TT book reading and discussion club

this is a HUGE BOOK!

DEC 11

True, but I'm finding it to be a pretty quick read. I've already got plenty to say about it but I think I'll save that for the 11th. Doesn't seem like anyone is interested in discussing it on this thread, or?

i read this in 3 hours coming up here on the plane. You're not just doing it because its an easy read are you Upquark?

nice little book though. im sure most read it, think about changing their outloook on life and then, 2 hours later, return to their bitter and twisted ways of looking at the dark bleak world.

thanks for th responses. i will see what i can do. where is the meeting place and what should I expect when i get there?
fotogirl

me again, i am confused by thread #11 which is repeated in a later thread. Hmm?

fotogirl

fotogirl, please reread the first post in this topic. The book club has been limited to the current set of 10 members. There are LOTS of people who were also interested in participating and it would be VERY easy to form another book club, one which I don't rule with an iron hand (I'm beginning to give up on the notion of a fully democratic social collective). Book club members, separate PM to follow, but if you know that you can't make it to the meeting please make it known as soon as possible so that others can possibly participate.

The reference to "Tuesdays with Maurie" is a joke. I've not yet had the pleasure of reading it, but am given to understand that it's a slightly schmaltzy book about understanding the relevant priorities in life. It was written by an ESPN sportswriter, so guys feel comfortable reading it, getting choked up and trying to spend less time at work. Or something like that.

edit: Anyone- in or out of the book club- is free to discuss the book (or any book or the works of John Singer Sargent or favorite sexual positions or whatever else it is that goes in your warped little minds) by starting a discussion thread. It may not have the dynamic, real-time zing of watching me drink Guiness and try (try!) to sound clever, but it would allow you to exchange thoughts and reactions to the same thing at the same time (though semi-asynchronously).

I'm mightily relieved to hear that the mention of "Tuesdays with Maurie" was a joke - I read that "Five People you meet in Heaven" book by the same author, and it made me feel slightly nauseous.

Oh my god. I loved "The five people you meet in Heaven" I can't believe it made you nauseous

well, it was OK, but a bit too sugary and schmaltzy for my taste
and i couldn't really see the point of it, but maybe that is because I'm a bitter and twisted old cynic

that is the whole point of the novel, having faith that things in this life do have meaning, and that one day you will understand this, and it will all be explained

Even now I still find the scene where he cleans the wounds of the girl poignant and moving.

Greetings

I won't be able to finish the Robber's Bride by the 11th, so I won't be able to participate in the meeting. I think we should pick shorter books!

However, I still want to play this game. So if there's a spot for me, I'd like to come to the meeting.

On another note, I bet we can get a discount from Amazon if we all order together from them. Does anyone know any details about such programs from Amazon (or other booksellers)?

-VR

Dammit, I just realized we're out of town this weekend so I can't make the next meeting either. That means there's a copy of Robber Bride for 9 Euros 30 at the Salvatorplatz Hoogiedoobie reserved for "Cory" which someone else can have.

Is anyone other than myself going to have the book read by the 11th? Sorry for picking a slightly difficult book to get a hold of, but I didn't think the length itself was an issue.

I'm sure I'll have it read--I could easily finish it in an afternoon from the point where I am now.

I'll try to get it read. I'd definitely second Voltron's request for a shorter book next time, though.
Still, I'm on page 40 already, so a mere 520 still to go...

I would suggest you start the future threads then by saying "to all the members of the book club only" as a suggestion.
Then the NON-members will not get confused about it and don't even think about coming along. Looks like quite a few people would be interested in this event, which is great, ever thought about increasing the number of groups reading the same book and discussing it maybe? What about 2 or 3 groups getting together in a pub or so, maybe the TB. Enough room there for such an event. Maybe everybody is happy then? Just a thought...

or pehaps it should be "to all the members of the book clique"

@willow. i'm not a member of the club, but as posted, you're welcome to form a second group. you could even pin your meetings to the same date/location/book. assuming theres space, the time and the topic works for your group. there is definitely enough interest for a second group, just that no one has bellied up to organize it.

well, i say open it up to whoever wants to come along
if you didn't come before, then just bring cake and discuss it
for heavens sake, there's no need to be so elitist about it, IMO

EDIT - actually, I say we just follow exactly what qwerty suggested on page 1
if tons of people turn up to the december meet (which i really can't imagine) then we can split the club after that

I think it's really mean to exclude people, tbh

I know it is late but I withdraw from this month as I left my book in a pub and wont be able to finish in time. See you next month i hope

wow. sounds like a number of the elite 10 have not read the book, so meaningful discussion may be difficult.

I reserve the right to pike of course, but would be happy to coordinate a (or with a) satellite group of silly slackers.

we can start with picture books. not toooo many colors though, as we don't want to get ahead of ourselves.

note: while I have not read the book, I am also not one of the elite 10...

I would only want to join the book club to meet Topsy

The Elite Ten:

David Letterman
The Lord Jehova
Saddam Huessain(sp?)
Hazza
Pee Wee Herman
Margaret Thatcher
The Queen
Sean Connerry
Tony The Tiger
Colnol Sanders(before he went belly up) Qwerty is his proxy

But we already met, Perdido

I'd like an update. I think this is falling apart fast. I don't think many people are going to be finished on time and I want to know if it's even worth meeting on Sunday. Should get this decided now so that people know whether they should be cramming like mad to get the book finished or not to worry about it.

realistically, I'm not going to finish it in time
i wouldn't mind meeting up, though, so we can have a chat about elitism and such

I have just over 100 pages left so as I said before, I shouldn't have any trouble finishing by Sunday. But it looks like I am one of only a few. In fact, as I recall, only Showem and I are definite about having the book read.

We should pick the book I want to read next month! It's less than 200 pages.

Actually, if only a couple of people have read the book and the club ends up meeting anyway for random friendly chat and elitism, I will probably skip it in favor of the Schöpfer Stammtisch.

so, are we meeting today or not?

I'm passing on starting up the satellite book club today, in favor of Harry Potter and a bit of skating later on. I did order a bunch of books from amazon this week, so maybe we can have a meeting after the holidays (maybe I'll even, gasp, pick a book in advance to speed things up)...

In an attempt to bring a bit of transparency and simplicity to this club, I'm proposing we start talking on this thread, rather than via PM. Who is with me?

I am absolutely 100% with you, mate

Ok. Here are my recommendations for next book. The Labyrinth sounds interesting but very expensive, particularly if we get 2 copies...

The Virgin Suicides 224 pages €7.70 Jeffrey Eugenides
Never Let Me Go 263 pages €14.80 Kazuo Ishiguro
The Jane Austen Book Club 304 pages €9.95 Karen J. Fowler
1984 268 pages €6.50 George Orwell - but most of us may have already read it
A Christmas Carol 96 pages €4.49 Charles Dickins - may be a bit short but is seasonal :-)
The Catcher in the Rye 214 pages €5.95 Jerome D. Salinger - i haven't yet read this
Fahrenheit 451 204 pages €5.95 Ray Bradbury

I got these from the 100 bestsellers of last year, and also some others just in the classics section. Others should add to the list and then we should have a vote

The last 4 are really great books.

I had these on my shortlist:

Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth - 451 pages, €9.94, deliverable in 1-2 days
The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis - 240 pages, €12.50, deliverable in 1-3 weeks (so maybe for next month)
The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter - 208 pages, €13.50, deliverable in 3-5 weeks (another possible for next month)
Venus in Furs by Leopold Sacher-Masoch (the guy after whom masochism is named) - 160 pages, €11.50, yet another 1-3 weeks one, I guess I have obsure tastes
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - 340 pages, €9.20, deliverable in 24 hours

Phew - I'll check out Greg's now
Are we planning on picking a book for January and for February as well?
We might be better to pick a shorter one for January, since time is getting on. We should decide by the end of this week, I reckon, what we are going to read.

I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't read any of the last 3 on Greg's list, so I wouldn't object to any of them. Never Let Me Go doesn't sound too bad, either. I've read 1984 a few times and I don't really like the sound of the other two.

Actually, a book about Christmas is not a bad idea, though - maybe not A Christmas Carol, though, because I'm not sure what we could really talk about?

I would like to Middlesex from Jeffrey Eugenides. This is the link on Amazon for your information: http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312...0570429-6683263

I really loved this book when I read it last year around this time. I felt that I hadn't read such a brilliant and powerful book for a long time. I would love to read it again and discuss it with you. Of course, I don't want to raise your expectaions too high, but I can say, this book has something really unique, even you may not like it as much as I do after you read it.

I should admit that I am not a big fan of the Virgin Suicides of the same author. Although it is not long, it is quite difficult for me to really get in.

that actually sounds like a really good book, younvruer
the only thing i would have against it is its length - 529 pages
after slogging through The Robber Bride (finally finished it this morning), I'd appreciate a shorter one for January, if poss.
I'd be keen to do Middlesex some time, though, for sure

I just ordered Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi from amazon.de, and I am really looking forward to it.

The Kite Runner is fantastic, I must say. If you enjoyed it, you'll enjoy The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. Both might make for good discussions around dealing with religious, ethnic, and/or sexual discrimination.

The Book of Splendor by Frances Sherwood and Easter Island by Jennifer Vanderbes I think would also make for interesting discussions, but maybe more for a women's group as both somewhat have themes of their main characters growing or violating the traditional Role of Woman in their respective time periods. (or maybe I'm discriminating against men with that comment...)

I'm not sure I'd go with classics for a group to be honest. Too many have been analysed to pieces in college and high school. IMHO and personal taste, yada yada yada. But that would be for those of us not in the Original Ten.

For longer books, you can also do interim discussions you know - how themes and characters have developed to a certain agreed upon point, where the group thinks the character development and plot lines might be going, etc.

I haven't read The Kite Runner yet, but I'd be keen to.
I haven't actually read any of the books I proposed.
The Namesake sounds good, too

My first suggestion is The Labyrinth by Catherynne M. Valente. The author is a friend of mine and we could arrange to chat with her about the book, if people are interested in that. Amazon.de has it listed as 28.90 but from a reseller through amazon.de you can get it for about 19-20 euros. I know that is a bit higher than some of the other books suggested but we would be supporting not only an up-and-coming author but also a really wonderful small press. I ordered the book about a month ago from one of these resellers for 19 euros and it arrived in 5 business days. Still, if we were to pick this book we would want to pick it well in advance just in case it takes longer to get to some people. It's about 200 pages long and looks to be chock full of things to discuss. Here are some reviews in English.

I was also interested in reading Yume No Hon: The Book of Dreams by the same author. (Review in English).

There are a couple of other books I have my eye on as well:

The Chess Garden by Brooks Hansen
Anna Karenina (new translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky) by Leo Tolstoy

I'll be damned. Is it actually possible I haven't read Anna Karenina? And I love Tolstoy. Thanks Saan, that looks like an interesting translation.

Just poking in here to say that I'm adding Anna to my list of Book Characters I Want to Smack. Having said that though its a good read.

Have you ever read the Pushkin poem Onegin? Now there is someone else that deserves a smack.

I'd definitely be up for doing Anna Karenina
Why don't we say we'll read that in time for February and pick something a bit shorter (that's also easily available) in time for the January meeting?

^ that's a firm proposal, btw

i think your discussion on what book to read will rpobalby end up being longer than Anna Karenina!

so, what do people think?
Anna Karenina for Feb? Or has someone already read that translation?

I'm definitely up for Anna Karenina for February! But then I'm the one who suggested it.

I'm willing to read Anna Karenina (sigh, Tolstoy) or Middlesex (catches my interest more) for February if we pick something short and snappy for January. I'd like to read Fahrenheit 451 again, or The Kite Runner. But I will read whatever we decide on.

I'm making a suggestion that we take until this Friday, Dec 16 to suggest books and by Sunday (or Monday if people don't have weekend access), vote on what we want to read.