FOFC Literature Draft - Picks Thread

[timmynausea]

Faulkner and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are very strong picks this late.

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by Lathum

You are correct. Allthough I think he still deserves some more beatings over it

And I love Cartman's kid pick.

Do you really want me to start talking about that again?

[wade moore]

Curious to see how this plays out..

My four "bonus" picks are all still on the board.

[Maple Leafs]

Fiction - 1.4 Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
Single Short Story - 9.4 The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry
Poem - 4.7 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Fantasy/Science Fiction - 3.4 War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells
Series
Sport Related - Paper Lion, by George Plimpton
Children's - 5.4 The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss
Non-Fiction - 6.7 Analects, Confucius
Biography/Autobiography - 8.7 The Confessions of St. Augustine
History - 2.7 The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank

[timmynausea]

Great pick, Maple Leafs. Can't believe O. Henry was still on the board.

[lordscarlet]

From your favorite passenger of Oceanic Flight 815, DaddyTorgo selects:

9.5 Two Treatises of Government, John Locke [Non-Fiction]

NoMyths, you're next!

[MrDNA]

Glad to see Gibbon and Herodotus go - they were my 1 and 2 in history. My number three is still on the board, though. Same with #3 poem and my #1 kids (maybe it's just me?) and my #2 sports. However, I ain't got shit left on series

[Warhammer]

I'm pleasantly surprised that so many here are familiar with Gibbon. I was a little worried about that pick.

[ntndeacon]

Gibbon was my #1 in History as well

[NoMyths]

The first chance I've had to log in all day (and on dialup no less)...glad things haven't passed me by.

Fiction
Single Short Story: 8.5 - The Adventure of the Speckled Band, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Poem: 2.5 - The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri
Fantasy/Science Fiction: 7.6 - Neuromancer, William Gibson
Series (A set of books continuing the same story and intended to be read sequentially) 3.6 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
Sport Related: 4.5 - Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger
Children's: 5.6 - Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
Non-Fiction: 1.6 - On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin
Biography/Autobiography: 6.5 - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Frederick Douglass
History: 9.5 - The Civil War: A Narrative, Shelby Foote

Yes, the fans of "hard" history are going to moan. For the rest of us, this is the definitive history of the Civil War. The three-volume narrative was popularized by Ken Burns' wonderful PBS documentary "The Civil War", which was based on it and used Foote as one of the film's commentators. And let's be frank: these books are a hell of a lot more readable than Herodotus or Thucydides. And anyway, screw those foreigners -- let's talk about American history, and this as the defining narrative of our defining conflict.

[lordscarlet]

Great choice.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

st.cronin's pick below!!! We are in the home stretch, boyzz!@ (is that the right number of "Z"s?

9.3 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

This is one of the ones I was strongly considering for my Children's pick.

[Warhammer]

For my pick at 9.7 I am once again going to dip into the works of the 18th century. Once again, it is going to be the magnus opus of the author and is the first modern work on this area. Also, players of the Civ franchise enjoy his work very much since all libraries, temples, and barracks are now free.

The man and his work are:

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Fiction - 3.7 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Single Short Story - 5.7 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Poem - 1.7 The Iliad - Homer
Fantasy/Science Fiction - 7.7 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Series (A set of books continuing the same story and intended to be read sequentially) - 2.4 The Cronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Sport Related 4.4 Ball Four by Jim Bouton
Children's
Non-Fiction - 9.7 An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
Biography/Autobiography - 6.4 Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
History - 8.4 The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

bah. herotodus is bunk to serious historians. thucydides is where it's at

Keep in mind this is a literature draft with a history category. Given those parameters, Herodotus wins.

[sabotai]

Great pick on Wealth of Nations. There's a few more Non-Fiction books out there I like more, though.

[lordscarlet]

Hm. Gonna have to show my ignorance on this one as well.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Hm. Gonna have to show my ignorance on this one as well.

On Wealth of Nations!?

[cartman]

I knew for sure that you were gonna take the Suetonius before I could claim it, st.cronin.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Hm. Gonna have to show my ignorance on this one as well.

In this he was the one that argued that the "Invisible Hand" would result in the ability of markets to self-correct in the absence of government and other organizations. I.E. if there is a shortage of square widgets, the price of those widgets would increase until another producer gets in the market. With the increased supply the price would then come down. There are other concepts in the book as well, but this is the most famous example.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by cartman

I knew for sure that you were gonna take the Suetonius before I could claim it, st.cronin.

I love Suetonius, but I think its a wack pick for this draft.

[Izulde]

I <3 Adam Smith.

There have been some seriously sizzling picks in these late rounds.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by sabotai

On Wealth of Nations!?

Correct.

Originally Posted by Warhammer

In this he was the one that argued that the "Invisible Hand" would result in the ability of markets to self-correct in the absence of government and other organizations. I.E. if there is a shortage of square widgets, the price of those widgets would increase until another producer gets in the market. With the increased supply the price would then come down. There are other concepts in the book as well, but this is the most famous example.

Still don't know the book, even if it introduced the theory of supply vs. demand.


I consider myself a smart person and fairly well educated, but there are a number of higher level books that I just don't seem to know (like many of the later history, non-fiction and biography selections). Maybe I'm not as smart as I think, or maybe there are a lot of lit/history snobs on the board. I don't know which.

I am throwing my "undrafted" list together now that we're nearing the end. There are a lot of decidedly less than stellar selections, and it is very contemporary, but as I don't have much time to work on it and I'm not being judged, I'm not too concerned. This is why I ran this one without participating. I don't know all of these pretentious (said intentionally to make blood boil) selections being made.

[st.cronin]

There have been some picks that really stretch what one considers literature. John Locke, a stellar philosopher, but as a man of letters inferior to Hobbes and Rousseau, among others. (IMO)

[larrymcg421]

1. Fiction - 1.8 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
2. Single Short Story - 5.8 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving
3. Poem - 2.3 Paradise Lost, John Milton
4. Fantasy/Science Fiction - 7.8 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne
5. Series (A set of books continuing the same story and intended to be read sequentially) - 9.8 Tarzan series, by Edgar Rice Burroughs
6. Sport Related
7. Children's - 6.3 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L Frank Baum
8. Non-Fiction - 4.3 Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx
9. Biography/Autobiography - 3.8 Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler
10. History - 8.3 The Histories of Herodotus, Herodotus

Edgar Rice Burroughs created one of the most memorable fictional characters with his Tarzan series. The series comprised of 24 novels, most of which started immediately where the previous one ended, and inspired numerous adaptations in several different media forms.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

I love Suetonius, but I think its a wack pick for this draft.

Smack, not wack!

[lordscarlet]

Also, I have never taken an econ, business or finance course. Just to defend myself.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Maybe I'm not as smart as I think, or maybe there are a lot of lit/history snobs on the board. I don't know which.

It's probably a little bit of both. Although I wouldn't use smart.. I'd say not as well-read.

Which isn't a knock on you at all... there's only so much time available for reading and even literature professors won't have read or heard of everything, including things other, allegedly less educated people, would be more familiar with.

And yes, there's a lot of lit/history snobs on this board.

If there's one thing this draft has revealed to me over the past few days that I didn't fully realize until then, it's that I have a very strong modernist bias.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Would that pick qualify as an invisible hand smacking yo momma?

[Axxon]

Ok, am I up? I don't see 9,9 yet.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Edgar Rice Burroughs created one of the most memorable fictional characters with his Tarzan series. The series comprised of 24 novels, most of which started immediately where the previous one ended, and inspired numerous adaptations in several different media forms.

This will be interesting. There are several "series" which share characters and progress chronologically but don't necessarily continue the same storyline and can be read out of order. That seems to be outside the scope of the category as defined, although I have to admit I was leaning towards making a similar pick at one point.

[cartman]

Izulde still has to pick

[Axxon]

Gotcha

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Izulde

It's probably a little bit of both. Although I wouldn't use smart.. I'd say not as well-read.

Which isn't a knock on you at all... there's only so much time available for reading and even literature professors won't have read or heard of everything, including things other, allegedly less educated people, would be more familiar with.

And yes, there's a lot of lit/history snobs on this board.

If there's one thing this draft has revealed to me over the past few days that I didn't fully realize until then, it's that I have a very strong modernist bias.

So you're saying that all these people that are shocked I don't know the book decided to read it on their own time? Doubtful. They had to read it for a class at some point I would assume (although maybe I'm completely wrong).

Originally Posted by Axxon

Ok, am I up? I don't see 9,9 yet.

Yeah, sorry, Izulde was here when his pick came up so I PM'd you assuming he would take his pick.

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

This will be interesting. There are several "series" which share characters and progress chronologically but don't necessarily continue the same storyline and can be read out of order. That seems to be outside the scope of the category as defined, although I have to admit I was leaning towards making a similar pick at one point.

Yeah. I was disappointed when I realized that the rules taken as written would not allow this type of pick for the Series category. Or Sherlock Holmes and the like. It specifically says sequential stories.

[Izulde]

1. Fiction - 2.2 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
2. Single Short Story
3. Poem - 1.9 "The Waste Land" - T.S. Eliot
4. Fantasy/Science Fiction - A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin
5. Series (A set of books continuing the same story and intended to be read sequentially) - 3.9 The Musketeers Saga - The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, Le Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Valliere, The Man in the Iron Mask - Alexandre Dumas
6. Sport Related - 5.9 North Dallas Forty - Peter Gent
7. Children's - 7.9 The Little Prince - Antonie de Sainte Expury
8. Non-Fiction - 4.2 The Art of War - Sun Tzu
9. Biography/Autobiography - 6.2. Night - Elie Wiesel
10. History - 9.9 The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - William L. Shirer

Shirer is one of those rare historians who writes with the beauty and lucidity of a novelist. His biography of Adolph Hitler and this masterpiece on Nazi Germany still stand even to this day as seminal works in the subject matter. I love this book and think Shirer is totally awesome.

[lordscarlet]

dola (but not): I gurantee there are a ton of books I have read in the technology field that you guys have never heard of.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

So you're saying that all these people that are shocked I don't know the book decided to read it on their own time? Doubtful. They had to read it for a class at some point I would assume (although maybe I'm completely wrong).

Wealth of Nations was something I learned about in High School. You must have went to some commie high school that skipped it.

[NoMyths]

That was my second choice behind Foote, Izulde -- nice pick.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Wealth of Nations was something I learned about in High School. You must have went to some commie high school that skipped it.

I went to an American high school, we don't care about some damn Scotsman!

It seems vaguely familiar as I look at the wikipedia entry, but it is certainly miles upon miles from being at the front of my mind or something I would ever know was a significant book.

[larrymcg421]

I think Tarzan is a little different than Sherlock Holmes (which I would have picked much earlier if it fit). Tarzan is definitely a sequential story. The first chapter in the next book could just as well be the next chapter in the previous book. It's more than just sharing characters. The plot of each book is directly related to the previous book.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by NoMyths

That was my second choice behind Foote, Izulde -- nice pick.

Thanks It was my last History pick before I was going to have to really start scrambling.

Now the tough part is going to be short story... There's too many options available and I have a feeling most of them are safe, but not homerun picks... though there is one I'm considering that's a definite strikeout or homerun selection.

[lordscarlet]

I think there is at least one home run pick out there for short story. It may go on my undrafted list if you don't take it. The only reason it wouldn't is that Wade and I discussed it already and I may put one up that was free of any suggestion from anyone else (I already had it in my head, but he mentioned it to me before I could mention it, so it could be argued that he "thought of it" first).

[lordscarlet]

In regards to the discussion about past drafts:

http://www.rwbl.net/fofcwiki/index.p...ategory:Drafts

There's only one there, but if someone had the time to put the older ones in as well...

[Axxon]

1. Fiction
2. Single Short Story
3. Poem
4. Fantasy/Science Fiction
5. Series (A set of books continuing the same story and intended to be read sequentially)
6. Sport Related
7. Children's
8. Non-Fiction
9. Biography/Autobiography
10. History - 9,10 The Gulag Archipelago - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

This is such a tough category but I have to include this one. I am a fan of Russian history and the tales that he tells will truly chill your soul and he tended to understate things. This is a history of a lost people told by a man who was there who literally risked his life to get his words out. Powerful stuff.

[ntndeacon]

That is a nice pick Axxon

[lordscarlet]

Should I know that one?

[Axxon]

1. Fiction
2. Single Short Story
3. Poem
4. Fantasy/Science Fiction
5. Series (A set of books continuing the same story and intended to be read sequentially)
6. Sport Related
7. Children's
8. Non-Fiction
9. Biography/Autobiography - 10,1 - The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas - Gertrude Stein
10. History

It's fitting to end my draft with a book that actually is both a biography and an autobiography but nothing less would suit one of the premier wordsmiths in our history.

This book is fascinating as it gives us a glimpe on everyone who was anyone in European art and culture and lets not forget Papa Hemingway.

I know a lot of people have never heard of Gertrude Stein and even most who have heard of her have never read her, this book is very readable and accessable and was her only bestseller.

In closing, Gertrude once remarked "I don't want to be famous, I want to be historic and she indeed did achieve that.

With this, I leave it to the voters. This has been an incredibly fun experience.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Should I know that one?

I've heard of it, but never read it.

Loved One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, though.

[Izulde]

1. Fiction - 2.2 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
2. Single Short Story - 10.2 "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" - Ernest Hemingway
3. Poem - 1.9 "The Waste Land" - T.S. Eliot
4. Fantasy/Science Fiction - A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin
5. Series (A set of books continuing the same story and intended to be read sequentially) - 3.9 The Musketeers Saga - The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, Le Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Valliere, The Man in the Iron Mask - Alexandre Dumas
6. Sport Related - 5.9 North Dallas Forty - Peter Gent
7. Children's - 7.9 The Little Prince - Antonie de Sainte Expury
8. Non-Fiction - 4.2 The Art of War - Sun Tzu
9. Biography/Autobiography - 6.2. Night - Elie Wiesel
10. History - 9.9 The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - William L. Shirer

It's killing me to have to leave a lot of my favorite authors off the list, one in particular, but I'm closing this one out with a great short story by one of the masters in the genre.

Kilimanjaro is a multi-layered story, hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time and a reminder of what happens when we waste our talents and fail to utilize them.

It's a tale that hits pretty close to home for me, as I sometimes fear I'll be like the protagonist.

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by Izulde

I've heard of it, but never read it.

Loved One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, though.

It's very similar but only focuses on a day. Gulag takes a wider view and paints on one hand with a wider brush but on the other, also goes into the day to day life. It really reads so like fiction but as we know; it isn't.

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by Izulde

1. Fiction - 2.2 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
2. Single Short Story - 10.2 "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" - Ernest Hemingway
3. Poem - 1.9 "The Waste Land" - T.S. Eliot
4. Fantasy/Science Fiction - A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin
5. Series (A set of books continuing the same story and intended to be read sequentially) - 3.9 The Musketeers Saga - The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, Le Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Valliere, The Man in the Iron Mask - Alexandre Dumas
6. Sport Related - 5.9 North Dallas Forty - Peter Gent
7. Children's - 7.9 The Little Prince - Antonie de Sainte Expury
8. Non-Fiction - 4.2 The Art of War - Sun Tzu
9. Biography/Autobiography - 6.2. Night - Elie Wiesel
10. History - 9.9 The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - William L. Shirer

It's killing me to have to leave a lot of my favorite authors off the list, one in particular, but I'm closing this one out with a great short story by one of the masters in the genre.

Kilimanjaro is a multi-layered story, hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time and a reminder of what happens when we waste our talents and fail to utilize them.

It's a tale that hits pretty close to home for me, as I sometimes fear I'll be like the protagonist.

I was really wondering when Hemingway would fall and in what category. I'm an Old Man and the Sea fan but this is a good representation as well.