(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.