Tournament of Books discussion

Mar 8: Play-in: The Confessions of Copeland Cane vs. Our Country Friends vs. The Sentence
Mar 9: Open Rd 1: Beautiful World, Where Are You vs. In Concrete
Mar 10: OpenRd 2: Intimacies vs. Libertie
Mar 11: Open Rd 3: Matrix vs. Subdivision
Mar 14: Open Rd 4: The Trees vs. All's Well

https://themorningnews.org/tob/

We got our first decision, folks!

(And it looks like Disqus is still live for now...)

Kyle wrote: "https://themorningnews.org/tob/

We got our first decision, folks!

(And it looks like Disqus is still live for now...)"

They want to split us up and see what most prefer! yahoo. I'm bummed, it's hard enough to follow the commentary. imo

Whatever, I'll post in all 3 if need be.

Maybe I'll change my mind but right now I have a strong preference for having the decisions and the commentary in the same place..

if anyone is having trouble with the Discord access, Andrew provided this link to try: https://discord.gg/sKgwdn3kYy

Meanwhile, here is the permanent link for today's decision:
https://themorningnews.org/tob/2022/t...

Janet wrote: "Maybe I'll change my mind but right now I have a strong preference for having the decisions and the commentary in the same place.."

Agree! Either one is fine, but what a pain to have to flip back and forth between the two. Even so—celebrating the return of the tournament!!!

Some of the Commentariat noted already but it bears repeating how odd it was to have the judge describe The Sentence as a murder mystery. That's just about the last descriptor I'd use.

Copeland Cane was my least favorite of the 3...the pace was too frenetic and the plot was too fuzzy. It did have some good sections that made me think and I do appreciate the novel for that.

I liked Our Country Friends better than many did. I thought of the Actor as playing the part of the virus. His actual name was barely used if at all, and everything went to hell whenever he was around, and got better when he left.

The Sentence was my favorite by far of the 3, and I agree that the murder mystery categorization was completely bizarre.

Anticipating the next round: I was determined to give Beautiful World a fair shake. It was dismissed out of hand by some who just will never touch another Rooney. But I liked Normal People; I would never have chosen it to win its year and it's not any kind of masterpiece but it was fine. However...BWWAY was just awful for me. I like sex and navel gazing as much as the next gal, but I CRINGED nonstop over the way both were handled here. Just blech. The letters were tedious and the sex was ridiculous.

I didn't like In Concrete either but I'm pulling for it. The translator's effort was amazing but nothing that happened in the story was of any interest to me. It's better than the alternative though.

It'll be fun to see what the judge thinks of these two efforts.

Mindy wrote: "It'll be fun to see what the judge thinks of these two efforts."

They are about as opposite as can be. I wonder if the judge will be able to find a common thread to compare them against each other.

I am a Rooney fan, but appreciate In Concrete moving on, I will always pull for these weird little translated books in ToB. I am only about halfway through it but enjoying it

Also, I have been real busy at the hospital the last few months (for some reason). and now there are countless ways to discuss these books and I don't love that.

Beautiful World behemoth vs. In Concrete: https://themorningnews.org/tob/2022/b...

I didn't want to love Beautiful World but I actually found it extremely compelling and was surprised to find the sex scenes endearing (that's how consent can be sexy) - even in audio with a woman who always sounded a little silly doing the men's voices.
But I adored "In Concrete" - it reminded me a lot of Ali Smith's voice and Weeeeeeee! feeling I get when reading some passages. I'm so happy to see it move on!

I figured In Concrete would win because it just felt right that the backlash to Rooney in the air is strong enough to knock her work out first go round, especially up against a weird flashy little thing that has nothing built up around it or its author. But I also figured the judgement would be part of that backlash and it isn't, so, cool.

The writing about sex in BWWAY brings up some very contrasting opinions on its quality!

Well, let's not forget Normal People's zombie victory last time...

Intimacies vs. Libertie (also the shortest name matchup?)
https://themorningnews.org/tob/2022/i...

Hurrah for Intimacies! That slim little novel really reached out and grabbed me. And I particularly enjoyed the judgement this round--just really thoughtful and engaging.

I liked Intimacies, so I'm glad it's moving forward over Libertie.
This next match-up is where I'll be sad/glad no matter who wins - I really enjoyed both.

Round 3! - https://themorningnews.org/tob/2022/m...

If it's of any interest to folks, on the bracket competition side of things, Matrix was favored 14/24 whereas tomorrow The Trees is favored 20/24!

Amy wrote: "If it's of any interest to folks, on the bracket competition side of things, Matrix was favored 14/24 whereas tomorrow The Trees is favored 20/24!"

15 of us have The Trees taking the rooster, so I imagine most of us are pretty nervous about tomorrow's matchup. Although I think this one has some zombie power based on how much enthusiasm there's been for it so far... But then again, our sample size here (folks in this space compared to all who vote for zombies) might be significantly smaller than we're assuming. :/

@Lauren, I think you’re right, our group is a small fraction of the number of folks who vote on the Zombie, especially if a fairly popular author tells all their Twitter followers to go vote. Didn’t someone do that a year or few ago?

Lauren wrote: "Amy wrote: "If it's of any interest to folks, on the bracket competition side of things, Matrix was favored 14/24 whereas tomorrow The Trees is favored 20/24!"..."

gulp, and this is why I get so nervous with the wildcard of zombies. I didn't vote for The Trees thinking it was MORE of a lock on making its way ALIVE, if you will, to the finals. But we don't know the brackets at that time, either. Makes my head spin.

Care wrote: "...gulp, and this is why I get so nervous with the wildcard of zombies..."

You guys here and the Commentariat over at ToB have taught me my lesson about zombie votes. I ALWAYS vote for my very favorite book, never counting on it to make its way alive to the finals round.

I'm thinking though that The Trees should surely have special zombie powers if it needs them, because . . . well, you know.

I threw my zombie vote to The Sentence before I read The Trees and have major regrets now. I prefer to see it make its way ALIVE now, even though its first round match-up is the one I'm dreading the most.

Phyllis wrote: "I'm thinking though that The Trees should surely have special zombie powers if it needs them, because . . . well, you know."

This made me smile Phyllis. :)

final opening round on the left side of the bracket:
The Trees vs. All's Well:
https://themorningnews.org/tob/2022/t...

(view spoiler)[I had The Trees taking the Rooster in my prediction brackets but this decision is still heartbreaking to me bec. I loved All's Well. My kind of book. I would have been delighted to see it advance. (hide spoiler)]

I haven’t yet read all the books up for discussion this week, always more fun when you have. The Trees is going to be hard to beat I think, I’d be shocked if it’s out before the zombies. Of course I’ve been shocked before here.