Literary sun surfer Vote • August 2016

[sun surfer]

Help us select what the MR Literary Club will read in August 2016!

The options this month come from our rotating nominator, sun surfer.


Voting will run for four days. The vote will close exactly four days from this post; even if the final tally doesn't occur immediately after voting closes, no votes made after that time will count.

Votes will be made by post. Each person has SEVEN (7) votes to use.

You may give each nominee one or two (or no) votes. You may vote all at once in one post or vote in separate posts at different times, so long as you have more votes remaining to cast. You may use any number of your possible votes up to the maximum. Any extraneous votes per person (past their maximum or more than two for one nominee) won't count. Votes cannot be changed once they are cast. *Since this is a new process, feel free to ask questions at any time.* If you vote for the winner it is hoped that you will read the selection with the club and join in the discussion.

The rotating nominator may not vote. Once voting is complete, the count will be tallied and a winner declared. In the event of a tie, there will be a one-day run-off vote, also in this thread. If the run-off also ends in a tie, then the tie will be resolved by the nominator.

The floor is now open!

*

Votes now closed. Final results:

(See this post for more information on each title.)

• Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
  Votes- 4
  
  
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
  Votes- 0
  
  
• Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
  Votes- 5
  
  
• The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
  Votes- 6
  
  
• Show Me a Hero by Lisa Belkin
  Votes- 0
  
  
• Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara
  Votes- 1
  
  
• Mysterious Skin by Scott Heim
  Votes- 0
  
  
• Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
  Votes- 8

[fantasyfan]

I!ll start with 2 votes for Of Human Bondage

[Bookpossum]

For some reason I have never read Of Human Bondage, though I have read quite a lot of WSM. I read Isherwood more years ago than I can remember. I haven't read the Hollinghurst though I saw a TV adaptation of it some time back. And although I have read Picnic, it deserves support too. So:

2 votes to Of Human Bondage.
2 votes for Goodbye to Berlin.
2 votes for The Line of Beauty.
1 vote for Picnic at Hanging Rock.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Here are my votes:

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
Votes- 1

Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
Votes- 1

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
Votes- 2

Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara
Votes- 1

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
Votes- 2

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

I haven't read the Hollinghurst though I saw a TV adaptation of it some time back.

Was it good? I know of the television adaptations of that and the Belkin but haven't seen either.

[Bookpossum]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

Was it good? I know of the television adaptations of that and the Belkin but haven't seen either.

Well, I enjoyed it, but of course I don't know how well it followed the book. I think it was the BBC, and if so would expect that it was a good adaptation.

[fantasyfan]

I'll give 2 votes to Picnic At Hanging Rock

and

2 votes to Goodbye To Berlin.

[sun surfer]

Interesting results so far. I wondered how each would do and thought the O'Hara would probably do better if not win so it's a surprise to see it so low. Very happy with any of them winning of course; I chose all of these titles as books that seem to have the potential to spark good discussion while reading. I wasn't sure if the page count of the Maugham would hinder its chances but looks like it hasn't hurt it yet; if it wins I'll love to take on the challenge.

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

Well, I enjoyed it, but of course I don't know how well it followed the book. I think it was the BBC, and if so would expect that it was a good adaptation.

Yes it was the BBC. I'd like to see it then, but want to read the book first.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Thank you, sun surfer, for your interesting selections!

I don't usually pay attention to the page count and prefer to vote based on the merit of and my interest in the book. We have chosen a few long reads in the past that were worth the effort.

[Bookpossum]

No, I never look at page count either, unless it is specifically pointed out that something is particularly long. War and Peace might need to be spread over a couple of months!

[bfisher]

I'm powerfully tempted by the Isherwood title, but his books don't seem to be available as ebooks in Canada (blast all geographical restrictions), so I'll vote 2 for Of Human Bondage and 2 for The Line Of Beauty.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Geographical restrictions are frustrating!

[sun surfer]

Voting is complete and the winner is Of Human Bondage. I'll have the discussion thread up within a day or so.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Thank you, sun surfer, for your interesting selections!

I don't usually pay attention to the page count and prefer to vote based on the merit of and my interest in the book. We have chosen a few long reads in the past that were worth the effort.

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

No, I never look at page count either, unless it is specifically pointed out that something is particularly long. War and Peace might need to be spread over a couple of months!

This one's around 650 pages. Not too terrible but definitely long. I've been in a reading rut so to be cautionary I stuck to shorter nominations except for a couple I couldn't resist- this one and the runner-up, heh. I started this last night and am enjoying it so far.

Originally Posted by bfisher

I'm powerfully tempted by the Isherwood title, but his books don't seem to be available as ebooks in Canada (blast all geographical restrictions), so I'll vote 2 for Of Human Bondage and 2 for The Line Of Beauty.

How strange. Usually the U.S. and Canada are in lockstep with ebook availability (as are the U.K. and Australia). I checked the U.S., the U.K. and Australia for all the nominations and the Isherwood is available at all of those so it's odd that it isn't in Canada.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I find Australia to be the most difficult to locate books, and they also suffer from high prices too. Recently I've found multiple books that aren't available in Canada and vice versa that aren't in the US but are everywhere else!

There are many versions of Of Human Bondage available and unfortunately the quality varies widely. It took some creative searching and downloading of samples to choose one. I decided to go with the Modern Library edition by Random House since it has a lengthy intro by Gore Vidal and commentaries by Theodore Dreiser and Graham Greene. It was $2.99 in the US. The Kindle version has the new PageFlip, enhanced typesetting, X-ray, etc.