KC /int/ Book Club discussion

DISCUSS

Nothing too long (NO WAR & PEACE). The main aim of a book club is to "open people's horizons", so to speak--show people books they'd never normally see.

Preferably fiction, though can be anything. Just not too technical please, this is not a school library, Bernd can't be fucked with studying.

EDIT: We are now voting, please don't post any new books in this thread, though feel free to comment on books already mentioned.

Here and here may be good places to start! :D

The giver was short and OK but it's also a children's book, and most anyone here has read it.

Richard wrote: "The giver was short and OK but it's also a children's book, and most anyone here has read it."

Never heard of it actually!

Anyone seen War Horse? That movie gave me SO many feels. I wonder what the novel is like. It's a teeny-tiny children's book and is probably extremely cheesy for an audience such as ours, but just a thought.

Still, I think we'd be looking for something more mentally stimulating.

Anyone seen War Horse? That movie gave me SO many feels...."

I saw it in the theatre, probably one of the best plays I've ever seen. I would have to agree, Michael Morpugo is a good writer, but it's the sort of stuff I read when I was 7 y.o., so perhaps not terribly suitable.

Maybe something by Graham Greene? His prose and ability to create stories are both pretty good, and none of his books are especially massive.

huehuehue

as far as suggestions go, i'm all for fiction but I'd also like to see more topic specific books that also give in depth looks into society, human nature, etc. examples would be like:

Edward Whymper's Scramble Amongst the Alps or Paul Betts' The Authority of Everyday Objects

The first book being about an Englishman climbing Matterhorn and the second about post WW2 German society from the perspective of consumer items. Even though they can be pretty technical (but not textbook so) they give a ton of info, indirectly, about society and why things are the way they are, even now.

Something I wanted to read for a long time and also not very long "Chess Story" (Schachnovelle) by Stefan Zweig
Chess Story

Bernd_mustermann wrote: "Something I wanted to read for a long time and also not very long "Chess Story" (Schachnovelle) by Stefan Zweig
Chess Story"

Looks good.

Hello bernds.

What about some classics? One Americaball on /int/ said he'd like something philosophical or some shit like that.

I've always wanted to read Brave New World. My interest has been piqued after I once stumbled upon a blog post that showed how today's world was eerily close to Brave New World and much further away than 1984. I found the analysis and the link, above all, quite interesting.

Has anyone else read it? Would you recommend it? It's considered a modern classic as I understand it.

I have read it a few times Admiral Cock.
It is great and all, definitely a must read/modern classic but after a few times it gets old.

What about some We By Yevgeny Zamyatin, a mathematical world defined by integers but also a dystopia (I have only read this once).
Or maybe something else from Huxley, there is a bit to choose from.

Brave New World is amazing however I have just read it (less than a month ago) so I'd appreciate if we could chose any other book.

>how today's world was eerily close to Brave New World and much further away than 1984.
Yes, it's as interesting as that, 1984 was more of a fear that the world would be controlled by authoritarian/totalitarian states, Brave New World was somewhat different.

How about these?
The Trouble with Being Born
Fahrenheit 451
The 120 Days of Sodom
The Book of Sand
Fight Club

I'd really love it if we could start with a short and light work of fiction. If only as a "proof of concept", we can plumb the depths later once we've gotten a feel for the group's tastes and capabilities.

My suggestions go for the following:

Riddley Walker - Russell Hoban
Pierre: or, The Ambiguities - Herman Melville
The Long Day Wanes - Anthony Burgess

All are pretty deep reads, excellent and different in their own specific ways.

"Cien años de soledad" ("One Hundred Years of Solitude") - Gabriel García Márquez
There isn't as much berndness in it as the title may suggest but it still is one of the best novels ever written and one not nearly enough people have read.

I second "The trouble with being born". Goethe's Faust, or the Abolition of Man are also some I've been interested in reading and have yet to take some time for.

I previously suggested The Crying of lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

It's under 200 pages and pretty dense for it's size, so there will be a lot to discuss. Not to mention it's a great entry point for Pynchon's work and other Postmodern novels.

Here's a link if you want to try it out:
http://ebookee.org/The-Crying-of-Lot-...

Muutant wrote: "I previously suggested The Crying of lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

It's under 200 pages and pretty dense for it's size, so there will be a lot to discuss. Not to mention it's a great entry point for P..."

Why don't we just read Gravity's Rainbow and get it over with. It's the only good Pynchon book.

Jack wrote: "Muutant wrote: "I previously suggested The Crying of lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

It's under 200 pages and pretty dense for it's size, so there will be a lot to discuss. Not to mention it's a great e..."

Opinions. Also, Lot 49 is practically a pamphlet in comparison to Gravity's Rainbow. A proper introduction into his work is highly recommended.

Plus, if people come out unsatisfied, there's not much to lose considering it can be easily read and digested in less than a week.

>Thomas Pynchon

thanks but no. i've tried to sit down with a few of his works, 'V' in particular, a couple of times and each time I find them as unreadable as Finnigan's Wake.

Gimo wrote: ""Cien años de soledad" ("One Hundred Years of Solitude") - Gabriel García Márquez
There isn't as much berndness in it as the title may suggest but it still is one of the best novels ever written a..."
Yes, this!

Yesterday I bought "Thus spake zarathustra" written by Nietzche, only 4 bucks. If anyone want to read it with me it would be great.

(Hello, nice to meet you guys :P)

Godspeed wrote: ">Thomas Pynchon

thanks but no. i've tried to sit down with a few of his works, 'V' in particular, a couple of times and each time I find them as unreadable as Finnigan's Wake."

It's far easier to digest than V. is IMO.

It seem you and Jack are already against it, though.

One Hundred Years of Solitude looks good guys.

Hi, guys, I always want to join a book club, so I' m very happy. My English is not very good, but with time I will improve it. I' m Literature teacher, from Chile, so I have great information about the American literature. So, what we should read, i can see we need a short novel... my suggestions are: Werther, Goethe / Visions of Gerard, Kerouac...

Perhaps "The Collector"? I tend to gravitate towards British literature. I'd second "Brave New World" or any Orwell anybody wants to re-read.

I'd support "100 Years of Solitude" but it is a rather long book to read, and it would be advisable to keep it relatively short to start with.

Perhaps Nabakov?

100 Years of Solitudy looks a little bit long.

I hadn't realised how long 100 years of Solitude was.

I would read Animal Farm again if we are going to read Orwell, 100 pages is fairly light.

J, you mean Lolita ^^

How about something gonzo? Fear and Loathing is a fun book, so was Rum Diary, imho.

Richard wrote: "How about something gonzo? Fear and Loathing is a fun book, so was Rum Diary, imho."

Sounds rather intredasting. I've never watched the cult classic that is the Fear and Loathing movie but it gives off an impression of what life in Omsk is like. Quite intriguing, and the rule of thumb is that the book is almost always better than the movie.

Nevertheless, I'm making a poll now so we can keep the momentum going and actually start reading. Please do not suggest any more books!

Ancientbernd wrote: "I hadn't realised how long 100 years of Solitude was.

I would read Animal Farm again if we are going to read Orwell, 100 pages is fairly light.

J, you mean Lolita ^^"

Hey, finally something I've already read (thanks for reminding me, added to my collection). It was pretty meh in my opinion, and the villains and so on are a bit too clear-cut. It's also really obvious that the book alludes to the pig being Stalin, and the old wise pig or whatever being Lenin (even though he died of health complications, not old age). I'll put it up in the poll anyway.

Here's a few books off the top of my head. All under 200 pages.


Siddhartha
Everyman
The Stranger
Junky
Heart of a Dog
Notes from UndergroundNausea
The Prince
The Sorrows of Young Werther
The Third Policeman

Muutant wrote: "Here's a few books off the top of my head. All under 200 pages.

THEY SEE ME TROLLING THEY HATING

Mate, I think you're a great guy and all that but... "drive-by adding" is something I'm not too keen on, especially now that I've created the poll. I'm sure there's something you'll like there or something you possibly will have not read and are interested in... the peer pressure will help chug you along. Go vote :)

Admiral Cockroach wrote: " Please do not suggest any more books!"

Well crap. I didn't see this until I refreshed.

I never participated of a reader-group. The idea is everybody read a specific book and discuss it later?
And judging by the list, I already read a lot of them.. We will never found a book which everybody did not read.

Are you into some Mishima?
"the sailor who fell from grace with the sea" is awesome, with a subversive sense of morals. I would't mind re-reading it with you guys.

Tonypp wrote: "I never participated of a reader-group. The idea is everybody read a specific book and discuss it later?
And judging by the list, I already read a lot of them.. We will never found a book which ev..."

Pretty much that. They also introduce you to new books you may not have picked up previously. Don't judge a book by its cover, as a wise man would say.

There is that small kink of course, that people tend to go for something they're already familiar with. Surely there are some books obscure enough (hipsters.jpg) that you haven't read.
Read the discussion in here and vote for the one you think you'd like. And that's how you get introduced to cool books you wouldn't notice before. :)

W wrote: "At only slightly over a hundred pages, this should be a good one to start things off.

The Stranger"

No need, the Cure already made a song about it. Covering the most important parts;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdbLqO...

Well I wouldn't mind reading it again but I have pretty much read it to death. Both in English and in French and forced to write essays on it.

There are other Camus books worth reading.

Great idea mate, I think this group will finally get me to read some books. I voted for 'The Collector' because the story sounded quite interesting.

But I still have a question left:
How long will we read the specific book ?

+1 to Picelbernd's question

and could we maybe bring the date when the poll results are made public a bit closer?

Pickelbernd wrote: "How long will we read the specific book ?"

Well, I can set a start and end date in the group bookshelf. It can be seen as a goal. I guess it depends on the book's length. Give it two weeks if it's fairly short?

I'm thinking of making a thread as soon as we decide on the book and then we can perhaps comment on it as we read it. Don't forget that you can use a [spoiler] tag by the way (replace brackets with arrow thingies).

As for the specific book that we will read... it's a 4-way tie ATM, but one book is always ahead by one vote. I won't say which one though, as this may influence voting.

Ancientbernd wrote:
No need, the Cure already made a song about it.

That rhythm is really familiar... Michael Jackson's "Bad"?

all short reads

Identity
Justine
The Metamorphosis
The Book of Disquiet
Steppenwolf

of course short would be what you could make of them.

Ancientbernd wrote: "I hadn't realised how long 100 years of Solitude was.

I would read Animal Farm again if we are going to read Orwell, 100 pages is fairly light.

J, you mean Lolita ^^"

Actually, yes, Lolita would be at the top of the list, but I like most of Nabakov's stuff. Ada was good, but too long to suggest and I'm not sure whether people would prefer to read Russian translations as they are a bit lacking, sometimes.

In response to others, I'd also support The Metamorphosis and anything by Mishima.

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea

recomending this one again, now with a propoer link.

* Blindness surprised me when it sucked me in right from the start (I had originally intended to sort my books, not read them), especially because it's not what I usually consume. I don't recall any crowning moments of awesome, it's just done well all-around.

* Re The Book of Sand, isn't it a bit short? Shouldn't we just take up all of Ficciones instead? Lots of ideas to discuss and an actually interesting perspective on postmodernism. (I've read them before and wasn't disappointed, but they're not as gripping)

* The City of Dreaming Books: The only book I bought just after reading a few random pages. Might not be as good in the english translation, should still rock, YMMV.

Edit1: whoops, misposted
Edit2: Whatever, I'll still mention them.

Mexiball wrote: "guessing by the votes at the poll, we are going to read a book the name of which shall not be uttered... Im ok with that."

The book which shall not be named ahead in the poll? U wot good sirrah? You can't even see the results for the poll, they're meant to be hidden.

Admiral Cockroach wrote: You can't even see the results for the poll, they're meant to be hidden"

yes, but if you click in comments.. (in the poll section) you can see a columns that says "Voters" and their vote.

Mexiball wrote: "Admiral Cockroach wrote: You can't even see the results for the poll, they're meant to be hidden"

yes, but if you click in comments.. (in the poll section) you can see a columns that says "Voters" and their vote. "

An fixment's haz been mage'd :---DDDD

hmmm... It's not always about how long a book is. Some books just flow faster than others. One Hundred Years of Solitude for example, flows like a river, it wouldn't surprise me that someone could read it in a couple of afternoons, a week tops. There are books that, even being short could take a longer time to read because the stile calls for a more reflexive reading. I am thinking about El túnel by Sabato for example. Maybe you can remember some examples for this in your language.

For the next book, I suggest we only read epub books after we've successfully found them, that way we can all read it.