The Debates

WARNING: There will be spoilers in this thread. Don't read this until after you've heard the day's debate.

Were you surprised by today's result? I think Adam was not as strong a debater as some of the others. I also think Minister Without Portfolio is worth reading!

I was surprised with how little anyone talked about The Illegal.

I hope Birdie wins.

I haven't read any of the books. After today, I would like to read Minister Without Portfolio.

Unfortunately, I tend to listen while I do other things. I missed most of what was said about Minister Without Portfolio!

I haven't read any of them, but I'll investigate and decide whether or not to read them after it's all over.

>4 LibraryCin: If you care to, you can listen again at: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/arts-culture/canada-reads/

Just listened to Day Two. It seems that there isn't the strategic voting that I've seen other years. Perhaps because there isn't one book that's much better known than the others. What do you think?

I think Bruce's comment that Lawrence Hill won once before might hurt The Illegal...but that wouldn't be strategic voting. I'm glad there isn't any of that.

I was surprised by the length/strength of the discussion about whether the winning book should be set in Canada. Are they saying Canadians should only read books set here?

>7 LynnB: Are they saying Canadians should only read books set here?

I didn't take that from the conversation at all. I think it's a Canadian award or Canadian contest, so it's a valid question on what the Canadian content should be.

The Canadian content should be defined by the rules, I think. It seems a Canadian author is all that is required, and I'm ok with that. Interesting debate as to whether a setting outside of Canada makes the book less relevant to Canadians. I don't think it does, necessarily.

>9 LynnB: No, I don't think it does either. However, if someone reads a stack of CanLit and every book is set somewhere else (India, outer space, etc.), I don't think they've really sampled a good representation of CanLit.

yes, I agree with that, Nickelini! We have such a big, diverse country...there is plenty of room (no pun intended) to find and set great stories here.

Today, I won't be able to watch the live stream...have to wait for the repeat at 8 p.m. on radio. Luckily (?) I dropped my cell phone in water, so it's soaking in rice. No chance of twitter, texts or e-mail to spoil my 9 p.m. surprise. (Maybe it was a Freudian drop?)

>11 LynnB: There are other ways to listen if you have some other way to get online. See my link in post #5, above or Google.

>5 Nickelini: Thanks! I'm already listening in the evenings, but I still manage to do other things while I listen! I was better about focusing when it was only a half hour, but with a full hour, I feel like I don't want to devote the time, I'm afraid. Well, I do, but I don't!

I was cheering for Birdie. Don't really care which of the two finalists wins.

Surprised by the result? I really didn't know which way Adam would vote at the end!

>6 Nickelini: yes, the lack of strategic voting was nice. All week, too.

Such an open minded, respectful group of defenders this year! Everyone seemed to genuinely like the books, especially the two that were left. I was cheering for The Hero's Walk, mostly because it was the only one I've read, but it was really good! Clara Hughes was phenomenal.

Yes, they were all nice, although I have to say all that earnestness and unrelenting compassion got a bit saccharine. They really need to include one psuedo-celeb with just a titch of snark or cynicism. Not a lot, but this week needed a bit more levity. Overall they were all very good, and Clara Hughes did a great job.

>15 LynnB: I had no idea how he would vote either.

I haven't read any of the books and I have to say they all sound worth reading. However, none are in my TBR, which is humongous, so I won't be looking to read any of them (although I have two others by Hill and a different Badami, so I will get to some of the authors most likely.)

Yeah, I was thinking it makes it a bit more "exciting" when everyone is not quite so agreeable!