Comments on: The 2011 Tournament of Novels – Nomination Finalization

By: Ethan C.

Ethan C. — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:54:50 +0000

I’m surprised at the number of people who voted for “Gormenghast”…

Really! I thought I was the only one who had ever heard of it! It’s my favorite novel.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:17:59 +0000

Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s “The Leopard” should be on the list. It is a masterpiece.

The two worst books on the list (of those that I have read): Gore Vidal’s “Lincoln” and Ian McEwan’s “Atonement.” “Lincoln” is a real clunker. “Atonement” is marked by the narrowness of vision that is a logical consequence of fervent atheistic secularism.

By: Boze

Boze — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:54:04 +0000

“I’ll try to catch it next year and nominate Williams’ “Descent into Hell” at the very least.”

“Descent into Hell” is my favorite of his novels, so I’ll gladly support you (though in fairness, I’ve never finished reading “All Hallows’ Eve”).

I’m surprised at the number of people who voted for “Gormenghast”…

By: John

John — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 06:43:26 +0000

Miguel and Pentamom,

Glad that you enjoy LOTR. I have very good friends that do as well. Reading should above all be enjoyed. For you and the many others that enjoy LOTR I hope it remains widely discussed, and for your children and grandchildren’s sake I hope it continues to do well and remain long in print. By all indications it will. Cheers.

By: pentamom

pentamom — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 02:31:08 +0000

Ethan — you warm the cockles of my heart. Now I happen to believe Huck Finn deserves respect if only because of its place in the formation of the American imagination, but you’re right — if Lord of the Rings can justly be criticized on the grounds that much of it is merely Tolkien amusing himself with his inventiveness, Huck comes in for that criticism, squared. And I say that, as one who, as I said above, regards LotR as a genuine work of literature. Miguel said it beautifully. I’d only add that seeing an elf fighting monsters in a story and automatically concluding from that, that there can be no literary merit to the story, is not merely a sign of immaturity, but of lack of understanding of literature itself.

And I don’t actually think “port” made an appearance anywhere in the book. It really couldn’t have — there’s no Portugal in Middle Earth. ;-)

By: sean carlson

sean carlson — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 20:58:13 +0000

I had to go thru the list to find the books I’d actually read, thus narrowing down my selections as well as probably warping the outcome. I just finished the Sackett novels of Louis Lamour. Does that count for anything?

By: Ellyn

Ellyn — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 18:26:23 +0000

At least no Catcher in the Rye. (“Razzies” in the future, perhaps?)

By: Miguel

Miguel — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:58:26 +0000

On the contrary, I live by the maxim that someone who can’t appreciate Lord of the Rings is not to be trusted. You might as well say Homer is ridiculous with all that talk about nymphs and godesses and heroes. Everything can be found in the Lord of the Rings, it is epic in the truest sense. The elves and dwarves and hobbits and the rest are all reflections of some part of our humanity. Even the orcs, for that matter. It belongs as surely in any Great Books list as Homer or Virgil or Tolstoy. If someone can’t handle a book with mythical creatures, that’s not a sign of maturity but it’s opposite. It’s the “maturity” of an adolecent. If we were given the capacity to imagine, we ought to use it once in a while…

By: Ethan C.

Ethan C. — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:28:09 +0000

I’ll try to catch it next year and nominate Williams’ “Descent into Hell” at the very least.

I thought I did nominate it last week, on the same list in which I submitted Gormenghast (which is on there). Perhaps I’m mistaken.

By: Ethan C.

Ethan C. — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:23:28 +0000

Huckleberry Finn is a fun series of gags, but it’s hardly a novel. :)