In our in-class debate on the final day of the course, Rita Indiana’s Papi narrowly but unmistakably beat out other contenders for the best book that we’ve read over the semester.
Meanwhile, in the survey included along with the attendance list, this was the final ranking…
- Clarice Lispector, Hour of the Star (8.5 votes)
- Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (6.5)
- Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths (4.5)
- Samanta Schweblin, Fever Dream (4)
- Nellie Campobello, Cartucho (3)
- Rita Indiana, Papi (3)
- Gabriela Mistral, Madwomen (2.5)
- Mariano Azuela, The Underdogs (1)
- Teresa de la Parra, Mama Blanca’s Memoirs (1)
- Pedro Lemebel, My Tender Matador (1)
- Cristina Rivera Garza, The Taiga Syndrome (1)
One thing that strikes me about this list is how many of the texts are represented… over half the books we read turned out to be someone’s favourite. Which is grand!
I’m also not sure I’d have guessed that Lispector would run out the winner in such a poll, but I’m kinda glad she did!
