Tournament of Books discussion

I’ve identified as a reader all my life. However, I have never been good at talking or writing about books. (In elementary school, trying to write a book report resulted in a summary of all the twists and turns of plot almost as long as the book itself, but out of order!) So volunteering to write a decision for the Tournament of Favorites was scary! My husband assured me I could do it, and even promised to read along with me and discuss the books to help, so I jumped in but with some trepidation. All this to say, I’m sorry that this decision won’t be up to the standards that the Tournament has gotten us accustomed to.

I read The Great Believers a few weeks early, before I knew which of the 8 books I’d be assigned, because I hoped to finish the whole bracket in time for zombie voting. My experience reading the book was immersive, and I finished it within 36 hours. I realized early on that it was a character heavy novel, and so started diagramming out relationships on paper to help my poor memory for names. The circle of friends, lovers, and family mourning their mounting losses at the outset of the book drew me in and put me firmly in a time and place that brought up many cultural touchstones from the early AIDS crisis. Yale and Nora were both fully people in my mind, and I felt for both of them in their grief and foibles. Fiona sticks much less in my mind a few weeks later.

Things I loved:
* The depiction of the art world and its machinations
* Nora’s story, and the parallels drawn to the “lost generation”
* The writing, luminous in parts, made me wonder if it is normal to feel nostalgic about a time that was so scary and sad.

Things that bothered me:
* The Claire subplot felt out of place to me; she wasn’t well characterized but maybe that was on purpose?

Rated 4.5 stars immediately after reading, but now that I have a bit of distance I’d round that down to a 4.

I first read Hamnet in 2021, when it was still a new release, and gave it 4 stars at the time. My memories of that read were that I found it slow but “literary” in terms of its writing quality, and that it is always interesting to consider a historical figure (or event) from the point of view of those outside our usual field of view. I also remember thinking that Hamnet’s death, while foretold on the first page, was abrupt and happened almost without noticing, and earlier in the story than I would have expected in a book named for him.

I reread Hamnet after being assigned this match-up, and while all my recollections and 4-star rating held true, I’m glad to have the chance to pair it with The Great Believers. While so different in setting, style, and pacing, they both are not just sad books, but books ABOUT grief. They show us what it is to experience loss, remind us of the unpredictability of life and death, and portray a range of responses in how people move forward after decimation by plague.

Susanna, Judith, Agnes, and the unnamed father each react in their own way to Hamnet’s death and absence. I found it beautiful to think that Agnes and her beloved eventually understood each other’s grief more fully, but on the page that understanding maybe was a bit more one-sided than I wished.

Things I loved:
* Descriptions of the physical settings - I could see and feel the walls, ground, air as if I was there.
* When the present tense writing, esp from Hamnet’s POV, gave his thoughts immediacy
* The relationship between Agnes and Bartholemew
* “His head is filled with pain, like a bowl brimful of scalding water. It is a strange, confusing kind of pain—it drives out all thought, all sense of action. It saturates his head, spreading itself to the muscles and focus of his eyes; it tinkers with the roots of his teeth, with the byways of his ears, the paths of his nose, the very shafts of his hair.” What a great description of feeling sick!
* “It is so tenuous, so fragile, the life of the playhouses. He often thinks that, more than anything, it is like the embroidery on his father’s gloves: only the beautiful shows, only the smallest part, while underneath is a cross-hatching of labour and skill and frustration and sweat.” I love this take on theater - something to remember as so many theater companies are in financial trouble these days.
* My husband put more stock in the magic of Agnes than I did initially. He thought that the scratching sounds only she could hear near the end of the story were those of Will’s quill on paper as he wrote Hamlet far away in London, while processing his son’s death. I thought that was a cool idea, but I’m not sure there’s much textual evidence for it.

Things that bothered me:
* When the present tense felt forced or like a pretension
* The fable about Agnes’s origins
* Keeping ol’ Will nameless when everyone else, even minor characters, had names, got old
* Never finding out what the deal was with the wool in the attic - it made me feel dumb for not getting what kind of shenanigans the father in law was up to
* The omniscient narration of the section on how the plague fleas made it to Stratford didn’t fit stylistically and felt kind of didactic and unnecessary (plot wise) in a book all about character

In summary, both are very good but not perfect books with surprisingly (to me) similar themes.
Decision: The Great Believers by a very subjective hair, mostly because its plotting and writing style are more in my wheelhouse.

(I wrote that 3 and a half months ago, and might have decided the other way if I was doing it today!)

Nice judgment, Chrissy! (Even if I definitely would have gone the other way.) It's funny, a couple of the things you didn't like about Hamnet were things I loved, Agnes's story and the story of the plague I thought were so much fun.

Excellent judgement! I haven't read Hamnet yet so i can't comment on if I agree with the overall pick but I do agree with your assessment of The Great Believers. I felt the same way about everything and also particularly enjoyed seeing my profession (nonprofit fundraising) depicted in a book, which (almost) never happens.

I am also an avid reader but not great at writing about the books I read or talking about them so I am back here cheering you on for facing your fear and volunteering to judge!

Wonderful judgment, Chrissy! Like Aneesa said, I’m impressed that you volunteered to judge despite your fears! I like the clear way you laid out the things you did and didn’t like. And I love that your hubs volunteered you read along with you. Keep that man around!

Jan wrote: "Wonderful judgment, Chrissy! Like Aneesa said, I’m impressed that you volunteered to judge despite your fears! I like the clear way you laid out the things you did and didn’t like. And I love that ..."

I know, I am so jealous of that! The last book my husband read is In Cold Blood, 15 years ago. 😂

I mean, after that, it's hard to find another one as good.

He’s a keeper for sure. (He didn’t finish TGB though, couldn’t get into it.)

Thank you, Chrissy. Joining the chorus cheering you for your service as a judge here, and your obvious great taste in spouses! A shared passion for literature is a beautiful thing.

A Virginia Woolf sweatshirt (mine, worn Way Back When on the day I met my future husband) and Lorrie Moore's "Anagrams" (his first gift to me) feature prominently in the early stages of what turned into a happy marriage of 31 years and counting. So ... I am all in for Men Who Read. :-)

While Hamnet is one of the most beautiful and moving books I've ever read (and yet I didn't remember that the boy himself speaks in the book!) I applaud your decision, Chrissy!

My husband only reads memoirs and biographies of stand-up comics and comedic actors - a niche taste. But I often find myself standing around and leafing through them - sometimes to the point that I've half-way read them ;)

Chrissy, you did a great job. Don’t sell yourself short!

The Great Believers is the book that I would have chosen too.

Great job! and BIG CHEERs for facing fears and doing it anyway. These are two books that I didn't re-read and am not sure how I would choose. I recall being impressed with Hamnet as written but what I remember most about TGB is that it made me FEEL. Tough choice, fabulous defense of the verdict, well done.

And my husband is a football on TV guy but I am always amazed what he says he read in HS. Much more literature and classics than I will ever get to. I think it burned it out? I just love that your husband helped with this project AND that you say he didn't get into TGB. Isn't this such fun?!

My wife is a big reader, but less the literary fiction and more the romance novels... unless I tell her, "you really have to read this." I've gotten her to read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, for example, cause I knew she'd like it.

Actually we first fell in love over Chabon's "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay."

My husband reads a ton, but mostly rereads of favorite fantasy and sci fi series. He is a mood reader so he picks something he already knows he is in the mood for. Also with a huge dose of demand avoidance, so I can’t really suggest books to him because that makes him even less likely to read them.

Another tough choice! But well-articulated and reasoned. I've read both, but not recently and remember liking both. I might have rated Hamnet a bit higher because I just fell in love with it, while TGB had that inconsistent feel jumping back and forth, which doesn't always work for me. But...I thoroughly enjoyed your take, and thank you for your willingness to do it!

Excellent judgment, Chrissy! You provided a very thoughtful analysis and had me convinced your a natural at this.

I’m also jealous of your husband’s openness to reading ToB books! My partner reads about three books a year, and only golf/celebrity memoirs, or nonfiction adventure stories (he doesn’t understand why I love fiction, when “it’s just made up stories” lol).

And since it’s been years since I’ve read TGB… Can y’all share how much of it was about nonprofit fundraising? I’m about to give up on my first novel after years of struggle/rejection and way too much money on readers, conferences, consultations, etc. My next novel will be about someone who works at a nonprofit because there is so much untapped GOLD in this industry (I’ve worked in it for a while). The stuff that goes on in nonprofits is ridiculous and hilarious, so this next book should be more fun to write. And there are very few books about nonprofits, so if anyone can think of any for me to read as research, let me know!

My wife is the serious reader (and professor) in our family. I do my best to keep up.

Chrissy, you did a great job of judging these books!! I would have chosen Hamnet but mostly, at this level, book choices are mostly based on personal stuff. Hamnet just did such a great job of describing the worst kind of grief - that of losing a child. And I love her writing. I’ve read a lot of her stuff now.