The final winner of last week's Great Wednesday Compare (Chuck Palahniuk Vs Miriam Toews, with a final score of 8-1 was Miriam Toews!
Looks like Canadian girl does good. Alas, not good for Palahniuk. I've not yet read Chuck, but I did like the movie of Fight Club, if that counts for anything. For those of you that have both read the book and watched the movie, how do they compare with one another?
This week's literary fight club takes a new contender from out East...
Remember, vote simply by adding your comment below, base it on whatever merit you choose, voting does not end until Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. (Dec 1, 2009), and if you want your book to get more votes, feel free to promote them here or on your blog!
Who is better?
9 comments:
Miriam Toews ... because the only other thing I can say is "Who the heck is Wayne Johnston?"
Miriam Toews again - because I love The Flying Troutmans!
I have to vote for Toews, but not because she is the best author. I have read Wayne's works, and they are okay I was never so impressed that I would buy his books.
My problem with Wayne is a little different. He was the Writer in Residence for MUN a number of years back and taught the Advanced creative writing course. His first day in as an instructor is that he didn't want us to write any fantasy, science fiction, horror, or mystery pieces. "Real literature only".
I am pretty sure Asimov, and Tolkien would have taken offense to such a statement, I know I did.
He is a bit of a prig I guess. Which is hard for me to say because he is a Newfoundlander.
Easy peasy. Miriam Toews! While she, like most (if not all) Canadian authors, writes of sad things, of despair, she always does so with such warmth and humour that you cannot help but fall in love with her characters. She reminds us that we are all heroes of our own crap filled lives.
I especially love her road trip novels (The Flying Troutmans and Summer of My Amazing Luck). My daughters and I do a road trip annually for our summer vacation, leaving our partners at home. And while my kids often ask why we don't fly, I refuse. Not because I'm afraid of flying, which they suspect, but because there is nothing like being trapped in a vehicle for long glorious stretches of time for connecting/reconnecting with each other.
Wayne Johnston for me, thanks!
Miriams Toews for me, yet again.
And regarding Fight Club the book vs Fight Club the movie, there are some significant plot differences between the two, most particularly the ending. Both have their charms though, and the movie has a Pixies sound track and that most certainly counts for something. Also Edward Norton when he was still cool.
I still haven't read TFT yet but I did enjoy ACK. Still and all, the characters didn't entertain near so much as those from Wayne Johnston's The Divine Ryans and his memoir kept me in stitches for the better part of the read.
Wayne Johnston for me!
I love both authors for different reasons, so this one is very hard for me. In a pinch I have to go with Wayne Johnston because he has written some great historical fiction.
Toews, again...must find a copy of TFT.
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