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June 2008 - Book Group Suggestions

Libra said:
No Robert, just from a search I did on it, nothing more.

"In this classic satire of small-town America, beautiful young Carol Kennicott comes to Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, with dreams of transforming the provincial old town into a place of beauty and culture. But she runs into a wall of bigotry, hypocrisy and complacency."
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That's the same thing I saw when I looked it up. It sounds pretty good.
 
Robert , if it gets picked, I will read it :D

I hope it's not like "woman doesn't like things around her and tries to change everything " kinda book.

Probably would be better discussion than The Kite Runner. lol
 
How can we get this deciding done so that we can find the book(s) ahead of time? This is a plea to set up a schedule three months ahead. We can alternate countries and/or genres. For example,

June - A Farewell to Arms or Main Street (American)
July - Suite Francaise (French)
August - Fathers and Sons (Russian)

With a bloc of books chosen, we can then spend our time reading instead of choosing books.
 
That sound good to me Silverseason(with a neat preference for Farwell in june)

It's look like the book group is left to ourself,but then who are we?

One thing i find is last month lots of peoples voted for books just for the sake of it.How much of us are left 5 or 6
Maybe a bit of dusting would be good,not something extreme for it's good to have people come and go(not everyone fell's like reading all the books choosen)but more of a clarification.
Maybe the new Ownership of B&R,left the "book of the month" in fog zone.I am stepping on eggs here because i like the way Stewart handeled it but he may wish the weight of his shoulders?
 
I too would assume that Stewart will be organizing the selection(s). In the absence of any input, however, Constant Reader seems to have a good way of arriving at selections for several months ahead -- in their case, for six months. Only a thought, however, likewise without meaning to step on toes or prerogatives here.
 
From the synopsis, I don't think I would care for Main Street, but A Farewell to Arms would be interesting as would Sons and Lovers. I've been interested in either of those in the past, but are still unread [by me].
 
OK, how about -

June - Farewell to Arms (American)
July - Sons and Lovers (English)
August - Fathers and Sons (Russian)

Main Street is dropped and Suite Francaise is replaced with Sons and Lovers. The trouble with the Farewell to Arms - Suite Francaise combination is that it would be two books back to back set in wartime, although they were different wars.
 
silverseason said:
OK, how about -

June - Farewell to Arms (American)
July - Sons and Lovers (English)
August - Fathers and Sons (Russian)

Main Street is dropped and Suite Francaise is replaced with Sons and Lovers. The trouble with the Farewell to Arms - Suite Francaise combination is that it would be two books back to back set in wartime, although they were different wars.
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That sounds like a workable list that I can live with silverseason.
Agreed on the back to back war stories, and also, the supplemental reading that would add to Suite Francaise probably wouldn't be everyone's cuppa. Although Suite Francaise was the first Nemirovsky I read, reading her others certainly adds to the experience.
 
saliotthomas said:
That sound good to me Silverseason(with a neat preference for Farwell in june)

It's look like the book group is left to ourself,but then who are we?

QUOTE]

We are everything:) Members make the forum:D and I also agree with silverseasons list, but I hope that picking the next three books will not stop our discussion here.
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saliotthomas said:
That sound good to me Silverseason(with a neat preference for Farwell in june)

It's look like the book group is left to ourself,but then who are we?

One thing i find is last month lots of peoples voted for books just for the sake of it.How much of us are left 5 or 6
Maybe a bit of dusting would be good,not something extreme for it's good to have people come and go(not everyone fell's like reading all the books choosen)but more of a clarification.
Maybe the new Ownership of B&R,left the "book of the month" in fog zone.I am stepping on eggs here because i like the way Stewart handeled it but he may wish the weight of his shoulders?
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We're all that matters if we're then ones that will be participating in the group read.

I'm a little bothered by the fact that people would vote and then not join in.
 
silverseason said:
OK, how about -

June - Farewell to Arms (American)
July - Sons and Lovers (English)
August - Fathers and Sons (Russian)

Main Street is dropped and Suite Francaise is replaced with Sons and Lovers. The trouble with the Farewell to Arms - Suite Francaise combination is that it would be two books back to back set in wartime, although they were different wars.
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Sons and Lovers . . . a new suggestion? Is this Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence?
 
Addendum.

I just looked at the description of Embers at Amazon, and I would be interested in reading it. How about:

Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (American)
Marai, Embers (Hungarian)
Turgenev, Fathers and Sons (Russian)

Do we need a formal poll, or can we reach a consensus without one?
 
silverseason said:
Addendum.

I just looked at the description of Embers at Amazon, and I would be interested in reading it. How about:

Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (American)
Marai, Embers (Hungarian)
Turgenev, Fathers and Sons (Russian)

Do we need a formal poll, or can we reach a consensus without one?
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I could go along with either list you've proposed silverseason. Although I am partial to reading Sons and Lovers, perhaps over Fathers and Sons, but am flexible in these things.
Embers was most enjoyable, even if I felt like shaking the protagonist by the shoulders on occasion. :)
 
saliotthomas said:
Maybe the new Ownership of B&R,left the "book of the month" in fog zone.I am stepping on eggs here because i like the way Stewart handeled it but he may wish the weight of his shoulders?
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No, no. I've just been lax this month. In a way, though, I'm back to reading this and since there seems to be a concensus on Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms, we can confirm that for June. Fathers And Sons, is another that is regularly mentioned and has been a consistent choice, so we can count that in. What's the reasoning for August over July? I must have missed that.

So now it's Sons And Lovers D.H. Lawrence or Embers by Sandor Marai. So how about we go:

  • June: A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway
  • July: Fathers And Sons, Ivan Turgenev
  • August: Sons And Lovers, D.H. Lawrence
  • September: Embers, Sandor Marai
Or, if Turvenev, being Russian, follows too closely on the heels of Solzhenitsyn's The First Circle, we can switch it with Embers. And then, as Peder suggests, start thinking even further forward to try and be six months on top of the game.
 
Thanks for the nod, Stewart. That's a very nice list to come out of the consensus! I'm new to this recent discussion but, to start leaning toward the six-month goal, perhaps F. Scott Fitzgerald would be a nice addition. Unless he has already been considered and discussed. Or unless the desire is to continue on around the world.
 
Any suggestions on which is the best translation of Fathers and Sons? Amazon has a few available.
Already have a copy of Sons and Lovers...must - not - buy - fresh - copy. :(
 
Peder said:
...perhaps F. Scott Fitzgerald would be a nice addition. Unless he has already been considered and discussed. Or unless the desire is to continue on around the world.
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I can say that of all the book of the month discussions since 2002, none have been a book by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I do get the feeling that The Great Gatsby is too obvious a choice.
 
Stewart said:
I can say that of all the book of the month discussions since 2002, none have been a book by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I do get the feeling that The Great Gatsby is too obvious a choice.
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Amazing! Tender is the Night would be the other very obvious thought, rather more autobiographical as I understand it, and therefore also more sombre, as his and Zelda's ill-fated lives together eventually were.
 
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