Tournament of Books discussion

Hi, everyone, I'm Alison, aka RidgewayGirl. I was excited and also trepidatious to be authoring a judgement like this, especially given how this is a battle of our favorites.

Round 2:

Jacob de Zoet v. Circe



It was with great relief that I was assigned two books I had already read. I remembered liking them both and was sure that a quick look at my ratings would give me a good idea of how to write my judgement. And then I found that I’d given both five stars and the kind of fawning reviews usually saved for pop stars.

There are a lot of similarities between these two. Both books feature titular characters who are exiled for love, who strive to do the right thing in a situation where the majority of people/gods around them are acting solely for themselves and both Circe and Jacob fall in love with someone forbidden. And both books are superbly written and well-researched in that way that doesn’t feel like the author is ever just showing off their work.

I decided to read both books at once and started with Circe. Hours later, I realized that I had just reread all of Circe without picking up de Zoet even once. Miller knows how to tell a story and how to get right into the emotional impact of every single moment. I loved Circe, from her early days as a love-starved nymph to her best days operating a rapist honeypot on her island to her eventual, very deserved happy ending. Miller managed to take a collection of snippets and asides from mythology and craft them into a coherent narrative. It is episodic in nature, but that’s well in keeping with the nature of her source material. Friends, this is a book with chops. I loved my reread as much as the first time.

So then I turned to de Zoet, and right from the first pages, where a young, uncertain but morally upright 18th Century Dutch clerk is trying to figure out his new life on an island off the shore of Nagasaki, Japan, I was pulled into the story. I loved de Zoet’s desire to do the right thing, and was frustrated by his naivety that left him often immobile when he should have acted, or transparent when he should have been cagier. He’s an interesting guy, and Mitchell has surrounded him with a richly described environment and an equally rich cast of characters, especially the midwife who fascinates him, but whom he fails at the critical moment. The way that Mitchell controls the story, the way he kept me guessing (look, it’s been a decade since I last read this book) was brilliant. And the writing is superlatively good; I had to read some sections twice, just to appreciate the way Mitchell plays with language.

I did have to think through the many strengths and the few weaknesses of each book, and in the end I came down on the side of 18th century Japan and a man who figured out how to make peace with his exile.



Winner: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet.

Great reviews! I would have come down the other way, so I'm really interested in what you saw as the "few weaknesses" and the thing that tipped the balance in Jacob's favor for you!

Loved them both, if differently. I hadn’t read Thousand Autumns and am so grateful to my fellow ToBers for getting me to move it off my TBR Mountain. A beautiful, haunting book that illuminated a part of the world, and history, about which I knew shockingly little. David Mitchell is 3 for 3 with me and I look forward to reading the rest of his backlist.

Circe was a great feat of perspective-shifting and storytelling. It grabbed me from the opening pages and never let me go. I didn’t get to re-read it for this tournament but it’s on my Favorites shelf, and I know I’ll return to it someday.

Thank you, Alison, for your great work here.

I think both of them are great; for me, Circe seems a LITTLE diminished just because it felt a lot like "Song of Achilles", Miller's previous work. Whereas (at least in this phase of his career) Mitchell was trying all sorts of crazy different things and a fairly straightforward historical novel was a new thing for him.

Also really appreciated both books and while Circe is a fantastic read, Thousand Autumns is one my very tippy top favorites ever. deZoet even being my discord name for when ToB discussed transitioning to that cursed program.

I agree on the similarities mentioned above, people trying to do good in a world that is cruel (fantastically so even). Both are books of isolation but Thousand Autumns is still defined by many memorable side characters while outside of Circe I do not think the characters in that book (outside maybe Hermes) shine at the same level.

Just showing up to say that "her best days operating a rapist honeypot" was not a phrase I expected to encounter today (or any day).

Great judgment!

Kyle wrote: "I think both of them are great; for me, Circe seems a LITTLE diminished just because it felt a lot like "Song of Achilles", Miller's previous work. Whereas (at least in this phase of his career) Mi..."

This is interesting because I read them in reverse order and Circe blew me away. I did like Song of Achilles but I adored Circe.

I wonder if I'm alone in feeling let down by Thousand Autumns' ending? I loved the first half, but felt like it kind of fizzled out for me.

Kyle wrote: "I think both of them are great; for me, Circe seems a LITTLE diminished just because it felt a lot like "Song of Achilles", Miller's previous work. Whereas (at least in this phase of his career) Mi..."

I've heard other readers say that the order in which you read Miller's novels determines what you think of each of them. I read "Song of Achilles" after reading "Circe" and was not quite as enthusiastic about it. Part of what made "Circe" so engaging was the trick of shifting our perspective on a story we thought we knew so well, and elevating what had been a minor character into a starring role. When you then read "Song of Achilles" and it's a similar perspective shift on an oft-told mythological tale, the "Wow!" factor diminishes a little. At least it did for me. I can imagine the reverse being true for someone who read "Circe" after "Song".

Chrissy wrote: "Great reviews! I would have come down the other way, so I'm really interested in what you saw as the "few weaknesses" and the thing that tipped the balance in Jacob's favor for you!"

Chrissy, it wasn't any weaknesses in Circe that pushed me to chose Jacob, but rather that I felt the Mitchell novel was slightly richer in language and world-building. Both were excellent and on another day, I may well have chosen Circe.

Great review Alison, you captured my feelings exactly!

Really nice judgments, Bryn and Alison. And the comments about the order in which you read the Miller books rings true to me. I liked both Achilles and Circe, but Achilles is much more vivid in my memory, even though I read it longer ago.

Excellent judgement Alison!! You made me want to reread both. I have a more vivid recollection of Jacob and I love Mitchell’s books. I would have gone the same way based on my memory. People love Circe so much but I had kind of a blah reading experience with it.

I entirely empathize with blanking on details of 'Thousand Autumns' -- even though it was my favorite book in the year it was released, I can barely remember much of it. What a shame. I think I would still choose it over every other book in this bracket! Alison, I would have loved to hear what you thought of as the weaknesses for 'Thousand Autumns' (that you mention in the last paragraph of your judgement.) Though I have not yet read 'Circe'.

I can’t justify why I still haven’t read Circe as I loved Song of Achilles. This judgment helps give it a nudge on the tbr stack. As for Thousand Autumns, when I finished that book I immediately reread a specific chapter as I wanted to marvel at how Mitchell accomplished such a storytelling feat! Great judgment.

To be honest, I thought both Circe and Achilles were really great. I was suuuuuuch a huge Greek Myth geek in my childhood, so I am inclined towards such books. Anything I read in my adult life on those subjects is always going to get a little leeway from me.

...by the way, if you guys haven't read any Mary Renault, she kicks ass. I read her Theseus two-parter (The King Must Die, The Bull from the Sea) and it blew me away.

Kyle wrote: "...by the way, if you guys haven't read any Mary Renault, she kicks ass. I read her Theseus two-parter (The King Must Die, The Bull from the Sea) and it blew me away.."

I second that motion! I put a copy of The King Must Die in the little free library in my neighborhood months ago, and it's still sitting there. I think because it's an old book (both the book itself and the publishing date) it's unfairly overlooked.

Nadine in California wrote: "Kyle wrote: "...by the way, if you guys haven't read any Mary Renault, she kicks ass. I read her Theseus two-parter (The King Must Die, The Bull from the Sea) and it blew me away.."

I second that ..."

If only I could get to your LFL! I've been looking for a copy of The King Must Die in used bookstores FOR YEARS! The King Must Die has been on my tbr too long. Thanks for the endorsement to move it up.

Excellent reviews and verdict; I would be happy either way, though. I didn't expect to like Thousand Autumns and I'm not sure why, really, but was blown away. Hadn't read it before this tourney so I might never have gotten to it. So thank you. I listened to Circe when it was released - loved it.

Wonderful ToF so far! Enjoying it all. Thank you.

Am I the only one..DNF Thousand Autumns

Gail wrote: "Am I the only one..DNF Thousand Autumns"

You are not! I tried a few times (both print and audio), and I just couldn't stick with it. Too many factors got in the way of me connecting with the story or characters. Thanks for sharing that you also had to DNF this one!