CP LITERATURE DRAFT - (Rapid Fire Free For All Round)

[driveway]

Good pick Ronald. I once acted in a stage adaptation of the radio play version of "Kaleidoscope".

And Mote in God's Eye is a great book. Really, really a great book. That was high on my list of prospective SF picks.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

In the comics/graphic novels category the Mustardeers select The Complete Far Side. This is in my opinion one of the best "funny" comics which has ever been produced, it has a wit which pretty much everyone I know can relate to in some manner.

[FanIn80]

^^ I really miss The Far Side. I was actually upset when I heard Gary Larson announce he was retiring. That was crazy.

[octothorp]

The sad thing about Gary Larson is that he spawned so many imitators, none of which are nearly as funny as his. His takes on the world of science and animals were almost always brilliant (the obvious exception being 'cow tools'). Does the 'Complete Far Side' include the collection of ones that were never published because they were too potentially offensive? Some of my favorites of his are from that group.

[Ronald Pagan]

One of my faves:

[habernac]

Originally Posted by octothorp

The sad thing about Gary Larson is that he spawned so many imitators, none of which are nearly as funny as his. His takes on the world of science and animals were almost always brilliant (the obvious exception being 'cow tools'). Does the 'Complete Far Side' include the collection of ones that were never published because they were too potentially offensive? Some of my favorites of his are from that group.

yeah, they're all in there. Add me to the huge list of people that thinks he is absolutely brilliant.

[Burninator]

For my fourth pick of the draft, I select in the American Lit category, The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck.


1939

A tale of an American farming families journey across the country to California in search of work. Set during the Great Depression this novel focuses on the hardships, the changing economy, the changing of the farming industry and the changing American culture of the day. This work won Steinbeck the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The Grapes of Wrath is a novel published in 1939 and written by John Steinbeck, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature. It is frequently read in American high school and college literature classes.

Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on a poor family of sharecroppers, the Joads, driven from their home by drought, economic hardship, and changes in the agriculture industry. In a nearly hopeless situation, they set out for California's Central Valley along with thousands of other "Okies" in search of land, jobs, and dignity.

At the time of publication, Steinbeck's novel "was a phenomenon on the scale of a national event. It was publicly banned and burned by citizens, it was debated on national radio hook-ups; but above all, it was read." [4] Steinbeck scholar John Timmerman sums up the book's impact: "The Grapes of Wrath may well be the most thoroughly discussed novel - in criticism, reviews, and college classrooms - of twentieth century American literature."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath

I thought this book was great. While I may not agree with the political leanings that Steinbeck makes the greater story of struggle and seemingly never ending hardship brands this as a depression era must read and a classic.

[Ronald Pagan]

Excellent excellent book. Was definitely on my list.

[habernac]

awesome read

[octothorp]

I'm embarrassed to say this is one that I haven't read. I must rectify that.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by octothorp

I'm embarrassed to say this is one that I haven't read. I must rectify that.

it's been too long since I have. Wish I had the time to read it again.

[Jagger]

Originally Posted by habernac

it's been too long since I have. Wish I had the time to read it again.

Oh come on man! You're up all of the time right now. You've got plenty of time. I took to bouncing the baby while reading at the same time. It can be done....carefully of course!! Funnily enough I did that very thing last night with our 10 month old. Difficult but possible......

[RougeUnderoos]

Round 5

Memoir/Biography

Unforgivable Blackness -- The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson



I don't know if y'all know this, but a hundred years ago there was some Racism going on. This guy, Jack Johnson, was the first black heavyweight champion and he dealt with it all the time. Whitey did not like him. Whitey didn't like him whooping all the white boys, but they really didn't like him courting/copulating/marrying with the white girls. He even ended up in the clink for his troubles with a white woman.

[sadora]

Team PaperCuts is pleased to select in the Anthology/Short Stories category...

THE COMPLETE SHORT STORIES OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY

[octothorp]

In the Children's Lit category, I'm going to take Tolkien's The Hobbit. I remember my father reading this to me when I was young, from a big version that had illustrations every couple pages. Though I went on to read LoTR and was really into it for a while, I think I have a stronger connection with this book than any of Tolkien's other work.

[Bobblehead]

And I think Ro is the only person who is AK (well, other than Antithesis, who bailed).

Is there someone else I"m missing?

[Circa89]

I have no idea where to pick next. So many books, so few categories, and I don't want to be scooped on any great reads.

I don't know if this book should be on my all time greatest reads but I loved this book. It took 2 nights to read, absolutely captivating and possibly the most engaging book I have read in the past 5 years.
I don't want to write too much about this book and those that have read it will understand why.

Therefore with my 5th Round selection in the Category of WILDCARD.

I present Yann Martels The Life of Pi.
Knopf Canada 2001

[Eastern Girl]

I will select in the category, Fiction Wildcard, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

No real time for a write up, but I really, really enjoyed reading this one.

[Bobblehead]

Probably off topic for the thread, but the people people who read this thread are probably the greatest concentration of folk who will appreciate this.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008..._in_words.html

[FanIn80]

With my next pick... in the Sci Fi category...

Ben Bova's Orion!

"I am not superhuman."

This is the story of John O'Ryan, a man who awakens one day to discover that he is the leader of a race of beings so far beyond humanity that they are almost gods; and, like a god, he is locked in an endless struggle with an enemy whose powers are so far beyond the merely human that they seem demonic. Their eternal battle spans time itself.