FOFC Literature Draft - Picks Thread

[larrymcg421]

Old Man and the Sea is what I was thinking of earlier as a Short Story, but I passed it up because I felt it was too long.

[NoMyths]

Hemingway's been a toughie -- where to put him? My own sense is that his novels are the strongest work, but it's nice to have a great story of his as well.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Axxon

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.

I almost took Hills Like White Elephants, but figured more people had heard of and read Kilimanjaro.

FWIW, I think Hemingway's a dynamite short story writer and a terrible novelist. His minimalist style doesn't work in longer works, IMO.

[lordscarlet]

Isn't Old Man and the Sea a novel? It was on my short-list for undrafted fiction.

Speaking of -- I'm afraid I won't get the first undrafted list out depending on how fast things go over the next few hours.

[st.cronin]

I had Hills Like White Elephants as one of my top short stories.

[st.cronin]

Dola, A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is actually my favorite work of his, though. But I think Hills is his most popular short story.

[lordscarlet]

Hemingway in the 10th round is shocking.

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by Izulde

I almost took Hills Like White Elephants, but figured more people had heard of and read Kilimanjaro.

FWIW, I think Hemingway's a dynamite short story writer and a terrible novelist. His minimalist style doesn't work in longer works, IMO.

Yes, but it does work in Old Man since the entire story is so minimalist that it makes so much sense to describe it to the reader that way. It's pretty simple, man, boy, boat, shark. Not much else really need be said.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Dola, A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is actually my favorite work of his, though. But I think Hills is his most popular short story.

I'd argue Hill is his most popular short story among the elite sect, primarily because it's the first one that comes to mind whenever anyone mentions dialogue.

His most popular short story overall is Kilimanjaro, I think.

FWIW, Hills is my favorite short story of his.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Hemingway in the 10th round is shocking.

I disagree. If it were an author's draft, yes - but the subject of the draft is the works, and Hemingway is bigger than any of his works. I had a feeling he would end up a late round draft pick in the short story category.

[lordscarlet]

larry posted during his turn.. what happened to him??

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Hemingway in the 10th round is shocking.

I agree but the draft is only ten rounds so if they were going to get him in there at all they had to reach a bit.

[larrymcg421]

Making my pick now...

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

I disagree. If it were an author's draft, yes - but the subject of the draft is the works, and Hemingway is bigger than any of his works. I had a feeling he would end up a late round draft pick in the short story category.

Now that you say that, you're absolutely correct. However, there are some authors still around that have works larger than the author that are unselected. One of them will get passed over on my undrafted list because of a vanity pick, but if I were in the actual draft I would make sure to get one of his works.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Axxon

Yes, but it does work in Old Man since the entire story is so minimalist that it makes so much sense to describe it to the reader that way. It's pretty simple, man, boy, boat, shark. Not much else really need be said.

True, it's not like a certain other oceangoing-related work I could mention that's longwinded and boring as hell... *cough*RobinsonCrusoe*cough*

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by Izulde

True, it's not like a certain other oceangoing-related work I could mention that's longwinded and boring as hell... *cough*RobinsonCrusoe*cough*

bwahahaha. That is not what I thought I would see between "coughs". There is another one.

[st.cronin]

I can think of two.

[lordscarlet]

...I'm gone for a few hours.

[cartman]

DON'T BE THAT GUY, GUYS!!!

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Now that you say that, you're absolutely correct. However, there are some authors still around that have works larger than the author that are unselected. One of them will get passed over on my undrafted list because of a vanity pick, but if I were in the actual draft I would make sure to get one of his works.

Oh, there's a ton of authors that fit this mold... I could create a team of 10 just as good, if not better, than the one I drafted with leftovers that are still on my board and probably going to still be there after the draft is done.

Well, in Fiction, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Short Story, Sports, Children's and Non-Fiction for sure. Not so much in Series and not at all in Autobio/Bio or History.

[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 - 10.3 Eight Men Out, by Eliot Asinof
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

Memorable account of one of the biggest scandals in sports history.

[MrDNA]

Nice sports pick. Overall good draft by Larry, excepting the Tarzan series.

[Warhammer]

I am absolutely shocked that this extremely popular children's pick has not been used. Additionally, there have been books written on the philosophy of this particular bear. My pick for the children's category is Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne.

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 - 10.4 Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
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

[larrymcg421]

Nice pick. Winnie was on my shortlist for children's, but I couldn't pass up Wizard of Oz.

[Warhammer]

Thanks. If someone would have told me I was going to pick up Pooh bear in the 10th round I would have said you were out of your mind, so I'll take this gladly.

Nice pick on Eight Men Out. That was on my short list if I didn't get Ball Four.

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

I am absolutely shocked that this extremely popular children's pick has not been used. Additionally, there have been books written on the philosophy of this particular bear. My pick for the children's category is Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne.

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 - 10.4 Winnie the Pooh
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

Hmm, unless this is an autobiography, methinks you need to include A. A. Milne in there somewhere.

[Izulde]

Agh! I feel like such a dumbass now, especially Pooh's my favorite Disney character.

Great pick.

[Warhammer]

I had it up above! I'll edit it.

[Radii]

larry and warhammer both have very very solid lineups here. I don't think I've ever had warhammer in first when we've been talking about how we see things as the draft has progressed, but Wealth of Nations in the 9th and Winnie the Pooh in the 10th are going to both end up near the top of their categories, very, very solid finish.

[MrDNA]

Pooh was my #1 kid's book. My undrafted list is getting wasted these past two rounds

[DaddyTorgo]

Izulde - i was debating b/w hemingway and tolstoy for my short story pick, and i would have taken kilimanjaro had i gone with hemingway

eh, so nobody likes my John Locke pick hmm? I guess I have a profoundly different view of the "point" of this draft than others - i was going for works that were impactful / momentous type of things versus "the most well written" or whatever. which is why i didn't pick rousseau or say...my other choice i was debating for fiction

[DaddyTorgo]

w/e...when it's 10.6 i'll throw out some crazy choice for sports

[st.cronin]

Its NoMyths turn, right?

[Buccaneer]

5 more picks to go, right?

I think I'll start scoring and adjust when the other picks come in.

I saw the comment earlier about lit/history snobs. I would necessarily lump those two groups together but as a history snob, one doesn't believe that Shelby Foote would have been chosen.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Izulde - i was debating b/w hemingway and tolstoy for my short story pick, and i would have taken kilimanjaro had i gone with hemingway

eh, so nobody likes my John Locke pick hmm? I guess I have a profoundly different view of the "point" of this draft than others - i was going for works that were impactful / momentous type of things versus "the most well written" or whatever. which is why i didn't pick rousseau or say...my other choice i was debating for fiction

I like the Locke choice. I think if it was made 1/2 way through this draft it would have had more buzz than it does now because there is a lot of good non-fiction in the draft right now.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

I like the Locke choice. I think if it was made 1/2 way through this draft it would have had more buzz than it does now because there is a lot of good non-fiction in the draft right now.

yeah. but see i followed the "draft what i know least about first" strategy rather than saying "well this is pick people will like the most" strategy. figured if someone grabbed a history book or a fiction book or a non-fiction book that i wanted i'd have plenty of time to grab another, and plenty of effort

[Buccaneer]

Hold on, I see 2 entries for Gift of the Magi in the spreadsheet.

[NoMyths]

Fiction: 10.5 - The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
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: 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

This draft has been a lot of fun -- looking forward to finding out how the voting shakes out.

[Buccaneer]

In looking at the scores so far, I have History as the strongest category (no surprise there), with Children's and Series following.

[Groundhog]

I'll need to have another look at everyone's lists, but I really like the group of books that NoMyths put together.

[Buccaneer]

My god, what was said earlier about anyone could win, esp. those that were perceived to be behind? My rankings midway looks nothing like how it may end up (with 4 picks left). Some fell (hard) while other rose nicely.

[Buccaneer]

I know I'm just rambling, but in Children's, I have 1 (10), 2 (9), 2 (8) and 2 (7). Very nicely done even without Munsch, Mayer or Carle.

[st.cronin]

1 (10), 2 (9), 2 (8) and 2 (7)

What do those numbers mean?

[Groundhog]

I assume that's the amount of 10, 9, 8 and 7 scores/ratings he's handed out.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

What do those numbers mean?

Oh, sorry. When I score a category going across, I use a 1-10 scale. That way I can average the category and sum the participant to get my final rankings. For example, Seuss got a 10 from me (one of only 2 10s in the draft with 5 picks left).

[st.cronin]

I see. Well, actually I'm confused - you say you only have 2 (10)'s, and one of them is for Seuss. That can't be right, that means I have at most 1 (10), when I should have about 5.



Anyway, what happened to DT? Its his pick, no?

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

I see. Well, actually I'm confused - you say you only have 2 (10)'s, and one of them is for Seuss. That can't be right, that means I have at most 1 (10), when I should have about 5.



Anyway, what happened to DT? Its his pick, no?

Don't worry, you do have the other.

[wade moore]

I'm building my "Best of the Rest" list.. man, there is one category that I'm so struggling with and one category where I have two that I really like.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by wade moore

I'm building my "Best of the Rest" list.. man, there is one category that I'm so struggling with and one category where I have two that I really like.

I am at the same place.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by NoMyths

Hemingway's been a toughie -- where to put him? My own sense is that his novels are the strongest work, but it's nice to have a great story of his as well.

I agree and I can appreciate Hemingway more than many of the authors in those categories because he actually knew how to use punctuations - esp. the period.