Tournament of Books discussion

"The Future is Getting Here Awfully Fast" play-in topic books:
Golden State by Ben H. Winters
Oval by Elvia Wilk
We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

these all walk an uncomfortable plausibility line IMO.
Discuss

we start in 1.5 days! (March 6th)

get your bracket predictions in! :)

It looks like most of us predict that Golden State will move forward in this round, with the rest predicting We Cast a Shadow. No takers for Oval?? ;)

Lauren wrote: "It looks like most of us predict that Golden State will move forward in this round, with the rest predicting We Cast a Shadow. No takers for Oval?? ;)"

Also a lot of predictions of the winner of the play-in round beating All This Could Be Yours! Which I fully support!

Bretnie wrote: "Also a lot of predictions of the winner of the play-in round beating All This Could Be Yours! Which I fully support! "

If Golden State doesn't win the play-in, a handful of people are going to have a huge advantage!

Meanwhile, I keep refreshing my email...

We’re live! (note to self, approx 7:30am PST)

https://themorningnews.org/tob/2020/g...

Oh hey, this one was a surprise.
I do agree that WCAS stuck with me more than GS, because it messed with me a bit more (as a dad and a white southerner)

I am a little more curious about Oval, now, though.

I was more surprised that Oval ALMOST won!

I am SO EXCITED that the tournament is on! I’m also surprised by how quickly the judge dispensed with Golden State, since it was such a favorite over here.

and now I want to go finish Oval thanks to the judge! (luckily I just received it back from the library... about the same time my GWO loan ended too early!)

The judge's exhaustion with fictional dystopian worlds by the time she got to GS was the killer, I think.

Nadine wrote: "The judge's exhaustion with fictional dystopian worlds by the time she got to GS was the killer, I think."

Exactly what I was thinking, Nadine. It would have needed to be a big wow by then.

@Nadine - I totally agree!

or maybe we all read Golden State first because it was the more heavily promoted book and were dystopian-fatigued by the time *we* got to We Cast a Shadow.

First, I'm very happy that the Tournament has finally started (though I wish it hadn't done so on a Friday, considering the weekday-only schedule). This is the first time I've read all the competing books, and I'm looking forward to all the joy and pain of seeing these books compete, and it's only fitting that my favorite for the play-in round lost. It's gonna be a fun month.

I read Oval first and was fatigued with it a third of the way in, and very unhappy about the use of third-person limited perspective in the last third. Golden State felt like a fun breath of fresh air in comparison. I liked We Cast a Shadow, just not as much (I've only just begun reading The Sellout, and it already feels like a better version of this narrative), but I can feel okay about it taking the win this round.

I will say of the 5 Ben H Winters book I have read, Golden State is my least favorite. (He is an Indiana author so I always pick him up.)

Shadow just made the short list for the Pen Faulkner Award for Fiction.

Bretnie wrote: "I was more surprised that Oval ALMOST won!"

Yes, it seriously sounded like it was going to win the round with the judge's opening statements. She really dug into that Oval, and I agree that she might have been tired when she got to Golden State. The order I read these was: GS, WCAS, then Oval which corresponds with my rankings of them... It's possible that's a slight factor when you're judging books that are all in a general theme (especially if you're dreading that particular theme at the time).

That was one of the most thorough Rooster judgments I've ever read. Kudos to Jeannie Vanasco. She made me reflect on my own readings, and made me think over my own blind spots about these novels. She made her case. Even as a complete fan of Golden State I can see her point.

I read a little of Golden State before working on other TOB books (cause I own it which means I neglect it for not-mines). So I finished Golden just this week after abandoning both We Cast and Oval - and it felt exhilarating. I’m a little unclear about how the “feeling the lies” thing was working, given the ending but I still felt it was a solid (and smart!) dystopia/murder mystery/buddy cop action read!

I thought that Golden State would just edge out We Cast a Shadow. I enjoyed both books. Got bogged down with Oval weeks ago, probably a dnf now.

I am on board with this judgement! I had breaks in between reading all three and I would rank them the same way as the judge. I liked Golden State a lot at the beginning but then it just totally fell apart at the end for me. I liked Oval a bit better but it was hard to connect with because I felt like the characters were all unpleasant or annoying. We Cast a Shadow was challenging but definitely made me think and work hard to empathize with the narrator's actions.

I was rubbing my hands together in delight thinking Oval might win, not because I liked it or even finished it but because that would have been a crazy start. I assumed Shadow would win because it is satire and the ToB judges have always overvalued satire in my opinion. Also I agree with the people saying Golden State is one of Winters' weaker works.

On we go!

Kali wrote: "I am on board with this judgement! ... I liked Golden State a lot at the beginning but then it just totally fe..."

The end of Golden State was a total mess.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I was rubbing my hands together in delight thinking Oval might win, not because I liked it or even finished it but because that would have been a crazy start."

Me too! I love upsets in the TOB.

This was indeed a great start to the ToB!

The problem with starting it off on a Friday, is that the weekend is suddenly longer.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Also I agree with the people saying Golden State is one of Winters' weaker works."

In that case, I have to get all his other books, posthaste! The Last Policeman is already sitting on my shelf - I bought it while I was still squealing over GS.

Winters' Underground Airlines is a great read.

Agreed, @Kyle. Golden State was good, but I thought Underground Airlines was really powerful, especially since I do prison work in Texas, where slavery is still very present and rewarding for the state. :( The story was really easy to follow (where Golden State confused me a bit from time to time).

I usually don’t get the play-in books read, but I saw Golden State at the library so decided to read it this time. I’m disappointed she read it last, but I will have to get “We Cast a Shadow” now and see what I think. I agree with those who think GS fell apart a little at the end, but I also liked it so much more than I expected to that I didn’t care so much.

I was totally disappointed. I loved Golden State and was not very keen on We Cast a Shadow (although I guess I liked it better than Oval, so there is that).

I definitely enjoyed the judgement - more than I enjoyed Oval. I could have been persuaded either way between Golden & Shadow. Golden was more *fun* and readable, but (after a false start wherein I had to remind myself that satire about Black America /=/ The Sellout, so change my expectations) I liked how Shadow affected my thinking.

I feel like I'm very against the grain on this one because I couldn't finish 'Golden State' (long before it ended up on the longlist), whereas I picked up 'We Cast a Shadow' after reading the judgment and inhaled Part 1 in an afternoon. I hate to say, Melanie, but I think I'm getting more out of this than I did 'The Sellout'???

Whoa.