New Leaf Run-Off Poll for September • Over the Hills and Far Away: Journeys

[CRussel]

This is the runoff poll to select the book we'll read and discuss in September of 2020.
Note: I won't be voting in this poll unless there is another tie, at which point I'll cast the tie-breaking vote.

We love new participants. We're happy for you to vote, but in the interest of a vibrant conversation, we'd like to request that you not vote unless you plan to join the discussion whatever the selection. So if you haven't posted in a book club thread yet, do please say a quick hello here or in the Welcome thread.

This is a poll. Vote for as many books as you'd like.

Questions? FAQs | Guidelines Or just ask!

Choices:
 

• Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne.
  Spoiler:

  Originally Posted by Wikipedia

  “ The story starts in London on Wednesday, 2 October 1872.
  
  Phileas Fogg is a rich British gentleman living in solitude. Despite his wealth, Fogg lives a modest life with habits carried out with mathematical precision. Very little can be said about his social life other than that he is a member of the Reform Club, where he spends much of every day. Having dismissed his former valet, James Forster, for bringing him shaving water at 84 °F (29 °C) instead of 86 °F (30 °C), Fogg hires Frenchman Jean Passepartout as a replacement.
  
  At the Reform Club, Fogg gets involved in an argument over an article in The Daily Telegraph stating that with the opening of a new railway section in India, it is now possible to travel around the world in 80 days. He accepts a wager for £20,000, half of his total fortune, from his fellow club members to complete such a journey within this time period. With Passepartout accompanying him, Fogg departs from London by train at 8:45 p.m. on 2 October; in order to win the wager, he must return to the club by this same time on 21 December, 80 days later. They take the remaining £20,000 of Fogg's fortune with them to cover expenses during the journey.”

  ~130 pp.
  
• Erebus: The Story of a Ship By Michael Palin.
  Spoiler:

  In the early years of Queen Victoria’s reign, HMS Erebus undertook two of the most ambitious naval expeditions of all time.
  
  On the first, she ventured further south than any human had ever been. On the second, she vanished with her 129-strong crew in the wastes of the Canadian Arctic.
  
  “Her fate remained a mystery for over 160 years.
  
  Then, in 2014, she was found.
  
  This is her story.“

  365 pp.

[CRussel]

Well, we have a clear choice here. One is fiction, one is non-fiction. One is short, the other fairly long for us. One is free, one is not. One was written in French, but about an Englishman, the other was written by an Englishman, but is quintessentially a Canadian story.

[CRussel]

Last Call. This runoff will close in the morning. (Though really, I don't think we can go wrong here. Both were on my "I'm going to read this regardless" list.

[CRussel]

The results are in, and we'll be reading and discussing that Jules Verne classic "Around the World in Eighty Days". I remind folks that there are multiple versions of this, in both eBook and audiobook, but you're free to read whatever version you choose. Personally, I'll be reading the Patrick Tull narration from Audible. Supplemented by the Amazon Classics eBook.

In just two more days, we'll be discussing Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by GrannyGrump

Stephen Leacock was a Canadian educator, political scientist, writer, and humorist. Between 1911 and 1925 he was so well-known as the world’s greatest humorist that it was said more people had heard of Stephen Leacock than had heard of Canada.

Originally Posted by wikipedia

Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is a sequence of stories by Stephen Leacock, first published in 1912. It is generally considered to be one of the most enduring classics of Canadian humorous literature. The fictional setting for these stories is Mariposa, a small town on the shore of Lake Wissanotti. Although drawn from his experiences in Orillia, Ontario, Leacock notes: "Mariposa is not a real town. On the contrary, it is about seventy or eighty of them."

This work has remained popular for its universal appeal. Many of the characters, though modelled on townspeople of Orillia, are small town archetypes. Their shortcomings and weaknesses are presented in a humorous but affectionate way.

At right around 100 pages, this is a short work and it's in the public domain, so even if you haven't started it, there's still time before discussion starts. Or at least before it gets too far along. So please, join us for the discussion starting Saturday.

[fantasyfan]

I look forward to Around the World in Eighty Days. Of course I have seen the film but have never bothered to read the book. So it will be a new experience.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by fantasyfan

I look forward to Around the World in Eighty Days. Of course I have seen the film but have never bothered to read the book. So it will be a new experience.

Yup, I'm in the same situation. I'd have enjoyed either choice, but this one at least has one of my all time favourite narrators, so I'll enjoy that part of it, at least.

[fantasyfan]

[QUOTE=CRussel;4022793]Yup, I'm in the same situation. I'd have enjoyed either choice, but this one at least has one of my all time favourite narrators, so I'll enjoy that part of it, at least. [/QUOTE

I think I’ll try that Audible version too. Thanks for mentioning it.

[Catlady]

I'm intending to listen to the Jim Dale version.

ETA: This was a freebie from RH Audio at some point, so check your files.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I'm intending to listen to the Jim Dale version.

ETA: This was a freebie from RH Audio at some point, so check your files.

I'm sure his will be good as well. Really, there a surfeit of quality narrations of this book.

[JSWolf]

I'm not sure I can read this. It turns out that Verne is an anti-Semite. According to the New York Times, he was a voracious anti-Semite and his publisher Hertzel dialed it back some.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'm not sure I can read this. It turns out that Verne is an anti-Semite. According to the New York Times, he was a voracious anti-Semite and his publisher Hertzel dialed it back some.

Of course you should not read it if you believe it may upset you, but if you felt able to read it then you could help highlight those issues that do show up in the story. I don't recall encountering such issues (beyond what I would expect in a text of this era) when reading Verne in the past, but prejudice is not always obvious to those not directly affected by it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by gmw

Of course you should not read it if you believe it may upset you, but if you felt able to read it then you could help highlight those issues that do show up in the story. I don't recall encountering such issues (beyond what I would expect in a text of this era) when reading Verne in the past, but prejudice is not always obvious to those not directly affected by it.

I've not read this so I have no idea if the story is an issue or not. I might read it even so. I'm still deciding

I do think we should vet authors to not nominate authors who are anti-Semite, racist, abusers, or molesters. We've read some books that were clearly spoiled because of the author's racism and anti-semitism.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've not read this so I have no idea if the story is an issue or not. I might read it even so. I'm still deciding

I do think we should vet authors to not nominate authors who are anti-Semite, racist, abusers, or molesters. We've read some books that were clearly spoiled because of the author's racism and anti-semitism.

You left out one glaring bias. How about sexist authors and books that have a sexist bias? Now that’s a pretty pickle, isn’t it? You can’t condemn the rest but give sexism a pass, but there’d be nothing left if you were consistent. Even as a woman, I wouldn’t want that; I’d have missed out on too much reading I’ve loved over the course of my life. And then there’s the heteronormative bias which pretty much covers absolutely everything ever written until very recently.

Jon, you’re a Star Trek fan, I know. I must say I find the original Star Trek to pass the boundaries of “acceptable because it reflects its times” to sit squarely in outright sexist, women-exploiting territory. And it’s not good enough to justify it, either, the way some great works of the past are.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

You left out one glaring bias. How about sexist authors and books that have a sexist bias? Now that’s a pretty pickle, isn’t it? You can’t condemn the rest but give sexism a pass, but there’d be nothing left if you were consistent. Even as a woman, I wouldn’t want that; I’d have missed out on too much reading I’ve loved over the course of my life. And then there’s the heteronormative bias which pretty much covers absolutely everything ever written until very recently.

Jon, you’re a Star Trek fan, I know. I must say I find the original Star Trek to pass the boundaries of “acceptable because it reflects its times” to sit squarely in outright sexist, women-exploiting territory. And it’s not good enough to justify it, either, the way some great works of the past are.

I didn't think of sexism. That was a mistake. There is a certain level of these issues that's too much. The Dorthy Sayer, ERB, and H. Rider Haggard are three examples of too much (IMHO). Can we try to go for books that while not perfect, are not so out there?

I have started Around the World in 80 Days and so far, it's OK.

[CRussel]

I've said this before, and I don't want to have to say it again. The voting and nomination process decides what book we will read. And starting a discussion about a book or author, in the voting thread, to denigrate the book or author, is not acceptable. If you want to start a discussion about bias in our selections, the Welcome thread is appropriate. If you want to discuss a particular book or author, the book's discussion thread is appropriate.