F13 Book Club

[cmlancas]

Christ. I suck. Edited because I was sucking hard.

Double Edit: I added the poll. I'll start thinking of ideas for each genre. I'll try to select works that I believe most of you will not have read. For example, if we choose 20th century modernism, I won't use any common Hemingway short stories (unless the demand is there) because I'm sure most of you have read them. Same with Sci-Fi; we'll try to move outside things in which we are familiar.

[Nevermore]

I don't know if I'll have time to participate, but I'd suggest Slaughterhouse-Five by Vonnegut.

[schild]

I would have to veto that. It's high school summer reading.

[stray]

Some of Vonnegut qualifies as comedy sci-fi for me. I've read just about all of it though.. Would like to try something new.

[schild]

ugh. Seeing romanticism up there makes me not want to pick it. mostly because I've done multiple term papers on it over the course of 3 years.

Would dig some noir or modernism though. Votes in.

[Arrrgh]

Let's just watch Oprah.

Why reinvent the wheel?

[cmlancas]

I would have to veto that. It's high school summer reading.

Uh. If you said that, you'd be Vajurasing it up. Shakespeare is assigned to high schoolers too. Should we not read him?

In a less snarky response, currently scholars are giving Vonnegut a hell of a lot of attention. Slaughter-House Five  might not be my first choice here, but I might vote for Breakfast of Champions.

If Noir wins, I'm starting with "Red Wind" by Raymond Chandler. I'll guess most of you haven't read it, and hopefully everyone will enjoy it.

Edit: It's okay, I promise that I really know that short stories get quotes instead of italics, I swear!

[cmlancas]

If we did Romanticism, I'd want to do some Byron and maybe some Coleridge. Stuff like "Ode to a Grecian Urn" (Keats) would be fun here.

[cmlancas]

There were a bunch of posts here. Now it just looks weird that I have a hat trick. 

[Rendakor]

There were a bunch of posts here. Now it just looks weird that I'm pulling a geldon 

FIFY

[Miasma]

There were a bunch of posts here. Now it just looks weird that I have a hat trick. 

You keep threatening people with romanticism so we are too scared to spend time here.

[Phildo]

I'd take a pass on romanticism too.  One of my worst college experiences encompassed romanticism.

[Raging Turtle]

I'd like to nominate Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried.  It fits the 'short stories' requirement, although some people may have read it in high school or college.

Mainly because O'Brien is one of my favorite authors and I've read the book enough times where I won't have to read it again to participate. 

But then, I like Achewood, so what do I know.   

[Lt.Dan]

You see, what you have here is a bunch of lay people wanting to broaden their reading hoirzon (ignoring the whole discussion about other sci-fi authors).  Then you jump in with fancy schmancy terms like romanti-wha? and moderni-who? and I'm starting to thing "fuck we're definitely going to get a book I'm going to bin after 30 pages".

How about some lay-categories like 20 cenutury American novelists, Dickens, 60s scif-fi?  Once we get to actually suggesting books it would be better to move away from "Wacky Wednesday by Dr Seuss, because I liked it" to "The Grinch by Dr Seuss, because I think it's more than a kids book and I'd like to discuss and be enlightened about it".

[Righ]

Or possibly the Aeneid, I've never actually read that one. Or even King Arthur, in Olde English.

I'm sure that you mean Middle English and are thinking of one or more editions of Sir Thomas Malory's work. And indeed, this is the sort of thing that I would consider 'romance' in literary terms.

[cmlancas]

You see, what you have here is a bunch of lay people wanting to broaden their reading hoirzon (ignoring the whole discussion about other sci-fi authors).  Then you jump in with fancy schmancy terms like romanti-wha? and moderni-who? and I'm starting to thing "fuck we're definitely going to get a book I'm going to bin after 30 pages".

How about some lay-categories like 20 cenutury American novelists, Dickens, 60s scif-fi?  Once we get to actually suggesting books it would be better to move away from "Wacky Wednesday by Dr Seuss, because I liked it" to "The Grinch by Dr Seuss, because I think it's more than a kids book and I'd like to discuss and be enlightened about it".

I might could see how this could be an issue if this weren't the internet and www.wikipedia.org didn't exist. However, this is the internet, and I know that Noir, Mystery, Female Authors, and Sci-Fi aren't difficult.

I'm sure I could pick out four books in modernism/postmodernism that you wouldn't bin after 30 pages. I bet you've already read some, too.

[Lt.Dan]

Don't get me wrong - I'm open-minded about this and willing to give it a shot.  THERE'S A NEW YEARS RESOLUTION AT STEAK, DAMMIT.

I guess I just wanted easy mode on the category so I could actually find a book to suggest, without pulling it off some wiki or an Amazon wish list.

[cmlancas]

Since it seems like Sci-Fi is going to be the first genre, I'm open to suggestions. Preferably, I would like to have three stories per two-week period (or so), consisting of two short, and maybe one short novel. With three per two weeks, it'll give people on the thread a choice of what to read in case we get some  . Schild and I already came up with one short story, and I think I have a good idea of the short novel.

 

[Margalis]

This is getting way over-engineered. Start simple.

3 stories? No. Pick a book or a collection. One. Doing this sort of thing is already like herding cats, I've seen it fail instantly a number of times. If you do three different things some people are only going to read one, then you'll have three different discussions going. The whole point is for everyone to read the same thing.

Pick one thing, something that most people will like and that everyone hasn't already read. And don't let people pussy out. The point is that they read what you pick, then down the road you read what they pick. The whole expanding horizons bit, you can't please everyone and giving people a menu to choose from is going to tank this instantly.

Edit: The above post should be read in the authoritative voice of a project lead. 

[schild]

I think he plans on announcing one. Waiting for talk to die down and then announcing the other. I think.

[Samwise]

To echo Schild, Lovecraft is a good choice in that it's mostly short stories,  and his stuff is a standout in the horror genre.  Bad choice because I'd bet many of the people here have read him already, and the whole racism thing.

I'd bet you're wrong.  My experience is that almost every geek thinks they know what a Cthulhu is, but couldn't tell you the name of more than one or two actual Lovecraft stories.

If we picked something without any pop culture resonance (Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath is a great one) I bet it'd be new to almost everyone.

[Murgos]

I recommend that you all work your way through the banned books list (here is a good one: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/banned-books.html).

Because I know this crowd I think you should start with Fanny Hill.   

[cmlancas]

Your stuff.

I'm trying to offer a variety here. Just like a variety of threads, perhaps a variety of books/stories for people to read. I don't mind doing just one, but I don't want to turn people off. Plus, I know some will read them all (like myself), and one short story every week to two weeks might not be enough for them. However, your point is certainly noted. I have seen the f13 commitment, and well, on second thought, the commitment never came to pass. 

[Margalis]

Offering a menu is the easiest way to get this to fail.

Pick a book, give people a couple weeks to discuss, repeat.

[lamaros]

Pick a book, give people a couple weeks to discuss, repeat.

Agree.

People are here to read a book and discuss. Not to read a book they personaly want to read and discuss. And if we rotate the person picking they will get their go in the end.

Plus, I think odds say some of those who are the pickiest might be ones who aren't as motivated to go the distance when the book might not be 100% their thing anyway..

[Strazos]

Good thing Romanticism lost....that stuff made me sick in high school + college.


I just hope that I can actually get these things read if I participate. Fack, I just now finished  "The End of Hyperion." Took me long enough, and I actually liked it...mostly.

[trias_e]

Count me in.

(although please regard the fact that I'm busy/lazy)

[tazelbain]

Signe should record the book on mp3 so we don't have to read.

[MaceVanHoffen]

I don't really know which author is in what genre listed (modernism, etc), but I know what I like to read.

I'd recommend Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, simply because I don't think most folks around here would think of reading her work.  I also don't want to be the only heterosexual male I know that enjoys Jane Austen.

Since that'll probably cause apoplexy, I'll suggest another: The Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper.  I think he's considered to be a Romantic, and we all saw where that led ... but dammit, the man could write.  Another advantage is that most of Cooper's works are available online.

[cmlancas]

I think that if we were assigned Mohicans, we should have to read Twain's The Literary Offenses of James Fennimore Cooper. 

Voting ends soon!

[Tebonas]

I really like to be in, but half a room full of  partly read books says I'm too OCD to finish reading my books 

[Rendakor]

I'd recommend Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, simply because I don't think most folks around here would think of reading her work.  I also don't want to be the only heterosexual male I know that enjoys Jane Austen.

Please no. This is the exact book I had in mind when I was hesitant to reply! Worst book I was assigned to read in all of high school...except maybe Moby Dick. Its a close thing.

[lesion]

My dearest Rendakor, now be serious. I want to talk very seriously. Let me know every thing that I am to know, without delay. Will you tell me how long you have hated that book?

[Margalis]

Let's get this movable feast underway!

Did we pick a category yet? Organize people! cmlancas take charge!

[Phildo]

My dearest Rendakor, now be serious. I want to talk very seriously. Let me know every thing that I am to know, without delay. Will you tell me how long you have hated that book?

If he won't, then I can vow that I've hated Jane Austen for over 7 years now.