The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

Dynamic Rankings
The idea of dynamic rankings is to provide a measure of the collective opinion of the group on the relative merits of the books on a list. This is not intended to have any great significance or scientific value, and the more members participate, the more interesting the tables get. Please don't see this as a competition - there are always some people who aim to read a whole list and others who are happy just to sample one or two. To participate, just list the books in order of preference (best first). You can number them if you like, if not we will assign the first book 1, second 2, third 3 etc. Please do not include books that you have not started reading.

In order to make it easier for us to collate the numbers for the league tables, please try to stick to one post per member (you can use edit comment to update your lists) and refrain from general chat.

I normally try to update the league tables at least once a day until activity tails off.

I will update this list to remove the non-shortlisted books and open this thread for comments after the announcement this afternoon.

The full 2021 International Booker shortlist is:

At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop, translated from French by Anna Mocschovakis, Pushkin Press

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories by Mariana Enríquez, translated from Spanish by Megan McDowell, Granta Books

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, translated from Spanish by Adrian Nathan West, Pushkin Press

The Employees by Olga Ravn, translated from Danish by Martin Aitken, Lolli Editions

In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova, translated from Russian by Sasha Dugdale, Fitzcarraldo Editions

The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard, translated from French by Mark Polizzotti, Pan Macmillan, Picador

League Tables

(i) Shortlist Rankings Only

My adjusted weightings method:

Pos, Book, Average, Adjusted, Count, First Places, STD
1, When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, 1.50, 0.52, 16, 12, 0.44
2, At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop, 2.65, 1.74, 17, 4, 0.86
3, The Employees by Olga Ravn, 3.09, 2.22, 11, 1, 0.78
4, In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova, 3.00, 2.25, 12, 2, 0.87
5, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez, 4.53, 3.59, 15, 1, 1.37
6, The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard, 4.94, 4.34, 17, 2, 1.71

Paul-style aggregate of comparisons

Pos, Book, Average, Relative ranking, Count, First Places
1, When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, 1.50, 48, 16, 12
2, At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop, 2.65, 13, 17, 4
3, In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova, 3.00, 8, 12, 2
4, The Employees by Olga Ravn, 3.09, 6, 11, 1
5, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez, 4.53, -25, 15, 1
6, The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard, 4.94, -50, 17, 2

(ii) Including Longlist rankings carried forward

My adjusted weightings method:

Pos, Book, Average, Adjusted, Count, First Places, STD
1, When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, 1.44, 0.55, 18, 14, 0.45
2, At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop, 2.55, 1.93, 20, 5, 1.02
3, The Employees by Olga Ravn, 2.92, 2.25, 12, 2, 0.81
4, In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova, 2.92, 2.27, 13, 2, 0.90
5, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez, 4.38, 3.53, 16, 1, 1.38
6, The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard, 4.83, 4.35, 18, 2, 1.75

Paul-style aggregate of comparisons

Pos, Book, Average, Relative ranking, Count, First Places
1, When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, 1.44, 51, 18, 14
2, At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop, 2.55, 12, 20, 5
3, In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova, 2.92, 8, 13, 2
4, The Employees by Olga Ravn, 2.92, 6, 12, 2
5, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez, 4.38, -25, 16, 1
6, The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard, 4.83, -52, 18, 2

(5*)
1 When We Cease to Understand the World
2 In Memory of Memory
(4*)
3 The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
4 The Employees
(3*)
5 At Night all Blood is Black
6 The War of the Poor

Links are to my reviews

1 “When We Cease to Understand the World” – 5*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2 At Night All Blood is Black – 4*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4 The Employees- 4*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
5 “The Dangers of Smoking in Bed” – 3*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
6 – “The War of the Poor” – 1*
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

1. When We Cease to Understand the World (5* 1/58)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2. In Memory of Memory (4* 5/58)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
3. At Night All Blood is Black (4* 9/58)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4. The Employees (4* 12/58)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
5. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed (3* 44/58) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
6. The War of the Poor (2* 58/58)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The rankings x/57 are my rankings among all 57 of the eligible books I've read.

Happy with any of top 4 as a winner. And would be very disappointed with either of the bottom 2.

1. The Employees
2. In Memory of Memory
3. At Night All Blood Is Black
4. When We Cease to Understand the World
5. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed.
6. The War of the Poor

I feel like on Goodreads there is going to be a pretty clear consensus on the winner.

1) When We Cease to Understand the World
2) At Night All Blood is Black
3)
4) The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
5)
6) The War of the Poor

1. When We Cease to Understand the World
2. The Employees
3. In Memory of Memory
4. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
5. At Night All Blood is Black
6. The War of the Poor

1. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
2. When We Cease to Understand the World
3. The Employees
4. At Night All Blood is Black
5. In Memory of Memory
6. The War of the Poor

1. When we Cease to Understand the World
2. At Night All Blood is Black
3. In Memory of Memory
4. The Employees
5. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed

1. When We Cease to Understand the World
2. At Night All Blood is Black
3.
4.
5.
6. The War of the Poor

1. When We Cease To Understand The World
2. At Night All Blood Is Black
3. The Employees
4. In Memory of Memory
5.
6. The Dangers Of Smoking In Bed

1.In Memory of Memory
2. When We Cease to Understand the World
3. The Employees
4. At Night All Blood is Black
5. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
6. The War on the Poor

1. At Night All Blood Is Black
2. The War of the Poor
3.
4. When We Cease to Understand the World
5. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
6. In Memory of Memory

1. At Night All Blood is Black 5*
1. When We Cease to Understand the World 5* (These two have changed 1st and 2nd place several times for me!)
3. An Inventory of Losses 4*
4. The Employees 4*
5. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed 3*
6. The War of the Poor 4*

1. At Night All Blood is Black
2.
3.
4. In Memory of Memory
5. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
6. The War of the Poor

1. When We Cease to Understand the World
2.
3. At Night All Blood is Black
4.
5. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
6. The War on the Poor

1. The War of the Poor (5 stars)

1. When We Cease to Understand the World
2.
3. At Night All Blood is Black
4. The War on the Poor
5. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
6.

1. The War of the Poor

1. When We Cease to Understand the World
2. The Employees
3. At Night All Blood Is Black
4. The War of the Poor
5.

1. In Memory of Memory

1. When We Cease to Understand the World - 5*
1a. At Night All Blood is Black - 5*
3.
4.
5.
6.