Canada Reads: The Debates - Day Two

Wow. What a morning! I am shocked with the choice, although given the way things were going today, I'm not entirely surprised. I think maybe there needs to be a little strategic voting happening tomorrow!

If you haven't listened to today's episode of Canada Reads, read no further. If you have, or are following along with me, please proceed!

Today started with some repetition - I already know who all the panelists, books and authors are, thank you. I also know the plot of the books, as I read all of them (that I could get from my library in time!) (and unlike one panelist I could mention...). However, there were a few interesting notes from yesterday. Essex County and Sara Quin's spirited defence of it has created quite a buzz, which can only be good for the novel. Carol Shields did NOT win the Pulitzer Prize for Unless, she won it for The Stone Diaries. (Which I have not read.) Further, Debbie Travis garnered some negative buzz on twitter - which I fear will only be magnified after today's show! Now, on to the program.

The Pitch
Today's pitch was only 30 seconds long. Here's what the panelists had to say, and my take on it. The focus of the pitch was why this is the essential book for Canadians.

The Best Laid Plans - Ali Velshi
Again, Velshi is pitching with humour. So far, it seems to be working for him! But I think that humour hides a tremendous intelligence. He did point out that his book won a humour prize. He emphasized that his book strikes a chord with those fed up with politics, and it's essential because it's about making democracy work.

The Birth House - Debbie Travis
Travis again emphasized that her book is about change and the changing world. It's about holding on to old traditions and embracing the future. What can we use from the past that is for the benefit of today? That sounds really lovely, but I don't think The Birth House was about embracing the future given that the portrayal of modern medicine was given such a negative light.

The Bone Cage - Georges Laraque
Laraque may not be the most eloquent of speakers, but his clear passion for the book comes through. He stated that the book was for everyone: it is about body betrayal, about love, about action. When you read it, you feel like an athlete. It is a great story. And I do agree - I felt like an athlete and it was a great story.

Unless - Lorne Cardinal
Cardinal stated that the book is about loss, and then confused me while stating that the book is by a female novelist writing about a female novelist who is translating works by a female novelist. That's great, but why is that essential? Cardinal recovered by again describing Shields as a wordsmith and exalting her ability to illuminate the mundane. The book is about love, loss, laughter, and hope.

What I'm seeing so far is that all the panelists tend to emphasize the same points: Velshi - the book is funny. Travis - the book is about change and is not just for women. Laraque - the book is for everyone. Cardinal - the book is so well written. I've also noticed this year that the panelists seem firmly committed to their book and will always pick their book as an answer to any question unless firmly instructed not to. It will be interesting to see what happens as more panelists lose their books.

Debate
Some very interesting things came out in the debates today! I'm just surprised that they didn't seem to influence the voting more.

Round 1a: Which of the remaining books is the most well-written?
Surprise, surprise - most candidates picked their own books! Velshi sort of dodged the question and said that accessibility is the key, and by that standard, his book was the most accessible because it was satire. It covered a serious issue in a humorous manner. However, he did point out that Carol Shields was the most accomplished writer of the group.

Travis took issue with Velshi's comments about accessibility. She thinks that an accessible book that all can understand is not necessarily the most essential. (But if the book picked as the most essential is not the most accessible, then you're leaving people out of something that is essential.) Of course she thought her book was the best written because of how it grabs you and how you're involved in the story. She did concede that Unless was well written, but predictable.

Laraque approached the question from a different angle. Commenting further on the idea of accessible vs. essential, he stated that it was important for the panel to pick a book that the majority of Canadians could relate to. Despite saying that it shouldn't be a personal choice, he then said his book was one that everyone could relate to. He appreciated that the author switched voices from male and female characters. While he does think that Carol Shields is a great writer, he thought that the wrong book of Shields' was picked. He thought they should have picked Larry's Party (which I haven't read) instead because it's easier to read and more Canadians would enjoy it. He thought that Unless was hard to get into. Which I do agree with: I didn't really get into Unless and while the writing was beautiful, I'm not sure it's something that I would read again. I certainly didn't rush to finish it like I would with a book that I was really interested in.

Quin disagreed. With no book in the hunt, she's free to be a wild card. She found Unless beautifully written and tremendously moving. But she thought that story was a different argument altogether. She said that The Best Laid Plans had the best story and it was easy to read. It was probably the most Canadian and accessible of the bunch because it dealt with a universal issue.

Quin is write - story and writing are two different things. The Birth House, The Best Laid Plans, and The Bone Cage all had the best story. They all propelled the reader forward. While Unless did have a story, it didn't move in the same way the other books moved and was really introspective. I enjoyed the stories in The Best Laid Plans and The Bone Cage, but didn't like the story in The Birth House for its underlying agenda.

Cardinal pointed out that structure is key and that Unless was well written, which everyone seemed to agree on. It's interesting though that he commented about structure: Unless had a very interesting structure as it moved between the story of Nora and the story of Reta's book. I'm not sure that the structure worked. I think I prefer a more old-fashioned story structure anyway: here are your characters, this is what they look like, and here's the plot, and here's what happens, and the climax and the end. Not some introspective work on thoughts.

Travis then commented that while she thought Unless was beautifully written she found that it was two books in one. She, personally, didn't like the glimpse inside the author and didn't like reading about how books are made: the behind the scenes, if you will. She skipped through those parts. I do agree with her on one point - I also found the book too introspective at times. Too much inner life and not enough outer life. Cardinal vehemently disagreed - literature promotes thought and it's important to have the women's voice. He later said that women's voices were underrepresented and that Carol Shields was hampered by her own success. I don't agree with him that women's voices were underrepresented here: you have two other women authors in Angie Abdou and her female character Sadie and Ami McKay and her female character Dora. Velshi concluded that Unless was a beautiful book, but it is not accessible, which I agree with.

Round 1b: All of the books are about loss - which book deals with loss most memorably?
Quin began this discussion and held that Unless dealt most movingly with loss. I don't know if I agree: despite hearing much of Reta's inner monologue, I felt kind of shut out. Sure, I was sad that Nora was panhandling on the street, but I didn't feel like I experienced her loss.

Laraque found several examples of loss in The Bone Cage, both of people and physicality. He felt it was very realistic. Quin was also affected by the loss in The Bone Cage but was most moved by the depiction of loss in Unless. Cardinal pointed out that Unless talked about loss and hope and the fragility of our lives.

Again, Travis felt that The Birth House had lots of loss which then would make her book the best. Then she got off the topic of loss and ranted about how well written the books were. She found that The Bone Cage and The Best Laid Plans were not well written. She found Unless gutwrenching (as she's a mother herself) but she wasn't interested in Reta's journey of book-writing. She really hated The Best Laid Plans: she didn't find it funny, she's not interested in Canadian politics, and she didn't finish the book.

She didn't finish the book! How can you be on the panel and not have finished the book! I tried so hard to find and read all the book that I could! I didn't enjoy The Birth House but I finished it anyway. And yes, I found some parts of The Best Laid Plans not to be that funny, but I still enjoyed it.

In looking at reading level and readability, I would comment that The Best Laid Plans and The Bone Cage were written at a lower reading level than something like Unless. But that does not mean that Unless is then a great book and The Best Laid Plans and The Bone Cage are lesser books. What good is excellent and beautiful writing if your point gets lost and people can't understand you? While The Best Laid Plans and The Bone Cage don't have the melodic poetry of Shields' work, they get their point across and are easily accessible and readable. Fancy writing does not a great book make! It seems almost snobby: we'll pick this book that has great writing because it must be good, even though we can't understand what's being said.

Anyway, Velshi very nicely responded to Travis by saying that the book isn't about politics but related it to the other books in saying that The Best Laid Plans is about aspiration, change, and loss.

Round 2: Which book best speaks to Canadian society today?
We began with Cardinal, who wasn't sure which book best spoke to current Canadian society. He found that the books were very specific to certain niches of the population. Ghomeshi pointed out that the books all seem very white and Cardinal agreed. But he appreciated Shields' voice for women - a voice that is often invisible. And that may be true, but a book about women/women's voices, does not make that a niche book. Women are not a minority or a niche.

Quin felt that the books were not very diverse (which is interesting, because the panel is quite diverse.). But she felt that The Best Laid Plans was probably the most modern of the books - it was universal and well-paced. Laraque again said that his book was not only about sport and reiterated that Unless was hard to read. While the protagonists of The Bone Cage may be athletes, I also feel that the book appeals to more than athletes. I think it helps the non-athlete understand what an athlete feels like.

Velshi felt that there was a universal appeal to The Best Laid Plans and that it represented a call to action. And, sadly, the debated ended with no time for Travis to harangue the other panelists about their books.

Before voting, Ghomeshi pointed out that the on-line poll wanted The Bone Cage eliminated next, but it was a very close result with Unless. Travis was quick to jump in with her reaction and an answer for the last debate round. She thinks that although The Birth House is historical, it's about many things that are going on today: community, war, and changing roles. It is very relevant to today and is a book for men and women. Yes, there are men in the book, but they are all sort of incidental to the plot. And midwifery and its supporters are portrayed as protecting feminine intelligence and knowledge against the evil male doctors and their modern medicine. So I'm not sure that I believe her claims that this book is for men and women.

Cardinal doesn't trust polls and he can't apologize for excellent writing and a thoughtful novel. Well said. Laraque said he was just trying to inspire people to read.

Vote
Now, the vote. All the panelists still have a vote, even if their book was eliminated. The voting went as follows:

Debbie Travis: The Bone Cage
Georges Laraque: Unless
Lorne Cardinal: The Bone Cage
Ali Velshi: Unless
Sara Quin: The Bone Cage

And with that, The Bone Cage, my pick for Canada Reads 2011 was eliminated. Laraque was saddened and shocked. I think he was really interested in the book and he seemed to be very passionate about getting Canadians to read. He picked a book that he thought would make a difference - one that would help parents relate to their kids who are in high-level sports and would help us as a country understand our Olympians.

Why did they vote it off? Cardinal said it was for the writing - structurally he found Unless better. Travis agreed that Unless was brilliant, but thought that The Bone Cage should be read in schools, but that the writing wasn't as good. It wasn't a book that she would read again, unlike The Birth House. Quin thought it was the weakest of the books.

Is the test then that one could read the book again? I wouldn't read Unless or The Birth House again. I might read The Best Laid Plans and The Bone Cage again because the stories were good and they were eminently readable. Unless was too introspective to really enjoy. Yes, there's nothing wrong with reading a book that makes you think, but I don't want to do that all the time. (And, The Bone Cage did make me think.) And I just didn't like the underlying propaganda of The Birth House.

There's something maybe that smacks to me of elitism. The Bone Cage was easily readable. Does that mean that it's not worthy of being essential? Because it can be so easily read and understood by the average reader? It is a lot more accessible than Unless, that is for sure. Is Unless automatically better because the level of its writing is higher, even though the story may not be as good? Do we care about story/plot or writing? Unless is the best written of the books; there is no question. But does it have the best plot? No. The Best Laid Plans and The Bone Cage have the best plot.

I'm interested to see what the panelists do tomorrow and if strategic voting comes into play. Neither The Best Laid Plans or The Birth House have had any votes against them yet. Unless seems to be polarizing so the panelists may want to take it out. But should one of the books with no votes go first, leaving Unless and its polarizing nature up against a popular book? Tomorrow will be interesting - it begins with a vote!

Laraque ended the morning by publicly pledging his support for The Best Laid Plans, and so do I! That is my new pick for Canada Reads 2011. Join me tomorrow when we'll see if my pick holds up this time, and what the panelists do with the remaining 3 contenders!