 |
| ToB Official Bracket |
I’ve been participating in the ToB for 4 years now, and each time I am struck anew at just how much the judges make the tournament. As there are no set rules for choosing winners in each literary matchup, it’s up to each judge to choose her own criteria in determining which book moves forward. Most of the time, this is satisfying. Other times, it's incredibly frustrating.
Let’s look at a couple of the matches that have been decided already, and then I’ll give my
pick for Monday’s final first-round match, with my rationale.
From the judgments that have been made thus far, what I find most interesting is that both Bethanne Kelly Patrick,
the editor of my new favorite website, Bookriot.com,
and author Haven Kimmel, seem to have chosen their winners based on a belief in
the future of literature and the output of their respective chosen winners.
The Tiger’s Wife vs. The Stranger’s Child
(Judge - Bethanne Kelly Patrick)
This matchup is one
in which I read both titles prior to the Tournament. The judge selected Tiger's Wife as the winner, and I would have made the same
decision, but for different reasons. I wanted to love Hollinghurst's Stranger's Child, as I
have been passionate about several other titles by him over the years, but it was a letdown, and I
knew it would be by about three-quarters of the way through. I also had high
expectations for The Tiger’s Wife,
and for the most part, those were met.
Especially effective for me were the linking of family and
national myth-creation to the story of grandfather and granddaughter in
war-torn Serbia. And while I enjoyed the Obreht more than the Hollinghurst, I
felt no lasting emotional connection to either, although Obreht had me
momentarily near the end, when the grandfather eats dinner in a hotel where he
had honeymooned years earlier. The scene is perfect, quiet and powerful, as the
grandfather dines with the deathless man as a military siege nears the hotel.
