The purpose of this blog is to enable people to provide comments on books being considered by the selection committee. You can also see the comments of the selection committee members. State what you like and dislike about the books listed and whether you think it would be appropriate as the campus reading book and why. Thank you.
Caution: There are spoilers in the comments to the posts.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award for best novel for 2007.
Can committee members post to the blog? How can we discuss topics?
What happened to Jesusland, for example -- it had strong reviews last year, meets the program requirements, and is an Alex Award winner. I would recommend it for the short list again this year, because it is a memoir.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is not a book that will be well received by the more conservative members of our committee, or our campus. Its theme is the idea of "fuku," and the word that word resembles is no coincidence. Also, the word "nigger" appears on page one of the novel proper, and that's not the only place it appears.
As a recent Alex Award winner, I think Jesusland is still on the list, but it doesn't have enough positive comments to move forward for serious consideration. At one of our meetings last year, several reasons were offerred for why it wouldn't be the book for the program.
This novel won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award. It is young, hip, and readable. Memorable characters, immigrant story, well-researched history.
I really don't think we should disqualify a book because it contains swear words. That sounds like book-banning to me.
i think the book is fantastic, but for sure hard-hitting. i think students would actually enjoy it and as NIck mentions is tells a very interesting story set in a well-researched historical context that few people are aware of. i would keep it on the short list.
re: jesusland. i seem to remember a generally negative reaction. i read it and felt that it would not be a good choice. let's stick to the short list we have now, so we can really focus on choosing the book this semester.
For some reason I could not get started on this book. I really did try and picked it up a couple of times but couldn't get into it. It could be that I am busy and distracted, but I would imagine that students are as well.
I am open to trying again if several others really enjoy this and think it should be high on the list for consideration, but for now I am going to pass.
Oscar Wao: I think this book will appeal to our students. The Spanglish, the concern for fitting in and satisfying one's hormones, & the non-sentimental relationships among family members make this appealing. Downside: understanding the Spanglish and figuring out whose voice we are reading at the start of each chapter--but the advantages outweigh the negatives.
The change in voice and the Spanglish made this a very difficult read. Our students may enjoy the hipness of this book even if they are unable to figure out who is talking, or half the time what they are saying (unless one speaks Dominican slang)but for me it didn't work. I found the ending glib and unsatisfying.I did enjoy the historical context.
8 comments:
Can committee members post to the blog? How can we discuss topics?
What happened to Jesusland, for example -- it had strong reviews last year, meets the program requirements, and is an Alex Award winner. I would recommend it for the short list again this year, because it is a memoir.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is not a book that will be well received by the more conservative members of our committee, or our campus. Its theme is the idea of "fuku," and the word that word resembles is no coincidence. Also, the word "nigger" appears on page one of the novel proper, and that's not the only place it appears.
Hi,
As a recent Alex Award winner, I think Jesusland is still on the list, but it doesn't have enough positive comments to move forward for serious consideration. At one of our meetings last year, several reasons were offerred for why it wouldn't be the book for the program.
Annette
This novel won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award. It is young, hip, and readable. Memorable characters, immigrant story, well-researched history.
I really don't think we should disqualify a book because it contains swear words. That sounds like book-banning to me.
i think the book is fantastic, but for sure hard-hitting. i think students would actually enjoy it and as NIck mentions is tells a very interesting story set in a well-researched historical context that few people are aware of. i would keep it on the short list.
re: jesusland. i seem to remember a generally negative reaction. i read it and felt that it would not be a good choice. let's stick to the short list we have now, so we can really focus on choosing the book this semester.
-dominie
For some reason I could not get started on this book. I really did try and picked it up a couple of times but couldn't get into it. It could be that I am busy and distracted, but I would imagine that students are as well.
I am open to trying again if several others really enjoy this and think it should be high on the list for consideration, but for now I am going to pass.
Lindsay Hamm
Oscar Wao: I think this book will appeal to our students. The Spanglish, the concern for fitting in and satisfying one's hormones, & the non-sentimental relationships among family members make this appealing. Downside: understanding the Spanglish and figuring out whose voice we are reading at the start of each chapter--but the advantages outweigh the negatives.
The change in voice and the Spanglish made this a very difficult read. Our students may enjoy the hipness of this book even if they are unable to figure out who is talking, or half the time what they are saying (unless one speaks Dominican slang)but for me it didn't work. I found the ending glib and unsatisfying.I did enjoy the historical context.
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