2015 ToB Competition Discussion Showing 751-800 of 1,076

[Juniper]

that's a lovely image, drew! the one thing i seem to have lost as an adult reader is the desire to reread books again, and again, and again, and again ... as a kid, there were certain books i read probably hundreds of times. (when i was, say, 8-12yo.)

[Janet]

Yes! Reading on a rainy afternoon is the best. Unfortunately we don't get many rainy days here in Phoenix and when we do, I'm usually at work *sigh*.

[Trish]

Jennifer wrote: "i don't think mandel has an MFA. on her tumblr, it says this:
"I love this interview with Zadie Smith in Literateur Magazine, in which she perfectly articulates why I find short stories much more a..."

That's funny! I just have some preconceived notion of what an "MFA book" is...

[Lark]

Trish wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "i don't think mandel has an MFA."

I don't think you need an mfa to sound like you went through an mfa program. You can absorb mfa-ness from the æther. Once you are infected, the other people whom your editor asks for blurbs will write in 10 words or less that your "prose" is "luminous" (or, sometimes, that it is "numinous") and/or that you are a "masterful prose stylist." It won't really matter any more what you're actually writing, semantically speaking.

I'm in the worst possible places as a reader just now where if the writing in a given novel is too mfa-y I get annoyed, but if it's too clunky I also get annoyed.

[Trish]

Does anyone else watch Girls on HBO? I can't get the episodes of Hannah at the Iowa writer's workshop out of my mind. So funny!

Also, Poingu - loved your post!

[Amy]

Without knowing anything about the authors, my MFA alarm bells went off reading Anthony Doerr's and Celeste Ng's novels. And lo and behold! I'm philosophically opposed to people going deep into debt to be "taught" to write fiction. But I've also found that MFA products rarely have the interesting mistakes or charming flaws that make me love a book. I actually like Station Eleven for that reason.

[Juniper]

Amy wrote: "Without knowing anything about the authors, my MFA alarm bells went off reading Anthony Doerr's and Celeste Ng's novels. And lo and behold!..."

my MFA alarm went off for Ng, too, but i didn't look up whether she actually had one.

[C.]

An MFA program gives folks the time to write the novels we enjoy, or at least the connections to get their novels published. Not just students, but professors as well. I am biased, having one of my own, but I think the whole situation is pretty over-covered. In a line up of books, I doubt that anybody would be able to correctly identify MFA vs non-MFA. Too much confirmation bias.

[Drew]

Jennifer wrote: "that's a lovely image, drew! the one thing i seem to have lost as an adult reader is the desire to reread books again, and again, and again, and again ... as a kid, there were certain books i read ..."

Yes, I went through that reading and rereading phase and also rarely reread books now. (My TBR pile is already too big!) My mom has always reread her favorites over and over because she says she wants to have the feeling she had when she read them the first time but as an adult I find I don't have that same feeling when I reread. At this point, I'm more likely to reread a highly-recommended book I didn't much care for the first time and, often, I like it better the second time around. (Hello, Visit From the Goon Squad! Unfortunately, the rest of my book group disliked it as much as I did the first time.)

My mom is now 97 and I keep telling her she only needs two books now: the one she's currently reading and the one she'll read next.

[Lark]

Drew wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "that's a lovely image, drew! the one thing i seem to have lost as an adult reader is the desire to reread books again, and again, and again, and again ... as a kid, there were cert..."

I like to re-read Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy--it seems I often have something from these three authors cycling through.

Possibly because of a TOB induced mania, though, lately I've become really self-competitive about finishing as many new books as I can. For a few years in a row I've done the goodreads "reading challenge" but what's that all about, anyway? Reading volume doesn't equate very closely to reading joy for me. And goodreads software itself makes it really challenging to keep track of re-reads, too.

[Sherri]

Is anyone else up early enough to keeping hitting refresh on the Morning News TOB page until the link in the sidebar turns red? :) It makes me laugh that it usually happens about 5 minutes after I get up.

I'm a happy girl this morning. http://www.themorningnews.org/tob/201...

[Karen]

Sherri wrote: "Is anyone else up early enough to keeping hitting refresh on the Morning News TOB page until the link in the sidebar turns red? :) It makes me laugh that it usually happens about 5 minutes after I ..."

I'm happy too! Ferrante's Neopolitan novels were my favorite novels of the tournament.

[Juniper]

phew!! i am happy with the outcome today too. ferrante's books were also my favourite reads, of the ones i have read for the tournament.

[Dan]

I hate to disagree but I didn't care for the ferrante book. I really enjoyed everything I never told you from beginning to end. The ferrante book failed to draw me in. I have agreed with all the previous judges decisions in this years ToB. Here's hoping all the birds comes back as a zombie.

[Juniper]

i think all the birds singing is done for the tournament, dan. sorry! in the comments below the judgment, they said goodbye to a number of books, of which ATBS was included.

[Lark]

Jennifer wrote: "i think all the birds singing is done for the tournament, dan. sorry! in the comments below the judgment, they said goodbye to a number of books, of which ATBS was included."

Reading that list of books that -won't- be in the zombie round made me feel so sad. It's a list of the most highly original challenges to the definition of "novel" that are in the tournament this year. With the exception of the Annihilation vs. Dept of Speculation match, where -both- books are structurally innovative, the books that made it through this round are the safer choices. They are the books that are more in line with accepted literary definitions of "goodness". I didn't even like All the Birds but I still applaud its originality of feeling, the structural risks the author took.

[Juniper]

that's a really good observation about the non-zombie books, poingu! i feel the same way about all the birds singing as well - while it wasn't a book i really took too, i thought it had a great chance of doing well in the tournament.

[Jan]

Poingu wrote: "One thing I'm getting very tired of in these judges' commentaries though is the way they all keep saying "golly, when you get right down to it, these books are exactly the same in some fundamental ..."

You're inside my head, Poingu! I started reading Judge Jones' opinion this morning and immediately thought of you. :-)

[Jan]

So is anyone else nervous about tomorrow's matchup? Any predictions?

[Beth]

Jan, I will be sad either way. My top pick for the tourney is Brief History, but I love David Mitchell and aside from one section thought Bone Clocks was a fantastic read. It's a little like asking who is your favorite child.

[Lark]

Jan wrote: "So is anyone else nervous about tomorrow's matchup? Any predictions?"

I was looking at the brackets and thinking it's shaping up to be a contest of "Mostly Bloody Guts" books (Brief History, Redeployment, Untamed State) vs. ""Mostly Classy Restraint" books (Paying Guests, All the Light, Bone Clocks, Those Who Leave), with Annihilation being weirdly both.

Mostly I'm hoping we don't have a final match consisting of 100%
"Mostly Bloody Guts" choices, because I think those books have an unearned advantage just because they are literally so visceral and therefore just naturally feel more important. Untamed State vs Brief History just feels boring to me and I hope it doesn't happen.

That said, I think Marlon James is going to win tomorrow's matchup.

Jan wrote: "You're inside my head, Poingu! I started reading Judge Jones' opinion this morning and immediately thought of you. :-) "

Ha! I was so hopeful when Jones led with "these books could not be more different" but then she caved.

[Janet]

Well Jones went counter to my intuition but my only sadness comes from the fact that I am now only 6 for 8 in a contest to win a gift card. I didn't care for Everything I Never Told You and I didn't read Ferrante's book because my OCD would require me to read the other 2 books first. Is anyone else surprised that Jones apparently read the Ferrante book as a stand-alone?
Prediction for tomorrow: A Brief History of Seven Killings will win.

[Drew]

Beth wrote: "Jan, I will be sad either way. My top pick for the tourney is Brief History, but I love David Mitchell and aside from one section thought Bone Clocks was a fantastic read. It's a little like aski..."


Ditto, Beth. Although the more time I have to think about it, the more I favor Brief History in this matchup.

[Sherri]

How'd everyone do in the first round? I missed 2 -- The Paying Guests and An Untamed State. I'm patting myself on the back a little for the Annihilation and Those Who Leave picks :).

[C.]

I'm hoping Brief History falls in this next round even though I have it winning in my bracket. I mostly bet against myself in my bracket making. Whatever I think should happen, I make it opposite.

[Anne]

Sherri wrote: "How'd everyone do in the first round? I missed 2 -- The Paying Guests and An Untamed State. I'm patting myself on the back a little for the Annihilation and Those Who Leave picks :)."

I missed only one in the first round. I thought Dept of Speculation would beat Annihilation.

As to tomorrow I'm hoping for The Bone Clocks but think it will go to A Brief History.

[Juniper]

Sherri wrote: "How'd everyone do in the first round? I missed 2 -- The Paying Guests and An Untamed State. I'm patting myself on the back a little for the Annihilation and Those Who Leave picks :)."

i got it wrong twice too: in the all the birds v. brief history pairing, and in station eleven v. untamed state. i selected untamed state as one of my zombie picks - though i had all the birds and station eleven going pretty far, so i may be screwed. heh!

[[deleted user]]

Sherri wrote: "How'd everyone do in the first round? I missed 2 -- The Paying Guests and An Untamed State. I'm patting myself on the back a little for the Annihilation and Those Who Leave picks :)."

My only miss in the opening rounds was that I had Brave Man over Paying Guests. I doubt I will fare as well in the next round.

[Topher]

For some dumb reason I thought Adam would be the big first round upset. Otherwise I did fine.

[Ohenrypacey]

I think those books have an unearned advantage just because they are literally so visceral and therefore just naturally feel more important

I haven't had a sense that any of the judgments this far have been based on how 'important' these books feel.
NBA is definitely guilty of this many years, and I get the sense reading our discussions throughout the year that some folks deem 'importance' a requirement for contention in the tourney.

Authorial ambition plays a role, as does 'substance' and a 'complete world', but I have sensed that most judgments have come down to which book the judge enjoyed more.

[Ohenrypacey]

I stand corrected. seems today's win was purely on the back of the author's ambition. just goes to show you.

[Sherri]

My favorite line of the judgment:

I read these pretty much how I read everything these days—catch-as-catch-can. At night before bed, in the kitchen while standing at the stove getting breakfast or dinner ready, in the pickup line after school, at stop lights, in between classes, half-watching my daughter swim laps, on and on.

This is my life exactly. Who else reads like this? And can I just say - it's a little awkward to pull out a huge yellow book called A Brief History of Seven Killings at ice skating lessons while everyone else is Facebooking on their phones. :)

[Lark]

Sherri wrote: "This is my life exactly. Who else reads like this? ."

Nope--I do audiobooks! The only problem is that headphones are way less social even than carrying around a huge yellow book is.

Ohenrypacey wrote: "I stand corrected. seems today's win was purely on the back of the author's ambition. just goes to show you."

Let's see what happens if it's Seven Killings vs. Paying Guests. That would be interesting. I thought Gonzales's judgment had a lot of nuance though--that he was not just choosing the ambition over substance. I liked that he compared James to Tarentino--fair. Also he admitted that David Mitchell is at this point competing against himself.

[Drew]

Sherri wrote: "My favorite line of the judgment:

I read these pretty much how I read everything these days—catch-as-catch-can. At night before bed, in the kitchen while standing at the stove getting breakfast or..."

My heart went out to Judge Gonzalez when I read this. It was difficult enough to read this book in big chunks when I could fall into the rhythm of the story and the language! And I loved your comment, Sherri. You probably have quite the rep amongst the skating parents now. ;^)

[Juniper]

my favourite bit from the judgment was this: "A Brief History of Seven Killings, on the other hand, does not fly by. Perhaps intentionally opposes flying by. Probably murders flying by and its children and burns down its house in the middle of the night." i laughed out loud at that, while nodding my head like a maniac.

[Ellen]

Today's decision's up. I have to admit that it's a bit of a shocker, but I'm ok with it. I felt about the same about both books, although I know All the Light... is a deeply beloved book, and while many people LIKED Paying Guests, I don't think it was adored.

[AmberBug]

I think I'm more upset The Bone Clocks died today... even though I didn't LOVE it, I really liked it.

[Juniper]

i am pretty bummed with today's decision. i really like sarah waters, but her earlier work is so much stronger than 'paying guests'. there was a vitality to doerr's novel that i felt was fairly lacking in waters'. if that makes sense?

[Ellen]

Yeah, I guess I am, too, AmberBug. I'd rather see it as a zombie than All the Light, which I liked ok, but just couldn't see what all the fuss was about.

[Ellen]

The Little Stranger was a wonderful book, and The Night Watch is my favorite of hers. Yes, I agree with you,Jennifer, that it's not her strongest, but I'm still ok with the decision, again, because I just didn't get the fuss about All the Light... It did nothing for me, and I felt I'd read dozens of books like it.

[Rachel]

Can someone link to today's decision? I am very unhappy with the mobile site. I cannot figure out how to get to the day's judgment. I should have brought my laptop on vacation!

[Sherri]

http://www.themorningnews.org/tob/201...

[Janet]

Whoa upset!

[Lark]

I'm really looking forward to the Paying Guests vs. Seven Killings round. The difference in the author's treatment of culture, motivation, gender emphasis, and writing style make me really interested in hearing what a thoughtful reader/judge will have to say when comparing them.

[AmberBug]

If Seven Killings doesn't advance this next round, I'll be super upset.

[Ellen]

I am still finding it impossible to read/finish A Brief History of Seven Killings. So many of you loved it that I feel totally inadequate. There was a great piece by Marlon James in last week's NY Times Magazine, which made me even more eager to read the book and "get" what makes everyone love it so much -- but every time I pick it up I find it such a slog that I just put it down again. Sigh.

[Lark]

Ellen wrote: "I am still finding it impossible to read/finish A Brief History of Seven Killings. So many of you loved it that I feel totally inadequate. There was a great piece by Marlon James in last week's NY..."

I totally admire Marlon James for having the confidence and fortitude to write this book. I think it's going to win unless the next judge in line prefers books with less testosterone. I don't think it will come back as a zombie, but I do think its force, the sheer relentless power of it, might push it right through to the win.

Even so for me it fails. The one judge who compared it to a Tarentino film, only more, pretty much hit the mark for me. I came to the end of the book and thought, great writing, great imaginative inhabiting of many different kinds of people by this author, but to what purpose? I found it thematically empty. Which is exactly how a Tarentino film leaves me feeling.

[Ed]

Upset, indeed. My order guess on zombies are: Station Eleven, Untamed State, and All The Light.

My hunch is Untamed survives. Tho with each round advanced still think it, along with Brief History, increase its chances of running up against a judge in the "minority" opinion.

Right now thinking zombie round is looking to be:
Brief History v. Station Eleven
Untamed State v. All The Light

[Sherri]

Ed wrote: "Upset, indeed. My order guess on zombies are: Station Eleven, Untamed State, and All The Light.

My hunch is Untamed survives. Tho with each round advanced still think it, along with Brief History,..."

I'm still holding onto a very thin thread of hope for an upset on Monday. I'm hoping that Jessica Lamb-Shapiro's background with a child psychologist dad and the humor (or so the blurbs say) with which she writes about it, might make her sympathetic to the psychological aspects of Annihilation. Is there anyone else out there crazy enough to think it could happen?

[Patty]

Ellen wrote: "I am still finding it impossible to read/finish A Brief History of Seven Killings. So many of you loved it that I feel totally inadequate. There was a great piece by Marlon James in last week's NY..."

Ellen, I feel your pain. I have tried to read this book, and I have tried twice to listen. I just can't get into it. I have given up. Reading should not be work and there are so many other books to read.