Voting

[rick green]

Shall we pick a book? Let's each choose two from the list and read the one with the most votes first. Is that fair?

EDIT: Tarnation! Fire & Brimstone! You can only set up a poll for 10 items or less. Also, you can't set it up to allow two votes at once. (Well, I can't. Maybe someone with more savvy can. But anyway...) What to do? I guess we can dispense with the secret ballot and just write a post with our two choices. If anyone's adverse to this plan, well, that's just something we'll have to see about.

So here's the list in alphabetical order by author.
Please choose two of the following:

1 The Use of Weapons by Iain Banks
2 The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Gustave Flaubert II
3 No One Writes to the Colonel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez II
4 Virtual Light by William Gibson II
5 The Three-Arched Bridge by Ismail Kadare
6 Christ Recrucified by Nikos Kazantzakis II
7 Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami I
8 Leonardo Da Vinci: The Flights of The Mind by Charles Nicholls
9 The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
10 Snowcrash - Neal Stephenson
11 The Master by Colm Tóibín
12 The Sleeper Awakes by H.G. Wells I
13 The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells II

[gil]

What about etiquette? I guess no-one should vote for their own nominations... whaddaya think?

[Colyngbourne]

I think it's fair to vote for *one* of your own, but not both if you suggested two. Having not suggested any books, my choices are

Christ Recrucified and Virtual Light

[amner]

Yes, I'll go along with that. My choices are:

Christ Recrucified and The First Men in the Moon.
.

[m.]

The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Gustave Flaubert
The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells

Terribly tempted to Kadare and The Moviegoer but resisted on the grounds of problematic availability... I'm secretly supporting them mentally though ( :roll: :wink: )

[gil]

OK then:

3 No One Writes to the Colonel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
4 Virtual Light by William Gibson

[ono no komachi]

The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Gustave Flaubert

and

The Sleeper Awakes by H.G. Wells

There are several others that appeal, but I shall show an uncharacteristic restraint and keep my lip buttoned now that I have voted.

[rick green]

No One Writes to the Colonel and Dance, Dance, Dance.
I wonder if we should have chosen three each. As it stands, we may need a second round of voting to determine a clear winner. (Honorable mention to The Three-Arched Bridge--if my library had it, I would vote for it--and The book on Leonardo, which just seems improbably long for this.)

[ono no komachi]

We could do it Formula-1-style where we choose our favourite six, everyone's number 1 gets six points and so on down to one point for number 6. Then the top 6 form our fist six months' reading. My top 6 would be:

1. The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Gustave Flaubert

2. The Sleeper Awakes by H.G. Wells

3. The Use of Weapons by Iain Banks

4. Virtual Light by William Gibson

5. Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami

6. The Three-Arched Bridge by Ismail Kadare

[John Self]

I'm going to go along with ono's suggestion, so at least we will have six choices from me whether we end up using two, three or whatever. So:

1. The First Men in the Moon, H.G. Wells
2. No one Writes to the Colonel, Gabriel García Márquez
3. Virtual Light, William Gibson
4. The Three-Arched Bridge, Ismail Kadare
5. Christ Recrucified, Nikos Kazantzakis
6. Dance, Dance, Dance, Haruki Murakami

[Digger]

2 The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Gustave Flaubert

12 The Sleeper Awakes by H.G. Wells

For me please!

[ono no komachi]

[high fives with Digger]

[ono no komachi]

I don't want to trash Rick's voting system (particularly as he was so nice about my current batch of Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/90604193@N00/) pics!)

But I thought I'd just demonstrate how the F-1 style of scoring would work by illustrating the current scores (which assume that people have named their first and second choices in order):

1. The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Gustave Flaubert 18
2. No One Writes to the Colonel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 17
=2. Virtual Light by William Gibson 17
4. The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells 16
5. Christ Recrucified by Nikos Kazantzakis 14
6. The Sleeper Awakes by H.G. Wells 10
7. Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami 8
8. The Use of Weapons by Iain Banks 4
=8. The Three-Arched Bridge by Ismail Kadare 4

10. Leonardo Da Vinci: The Flights of The Mind by Charles Nicholls
=10. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
=10. Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson
=10. The Master by Colm Tóibín

But I think we need a few more votes and maybe some adjudication (Wavid?)

[John Self]

And presumably, if H.G. Wells did end up with two books in the top six, then the lower one would be ruled out and number seven would move up to take its place?

[Colyngbourne]

Okay, my 1-6 in order :

1. Christ Recrucified
2. Virtual Light
3. The Temptation of St. Anthony
4. The First Men in the Moon
5. The Sleeper Wakes
6. Dance, Dance, Dance

[rick green]

Yes, ono's scoring method is indubitably superior than the one I devised. So I guess those of us who already voted, can do so again, canceling the previous vote. Does that makes sense?

[rick green]

1 No One Writes to the Colonel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
2 Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami
3 The Three-Arched Bridge by Ismail Kadare
4 Leonardo Da Vinci: The Flights of The Mind by Charles Nicholls
5 The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Gustave Flaubert
6 The Sleeper Awakes by H.G. Wells

Wasn't there some question about whether or nor we wanted to have the schedule fixed for six months? I guess we can always deal with that a little further down the line.

[Jerkass]

1. Dance, Dance, Dance,, Haruki Murakami
2. The Master, Colm Toibin
3. The First Men in the Moon, H.G. Wells
4. The Three-Arched Bridge, Ismail Kadare
5. Leonardo da Vinci, Charles Nicholls
6. The Temptation of Saint Anthony, Gustave Flaubert

[rick green]

Okay, adding up all of the votes using our new & improved system, and exluding the votes from the old (which means amner, m., gil & digger must re-vote in the new style) here is the tally thus far.

The First Men in the Moon 24
No One Writes to the Colonel 23
Dance, Dance, Dance 21
The Temptation of Saint Anthony 20
Virtual Light 17
The Three Arched Bridge 15
The Sleeper Awakes 15
Christ Recrucified 12
The Moviegoer 7
The Master 5
Leonardo: Flights of the Mind 5
The Use of Weapons 5


EDIT: Updated to include m. & amner & gil.

[m.]

1. The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Gustave Flaubert
2. The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells
3. The Three-Arched Bridge by Ismail Kadare
4. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
5. Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami
6. No One Writes to the Colonel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

[amner]

Must re-vote? Must?

Oh very well...

1. The First Men in the Moon
2. No One Writes to the Colonel
3. The Sleeper Awakes
4. Christ Recrucified
5. The Moviegoer
6. The Use of Weapons

[rick green]

Must re-vote? Must?


Sorry about the grating imperative. Allow me to rephrase. Would gil & Digger consider the benefits of re-voting, please?

[gil]

1 No One Writes to the Colonel
2 Virtual Light
3 Dance, Dance, Dance
4 The Sleeper Awakes
5 The Moviegoer
6 Christ Recrucified

[Jerkass]

doh! could have broken the tie for sixth by voting Kadare higher than 4th, but I didn't want to unfairly skew the voting

[John Self]

Not to worry, Digger's still to revote. Plus if it is a tie for sixth, then surely Kadare should get it, otherwise we'll have two Wells books? Even though I nominated 'em both...

[rick green]

And don't forget the wild-card new member, funes. It's all still up in the air.

[Digger]

So I must vote must I... ok :) Voting is my democratic right - not that it makes any difference anywhere else, lets see about here! (I'm still keeping my original two though)

The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Gustave Flaubert
The Sleeper Awakes by H.G. Wells
No One Writes to the Colonel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Virtual Light by William Gibson
The Three-Arched Bridge by Ismail Kadare
Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami

So, make any difference?

(High fives ono, fun! :) )

[Digger]

Must re-vote? Must?


Sorry about the grating imperative. Allow me to rephrase. Would gil & Digger consider the benefits of re-voting, please?

Missed this post entirely, of course Rick, I have considered the benefits!

I think in Australia they must vote - or at least show up at the polling station, otherwise they get a fine. We don't need that kind of stick!

[pandop]

2 The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Gustave Flaubert

12 The Sleeper Awakes by H.G. Wells

For me please!

Same books, same order for me please - and I will try to find the time to read them!

Edited to add: Drat, now I have to pick another 4 - here goes:

1 The Use of Weapons by Iain Banks
8 Leonardo Da Vinci: The Flights of The Mind by Charles Nicholls
13 The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells II
5 The Three-Arched Bridge by Ismail Kadare

Hazel

[John Self]

I'm guessing rick won't be around until later today so to avoid the suspense killing anyone, here's the current score inc. Digger and hazel, with funes still to vote:

The Temptation of Saint Anthony 32
No One Writes to the Colonel 27
The First Men in the Moon 26
The Sleeper Awakes 25
Dance, Dance, Dance 22
Virtual Light 20
The Three Arched Bridge 18
Christ Recrucified 12
The Use of Weapons 9
Leonardo: Flights of the Mind 8
The Moviegoer 7
The Master 5

Again I'm presuming that we're only reading one Wells, though I suppose we could combine them for anyone who feels strongly, ie has already read one or the other. And therefore The Three Arched Bridge would slide up into sixth place.

It seems, unfortunately, that however funes votes, the first six will not be ousted. Unless she votes Christ Recrucified in first place, which would tie it for sixth overall with The Three-Arched Bridge. But do still vote, please, funes! It will decide the crucial running order...

[funes]

1. The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Gustave Flaubert
2. No One Writes to the Colonel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
3. Virtual Light by William Gibson
4. The Three-Arched Bridge by Ismail Kadare
5. Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami I
6. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy


ETA: I keep odd hours, sorry to keep everyone waiting!

[John Self]

Final tally then:

The Temptation of Saint Anthony 38
No One Writes to the Colonel 32
The First Men in the Moon 26
The Sleeper Awakes 25
Dance, Dance, Dance 24
Virtual Light 24
The Three Arched Bridge 21
Christ Recrucified 12
The Use of Weapons 9
Leonardo: Flights of the Mind 8
The Moviegoer 8
The Master 5

So does that mean...

September: The Temptation of Saint Anthony, Gustave Flaubert

October: No One Writes to the Colonel, Gabriel García Márquez

November: The First Men in the Moon/The Sleeper Awakes, H.G. Wells

December: Dance, Dance, Dance, Haruki Murakami

January: Virtual Light, William Gibson

February: The Three-Arched Bridge, Ismail Kadare

Seems like a good range we got there!

[Digger]

great range, :D , havn't read any of these and have only read other works by two of the authors.

just to double check, for my small and easily emptied mind...

Discussion in Sept - Flaubert, discussion in Oct - GGMarquez, discussion in Nov - HG Wells and so on and so forth.

Amazon here I come...

[amarie]

I hate to be a pain, but am I too late to vote?

[John Self]

Oops! No, fire away!

[Digger]

:lol: Too keen JS, too keen!

[John Self]

Although it is worth pointing out again that, as with funes, your votes can only at most change the order of the top six - because there's a nine-point gap between Kadare and Kazantzakis. Still vote though!

Gosh, this is like the Eurovision song contest, isn't it?

[Digger]

Gosh, this is like the Eurovision song contest, isn't it?

Do you have a little colouful rah-rah skirt to rip off revealing small lycra panties John?!

[ono no komachi]

Gosh, this is like the Eurovision song contest, isn't it?

Do you have a little colouful rah-rah skirt to rip off revealing small lycra panties John?!

:shock:

[amarie]

OK thanks! I would've posted sooner, but I've actually had some work to do today - the cheek of it!

No One Writes to the Colonel
Dance, Dance, Dance
Christ Recrucified
The First Men in the Moon
The Temptation of Saint Anthony
Virtual Light

[John Self]

Final final tally then:

Final tally then:

The Temptation of Saint Anthony 40
No One Writes to the Colonel 38
The First Men in the Moon 29
Dance, Dance, Dance 29
The Sleeper Awakes 25
Virtual Light 25
The Three Arched Bridge 21
Christ Recrucified 16
The Use of Weapons 9
Leonardo: Flights of the Mind 8
The Moviegoer 8
The Master 5

So that still means...

September: The Temptation of Saint Anthony, Gustave Flaubert

October: No One Writes to the Colonel, Gabriel García Márquez

November: The First Men in the Moon/The Sleeper Awakes, H.G. Wells

December: Dance, Dance, Dance, Haruki Murakami

January: Virtual Light, William Gibson

February: The Three-Arched Bridge, Ismail Kadare

And not a lycra panty in sight!

[Colyngbourne]

I can request a copy from the country library but I'm not sure what translation it will be.

(And 'panty' belongs in my list of banned ugly words/phrases, along with 'deferred success'...)

[m.]

Perhaps we should give the last chance Notty, Lucoid and in fact anybody who formally or really belongs, say another 24 hours? If no one else votes by then, the results are final? Just a thought.

[ono no komachi]

I heard the teacher supposedly responsible for introducing the phrase 'deferred success' speaking on the radio this lunchtime. It seemed very much that she had proposed the idea as a way of provoking debate (I think she used the words '...in a sense of mischief... you don't propose topics for conference that are boring or that don't provoke controversy') in other words she wanted to generate debate on the best way to prevent children thinking they were complete dead losses in certain areas and therefore losing all interest in them.

As usual, a well-intended (if not entirely commonsensical) idea, only intended as subject for discussion, has been pounced on and vilified by media who love to cry 'political correctness gone mad!'

I'm sure the lady in question was clever enough to realise the publicity this would generate, and I hope that those who get the chance to hear her explain her motives will see the reasonableness in her argument.

But on the whole I agree with Col, in itself it is a stupid expression.

[Jerkass]

[Palimpsest Book Group Television Commentary]: "Will you look at that, Jeb--HG Wells will rue having entered two titles, or he probably would have been the runaway winner..."

[rick green]

Thanks John. Looks great.

[amner]

Nicely done, JS. Looks like a winner to me.

[Jerkass]

Do we get to have a super-exciting run-off vote to determine which of the Wells books we'll read?

[John Self]

Unless anyone feels strongly, we can do a double-Wells month. Which is not to say that everyone should read both - but it seems to me that a lot of people have read one or the other, so may not want to read the one they already know again... and that means we can discuss both books at the same time, compare and contrast etc., with each person reading whichever they choose, commenting from new or from memory. I'll probably plump for both as I have both to hand and in my experience Wells is pretty swift reading.

[Jerkass]

Exhilirating!

Unprecedented!

Never before in the course of human endeavour, etc. etc.!

[rick green]

I'm going to get my Wells from Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/w#a30). I also downloaded a handy, free eReader (http://www.ereader.com/products/ereader/pro). This turns your drab text file into a nifty virtual book. Should be fun.

[m.]

Thanks rick, I've downloaded it too.

[Digger]

so did we decide on a specific publisher for the Flaubert then, before I buy one?

[m.]

Er, I'd be for the option "whatever works for you"

So far nothing works for me but I'm working on it...

The edition that funes recommends looks nice, the translator Lafcadio Hearn was the first to translate it into English and (I've googled about him) was a fascinating person. The text itself is described as "latinized" which may be a euphemism for stilted, but then may be not. I'd go for it if only because of Foucalt's introduction, but at the moment I'm broke and considering various other strange options...

[Digger]

strange options hmmmm, sounds intriguing!! I think I am likely to stick by what I can find in Blackwells, who are usually pretty good.

[m.]

strange options hmmmm, sounds intriguing!!
Ah yeah... :D There's one edition available over the 'net at a moderate price , a translation into Polish. But the translator unspecified, rather nichey publisher and strange blurb. It kind of suggests that not only Anthony had visions but Flaubert too, and generally, very useful book in our own esoteric searches. But you never know - the translation may be decent, it's just that I can't get any info. The other (strangest of all) option is that I read it from gutenberg in French. My French isn't good but I did things like that a few times in the past... (3 times.) In the rush of voting I didn't take everything into account. But that was fun, wasn't it. :D

[Digger]

Yep, the exhileration and anticipation raised the stakes of the day considerably! :lol:

Hope the books live up to the voting!

[John Self]

I've ordered the first two books on the list, Temptation of Saint Antony and No one Writes to the Colonel. £6.50 for the pair, and, er, £5.50 for postage (two separate Amazon marketplace sellers, you see...)

[Jerkass]

I bought the first at Borders on Friday, then went home and ordered the next two (along with an interesting book entitled War Trash) from Amazon. So let's keep the Book Group going for at least three months, all right? Especially since you've all made me buy another Gabriel Garcia Marquez. At least this one doesn't have an "Oprah's Book Club" sticker on the front cover, so there is some hope.

[Wavid]

Sorry for not helping out on this - thanks to JS, Rick and Ono for getting things moving. The list looks pretty good and plenty of challenging stuff on there. Well done all!

edit: have copied John's lovely colourful list into the first post of the 'sticky' topic for everyone's easy reference.

[Wavid]

I have renamed this thread to something more resembling its content now I have removed the The Temptation... specific stuff from it.