Culture Cup Rd 1.

First topic message reminder :

Here it is, folks.  Round 1 of the not very eagerly awaited Culture Cup.  First round is a simple one.  What is the best book ever?  Is it by Brontë, Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky or maybe Dan Brown, JK Rowling or whatever goon wrote 50 Shades of Grey?

Please see the poll for which book the absolute cream of v2 consider to be nulli secundus.

Cast your votes here.  Please vote for you top 2 from the poll.

Remember voting is open to everyone on the site!!!

ChequeredJersey wrote:Have you read Children of Hurin?

tried recently, gave up. didnt have a head for what was a very hard read

The Boss wrote:Jeff, I hope you've at least read Me Quinn's stunning autobiography before taking us on your tour of the high road!

I haven't I'm afraid. To be honest stopped reading sporting biographies after No Ordinary Joe. I knew everything after that could only disappoint.

Its definitely not his best and arguably doesnt deserve to be just his as it wasnt written into structure until Christopher edited it.

It's a real treat. Obviously after reading Joe's then anything else would only be a bitter disappointment. Although Tony Cascarino might have something to say on that!

compelling and rich wrote:

ChequeredJersey wrote:Tbf tLotR is meant to be 1 book, not a Trilogy.

return of the king is my favourite, would have been interested if they were split to see what came out on top even though i see them as a whole. although expect all 3 together to walk this, the bible to any fantasy work

Return of the King is my favourite too. It really was one book, far more so than Dark Materials and many others. A Harry Potter, my sister is very well read but would count Half Blood Prince as her favourite book. Oh the fun I will have when I see her, her favourite not making this fine list but Mother and I represented by LotR and father dearest with To Kill a Mockingbird.

I think Gaiman is one of those unfair irrational hatreds.

I give Joe's a rough ride. Not that he does not deserve it but De La Hoya's is every bit as bad to be fair.

I thought it was far more interesting (though less well written) than tLotR. Turin is just a more interesting character than any of the Fellowship

i just cant read autobiography's, tried a fair few who i thought would interest me (charlton being my first attempt) and just couldn't get into them. i dont really enjoy reading about other people blab on about their lives would rather go down pub and live my own

Someone once said to me you should not read any sportsperson’s biography until they had retired. Having read more than my fair share of both types it is not bad advice.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:

compelling and rich wrote:

ChequeredJersey wrote:Tbf tLotR is meant to be 1 book, not a Trilogy.

return of the king is my favourite, would have been interested if they were split to see what came out on top even though i see them as a whole. although expect all 3 together to walk this, the bible to any fantasy work

Return of the King is my favourite too. It really was one book, far more so than Dark Materials and many others. A Harry Potter, my sister is very well read but would count Half Blood Prince as her favourite book. Oh the fun I will have when I see her, her favourite not making this fine list but Mother and I represented by LotR and father dearest with To Kill a Mockingbird.

I think Gaiman is one of those unfair irrational hatreds.

pulman and c.s lewis i always felt they were trying to force feed there only beliefs, both opposite ends of the spectrum. i did enjoy his dark marterials but wasnt what i expected after the first. similar with narnia books the end was rubbish

Best autobiography I ever read was Eric Clapton's. great book until the last 2 chapters when he turned into a primary school child telling his friends about his summer holidays.

Clapton's book is great

Ye a really good read. The last few chapters really peed me off though.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:
People should not be put off voting for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because it is Dahl and a children's book. It is one of the best stories ever written, with wonderful imagery and provocative characters throughout.

I finally agree with the Dolphin!

Its much more than just a fanciful tale - its about morality and being true to yourself, wrapped up in a fantastical story. When I was a kid, it was the first book I couldnt put down.

Shame the glass elevator was so poor.

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:
Rowley's reserve choice was Anne Widdecombe's autobiography and Galted's was his favourite copy of Razzle from October 1998.

Shouldn't really disclose peoples choices but felt they had to be shared.

 
That should really have been my third or fourth choice along with Five Go To Smuggler's Top but I was in a hurry to get my picks in, if I'd've had a bit of time to give it a think I'd probably have gone for Girls & Corpses #10 as my second choice.

To Kill a Mockingbird is the best book ever written, but who knew Tom Robinson was black - think that might ruin it for me - politically correct nonsense now I think about it!

I'm too good to vote for my own choice (I'm too good for this forum really) so went for Lord of the Rings - although the whole Tom Bombadil thing in the first book made me want to forget how to read and you'll never make read the songs. No sir, never!

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:

compelling and rich wrote:

ChequeredJersey wrote:Tbf tLotR is meant to be 1 book, not a Trilogy.

return of the king is my favourite, would have been interested if they were split to see what came out on top even though i see them as a whole. although expect all 3 together to walk this, the bible to any fantasy work

Return of the King is my favourite too. It really was one book, far more so than Dark Materials and many others. A Harry Potter, my sister is very well read but would count Half Blood Prince as her favourite book. Oh the fun I will have when I see her, her favourite not making this fine list but Mother and I represented by LotR and father dearest with To Kill a Mockingbird.

I think Gaiman is one of those unfair irrational hatreds.

Well I'm pleased with my choice but I did originally say The Two Towers which I think is the most entertaining. For anyone who likes this stuff, try Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time stuff.

seanmichaels wrote:

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:

compelling and rich wrote:

ChequeredJersey wrote:Tbf tLotR is meant to be 1 book, not a Trilogy.

return of the king is my favourite, would have been interested if they were split to see what came out on top even though i see them as a whole. although expect all 3 together to walk this, the bible to any fantasy work

Return of the King is my favourite too. It really was one book, far more so than Dark Materials and many others. A Harry Potter, my sister is very well read but would count Half Blood Prince as her favourite book. Oh the fun I will have when I see her, her favourite not making this fine list but Mother and I represented by LotR and father dearest with To Kill a Mockingbird.

I think Gaiman is one of those unfair irrational hatreds.

Well I'm pleased with my choice but I did originally say The Two Towers which I think is the most entertaining. For anyone who likes this stuff, try Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time stuff.

i found the two towers the hardest slog, the whole dead marshes bit drags on for a fair bit and is a tough read, its difficult to judge them as all separate but merely in terms of enjoyment two towers is my least favourite

compelling and rich wrote:

seanmichaels wrote:

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:

compelling and rich wrote:

ChequeredJersey wrote:Tbf tLotR is meant to be 1 book, not a Trilogy.

return of the king is my favourite, would have been interested if they were split to see what came out on top even though i see them as a whole. although expect all 3 together to walk this, the bible to any fantasy work

Return of the King is my favourite too. It really was one book, far more so than Dark Materials and many others. A Harry Potter, my sister is very well read but would count Half Blood Prince as her favourite book. Oh the fun I will have when I see her, her favourite not making this fine list but Mother and I represented by LotR and father dearest with To Kill a Mockingbird.

I think Gaiman is one of those unfair irrational hatreds.

Well I'm pleased with my choice but I did originally say The Two Towers which I think is the most entertaining. For anyone who likes this stuff, try Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time stuff.

i found the two towers the hardest slog, the whole dead marshes bit drags on for a fair bit and is a tough read, its difficult to judge them as all separate but merely in terms of enjoyment two towers is my least favourite

All worth it for Helm's Deep - also the best part of the films. Truly frightening and that was just the Leeds fans. Films good but I didn't like the homoerotic goings on.

For Lord of the Rings fans
http://www.ooblick.com/text/tomordor/

No Harry Potter?

Y I Man wrote:No Harry Potter?

Choose a best one, then compare it standalone to some of the greatest books of all time (and Niall Quinn's autobiography). Whilst my sister's favourite book is Half Blood Prince, I believe the context of the series makes it so. She's incredibly well read and in Children's publishing, did her dissertation on (roughly) themes of terrorism within Harry Potter, so its hard for me to argue against her on this, but she is wrong.

I thought the best book was Prisoner of Azkaban personally (which I also think is the worst film, though I don't think my opinion is shared by many there). Order of the Phoenix is the worst, just drags on too much IMO, though there are some awesome passages.

I can't remember there being a single Harry Potter book chosen, even amongst all the second, third and fourth choices that people sent. There must have been about 50 books across the participants but poor old Harry didn't make it for anyone.

Odd considering Adam's second choice was 'I Look hot when I'm naked' by Gok Wan. You would have thought Potter would be better than that.

it wasnt my second choice. I was commenting that I look hot when naked and to Go Wank not Gok Wan. And that was a private discussion.

 

LotR for me. Epic in every sense of the word.

Oh and a childhood favourite...Charlie and the choc factory.

I hated it as a child. First 50 pages all about old couples in bed together

0 votes, I really am hopeless at this.

Can't see my fortunes changing in the music round either, I should have gone for Collins or Loaf some other generic populist rubbish.

Union Cane wrote:0 votes, I really am hopeless at this.

Can't see my fortunes changing in the music round either, I should have gone for Collins or Loaf some other generic populist rubbish.

Still time, Union. Votes are still coming in.

Union Cane wrote:0 votes, I really am hopeless at this.

And me, as well. Anyway, misery loves company!!

Only on one vote myself. Cannot even take pleasure in beating Union knowing that I am losing to Niall Quinn's autobiography.

I think I will close this one tonight so long as no more votes come in. I will put the second round up in the morning. Not really expecting you to get many votes in that one either, Jeff. Not a reflection on your song choice which is actually quite good, but there are more 'popular' songs picked that are also excellent.

I had to google Union's choice so make of that what you will.

Yeah I have my doubts about my song choice, but it is a song I genuinely adore and so thought I would try and act in the spirit of the contest and pick the one I thought best fitted the bill.

Rowley wrote:Yeah I have my doubts about my song choice, but it is a song I genuinely adore and so thought I would try and act in the spirit of the contest and pick the one I thought best fitted the bill.

I did the same - I chose a song that I love. Having said that , I could have picked pretty much any of Queens songs, as most of them were out of the top 5!

The more obscure your nomination, the more cultured you are #fackt

I went with LoTR and HGG. Ultimately it's quite difficult deciding which is the "best" book, so i went completely subjective and voted for the two I enjoyed the most on that list.

On a side-note, no foreign language books? Proust anyone?

Azzy Mahmood wrote:The more obscure your nomination, the more cultured you are #fackt

I agree with this. I would also point out that the more obscure nominations are likely to get fewer votes, so I am in fact winning.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:Proust anyone?

That was one of seanmichaels choices.

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:I had to google Union's choice so make of that what you will.

It shows how uncultured you are.

My musical nomination featured in one of my short lived "DJ Union Cane" threads, I'd have thought that most of the board would be familiar with it after that.

Union Cane wrote:

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:I had to google Union's choice so make of that what you will.

It shows how uncultured you are.

Yes, one should always Ask Jeeves if one cannot recall a particular thing.

I would disagree with the more obscure.

Just because something is populist doesnt make it suddenly uncultured or not great.

And just because a song, book or film might be aimed at a certain audience, shouldnt exclude how great it can be (ie Mr Fox and Charlie in this round and ET in any movie round).

Great works of media in any format are just that, irrespective of how many people know about them.

Nice to see Wilbur Smith in there.

There's no way his stuff should be on the 'best books ever' list but I've read most of his novels and enjoyed them (in an adventury sort of way).

Best book ever is The Master and Margarita.

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:Proust anyone?

That was one of seanmichaels choices.

I'll have you know I went on a vineyard tour yesterday. I'm bloody cultured.

Can't believe I have only garnered 2 votes! I thought I might have got a few 'northern' votes with my pick!

I better so well in the next round.

Right, that is it folks.

Voting has now closed for round 1. I will be posting the poll for round 2 on the music section shortly and then hopefully one of the admins who actually knows how to do it will move it global.

I will also put up the league table for round 1 and the question for round 3.

Well, this is a turn up for the books. Whoever thought that Rd 1 would rear its head after being dormant for so long?

Just goes to show how well the cup progressed over the years.

The final round was far more cultured and interesting than this one. We have all grown as people.

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:Just goes to show how well the cup progressed over the years.

The final round was far more cultured and interesting than this one.  We have all grown as people.

Maybe not all of us.

Rd 1

seanmichaels wrote:
I'll have you know I went on a vineyard tour yesterday. I'm bloody cultured.

Final Round!

seanmichaels wrote:
At a wedding a few months back I managed to stack it on the dancefloor and become sandwiched between 2 speakers to the extent that the DJ and a random girl had to wedge me out.