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This week's #TLBC IRC meeting will be this Saturday at 10:30 AM PST | ||
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packrat386
United States5077 Posts
On April 25 2013 09:33 Ghostcom wrote: Absolutely brilliant idea! I might be a bit strapped for time until August, but I will definitely try to join no matter what we end up reading. And lol @ sam!zdat shoutout :p I mean, originally this was supposed to be the sam!zdat memorial book club  | ||
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Diaresta
United States597 Posts
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Schmoooopy
United States448 Posts
On April 25 2013 04:34 farvacola wrote: #Schmoopy, I'll definitely add some Gabriel Garcia Marquez to the list in the future, though we might do a work of his with which fewer people are familiar. I'd definitely be up for rereading OHYOS though I recommend Love in the Time of Cholera for a lesser known book of his. I haven't had the chance to read it, but I've heard it's very good and very faithful to Marquez's style in One Hundred Years. | ||
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Aerisky
United States12129 Posts
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farvacola
United States18856 Posts
If your selection didn't make it to this round of voting, don't worry and stick around, I implore you! The more people we get into doing this consistently the easier it will be for us to get through more books. I won't even get into why it is always a good idea to let others choose ones' reading material from time to time; it just is.  (It is worth mentioning yet again that I highly caution against a flippant vote for Ulysses or Finnegans Wake. I enjoy a good literary "trial by fire", which is what close readings of the above two tend to end up like, but not everyone is as masochistic as I. All I am saying is that even if you've already read Dubliners or APOTAAAYM, it might be worth getting acquainted with this discussion format/group dynamic via more accessible works first.) Poll: Let's narrow things down, shall we? Dubliners (10) The Prague Cemetery (6) To The Lighthouse (5) Ulysses (4) A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1) Finnegans Wake (0) The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (0) 26 total votes Your vote: Let's narrow things down, shall we? (Vote): Dubliners | ||
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Paljas
Germany6926 Posts
oh, and what do you guys think about some Brecht in the future? | ||
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corumjhaelen
France6884 Posts
Apart from that, everything looks great, but if I may voice my opinion, let's not start with Ulysses^^ On April 26 2013 04:06 Paljas wrote: voted for ulysees, just to force myself to read it. oh, and what do you guys think about some Brecht in the future? For two different reasons, I don't think theater and poetry are very good ideas. | ||
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Paljas
Germany6926 Posts
On April 26 2013 04:28 corumjhaelen wrote: I'm sad to see no vote for Proust, but I imagine those who are interested have been consumed by Joyce or something^^ I'll try to push it a little next time or the time after. Apart from that, everything looks great, but if I may voice my opinion, let's not start with Ulysses^^ For two different reasons, I don't think theater and poetry are very good ideas. thinking about it, you are right. | ||
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corumjhaelen
France6884 Posts
That being said, I have nothing against Brecht, on the contrary^^ | ||
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Ghostcom
Denmark4783 Posts
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farvacola
United States18856 Posts
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mcc
Czech Republic4646 Posts
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KillerSOS
United States4207 Posts
Ulysses is my vote... although it could be a mistake. | ||
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Ghostcom
Denmark4783 Posts
On April 26 2013 05:52 mcc wrote: Instead of Ulysses/Finnegan's Wake we can read Lem's parody of it. He wrote review of non-existent book written by Odysseus from Ithaca (American one). The reviewed book has cca 100 pages, commentaries and explanations have around 1000 and the book contains all the knowledge of humankind referenced in one way or another. For example if you pick 1st letters of pages numbered with primes and use them as coordinates in Monge projections you get plan of the cathedral in Chartres. Isn't that basically what reading Finnegan's Wake is ? Oh my god that is brilliant. I didn't know such a book existed. Off to google I go! | ||
Carnivorous Sheep
Baa?21244 Posts
OK my two cents: Absolutely no to Ulysses or Finnegans Wake. ABSOLUTELY NOT. This is not a matter of personal taste, or preference, or insult on any of your abilities as readers. These books are difficult. Extremely difficult. That's why they're good. But that also makes them terrible choices for the inaugural books in an online book club. As i've mentioned to farva, I've seen so many TL book clubs start off with great excitement only to fizzle out. Having tomes like Ulysses be the object of discussion is not the right way to go as far as addressing this issue goes. For similar reasons, Proust is out in my opinion. Basically this: (It is worth mentioning yet again that I highly caution against a flippant vote for Ulysses or Finnegans Wake. I enjoy a good literary "trial by fire", which is what close readings of the above two tend to end up like, but not everyone is as masochistic as I. All I am saying is that even if you've already read Dubliners or APOTAAAYM, it might be worth getting acquainted with this discussion format/group dynamic via more accessible works first.) It's not about how much you love Joyce or how excited you are to read Ulysses. It's sheer pragmatism that should drive you to rule out Ulysses and the like as the first choice. I think Dubliners or Portrait would be fine choices. Maybe Prague Cemetery, but I honestly think Name of the Rose would be a better choice. Again, these opinions are not judgments on the merits of these works or anything of the sort, but merely trying to think what kind of books would be good to get an online book club going. Once things are up and running and all the unforeseen issues (and trust me, there will inevitably be many of these), we can definitely read whatever we want, including Finnegans Wake. But for now? Stick with something simple, straightforward, and to the point is my recommendation. Short, even, which leans my vote towards Dubliners, since it is easily broken down into manageable segments. Someone mentioned Portuguese literature earlier, which actually reminds me Jose Saramago. I think Blindness would've been a fantastic choice for an earlier iteration of this online discussion. This might be driven by my adoration of everything I've read by Saramago, but hey  | ||
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Azera
3800 Posts
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Reptilia
Chile913 Posts
On April 26 2013 07:33 Azera wrote: Yeah I think we should start with an easy book so we can flesh out all the intricacies and structure of how the discussion is going to work without worrying too much about the content of the book. This doesn't mean that we make the discussion secondary, just that we would make things less hectic. I agree, plus the idea is to start easy for those who don't usually read much | ||
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mcc
Czech Republic4646 Posts
On April 26 2013 06:35 Ghostcom wrote: Oh my god that is brilliant. I didn't know such a book existed. Off to google I go! Lem wrote book of reviews to non-existing books so you won't find the reviewed book . He also prefaced it by a review of this book of reviews, did not actually got that it was him reading it first time. The main book is called Perfect Vacuum, the review/book I am referencing is called Gigamesh if you would want to find it. All the other reviews are also rather awesome for one reason or another. Some of those imaginary books he is reviewing would actually be impossible to write.Also I mixed two reviews from that book in my head, Odysseus from Ithaca is separate review dealing with typology of geniuses. | ||
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babylon
8765 Posts
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Carnivorous Sheep
Baa?21244 Posts
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