TT book reading and discussion club

The New York Times has named Special Topics in Calamity Physics one of the "10 Best Books of 2006." Not bad for a first-time author.

Hi bookworms!

Nice to meet those of you who were at cinzia's yesterday, even though I was MEANT to be there just for the previous event!
Very interesting discussion, though you did put me off that particular author (too lazy to look up how to spell his name! ).

Funny to read back on this thread that cinzia's cats are called Bill & Hillary, as I'm halfway through (and have been for a long time!!) reading Bill C's biography.

All the best with your move back to the US cinzia & family, and also the same to Younvruer for your move back home if we don't meet again in the meantime.
Hope to see the rest of you again, if I'm still in Munich myself Otherwise there's always the virtual alternative

apologies for not making the event! we had hitched a ride with friends to Wurzburg and they ended up having more to do in Wurzburg than expected. Ah well. I have to say I wasn't overly fond of the book, though did appreciate Snow a bit more than this one. I think I will have to switch to something with a more modern spin now. And will be looking into the next book!

Thank you Cinzia and everyone else too for a wonderful evening!

I think we managed an impressive discussion of My Name is Red, considering how befuddled most of us were. I've decided it's best to stop worrying about all that art stuff and just emulate Esther: shop at markets, wear pink, eat halvah and have lots of adoring daughters. Donned my pink sweater this morning to get started.

Last night I felt sure there that a Chinese guy had won that Nobel prize a few years back, and voila, it was Gao Xingjian in 2000. He's an emigre type and lives in France but he does write in Chinese. Seems he's not very popular in China though! For the record: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gao_Xingjian

It was great to meet you all and looking forward to the next meeting.

I am interested in reading along with all of you this month... (along with my tackling of Ulysses and my goal of finishing all of the Sherlock Holmes stories)... what can I say, I have ADD.

Has there been an executive decision regarding the book o'the month?

and on top of that, where do you all shop for English books? Most of the places I know are regular bookstores with an English-book section.

-P

If I'm not mistaken, the book for February is Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl. A date for the next meeting has not been set, but February 25 is the frontrunner at the moment (meeting time 5 PM.)

For new books, Hugendubel has an English-titles-only shop in Salvatorplatz. They seem to have cut back on their selection of English books in other locations since opening that shop. Amazon.de also has English titles, and Wordsworth in Schellingstrasse is a cute shop for English books. I think a search of Toytown will get you the exact addresses for all these places.

The Readery is an excellent used-English-book store on the corner of Schellingstrasse and Augustenstrasse.

There had been a suggestion for "Everyman" by Philip Roth for March, which is quite short so will make a nice change. If everyone doesn't mind buying another hardcover, I'd second that suggestion. If there's opposition to the hardcover, I'd suggest The Sea, by John Banville, which won the Booker prize in 2006, and is also a very quick read.

Also, Upquark, could you please repost directions on how to sign up for the yahoo group, I agree that it would be loads easier to communicate that way rather than in this forum or by PM.

Look forward to meeting everyone in February.

Well, although I originally suggested "Everyman", I'd actually prefer we read "The Sea". I'll end up reading "Everyman" anyway, since I'm a big Roth fanboy, so it would be nice to read something different. Also, after the Pessl book, it'll be refreshing to read something that isn't American.

Here I am sticking my oar in again, but if you want to read Banville, I'd suggest something other than The Sea. The general opinion of other people I know is that The Untouchable is better. Word has it The Sea won the Booker as kind of a consolation prize for Banville not winning it some other year when he was shortlisted (maybe 1998 for The Untouchable, but I can't be arsed to look it up.) Athena is also meant to be good, and it's shorter the The Untouchable.

I didn't enjoy The Sea, personally, but I won't be there!

Next meeting will be Sunday 25 February, 5:00. Location TBD. The March book manged not to get sorted out this past Sunday, but will be announced soon. Something short would be nice. As per formal club bylaws, books written by attractive authors are to be preferred, though not necessarily required.

i would also not mind reading books read by attractive readers...

but that's also not required.

OMG, I'm just back from picking up "Special Topics in Calamity Physics" from the post office, and it's a monster! It's weight was the only thing holding me down in the wind storm on the walk home.

Hi from a newbie!
I'd love to come along to the february meeting. I've already got my copy of Special Topics and so far am enjoying it. i'll keep my eye out for confirmation of the venue.

Thanks Owl for the information on the Chinese writer who won the Nobel Prize. NEVER heard of him at all. It seems that he was not banned or anything, he was simply ignored by the government and the mainstream media. His books are also available in a few online libraries in China. I plan to quickly go through the book which got him the prize (in Chinese of course) quickly and let you guys know what I think of it. So far it seems interesting. Maybe I can recommend a short works from Gao for the book for March, and if you can make the meeting time before March 9th or after 24th, I can still make it. It would be great to see you guys another time before I leave Munich.

Next meeting will be Sunday, 25 February at chez UpQuark. We will be discussing "Special Topics in Calamity Physics". Please PM if you intend to come and mention if you need directions.

The book for March will be "Everyman" by Philip Roth.

On an unrelated note: Why the devil can't I upload a picture? I can't show the world which celebrity I'd like to shag^* on another thread and I can't get an image of Philip Roth in this one. The "Uploading File" thingy just keeps spinning around and around.

_{*The women in the Corrs, btw}

I'm not really sure why you would want to subject people to the image of Philip Roth. Rather try post a pic of Marisha Pessl if you insist of decorating this thread.

Will there be a swap and sale event before the discussion for February's meeting? I'd like to attend if there is.

There will not. However, as per custom, the assembled members will begin the meeting with a restatement of our aims, aspirations and intentions as respects the group. Wine, (Finnish) vodka and a selection of dried fruits will be served. If there is still time and interest remaining afterwards, the book will be discussed.

Here's Marisha Pessl, for those interested. She unfortunately won't be attending our meeting, although that's probably a good thing considering what I have to say about her book.

And here she is again, this time not quite as pretty.

The first of those two photos is certainly more fetching than the second. Agreed on the upside to her absence. I'm halfway through and will struggle to finish, but already have some complaints comments.

To anyone who is thinking about coming, if you've not gotten a PM with directions, please let me know. I have an approximate confirmed head count, but there's one or two about whom I'm not certain.

Did we say the 18th or the 25th for the next meeting? Anyhoo, we'll be meeting at 5:00 P.M. on one of those days and will be discussing Philip Roth's "Everyman". The book for April is TBD. Please PM for directions to the location.

Edit: Forgot to add that I was wildly deceived by the Onion AV Club review of Special Topics in Calamity Physics. I'll have to read my favorite critics more critically now.

The 25th of March at 5 pm. We'd suggested to do it at ours again, but it occurs to me now that we'll hopefully be either getting ready to move or just moved, so either way our place will likely be a bit of a disaster. A few people mentioned on Sunday that they'd be happy to host, can someone confirm concretely for that date? If not, we can easily do it at a cafe somewhere central.

Philip Roth? For real? But UpQuark didn't like it? Onion AV Club review... hmmm. I'll check my calendar.

Thanks UpQuark and Inessa for hosting the meeting Sunday.

And now:
Can't quite believe I'm going public with this, but here it is - the band you've all been waiting to hear about!

DIE PRINZEN
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Prinzen

Must say I haven't listened to this stuff since "perfecting" my German long ago, but I still think their songs are great for learning.
Lots of repetition helps (if you can stand it).
Noticed that there are websites nowadays where you can print out the lyrics (and even translations).

Yes, thanks again to Inessa and UpQuark for a lovely evening... I hope I dislike the next book just as much as it makes for great conversation! I am happy to offer my place for the next meeting.

OK, the next Book Club is set for Sunday March 25th at 5pm at my place. For those of you who haven't received the details but would like to come along, please PM me. It's a short book so even if you haven't started it you could get through it by then.
For those who have received them, please drop me a line to confirm whether you can make it or not, if you haven't already done so.

One of you left a lovely warm hat and a pair of gloves at my place on Sunday - PM to collect.

For anyone who's interested, the book for the next meeting is A Passage to India by E.M. Forster and the date is April 22nd. I think we decided to go for Cafe Beethoven (Goethestr. 51) at 5pm but I'm sure someone will confirm if I'm wrong.

Yes, next meeting is as noted above . . . . 22 April at Cafe am Beethoven Platz (Goethstr. 51), and we'll be talking about E.M. Forester's 'A Passage to India'. New members are welcome, please PM if you'd like to join.

The book we selected for May is The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, this is available on Amazon in paperback. The May meeting will very likely be at a beer garden, date and time TBA but will very likely be the last or second to last weekend in May. Please PM or watch this space for details.

Meeting date and time remain the same, but venue has been revised. Forecast is for gorgeous weather, so we'll be meeting at the Paulaner beer garden at Nocherberg. If you've read "A Passage to India" or would like to talk about pompous Edwardian authors or just have a beer, come by. PM for a mobile number if you think you won't be able to find us.

Very belated bump that we will be meeting this Sunday, 5:00 at the Paulaner Biergarten am Nocherberg. We'll be in the inside bit if it starts to rain. PM me for handy number.

The book to be discussed is "The Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Desai. I've read the first 40 pages and I've never come across so much smut and filth in my life. It's like the Kama Sutra as envisioned by Larry Flynt. I look forward to the rest of it.

More to the point, here's quite a flattering picture of Kiran Desai:

For June, we'll be reading something (can't be arsed to look up what we chose) by Nobel-prize-winning Jewish novelist, Saul Bellow. Meeting will take place on 24 June at 17:00. Having proven its ability to withstand heavy rain and high winds, the meeting location remains Paulaner am Nockherberg.

The title of the book is 'Henderson the Rain King'. It is available new and used at amazon.de. If it ever stops raining, I'm going to go to Huegendubel to check if it's available there.

Was going to ask if you'd discussed a place to meet this week during the last meeting but shall just give this a bump instead. How fitting that it will likely be pissing on Sunday.

We'd been meeting at Paulaner am Nocherberg, so I'd propose to keep it there if no one is opposed. We'll be there at 17:00 on Sunday to discuss Henderson the Rain King, by Nobel-Prize-winning-Jewish-novelist Saul Bellow. They have a convenient covered area in case it's raining. If any newcomers are interested in coming, please PM me.

Also, the book for next month is The Road by Cormac McCarthy, easily available on Amazon and at the English Huegendubel.

Look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday.

Hi, have you already had your meeting to discuss The Road..or is it possibly coming up this Sunday?

As I am about half way through reading it myself, I would attempt to finish it and join you if the meeting is still coming up!

Meeting will be this Sunday afternoon, at 5 pm. We've been meeting at Paulaner Nocherberg, though as Upquark and I won't be there, someone may suggest a different place. Watch this space for more info.

We will indeed be meeting at the Paulaner am Nockherberg on Sunday at 17:00. The weather forecast looks bad, but they do have a good roof thing there that kept us dry last time it stormed. The book to be discussed is The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Anyone interested in showing up, but worried about finding the group, is welcome to PM me for my phone number. Otherwise, I have dark hair, wear glasses, and will be eating cheese cake.

Thanks for the info. I've now finished reading the book and am very interested to hear other people's opinions of it.

I shall look out for a cheescake!

Apropos of nothing, here's a link to a hilarious site which depicts Peanuts as written by Chalres Bukowski.

Oh and there was a meeting this past Sunday and a book was discussed and there's another book that'll get discussed in August.

In case anyone was wondering, the book for August is Talk Talk by TC Boyle. Meeting is then on the last Sunday of the month, ie. the 26th. at 17:00. Venue to be decided. Input welcome. New people also welcome.

Tough call but I think I'll have to go with Adrian's detail as the better post, just pipping Happy Quark's intrigue.

For the quick readers or anyone who might be interested in joining in September, the book then will be Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig.

Oh and despite how dead this thread tends to be, the meetings are fun! And although we do enjoy discussing the books and various authors we're not expecting dissertations - it is a relaxed get together, usually in a beer garden or cafe. It's a chance to discover new authors and books you may not otherwise have come across.

Here's a shameless bump for the next meeting, which will happen roughly one week from right now. More precisely, it'll happen 26 August, 5:00 at The Paulaner am Nocherberg biergarten. It's likely already been mentioned somewhere on this thread, but the the book will be Talk Talk by T.C. Boyle.


I put away 100 pages yesterday and expect to finish without any trouble. This one is an easy read, so if you're curious, pick it up tomorrow and you'll likely manage it by next Sunday.

What's the next book and time -- or is September cancelled for the Wiesn?

September has not been cancelled, although it will be for me (already training the liver for some serious abuse). Meeting date will be Tuesday 25 September. Location TBD. The book to be discussed will be "Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence". Watch this space for details.

We'll be meeting on the 25th of September at 8:00 p.m. at Cafe am Beethoven Platz, Goethestr 51 (http://www.hotelmariandl.de/). We'll be discussing Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig.

Not sure about the book's availability in Munich, but we have a copy if anyone needs to borrow it for some last minute reading.

Please PM me with questions or for further details.

For those interested, the original pics taken during Pirsig's motorbike tour can be viewed here.

And more to the point, anyone interested in discussing the book is welcome to join us tomorrow. Details in the post above this one still apply.

Just a shameless bump for the book group meeting tonight. Newcomers are most welcome. Haven't read the book since high school? No problem, neither have I. Come along anyway; Cafe am Beethoven Plats has great cake and coffee.

The book for October is Possession by AS Byatt. Our meeting will be on Tuesday the 30th of October at 8pm, venue tbd. New people are welcome, so be sure to take this opportunity to read a good book and have a stimulating discussion about it with some of Munich's most interesting residents.