(no subject)

[listersgirl]

Canada Reads starts next week! I actually read all the shortlist this year - this was made easier by putting them on hold at the library literally as they were announced.

So, my own personal choices, in order from least to most favourite:

5. Good to a Fault*
4. Generation X**
3. The Jade Peony
2. Nikolski
1. Fall On Your Knees

*It's very well written, and I'd recommend it to other people, but I found it too stressful to read (far more stressful than it was intended to be), which I think left me a little angry at the book. Sorry, book!

**I had a very hard time placing this book. I love a lot of Coupland's early books, but this was never one of my favourites, and the writing style that made it so entertaining and revolutionary when it was written has been copied so often that it feels a bit pale now.

And, my prediction for the order they will be knocked off:

5. Generation X
4. Nikolski
3. Fall On Your Knees
2. Good To A Fault
1. The Jade Peony

If it weren't for the Oprah thing, I think Fall On Your Knees would totally take it, but I think the previous wide exposure is going to lead to a fairly early exit. I'm probably totally wrong, though. :)

Anyone else read the books? Have predictions?

Comments

[morag-gunn.livejournal.com]

I've only read three of them, but of those three I think The Jade Peony is the best piece of literature.

Like you, I'm entirely over Generation X and have absolutely no objectivity about it. Too much hype, not enough substance.

And Fall on Your Knees is actually my favourite of the three but it isn't the best work of fiction in the universe.

[listersgirl]

I think Generation X will disappear quickly, in part because it isn't very Canadian-branded, which seemed to a focal point in the debates last year. But mostly I think it's just a snapsot of a time that can really only be read as such at this point.

[blue-lotus.livejournal.com]

I want Jade Peony or Good to a Fault to Win.

I think that Generation X will be knocked off early and that doesn't really bother me. I do not want "Fall on your knees" to win.

I'm excited for the debates!

[listersgirl]

Fall on Your Knees is my favourite, but actually I'd like Nikolsi to win. I think it's a book that more people should read!

[starfishchick]

Bad SFC, no biscuit. I haven't read ANY of these.

[morag-gunn.livejournal.com]

You'd really like Fall on Your Knees, SFC. I'll even bring you my copy when I come in July (and I'll bring back the book that you loaned me!).

[starfishchick]

It's not too too depressing, then? I heard it was just gut-wrenching.

(And I haven't emailed you back, whoops, I will!)

[morag-gunn.livejournal.com]

Hmmmmm. I wouldn't call it too depressing. No more depressing than any other novel I've read. Her second novel is much more difficult from an emotional perspective.

It's mostly an entertaining read and there are parts of it that are quite uplifting.

[blue-lotus.livejournal.com]

I disagree with [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]. I find "Fall on your knees" completely painful and gut wrenching. The writing is great, and I loved her second novel.

[listersgirl]

It's emotional, and difficult things happen, but I don't find it bleak, and it's very engrossing. But then again I'm biased and think people should read it. :)

[globetrotter1.livejournal.com]

I've read three of them so far. I think I'll read the remaining two (The Jade Peony and Good to a fault) later, I don't really feel like reading them at the moment.

Thank goodness Generation X wasn't the first Coupland novel I was reading, otherwise I never would have read another. Way overrated, entirely forgettable.

I'm cheering for Nikolski.

[listersgirl]

I agree about the Coupland. Even at the time I felt like I should have liked it more, considering I loved Microserfs to pieces.

[nonethewiser.livejournal.com]

Oh damn. I actually put Nikoliski on hold but got the French version by mistake and then forgot to get and read the English One...

I like the rest though. I agree about Good To A Fault. It was a great read but very tense.

[nonethewiser.livejournal.com]

I also found Fall On Your Knees really really hard emotionally... and a bit of a page-turner, but ultimately I think it's probably fluff.

[listersgirl]

I feel bad about my reaction to Good To A Fault - I think it's probably a very good book, but I just get more annoyed about it every time I think about it!

Nikolski is definitely worth trying again to get the English one. :)

[sarcasma.livejournal.com]

Hurray, I found the Canada Reads post. :D

From the descriptions on the website, the only one that grabs me enough to make me read it is Nikolski -- it sounds quirky and enjoyable. The only one I've read is Gen X, about which I feel all the things said above about it not aging well or being as awesome as Microserfs. Because it hasn't and it isn't. :)

I'm curious to know what was annoying about Good to a Fault, but I don't want you to dwell on it in order to tell me. :) It mostly sounded stressful, because I seem to find all potentially wrenching ordinary-life-drama fiction stressful now.

[listersgirl]

You should read Nikolski - it was great, if somewhat forgettable after the fact. :)

Good To a Fault, I think I was annoyed by how stressed it made me - I spent the entire book feeling like the author was building to giant disasterous things, and that didn't happen, but it put me really on edge. So me more than the book, really.