Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Nominations for the 2nd Quarter Long Reads
April - May 2023

2nd Quarter 2022 Long Read group read nominations are now open! Please review the requirements below for book eligibility.

1. Eligible books must be a minimum of 600 pages in length. Nominations need to be a book, not a series of books nor an omnibus of books.

Past Long Read Books listed below are NOT eligible: Long Reads Bookshelf

Also books read within the past year are not eligible. In the interest of variety, please wait a month to renominate a book that has been in any poll.

2. Long Read Nominations must meet the same requirements as books being nominated for our New School and Old School monthly reads. Nominated books must be published prior to the year 2000.

3. When making a nomination, please use "add book/author" link to help moderators and others view the book selected.

4. Only seven books, by seven different authors will move forward to each poll. This will be determined by the number of seconds a book receives. The seven books with the most seconds moves to the poll.

5. One nomination and one second per member will be allowed. A nomination can be changed only until it has been seconded. Once seconded, in fairness to the member making the second, the nomination will stand.

5a. A second can be withdrawn and placed on another choice. This change must in some way be noted in a post such as, "I am withdrawing my second for book A and placing it on book B." It will be easier to moderator to track changes.

6. Only one book per author; in the event of more than one book by the same author is nominated, only the first one to receive a second will be eligible. The nominator of the ruled ineligible book will be able to nominate a replacement or second another already in nomination.

6a. Same author-multiple categories. The same author may be nominated in multiple categories in a single month as long as the nominations are for different books. In the case of identical nominations, precedence will go to the first one to receive a second.

7. Availability Members nominating for a monthly Group Read will need to check that a copy of the text is reasonably available for members, and is available in English. Moderators may disallow a nomination if a copy is not readily available.

Nominations will remain open until the 14th of the month. Polls will open on the 16th and run until the end of the month.

I nominate The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo, 672 pages, 1869

I nominate In the First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 742 pages, 1968

Notice: "In The First Circle" is 200pp longer than "The first circle". "The first circle" is a censored and abridged version.

I would like to nominate Christy by Catherine Marshall. It is a book that I received from my grandmother's estate and it was supposed to have been her favorite book. I hope to read it but it keeps getting pushed aside.

I'd like to nominate London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins, 738 pages, published 1945.

Also known as Dulcimer Street, Norman Collins's London Belongs to Me is a Dickensian romp through working-class London on the eve of the Second World War.

I second London Belongs to Me!

I would like to nominate Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. Published 1865, 679 pages.

Wobbley wrote: "I would like to nominate Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. Published 1865, 679 pages."

We read this one in May 2021, you can nominate it in the Revisit the Shelf Category.

Katy wrote: "We read this one in May 2021, you can nominate it in the Revisit the Shelf Category."

Thanks Katy. I guess I was a bit confused about the instructions at the top. Unless I'm misreading them (which is totally possible), a book is ineligible in this category if it is on the group's "Long Reads Bookshelf", or if it has been read within the past year. Wives and Daughters has been read by the group before, but not as a "Long Reads", and not in the past year, so I thought it would be eligible in this category. Am I misunderstanding the rules?

Thanks so much!

Thanks, Lori!

Carolien wrote: "I'd like to nominate London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins, 738 pages, published 1945.
Also known as Dulcimer Street, Norman Collins's London Belongs to Me is a Dicke..."

I recently heard of this book in another GR group. As it looks very interesting and group members praised it, I ordered a copy, which is due to show up in the mail this week.
I was just trying to figure out where to best fit this lengthy book into this year's reading schedule when voila! - here comes the welcome godsend of your nomination. Since it is a godsend, maybe my prayers for the book's poll victory will be answered too.
While I prefer the original title of over my purchased one of , I will reevaluate their respective titles after I read the book.
But I do think titles consisting only of the street name have a pleasurable crisp sound, as with Main Street, Sugar Street, Katalin Street and New Grub Street. And I do love the sound of dulcimers, especially hammered dulcimers.

Brian E wrote: "I recently heard of this book in another GR group. ..."

I suspect we have the same source here. I added it to my library TBR and started trying to figure out where to add it as well!

I nominate Virgin Soil Upturned, Book 1 and Virgin Soil Upturned, Book 2 by Mikhail Sholokhov
first published 1932
I can not say number of pages because in Virgin Soil Upturned is only 375 pages, which is not correct.

J_BlueFlower wrote: "I nominate In the First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 742 pages, 1968

Notice: "In The First Circle" is 200pp longer than "The first circle". "The first circle"..."

I second

I nominate The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone. It is the story of Michaelangelo. First published January 1958, 776 pages. For those playing Classics Bingo, this would work for the square about art, the square about biographies, and several other squares.

Bob wrote: "I nominate The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo, 672 pages, 1869"

I second.

I second Virgin Soil Upturned.

I second London Belongs to Me.

Wobbley wrote: "Katy wrote: "We read this one in May 2021, you can nominate it in the Revisit the Shelf Category."

Thanks Katy. I guess I was a bit confused about the instructions at the top. Unless I'm misreadin..."

This was my understanding as well, and there have been 14 titles on our shelves in other categories that later won as Long Reads. The most recent three winners were all in 2021:

The Portrait of a Lady
- read March 2014
- long read 1st quarter of 2021

Dune
- read November 2012
- revisited September 2019
- long read 2nd quarter 2021

Shirley
- read December 2018
- long read 3rd quarter 2021

Margaret wrote: "I second Virgin Soil Upturned."

Thank you, Margaret!

I second The First Circle

Paula W wrote: "I nominate The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone. It is the story of Michaelangelo. First published January 1958, 776 pages. For those playing Classics Bingo, this ..."

I can't resist this. Another second for The Agony and the Ecstasy.

I second In the First Circle.

Wobbley wrote: "Katy wrote: "We read this one in May 2021, you can nominate it in the Revisit the Shelf Category."

Thanks Katy. I guess I was a bit confused about the instructions at the top. Unless I'm misreadin..."

Your nomination is eligible.

I am sorry. I was traveling, my mistake. Long read nominations are eligible for past reads. I am sorry for my confusion while in the midst of traveling.

Katy wrote: "Your nomination is eligible."

No worries, and thanks for clarifying! I'm glad to hear that Wives and Daughters is eligible.

I hope you enjoy your travels!

I had a lovely long two weeks in the sunshine with family. Thank you, it was wonderful.

Katy wrote: "I had a lovely long two weeks in the sunshine with family. Thank you, it was wonderful."

Sounds lovely - I need to do something like that with my family before my son heads off to college and I don't have the opportunity any more.

J_BlueFlower wrote: "I nominate In the First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 742 pages, 1968

Notice: "In The First Circle" is 200pp longer than "The first circle". "The first circle"..."

I'll second this

Lynn wrote: "I would like to nominate Christy by Catherine Marshall. It is a book that I received from my grandmother's estate and it was supposed to have been her favorite book. ..."

Looking at the different editions, I find them to be all less than 600 pages. Perhaps you may wish to nominate this one in the new school classics thread.

1. Eligible books must be a minimum of 600 pages in length. Nominations need to be a book, not a series of books nor an omnibus of books.

Brian E wrote: "Carolien wrote: "I'd like to nominate London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins, 738 pages, published 1945.
Also known as Dulcimer Street, Norman Collins's London Belongs ..."

Did you want to second this one?

AiK wrote: "I nominate Virgin Soil Upturned, Book 1 and Virgin Soil Upturned, Book 2 by Mikhail Sholokhov
first published 1932..."

Your nomination needs to be a single book that is over 600 pages, sorry but your two book nomination is ineligible.

1. Eligible books must be a minimum of 600 pages in length. Nominations need to be a book, not a series of books nor an omnibus of books.

Margaret wrote: "I second Virgin Soil Upturned."

This book is ineligible for Long Reads, do you wish to second a different book?

Nominations Update

In the First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 1968, 742 pages
J_BlueFlower, Aik, Dave, Kimberly, Aprilleigh

London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins, 1945, 738 pages
Carolien, Lori, Terry

The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone, 1958, 776 pages
Paula W, Matt, Kathleen

The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo, 1869, 672 pages
Bob, Paula W

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell, 1866, 679 pages
Wobbley

We had a couple of ineligible nominations, so we could use a few more in this category.

I nominate The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw . Published in 1948. 689 pages.

I nominate The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman. First publ. in 1982. 936pp.

I nominate From Here to Eternity James Jones 1951 816pp

I nominate Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks. 758 pages. First published 1998.

Wow, thank you! I asked, and received~

I nominate Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann. 1901, 731 pages in the edition in the link. Some editions are a little shorter.

I second The Agony and the Ecstasy.

I second Sunne in Splendor.

I second From Here to Eternity

Wobbley wrote: "I would like to nominate Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. Published 1865, 679 pages."

I second Wives and Daughters

I second Wives and Daughters

Thanks Tom.

Margaret wrote: "I second Sunne in Splendor."

Thanks Margaret! :)

I second Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks

I second The Agony and the Ecstasy by Stone.

Lynn wrote: "I would like to nominate Christy by Catherine Marshall. It is a book that I received from my grandmother's estate and it was supposed to have been her favorite book. ..."

I just saw that the MPE is 521 pages. My hardback copy is much longer. Oh well.