Canada Reads: The Debates - Day Three

Hello and welcome to the last day of Canada Reads! Today is the day we pick the winner. If you want to listen for yourself, please stop reading now. If you want to know, then read on.

The panelists were quite feisty today and it took nearly 20 minutes to get through the introductions as they quickly turned into a mini-debate/pitch session. This is where I wish the format were slightly different: as a result of the lengthy intros, we didn't have time for all the debates later. I don't think that the panelists need a lengthy intro every day - I remember who they were from yesterday and the day before that. A little more reigning in here would have allowed more debate later on in the show.

Perhaps because of the suddenly expanded intro, there was no pitch for the three remaining books: The Best Laid Plans, The Birth House, and Unless. Instead, we plunged right into the debate.

The Debates
Round 1: The Birth House - why aren't we talking about this book?
Ghomeshi began the debates by pointing out that The Birth House has really flown under the radar this week. Cardinal stated that he enjoyed the book, but thought it was regional and folkloric. It was too specific to its region and time period. Further, he thought that the Halifax Explosion would feature much more prominently than it did.

Laraque commented that while he thought the book empowered women, he didn't find that it spoke to men at all. In fact, he wouldn't have finished reading it except that he needed to for the competition. He thought that given the historical nature of the book which portrayed men in a negative light than men would not want to read it.

Travis vehemently disagreed and managed to pick one man who was good in the book. (There are maybe two good men in the book - the rest run the gamut from uninterested in women to actively violent and abusive towards them.) She said that the book inspired women to become nurses and midwives and that the book was about communities. She was saying something about a soldier and a letter from Afghanistan when she was cut off by Ghomeshi.

Ghomeshi said that he found the book powerful, but wanted another man's opinion and asked Velshi. Velshi said he enjoyed it and thought the storytelling was great. He thought that the character of Dora was an "everyman" type of character. Ghomeshi then asked Quin if she had any negative feelings about the book and she said that she was not invested in the characters or moved by their plight. I have to agree: I was not particularly invested in the character of Dora or her experiences.

Round 2: The book Unless has been described as a feminist polemic. Does it still resonate today?
Due to the time constraints, we only had time for two responses here. Cardinal said that the book still resonates (despite being about 7-8 years old) because women still have problems and women's voices are underrepresented. Quin pointed out that The Best Laid Plans also had a strong feminist storyline, and in fact that the remaining books all had a feminist/female element. (My inner cynic would like to point out that the character of Reta Winters - white, middle-aged, wealthy, is not a good representative for the women whom Cardinal spoke about when he spoke about women who don't have a voice. If anything, it is these women who do have a voice and can use it to speak out on behalf of other women who are not so fortunate.)

The Vote
Before the first vote of the morning, Ghomeshi pointed out that the poll showed that Canadians wanted The Best Laid Plans to be the next to go, followed by The Birth House. How would the panelists vote?

Georges Laraque: Unless
Lorne Cardinal: The Birth House
Ali Velshi: Unless
Sara Quin: The Birth House
Debbie Travis: The Best Laid Plans

And we have a Tie! According to Canada Reads Rules, the panelist who didn't vote for the books which are tied gets to vote again. So, because Debbie Travis didn't vote for either Unless or The Birth House, she got to vote again. And, obviously, (because she's not going to vote her own book off!) she voted for Unless and it became the third eliminated book.

The Debates
Round 3: The Best Laid Plans was a self-published novel. The Birth House has already experienced a lot of critical acclaim. Does this David and Goliath situation matter to the voting?
Quin said, no, it's important to know, but it shouldn't matter than one book is already well-known and the other is an "indie". Cardinal agreed. Travis ignored the debate question and said that the Canada Reads novel needs to be gripping and that both books were similar in this regard. She argued that her book spoke to both women and men - although this was after detailing all the ways it was inspiring to women.

Velshi pointed out that the plot of The Best Laid Plans and the actual publishing journey of The Best Laid Plans were similar. The book was about aspiration, but the fact that it dealt with current issues made it more relevant. (By this point, all the panelists seemed to have moved off the original debate topic!) Laraque continued on this theme, and said that he thought about what if everyone in Canada read these two books, what would change? He thought that not much would change for women, since The Birth House described a time when women were much more subjugated than they were today. However, he thought that The Best Laid Plans could be a force for change in this country and inspire voting.

Quin sort-of agreed: she thought The Best Laid Plans could be inspiring, but that it was a faint hope that high school kids would read it. If they read it, kids would like it, but they wouldn't read it. (Again, my inner cynic reminds me that high school kids can't vote [most of them anyway] and that maybe the book should be taught in high school. It's certainly accessible enough.)

Velshi picked up on Quin's talk of inspiration and said that he just wanted his book to inspire people. Travis commented that her book was inspiring women to go into medical fields. She argued that young people were reading her book and that it was the top book club book pick and that women were reading her book. Laraque commented mildly that more women read books than men, so it wasn't surprising.

That line of debate brings up some interesting points that I want to address here. Travis insisted throughout the competition that her book was for women and men, but I seriously doubt that. I don't think that men would be interested in reading a book about birth. Maybe if their wife had gone through it - but otherwise, no. So, it is a "women's book". There's nothing wrong with it being a women's book. But is this what women are supposed to be interested in reading? Because I'm not. Yes, sometimes I'm interested in women's issues specifically, but most of the time I'm not. I just want an interesting story and a good read - it doesn't matter who wrote the book or who the protagonist is. But so many books that seem to be recommended for book clubs (see: Oprah) fall into this "women's book" trap and then I don't find them interesting. I don't think I'm interested in "men's books" - I think I'm interested in "people books" - books by people, about people. But are there "women's books", "men's books", and then "people's books"? Or is it a small niche of "women's books" (that men don't read) and all the rest of the books are "men's books" that both men and women read? I don't think we can answer that question today. But I thought it was something interesting to ponder.

At any rate, I seem to have echoed the panelists and wandered far from the topic of debate!

Round 4: Which book would you recommend to a loved one, and why?
Ghomeshi asked the three panelists without books in the running to answer this question. Cardinal said he'd give The Best Laid Plans to his brother who's running for Parliament in the next election. He thought it would be helpful and that his brother would need a sense of humour if he made it to the House of Commons! Quin said she'd recommend The Best Laid Plans to her father because he'd like it. Laraque also picked The Best Laid Plans because he said the book was about love in Angus's soulful letters to his dead wife.

The Pitch
For the final time, our last two panelists gave their opinion as to why people should pick their book. They each had 30 seconds.

Ali Velshi - The Best Laid Plans
Velshi said that this book was both funny and touching. It was important because it dealt with a current issue. He thought the book was inspirational and would lead to change.

Debbie Travis - The Birth House
Travis said that her book shows that change begins at home. It featured a young protagonist and was inspirational. It shows that women can have a voice and a career. It is a book that all can enjoy.

The Final Vote
For the last time, the panelists marked their ballots for the book they would eliminate from the competition.

Ali Velshi - The Birth House
Debbie Travis - The Best Laid Plans
Georges Laraque - The Birth House
Sara Quin - The Birth House
Lorne Cardinal - The Birth House

And with that, The Best Laid Plans wins Canada Reads 2011!

Velshi was happy and hoped that his book would inspire change. Travis said that she liked the idea of Canada Reads and that she wants books to inspire. Quin said she voted off The Birth House because she felt that The Best Laid Plans best fit the criteria of Canada Reads. Cardinal said he voted off The Birth House because The Best Laid Plans is humorous and Canadians like humour!

And, thus ends Canada Reads for this year. I had a really good time reading the books and writing about it here on the blog. It was the first year I really participated in it, and I enjoyed it. I have become inspired by the competition: I'm going to look up the finalists and winners from the past 10 years of Canada Reads and read all the books. Also, Essex County finally came in to the library so I'll finally be able to read that one too! I hope everyone enjoyed reading about Canada Reads as I did writing about it. I will return with your irregularly scheduled non-Canada Reads blog post in a few days. I hope you will join me for that, and join me for more great novels for next year's Canada Reads.