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

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Is the spreadsheet going to get updated with the latest picks? I was hoping to print it off and add a bunch of books to my wish list.

I am planning on it (and the music) but when the floodgates opened it became ... work. I'll get around to it, it is just easy to let myself be distracted......

[Displaced Flames fan]

Is it too early to ask if a certain book was on anybody's radar?

I know there are probably some folks with picks still to make.

BTW...anybody know what happened to Ro?

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Is it too early to ask if a certain book was on anybody's radar?

I know there are probably some folks with picks still to make.

BTW...anybody know what happened to Ro?

No, I think it's safe to ask away at this point.

[octothorp]

The one book I was most surprised wasn't picked was The Sound & the Fury. It was one I considered taking as early as the second or third round, before deciding that I'd go with a relatively obscure one for my American selection.

[Displaced Flames fan]

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

Anyone?

[Bobblehead]

Fiction - Wildcard: Microserfs - Douglas Coupland (a fiction view of Microsoft)

Historical: The Invasion of Canada - Pierre Berton The first of 2 books discussing the War of 1812. It was a messy affair, with way too much war mongering and incompetence)

Picture/Coffee Table: The Canadian Rockies, A History in Photographs - Graeme Pole

Non-Fiction Wildcard - The National Dream - Pierre Berton (because you can't know too much about your own country!)

Cooking: The Cromarty Cookbook - Cromarty UCW This is a book my late grandmother's church group assembled for a fund raising initiative in the early 70s. If you want the best recipes for standard country cooking, this is the place to find it (although it had the one run and hasn't been in print for almost 40 years).

And I don't have any travel books, so if someone wants to make suggestions, feel free.

PS: I think the spreadsheet is up to date. Let me know of any errors/omissions. Sorry for the delay.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by octothorp

The one book I was most surprised wasn't picked was The Sound & the Fury. It was one I considered taking as early as the second or third round, before deciding that I'd go with a relatively obscure one for my American selection.

Yeah, I was surprised too--though I went with Go Down, Moses instead because I could fit it into the short story anthology category.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Great thread! I am very much a latecomer but have spent a few hours devouring the thread and frantically writing down suggestions.

In the end my favourites were all picked. I'd like to re-affirm the choices of the Dune Series (my favourite fiction series), The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, The Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay, The Song of Fire and Ice by George R.R. Martin, Robert Heinlein's Sci-Fi, anything by Nietzsche (who was very much ahead of his time in his thoughts on a variety of subjects and IMO bar none the best writer out of all the philosophers I've read). Beyond Good and Evil was a solid Nietzsche choice but I'd probably recommend The Gay Science even more highly.

I guess the only surprising thing to me is that no one picked an Ursula Le Guin sci-fi book. The Disposessed, The Lathe of Heaven and the Left Hand of Darkness are all outstanding stories by her.

All Men are Mortal was an interesting novel by Simone de Beauvoir, I guess thats the only other suggestion off the top of my head.

[octothorp]

Here's my all-star list (favorite picks excluding my own):

Canadian: Kroetsch - What the Crow Said
American: Salinger - Catcher in the Rye
European: Peake - Gormanghast novels
World: Marquez - Hundred Years of Solitude
Children's Lit: Sendak - Where the Wild Things Are
Sci-Fi: Lem - Solaris
Fantasy: Kay - Fionavar Tapestry
Wildcard: Martel - Life of Pi
Pulp: Shelley - Frankenstein
Memoir: Eggars - Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Scientific: Diamond - Guns, Germs and Steel
Travel: none (haven't read any of the other picks)
History: Kurlansky - Salt
Food: Bordain - Les Halles Cookbook
Comics/Humour: Moore - Watchmen
Anthology: Shakespeare - Complete Works
Picture Book: Silcox - Group of Seven
Pre 20th or Poetry: Whitman - Leaves of Grass

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

I guess the only surprising thing to me is that no one picked an Ursula Le Guin sci-fi book. The Disposessed, The Lathe of Heaven and the Left Hand of Darkness are all outstanding stories by her.

A stunning novel.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by octothorp

Here's my all-star list (favorite picks excluding my own):

Good idea--here's mine:


Canadian: Findlay - The Wars
American: Hemingway - The Sun Also Rises
European: Laxness - Independent People
World: Achebe - Things Fall Apart
Children's Lit: Sendak - Where the Wild Things Are (doesn't get better than this IMO)
Sci-Fi: Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse Five
Fantasy: Tolkein - Lord of the Rings
Wildcard: Faulkner - Absalom! Absalom!
Pulp: Shelley - Frankenstein
Memoir: Eggers - Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Scientific: Darwin - The Origin of Species
Travel: I can't choose one here either...
History: I haven't read any of those yet...
Food: ditto.
Comics/Humour: Spiegelman - Maus
Anthology: Joyce - Dubliners
Picture Book: don't really know any of these... but I definitely want to look at the Frank Lloyd Wright, the Audubon and the Group of Seven books.
Pre 20th or Poetry: Melville - Moby Dick

[Burninator]

Here is my all star list (including my picks). Some categories I haven't read at all, and others are pretty slim for choices out of what I've read (mostly the bottom categories). But there are tons of books from this draft that I will be checking out.

Canadian: Findley - The Wars
American: Heller - Catch 22
European: Orwell - 1984
World:
Children's Lit: Twain - Huckleberry Finn
Sci-Fi: Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse 5 (I'm reading Dune right now which is quite good)
Fantasy:
Wildcard: Steinbeck - The Grapes of Wrath
Pulp: Shelley - Frankenstein
Memoir:
Scientific: Sagan - Demon Haunted World
Travel: Adams - Last Chance to See*
History: Diamond - Collapse
Food: Road Grill*
Comics/Humour: Moore - Watchmen*
Anthology: Adams - Hitchhikers Guide*
Picture Book: Frank Lloyd Wright Houses*
Pre 20th or Poetry: Melville - Moby Dick


*Books that are slim pickings for me. Only one or two choices from the category.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

Good idea--here's mine:


Canadian: Findlay - The Wars
Pulp: Shelley - Frankenstein
Pre 20th or Poetry: Melville - Moby Dick

Wow 3 of my picks made it on your list. We must have similar taste. Good taste that is.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

I have been so busy that this draft just completely slipped my mind. Does anyone have a list of what picks that I still have to make for this draft and I can come up with something quick so I don't feel like a total jerk not finishing something.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

I have been so busy that this draft just completely slipped my mind. Does anyone have a list of what picks that I still have to make for this draft and I can come up with something quick so I don't feel like a total jerk not finishing something.

From the first post.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?k...y_h-SEBMq3wVDw

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Wow 3 of my picks made it on your list. We must have similar taste. Good taste that is.

You and octothorp were picking my books all draft long!!

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

European Literature - Victor Hugo: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- One of the saddest books that I have ever read, not an easy read, but a pretty moving tale of love and dedication if nothing else. Not really a glowing review of the church, the men of the church though... something which is odd given the time in which the book was released.

I haven't ever really read any world literature so I might have to take a pass on that round until I can think of something good that I have read.

Fiction Wildcard - Harper Lee: To Kill A Mockingbird
One of my favorite books growing up, and quite frankly it is only until I did grow up that I really realized the significance of the book. I don't know if this has been picked, I searched under the spreadsheet and nothing came up. Once again, what is a remarkably sad and depressing book given the way in which everything turned out and yet at the same time oddly inspirational and moving. I might have to read it again now that I have a different view on the world and have different experiences under my belt.

Pulp Fiction - Nick Hornby: About a Boy
Don't know if it fits in here but I just really liked this book and thought that it was smart, funny and just an enjoyable read. Nothing significant about the book in terms of a meaning or anything and sometimes that isn't such a bad thing.

Historical: Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway: We Were Soldiers Once... And Young
- I will admit I only read this after watching the movie, that doesn't take away from how good the book was. Moore seems to make himself out to be a bit bigger than life in the book, but I guess being a Lt Gen will do that to a guy. Past that it was a great look into what was essentially the start of the Vietnam War in terms of a major attack/offensive. Much better than the movie as well. I had a hard time chosing this book as there were a few others that I was looking at selecting and a few that had already been selected that I would have much rather taken those being Paris 1919 and Flyboys.

Philosophy - I don't know.... The Art of War? Does that even count?

Wildcard I am stuck between two books, Paris 1919 which was a great account of really the time in which the modern world was carved up and World War II got it's roots based on the idea that Germany had to pay for the crimes of the world. And Black Like Me a great account of what it was like for a White Man to be a Black man in the Southern States during the Civil Rights Movement Era. At the end of the day I will have to say that Paris 1919 is a better book although both are solid reads.

Never Really Had a Coffee Table book so I will go with a book of my Favourite Canadian Painters or at least some of them - From David Silcox: The Group of Seven and Tom Thompson (awesome name too).... I just like the pictures. Crap someone took this one before... ummm I have no idea now.

Pre 20th Century - Alexandre Duma: The Count of Monte Cristo