Old Books, New Readers discussion

Hi Everyone,

The vast majority of books we read in this group are by authors from North America or Europe. The January 2024 theme will be books by authors from other continents (Africa, Asia, South America, Australia, Antarctica, etc). Since we have done a lot of Russian books already, we will count Russia as in Europe.


Here is a list of the previous books we have read in this group to make sure your nomination has not been a previous Book of the Month:

https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

Rules
1. One nomination per person.
2. Poll will be set up when we reach 6 valid nominations.
3. Nominations should have been first published earlier than January 1974.
4. It would be great if you could share why you want to read this book.
5. To get a wider variety of selections, the nominations may be limited to one book per author.

Cheers,
Ian

I'll nominate Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges.

Ficciones

My why's:
-It has a 4.42 rating on Goodreads
-Borges is an Argentine writer
-it's a collection of 17 short stories "exploring motifs such as dreams, labyrinths, chance, infinity, archives, mirrors, fictional writers and mythology"

I'd like to nominate The Bhagavad Gita.

I haven't read any of the Indian/Hindu epics myself but I have heard a bit about them, how long and ambitious but also rewarding they are. Bhagavad Gita is one part of one of these epics (meaning it's a shorter read) so I suppose it's more accessible. I've been wanting to give it a go. Of Bhagavad Gita specifically I've heard that it's supposed to be full of moral and ethical lessons, and I'm curious to see what those are.

oh please! Let's read Poor Fellow My Country (1975) - Xavier Herbert

Poor Fellow My Country is a Miles Franklin Award-winning novel by Australian author Xavier Herbert. At 1,463 pages, it is the longest Australian work of fiction ever written, and the longest single-volume novel to have been written in the English language. Poor Fellow My Country won the 1976 Miles Franklin Literary Award (for books published in 1975), Australia's most prestigious such award. It was Herbert's final novel.

Born Alfred Jackson in 1901 (the year of Australia's federation), Herbert was the illegitimate son of a social climbing mother and an engine driver. After studying pharmacy, Herbert moved to Melbourne where he became a magazine short story writer, drawing on his often fantastic views of boyhood, having grown up in Western Australia on the edge of the untamed outback. Herbert then moved to Darwin where he had several jobs including being "Protector of Aborigines", a colonial role in an age when many Aboriginal Australians could not vote or find work. This role increased his belief in the injustice of white Australians towards black Australians.

I read his Capricornia (1938) last year. These are two books that I think everyone should read.

I nominate: Nevil Shute: A Town Like Alice

However, I am from the USA. I will gladly withdraw the nomination if someone from a qualifying country has suggestions.

That’s A Town Like Alice, of course.

Hi All,

We have four nominations so far:
1. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
2. The Bhagavad Gita by Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa
3. Poor Fellow My Country by Xavier Herbert*
4. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

*Poor Fellow My Country was published January 1, 1975, so it is 1 year to the day too early but I'll keep it in the list of nominations.

Cheers,
Ian

I nominate The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki. It was published in 1936 in Japanese.

Ian wrote: "Hi All,

We have four nominations so far:
1. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
2. The Bhagavad Gita by Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa
3. Poor Fellow My Country by X..."

Hi Ian, I'm sure it was finished by the end of 1974 :)

I would like to nominate The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo. I love a good old murder mystery. 🤗

So, can we nominate any old books that we love?

Maureen wrote: "I would like to nominate The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo. I love a good old murder mystery. 🤗"

Thanks Maureen!

That is number 5, we just need one more.

🐺🐴Missy🦄💕 wrote: "So, can we nominate any old books that we love?"

Yes, you can nominate any book that meets the criteria for this Month at the top of the thread:
Older than January 1975
By an author outside North America and Europe
The book is of some critical acclaim
The group has not read it before


Cheers,
Ian

We have six nominations so far:
1. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
2. The Bhagavad Gita by Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa
3. Poor Fellow My Country by Xavier Herbert*
4. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shut
5. The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki
6. The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo

*Poor Fellow My Country was published January 1, 1975, so it is 1 year to the day too early but I'll keep it in the list of nominations.

La Tonya wrote: "We have six nominations so far:...."


Thanks La Tonya! I missed Michelle's nomination!

I'll setup the poll in the next day or so.

a pure caso, sto leggendo Ficcione da Borges!