Book Runoff - Group 4

[mith]

45 books received 2 nominations. There are 18 places in the 64 book bracket. The top 2 from each group will move on. Deadline for voting is one week.

Group 4:

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie
My Name is Asher Lev - Chaim Potok
The Stranger - Albert Camus

[extropalopakettle]

Damn - three great books here (Bradbury, Lewis, Camus - haven't read the others).

[Jedo the Jedi]

*agrees with extro*

Which one did you vote for? I'll vote for one of the others.

[extro...]

I finally voted for The Stranger, I didn't vote in most of the others, because in many cases there were quite a few I hadn't read, and I could at least entertain the possibility that some of them were better than the ones I had. I haven't read Murder on the Orient Express, but that's different.

[zorT Kitty]

Extro, I'm glad to see you have good taste in books. Camus gets my vote too.

[Courk]

Orient Express is great.

[extropalopakettle]

I read The Stranger in college, and of all the books I've read, this one made the greatest impression on me and was the most disturbing. Disturbing, not directly for the book's content itself (because disturbing content can always be dismissed as just a book), but for something that it made me realize about life itself (which can't be dismissed) - something I can't quite articulate. I don't think I share Camus' view of life - I'm not sure because I'm not sure what his view is. But I found the way the main character lived, letting life happen to him, to be a common way of living, and to me very tragic.

[mith]

I haven't read any of these myself. This is why I like these tournaments, there's all sorts of things out there that I *should* have watched or read. Now I have a list.

[Mackay]

Lewis vs. Potok... =(

...I'd wait to see which would most benefit from my vote, but I'm leaving tomorrow... Educated guess tells me Potok needs me more.

[casinopete]

I voted My Name is Asher Lev. I can't really make bitter remarks this time, though, since I have absolutely no problem with Farenheit 451 and The Stranger beating it.

*preemptively shakes fist in case Christie wins, though*

[Courk]

What's wrong with Agatha Christie? Sure, some of her books aren't that great, but Murder on the Orient Express is a good book.

[*casinopete]

It's not necesarily that anything is wrong with Christie, but that F451 and Stranger are simply much better. Not that you should blindly follow the opinions of other people, but I think it might be interesting to check out some standard "top 100 novels of all time" lists, and see exactly how often Christie makes the list as opposed to Bradbury and Camus.

[Elayne]

Ugh don't even get me started on top 100 lists.

James Joyce's Potriat of an Artist of a Young Man is on that list and there is not a book I detest more then that one. Sure I suppose it might have been innovative and differnt on its writing style but just because its still was innovative doesn't mean the story was a good one.

Ditto goes for Lord of the Flies...found that one extremly distateful too. Ohhh people revert back to animals was abandend in the wilderness.

Never did see what was so thrilling in great gatsby either.

[casinopete]

You've left me nigh speechless.

Portrait of the Artist was not worth reading because the writing style was innovative or different or whatever. It was worth reading because it's fecking brilliant.

And while Lord of the Flies didn't quite make my nominations... well, I guess that says it all - it didn't quite make my nominations.

I have to mostly agree with you on Gatsby, though. It was okay, but I wasn't particularly upset when I finished with it.

[Internet Stranger]

Wasnt James Joyce supposed to be like this retarded guy they put in front of a typewriter?
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[casinopete]

... and you're saying that's not fecking brilliant?

[dethwing]

Come on Christie...pass the Stranger!

[L'lanmal]

Big edit here.. it appears my search function was broken and wasn't finding when I searched on Bradbury's name. Maybe I had case sensativity turned on

[Courk]

*agrees with Elayne on Gatsby and Flies*

[Elayne]

Sorry Portrait of an Artist is the only book that has given me a very very strong urge to burn it. Other then maybe Moby Dick.

I cannot see what was so brilliant about the novel. yes it was stream of conciousness (sp) but I didn't see what was so brilliant about the character or what deep meanings there was in that book.

And I read it as a part of senior english class, so yes, I did get all the analysis on it and I still don't see its brillance other then the stream thing.

[wordcross]

^ What she said

iirc, Elayne and I have similar tastes in fiction. It's not surprising i agree with her, then
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[Elayne]

Yah i remember that quiz of yours

[casinopete]

[Internet Stranger]

I took a crap this morning. It was fecking brilliant. It wasnt about the splashing sound it made, or what it looked like or how it smelled afterwards.

It was just fecking brilliant.
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[Antrax]

Wow. CP's already this aggravated, and the tournament hasn't even really started yet. I knew this was a great idea
(I'm still pleased, btw. Most of the books I voted for are doing well. Only upset registered so far is Shogun not getting even seconded).
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[Elayne]

okay what DO you think is so darn brilliant? You said it wasn't the style or the meanings or the character...so what was it?

[Dmi]

I just don't get why some books are called "classics" and are shoved into my and my peers' faces. They're usually not goodhorrible worthless shit which we are forced to read because there is some "deep meaning" and contrasts of light falling through a barn. All it measures is how well can you see patterns without falling asleep from boredom. I'll find my deep meaning in good books that actually talk about stuff, not make some "deep meaning" you aren't able to discern without using Spark Notes, which anyone uses anyway.[/rant]

[Jedo the Jedi]

@ IS

I'm going to have to read this "fecking brilliant" book, Portrait of the Artist. I want to know what this is all about.

When reading books for school, I say 'Screw you' to the teacher and draw my own meaning(s) from the book. I don't care what they draw from it. If I have to write some essay about "How the water symbolized the passage of the logs down the river," I'd just say that I didn't get that and tell them what I did get from it.

[Internet Stranger]

Logs down the river comes after fecking brilliant.
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[casinopete]

[extro...]

[wordcross]

christ cp, sometimes you're impossible, you know that.

would it kill you to actually give us your reasons for liking the book? All you've done so far is criticize others' opinions while claiming that Portrait is fecking brilliant. Then you criticize them for criticizing you incorrectly.

Grow up.
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[*casinopete]

wordx:

Being Muslim doesn't make you infallible, no matter how often you try to convince us of it.

What? You didn't say anything of the sort? You're impossible!

Seriously, man, you've got to be kidding me. You would have preferred I be polite and accept an implicit demand that I argue positions I neither hold nor have any interest in?

[Elayne]

Oh I am reading it. But reading and comprehending what you mean by it are two different things.

And apperently I am not the only one having trouble figuring out what you were aiming for.

[Elayne]

**bets cp will use the above post to insult my intellegence**

And no, you don't have to argue positions you don't believe in.

What would have been a good thing to do is try clarify your intial postion cause at least one of us missed where you were going with it.

[sarcasm on]
Course since we are not as brilliant as yourself, it would probably be worth your time to try to explain to lesser mortals again
[/sarcasm off]

[casinopete]

Elayne:

I said:

[Courk]

You still haven't answered Elayne's question: Why do you think that book is so brilliant?

[Internet Stranger]

The day of reckoning looms, for someday the antipete will come to claim all of our souls.
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[Elayne]

[Internet Stranger]

Whats left is the fecking brilliance, duh.
_________________
"I didn't know she was your sister I swear!"
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