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May 2008 - Book Group Suggestions

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Stewart

Stewart

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Well Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert grew organically and seemed to gather a wave of interest. So let's see what happens in picking one for May. Let's just have a free for all with suggestions. If you like an idea, say so. If you have an alternative, shout it out. Try not to be too selfish in picking something that you - and you alone - wants to read (i.e some gun-toting space zebras versus the Martian mafia piece of airport gibberish). Hopefully we can find one title that excites above all others.


(And if nobody nominates anything then I'll be forced to choose something extremly boring, like When Mother Lets Us Make Paper Box Furniture by G. Ellingwood Rich. You have been warned. :p )



Suggested Titles
  • A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway
  • The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
  • Dreams Of My Russian Summers, Andreï Makine
  • Dead Souls, Nikolai Gogol
  • Taras Bulba, Nikolai Gogol
  • Fathers And Sons, Turgenev
  • Villette, Charlotte Brontë
  • Lord Jim, Joseph Conrad
  • The History Of Tom Jones, A Foundling, Henry Fielding
  • The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann
  • This House Of Sky: Landscapes Of A Western Mind, Ivan Doig
  • The Redemption Of Elsdon Bird, Noel Virtue
 
I'm all for another classic people have been meaning to read.

My suggestion is A Farewell To Arms by Hemmingway.
 
How about The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?





Note to Stewart: What wrong with learning to make paper box furniture? We might well need that skill one day;)
 
abecedarian said:
How about The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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I am OK with Russians, but are there any happy (soviet) Russians? My grandparents, from USSR, has lots against Solzhenitsyn - also from talking to other Russians, not many like him (from people I know, so I am not trying to generalize.)... I never read him, thus I might. But again - are there any happier Russian authors?
 
The waveguide said:
I am OK with Russians, but are there any happy (soviet) Russians? My grandparents, from USSR, has lots against Solzhenitsyn - also from talking to other Russians, not many like him (from people I know, so I am not trying to generalize.)... I never read him, thus I might. But again - are there any happier Russian authors?
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I'm open to choosing a different Russian writer...

Here's two places to start looking for ideas:http://exlibris.typepad.com/russian_reading_challenge/
http://feeds.feedburner.com/LizoksBookshelf
Actually, one could spend years on Russian writers alone..


Here's hoping Kenny Shovel will chime in...
 
abecedarian said:
I'm open to choosing a different Russian writer...
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I am afraid that you might have already read it...

But... What about Gogol, with those novels/stories: "Taras Bulba", "Dead Souls" or "Village Evenings Near Dikanka"? The last one is supposed to reflect Ukrainian/Russian floklor, and I am a bit interested how life was then and there...

Funnily, I read "Viy" (Вий) when I was a teenage. This one is probably in the collection of Gogol's tails or even may be in "Village Evenings Near Dikanka" - I am not sure, as I did not read the whole collection... That was a Horror story! Scary! I did not expect it actually...

I saw that Nabokov published a book about Gogol, I also wonder what was Gogol's influences on Nabokov.

Here, one can find some of his works online, in English and French
 
I want to get out of my "same reading box" so I would'nt mind one of these three:)

The Gulag Archipelago -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Taras Bulba- Gogol
A Farewell To Arms by Hemmingway

A good idea also is different genres by month?
 
Libra said:
A good idea also is different genres by month?
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Libra, is that a question or a statment. It's unclear.

I think (apart from the missing mods that dealt with it) the reason the book of the month thing fell away is because it went all themed and garnered little interest. In trying to reinvent it I think it's best, personally, to let discussion drive what's read, rather than say this month will be a crime novel, next month is sci-fi, etc.
 
How do you envision this selection process unfolding Stewart? Let this thread go until mid-April then lock it and post up a poll in a new thread with the top 4 suggestions as poll options? Or did you have something else in mind?
 
I was just going to let the concensus pick the book. In the way Robert said he'd be interested in Madame Bovary, which was followed by others saying the same. With any luck someone will mention the title and it will roll from there. If it doesn't, I'll put up a quick poll of the popular ones, however many there are.
 
Fathers and Sons by Turgenev and A Farewell To Arms by Hemmingway both sound good.

I would like to enter the following into the mix…

Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
The History of Tom Jones A Foundling by Henry Fielding
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind by Ivan Doig
 
I'm torn between Sparky's idea of going with a classic and choosing a Russian writer. On the other hand, our Russian pick doesn't necesarily have to be a classic. I liked saliothomas' suggestion of Andrei Makine..we could go with Makine's first novel translated in English, Dreams of my Russian Summers for a first dip into Russian waters. Then look at the classic writers..just an idea.
 
Robert said:
Fathers and Sons by Turgenev and A Farewell To Arms by Hemmingway both sound good.

I would like to enter the following into the mix…

Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
The History of Tom Jones A Foundling by Henry Fielding
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind by Ivan Doig
Click to expand...

Good suggestions all, but I think I have the Doig book here somewhere. If sitting on the tbr pile improves it like it did for The Winter King...:cool:
 
abecedarian said:
I liked saliothomas' suggestion of Andrei Makine..we could go with Makine's first novel translated in English, Dreams of my Russian Summers for a first dip into Russian waters.
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I love the way everyone is suggesting books I have sitting unread on my shelves. Saves me money and forces me to actually pick them up. :p

Regarding Dreams Of My Russian Summers, it was written in French, rather than Russian, and it was the first novel in French lierary history to win the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Medicis.

Robert said:
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
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How I wish I'd read that previously. I have a book I intend to read shortly, Castorp by Pawl Huelle, and it's inspired by The Magic Mountain. Well, not so much inspired, as takes the main character and discusses his early years.
 
I truly enjoy what's Happening here!
Stewar is right about Makine,but then it would be a nice transition betwin Mm Bovary (french) and Turgenev(Russian).We then could try to find a Russian-American writer for the next transition.
I must admit that i never was a bit lover of hemmigway,but i gladly give it another go.
 
saliotthomas said:
I truly enjoy what's Happening here!
Stewar is right about Makine,but then it would be a nice transition betwin Mm Bovary (french) and Turgenev(Russian).We then could try to find a Russian-American writer for the next transition.
I must admit that i never was a bit lover of hemmigway,but i gladly give it another go.
Click to expand...

I hated Hemmingway when I was in highschool, but I've thought for awhile it might be time to give him another chance now that it's been a few years.

Sometime, I'd like to explore these action/adventure titles that have been mentioned in other threads...I need to get to Master and Commander someday..
 
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