Once & Future

Charlotte Ashley – Book seller, collector, writer, editor, historian

March 9, 2010

Canada Reads 2010: Day Two

I tell you what, lasting a whole day without reading anyone else’s thoughts on Canada Reads is hard!  An unexpected toddler nap schedule has allowed me to watch the broadcast online today and so I am able to get this post up sooner than yesterday – all I can say is THANK GOODNESS.  I look forward to being able to actually read your blogs!

I’d forgotten that they won’t announce the eliminated book until tomorrow, so this post might come out a little thin.  Has anything changed from yesterday?  It doesn’t look like it to me.  Some thoughts:

– Perdita Felician is a FIERCE competitor!  I don’t know if she has a literary chop to her name but she’s relentless, passionate and articulate.  I think it’s going to be hard for anyone to vote against her.

– Michel Vezina is my hero.  This man gives the show literary cred and humour to boot, and I think he will no matter what happens to his book.  I wonder if his books are available in English?  Seems like his books might be more interesting than anything on the table.

– The discussion of the books so far has been, frankly, thin.  We’re speaking mostly in rhetoric and adjectives and nobody has managed to single out any incidents or passages yet for detailed scrutiny.  I get it, the books are important or brave or passionate or complex or whatever – can we talk about specifics please?

– Am I the only one who found Good To a Fault full of moral pablum?  How could none (okay, one; under duress) of the panelists have singled out Dickner’s characters as favourites?  They were the best thing about his book!

Anyway, as of today I’m afraid it looks like Generation X is on the chopping block.  Rolly, you brought this upon yourself by coming out the gate so defensively!  Do what Samantha and Michel are doing: pretend your book doesn’t exist and hope the other panelists forget it’s there.  Gen X and Fall are Tall Poppies.  Good luck!

3 thoughts on “Canada Reads 2010: Day Two”

  1. Kerry C says:

    No, you are not the only one who found that book “moral pablum”. I hated it. And it is exactly the “kind” of book I would like, so my problem with it goes pretty deep. I am loving your recaps- they were one of my favourite part of all of Canada Reads last year.

  2. melanie says:

    I really liked Good To A Fault for so many reasons and I think it is the book that has stayed with me the most. For one thing I didn’t think Clara was as morally superior as everyone thought she was – I thought she was quite flawed and that was the point. And I couldn’t remember the names of any of Dickner’s characters.

  3. I seem to remember past years starting off a little more generally as well, that people didn’t start putting their sticky notes to work until the debates were more solidly underway. Looking forward to that in today’s broadcast!

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