Round 1, Match 4

On to match 4: Far Far Away v Flora & Ulysses, Judge Sarah Mylinowski.

My prediction: “Once again, I go with the book I read:Far Far Away.”

And I’m back in the game, baby!

So, yes, Mlynowski is now my new favorite. (You may notice that I am rather free with my “favorites”.)

Is she my favorite because she picked my pick?

No!

She’s my favorite because of this: “At times the book felt like the adaptation of a Wes Anderson movie, which, for most writers I know, would be the greatest of compliments. But I’ve always found Anderson’s heightened artificiality distracting—all that precocity and quirk throw me out of the story. In Flora & Ulysses, quirk is omnipresent. . . .  I feel the same way about quirk as I do about salt: A little goes a long way. And this book is an ocean.“

Keep in mind, I heard this as if Lou “I hate spunk” Grant was saying it. Which makes it more special.

So, Mlynowski — too much quirk, eh?

Forget Battle of the Books! It’s the Battle of the Quirk!

This review is honest, and true, and gets at what is personal to Mlynowski as a reading experience but uses examples to also make it universal. We can judge the quirk ourselves.

I may just like typing quirk.

So I’m 3 for 4. What will tomorrow bring?

Filed under: Battle of the Books