. Jane Eyre
6. The Kite Runner
7. Daisy Miller
8. The Count of Monte Cristo
9. Reading Lolita in Tehran
10. Madam Bovary

[Meghan]

Michele and Shannon -

While defining "classic" and "contemporary" isn't necessary for voting, for me, it would quite helpful. I'm not sure about any one else but for me, sometimes I'm in a "mood" for a classic and sometimes I'm in one for a contemporary. Some of these selections are quite long, for example Dorothy Parker.

So defining what DP is (is she a "classic" or is she a contemporary as it was published within the last century) makes a difference on whether or not I want to select her. (If I'm in a mood for a classic and we've designated her as a contemporary, then I would choose a different book.)

Also, it would help determine for me what the second choice is. If DP is a contemporary, then I would pick Daisy Miller or Of Mice and Men because they are relatively short (although OMAM kind of run along the same vein as DP). But if DP is a classic, then I have to figure out a totally different choice.

[Meghan]

I know this doesn't belong on this thread, but I don't know where else to put it. Do we ALWAYS have to pick a classic and contemporary? For example, Reading Lolita in Tehran would be fabulously paired with The Kite Runner. Both contemporaries, but both dealing with similar themes. It would be interesting to compare and contrast the voice of a Middle Eastern woman to that of a Middle Eastern man authors. Just a thought.

[Alison, the guru of grace]

1. Catch-22
2. The Kite Runner
3. Mrs. Dalloway
4. An American Tragedy
5. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
6. Howl & Other Poems
7. Middlesex
8. Reading Lolita in Tehran
9. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
10. The Count of Monte Cristo

[Courtney]

Meghan,

I definitely understand your conundrum. When I was reorganizing our fiction bookshelves at home (we have an obscene number of books), I wanted to divide the shelves into classics and contemporary but ended up just doing the entire thing in something close to alphabetical order because it was a bit too challenging. I cannot help but hold on to the ridiculous notion that classics are what one studies in school and contemporary books are what one reads about in The New Yorker. Unfortunately, not always true and very challenging when some titles are classics and other contemporary.

As for Dorothy, however, I would always put her in classics, as I would Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Faulkner. In part because I think her work is so good that it deserves the classics marker but also because the powers that be have created a "portable" version of her work and have designated her a "classic". However, it seems as if most of the pre-WWII writers, ala Parker, have been sucked into the canon and is, in my mind, important to understanding the development of American literature.

I have a much more difficult time with the post-war geniuses, as I always want to put Rabbit, Run and Portnoy's Complaint in the classics and other Roth and Updike work in contemporary.

To use a painting reference -- if its modern its classic but if its contemporary or neo-anything and made post-WWII then its contemporary. Its a silly line to draw, but at least its something, no?

[Emily]

My votes:

Reading Lolita in Tehran
Madame Bovary
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe
The Portable Dorothy Parker
Just a Couple of Days
Mrs. Dalloway
The Polysyllabic Spree
Atonement
Daisy Miller
A Month of Sundays

[Meghan]

I like your thinking Courtney! I kind of used the art version of "antique" when thinking of classic. In the art world, if it's 100 years old or older, then it can be classified as an "antique". Therefore, for me, if an author was published 100 years or more it's considered a classic. But then I have to have a sub-section of "modern classics" because you can't put Dan Brown in the same category as Norman Mailer.

[Kailey]

An American Tragedy
Beowulf
Catch-22
The Kite Runner
Life of Pi
Middlesex
The Polysyllabic Spree
Of Mice and Men
Sense & Senibility
The Count of Monte Cristo

[Andrea]

1. Daisy Miller
2. Middlesex
3. Slaughter house five
4. Kite Runner
5. Whoose afraid of Virginia Woolf
6. Catch 22
7. A separate Peace
8. Ethan Frome
9. Atonement
10. A tree grows in brooklyn

[Tiffany]

1. Middlesex
2. A Month of Sundays
3. Jane Eyre
4. Life of Pi
5. Slaughterhouse-Five
6. Sense & Senibility
7. A Separate Peace
8. The Kite Runner
9. Catch-22
10. Demons

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

Can I put all ten votes for one book? No, I suppose not...

1 The Count of Monte Cristo
2 Of Mice and Men
3 Catch-22
4 Slaughterhouse-Five
5 Mrs. Dalloway
6 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
7 Jane Eyre
8 A Month of Sundays
9 Ethan Frome
10 The Polysyllabic Spree

I've read 4 of my selections, but they were that good!

[Liz M]

1) The Portable Dorothy Parker
2) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
3) An American Tragedy
4) Oracle Night
5) Beowulf
6) Of Mice and Men
7) Madame Bovary
8) Demons
9) Galapagos
10) Crime & Punishment

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

The voting has ended... the selection will be posted shortly.