Book Club

[broneck]

Okay, this idea took off more quickly than I anticipated.

Superfuture Book Club Round 1.

Members -

1. Clopek

2. habia

3. landho

4. DDML

5. cjbreed

6. fallen_angels ???

7. Dex_star

8. dolly

9. Meat Grinder

10. Yardsale

11.m1sterko

Novel -

Lolita

Time frame -

Finish reading by Monday, August 4th and give at least 1 week for discussion and input, at which point Habia will make the next selection (August 11th) and we'll reconvene a month from then. Of course, discussion can continue throughout, but that's the basis as it stands.

[landho]

Would love to do a book club or have book-club-like discussions. Have not read American Psycho, but am (kind of) reading Moby Dick with a friend. This after reading Crime and Punishment and King Lear together.

(Unfortunately, our reading of Moby Dick has been derailed, and I've been reading various essay and short-story collections instead.)

Subscribed. Hope this thread gets some action.

[broneck]

It would be interesting to see if we could get a few people to sign on to a mutually agreed upon book and actually have a super-book club. (nerd-glasses emoticon)

[landho]

Would definitely be down for that. I even wouldn't mind reading something I've already read again, as long as it wasn't trash.

[habia]

Excellent idea.

Are you proposing American Psycho be the first book for the book club?

Otherwise we should start entertaining possibilities to get this off the ground.

is 3 weeks to read plus 1 week to discuss/figure out the next book too optimistic?

Perhaps one month to read, then 2 weeks to discuss/figure out next book?

Stuff on my shelf about to be read assuming their due dates don't interfere:

Kafka- The Trial

Hesse- Beneath the Wheel

Wilde- The Importance of Being Earnest

just been finishing a few Murakami books.

I will give thought to some good books to read as a supergroup and post again.

I really hope this works out.... passaround book and music trading club didn't go too far.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

I am in between books, so provided y'all can agree on a promising book, I am in. (I had to reread that sentence, had the strange sensation of a my reflection in a mirror speaking to me).

How about V. by Pynchon?

or Nostromo by Conrad?

or All Tomorrow's Parties by Gibson?

[denimdestroyedmylife]

Or Beautiful Children by that dude. All I know is that a gangbang, and the internet, is a prominent feature of this novel.

[landho]

I host a weekly movie club at my house. We randomly draw for order, and whoever's turn it is that week can show whatever he or she wants, and everyone participates and no one badmouths. As long as everyone is of a certain cultural literacy, no one gets too bent out of shape. Also, because there are many different people with different tastes, we get a wide selection of movies. (A list of the movies we've watched can be seen here.)

I think that because this is Clopek's idea, he should choose the first book. Then habia can choose one, then I can, etc. We should set a time limit for each book or perhaps discussion markers so that this doesn't just become a smoke of an idea.

[broneck]

Not suggesting American Psycho for our first book, more just a few questions to get some discussion off the ground.

Completely unfamiliar with the two first books mentioned, although I'm aware of Kafka...Earnest is interesting, something I studied briefly in first year but don't recall much of. Deals a lot with ambiguity and is very dry from my recollection, but Oscar Wilde as a figure is cool enough to make even just reading about him interesting.

I've also never read anything by Tolstoy which is something I feel I should probably wrap my head around sometime soon (War and Peace might be a touch dense for our purposes, but I'm completely open to suggestion).

[landho]

Importance of Being Earnest is awesome, but it's so short that we could maybe do it as a sort of ancillary reading. I think that the best thing that Wilde wrote is De Profundis, the 45,000-word letter he wrote to Lord Alfred Douglas from prison; it's Wilde at his most bare, his most honest, removed from the detachment, the irony, and the polish of his other works.

(De Profundis is available on Google Books here.)

Maybe we could read the two together?

Also read a lot of Kafka (mostly his letters and diary) and Hesse in the past few years; I began reading both after having reread Salinger's Glass stories and Eberhard Alsen's amazing Salinger's Glass Stories as a Composite Novel. So would be down for either of those as well.

If we read Kafka, Hesse, or Wilde, should this constitute habia's turn?

[habia]

Lan, nice movie club you have going there.

I think the idea of having one person at a time just straight up choose a book is crucial. I just sort of assumed a democratic committee style decision would be best, which of course would terrible in actuality.

Clopek, the next book I read will be chosen by you.

I don't really think you can make a bad choice. Canonized stuff (Tolstoy, Kafka, Wilde) would all be good. Contemporary or unknown stuff can be good too. One reason a book club interests me is that it will get me reading stuff I wouldn't get around to otherwise. Additionally, as you are experiencing with American Psycho, sometimes I read a work and just feel I am "missing out" on the significance of author's intent and author's effect.

EDIT: no, no, no, let's not read Kafka Hesse or Wilde quite yet. Just mentioned those earlier since I have had them lying around for a couple weeks.

[landho]

Thanks, habia.

I agree straight-up that choosing a book democratically would be terrible.

Let's do this then:

1. Clopek

2. habia

3. landho

4. DDML

We'll hash out how long we will have to read each book, discuss, etc. based on each individual book.

We'll repeat this cycle unless other people sign up; if that's the case, then they can be added to the end of this cycle. How does that sound?

[broneck]

Okay, I'm at work so I'll pop down to the bookstore and check out a few ideas in a bit...I'm going to give us (and myself) some time, given the density of some of the books we're looking at and say that dependant on length

[broneck]

I am in between books, so provided y'all can agree on a promising book, I am in. (I had to reread that sentence, had the strange sensation of a my reflection in a mirror speaking to me).

How about V. by Pynchon?

or Nostromo by Conrad?

or All Tomorrow's Parties by Gibson?

Or Beautiful Children by that dude. All I know is that a gangbang, and the internet, is a prominent feature of this novel.

have you read any of these yet?

Also in consideration is The Communist's Daughter, by Dennis Bock.

[habia]

I have read All Tomorrow's Parties by Gibson but none of the others. It is good, I absolutely love Gibson. I think he is extremely intelligent, if perhaps not the best composer of prose (not conceding that point... merely acknowledging it).

Just thought of a funny one, something I found a couple years ago. Anyone read SCUM Manifesto?

[landho]

I have read All Tomorrow's Parties by Gibson but none of the others. It is good, I absolutely love Gibson. I think he is extremely intelligent, if perhaps not the best composer of prose (not conceding that point... merely acknowledging it).

I've read only five books by Gibson (the Neuromancer trilogy, Burning Chrome, and Virtual Light). I think his prose is really good, especially in Neuromancer.

I reread the trilogy last summer and I was especially blown away by Neuromancer. It was my fourth reading but by far the one that I got the most from; in many ways, Gibson's writing in Neuromancer really approximates Hemingway's, both in the terseness and clarity of his sentences but also in how much is implicit (rather than explicit) in what he writes. In fact, Gibson's writing in Neuromancer may be even more impressive than anything Hemingway ever did because he builds an entire, fully realized world that's built and implied through snatches of conversations, bits of internal monologue, and discarded artifacts.

EDIT: I have not read any of the books DDML suggested.

[cjbreed]

i would like to be involved in this if that is ok. my only suggestion is not to get too heavily academic. i think The Prince and Brothers Karamazov and stuff like that is better suited to the university than the sufu.

so is the idea to just let the next person in line pick the book?

[fallen angels]

....................

just been finishing a few Murakami books.

............

which ones? ive read all of them except Kafka on the Shore, which i am starting now. id be interested to discuss his works, i wouldnt mind re-reading some of the stories. Should we carry this onto the Murakami thread?

[Dex_star]

I need to re-smarterate my life

I'm not much of a reader so I have nothing to contribute... But I'm hoping to read along with you guys

+1 for this

[dolly]

count me in, I tend to get a lot of reading done in the summertime.

I just finished "diary of a drug fiend" by aleister crowley, and am now reading "hell's angels: the strange and terrible saga of the outlaw motorcycle gangs" by hunter s thompson

[broneck]

i would like to be involved in this if that is ok. my only suggestion is not to get too heavily academic. i think The Prince and Brothers Karamazov and stuff like that is better suited to the university than the sufu.

so is the idea to just let the next person in line pick the book?

I tihnk that's the idea, and I agree about avoiding heavily academic works...I don't think i'll be suggesting the Ilyad or Dante's Inferno for our purposes...

Apparently I've been nomiated to select our first book, and we'll work down the list (I think by posters in the thread is as easy a way as any).

[landho]

i would like to be involved in this if that is ok. my only suggestion is not to get too heavily academic. i think The Prince and Brothers Karamazov and stuff like that is better suited to the university than the sufu.

so is the idea to just let the next person in line pick the book?

Yeah, everyone involved agrees to read the chosen book and to participate in the discussion, and then he or she gets his or her name added to the list. Hopefully, this will continue for a while.

which ones? ive read all of them except Kafka on the Shore, which i am starting now. id be interested to discuss his works, i wouldnt mind re-reading some of the stories. Should we carry this onto the Murakami thread?

FA, link me to the Murakami thread. I'll contribute to the discussion; I've read all of Murakami's works (except for Sputnik Sweetheart) multiple times, and I've read multiple secondary sources on his writing. (Back when he was a lesser-known quantity, I had to get a dissertation by Matthew Strecher printed up for me from the University of Michigan from a photostat machine, as I was hungry for any information and criticism I could find on Murakami.)

You know that Murakami's works heavily influenced Wong Kar-wai's, right? The germ for Chungking Express was contained in "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning."

[landho]

I tihnk that's the idea, and I agree about avoiding heavily academic works...I don't think i'll be suggesting the Ilyad or Dante's Inferno for our purposes...

Apparently I've been nomiated to select our first book, and we'll work down the list (I think by posters in the thread is as easy a way as any).

Agreed, although I think there should be a lot of freedom for each individual to choose whatever work he or she wants. I think most people involved will use discretion as to what will be fulfilling both to themselves as well as enjoyable to others participating.

Maybe we should have a post at the beginning or on the first page of the thread updating the list of names of the order of the cycle and the people involved.

[cjbreed]

it would be cool to try to keep it really diverse and include many genres and degrees of intellectual challenge. i just fear that the more esoteric works may have the fewest participants in the discussion. which sucks.

[Guest]

I'm in

although im at a loss for ideas on reading material ..

but add my name to the list

1. Clopek

2. habia

3. landho

4. DDML

5. cjbreed

6. fallen_angels ???

7. Dex_star

8. dolly

9. myself

[landho]

Lolita is a great, great choice. Great to read for the first time and great to reread.

See you suckers at the finish line!

Edit: Also, and this probably goes without saying, I think it would be worthwhile to take notes while reading, like specific passages or word choices that gave you pause for consideration, or interesting things you noted. This will facilitate a good close reading and also make for more interesting discussion.

[Guest]

Is that what we're reading ??

[landho]

Is that what we're reading ??

Yeah, per the edited first post....

[broneck]

Okay, I've updated the first post to reflect what we've gathered so far . . . I'm at work so we'll get this officiated sometime this evening I guess haha...

[broneck]

Lolita is a great, great choice. Great to read for the first time and great to reread.

See you suckers at the finish line!

Edit: Also, and this probably goes without saying, I think it would be worthwhile to take notes while reading, like specific passages or word choices that gave you pause for consideration, or interesting things you noted. This will facilitate a good close reading and also make for more interesting discussion.

as per Land Ho, I guess we're off!

The idea he's presented is excellent also, I'm really looking forward to this.