GFY Book CLub - Book selection
 

Quite a few people seemed to be interested in the other thread, so here it is: the unofficial GFY Book Club.

I propose we shoot for about 1 book a month, that should be doable for everyone, yet not so much that everyone's forgotten all about the book by the time the discussion date arrives.


It would probably be best if we decided on books by voting from a selection of books, so we end up with books that most people are interested in. Other ideas are ofcourse welcome.

Meanwhile, please leave 1 or 2 suggestions for books in this thread, along with a tiny description of what the books are about (feel free to steal that description from amazon or whatever).


Here are my 2 suggestions:

Platform by Michel Houellebecq
A rather bleak love story about an emotionally empty man whose main - only? - interest is sex, this books features an excellent critique of modern society, western sexuality and the economic and cultural dichotomy between the western world and third world countries. Very controversial because of the sexual content and the way Islam is portrayed (Houellebecq actually got sued for insulting Islam).

The Plague by Albert Camus
An absolute masterpiece by a Nobel prize winning author, this story about a city which is struck by the plague is one of the main landmarks of French existentialism. It explores themes such as freedom, responsibility, human relations, death, love and religion, as well as the human condition as a whole.

I recommend the following:

Blindness by Jose Saramago.
- A disturbing story about an inexplicable plague of blindness striking a society and how those who are not yet effected deal with those who are and how those who are blinded and quarantined get along. Blindness is very intense and very interesting.

Positively Fifth Street by James McManus.
- A narrative by a reporter sent to Las Vegas by Harpers Magazine to cover the 2000 World Series of Poker and the trial of Sandra Murphy and Rick Tabish, accused of murdering (in a very twisted way) Ted Binion, owner of Binion's Horseshoe Casino. This story has weird sex, violence, gambling, buried silver bullion and more.

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
- The story of Yossarian, soldier in a World War II bomber group, and his superiors, inferiors and peers, every last one of whom is crazy as a loon.

Watership Down by Richard Adams
- The story of a group of rabbits who strike out on a grand adventure.

SpaceAce

I am bumping this because I love to read and even if the book club doesn't get off the ground, I can use suggestions for reading material.

SpaceAce

I suggest Koran and next month Bible.

The Art of Deception

Bump.

Nice to see you suggesting works from French novelists. Let's keep this international a little bit. "Coin Locker Babies", from Ryu Murakami and why not something from my home, like Hubert Aquin, if it's translated?

Bump

Last bump before I give up on this thing. (why did interest so suddenly die off between the previous thread and this one?)

please link *other* thread, i am clueless

Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau :thumbsup

How about Wicked by Gregory MaGuire, a book which at first glance appears to be a simple Wizard of Oz story and is in reality a complex discussion of the deepest meanings of life.

Atlas Shrugged

Reading that right now. Still not sure if I find it as good as The Fountainhead or not.

I second Positively Fifth Street. Just picked that up but haven't started it yet. :thumbsup

Hmmm.

If not nonfiction or business-related stuff, I hope we can find a happy medium between Dean R. Koontz and Albert Camus (or over five hundred pages of Ayn Rand).

Don't like Camus?

I second Blindness by Jose Saramago.

For the people seconding books: The voting comes in another thread. Right now we're just gathering a selection of possible books.

All Pulitzer winners:

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides:
"In the spring of 1974, Calliope Stephanides, a student at a girls' school in Grosse Pointe, finds herself drawn to a chain-smoking, strawberry blond clasmate with a gift for acting. The passion that furtively develops between them--along with Callie's failure to develop--leads Callie to suspect that she is not like other girls. In fact, she is not really a girl at all."

The Known World by Edward P. Jones
"Henry Townsend, a black farmer, bootmaker, and former slave, has a fondness for Paradise Lost and an unusual mentor -- William Robbins, perhaps the most powerful man in antebellum Virginia's Manchester County. Under Robbins's tutelage, Henry becomes proprietor of his own plantation -- as well as of his own slaves."

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
"Traveling from India to New England and back again, the stories in this extraordinary debut collection unerringly chart the emotional journeys of characters seeking love beyond the barriers of nations and generations. Imbued with the sensual details of Indian culture, "

Of Mice And Men - John Steinbeck

Regards,

Lee

Hehehe. I actually love Camus, I love The Plague, and I'd love to read it again. For some reason I feel like we'd all wind up having snobby discussions interspersed with retarded remarks and it would "wreck" it for me or something. But it's not that I don't like the book. Just my two cents.

I think the book club is a great idea and I appreciate your suggestions and trying to organize it. Sorry to sound like a wet blanket. Bad Trixie!

I honestly don't believe GFY could ruin The Plague, no matter how hard it tried :winkwink:
I see your point though. I know that under the right situations, a book like that could really lead to a good discussion on GFY, but with a bit of bad luck it could just as well go awfully wrong. It would probably be a bit of a hit and miss situation.
Still, the fact that it's one of the greatest works in 20th century literature yet a very easy read could make it perfect for a broad audience that is interested in literature.

Hmm...

I don't read books, only magazines !

And you probably don't visit museums, only titty bars, and don't eat at 3 star restaurants, only McDonalds.
Your point is?

I would be down for this, I don't have any suggestions yet but it's a cool idea, I love to read.

And a final bump for the day.

I really don't have any suggestions, but I am still interested..

basically any cool book I've heard about.. I've probably already picked up and read. :Graucho

I'd love to get in on this... I used to absorb books, particularly ones involving ancient religion and mythologies (yes, I may be the only person I know who read the Illiad and Aeneid just for shits and giggles).

Sadly, the only reading I do these days is either textbooks or news related things. Between family, work and the rest of life, I just don't have the chance to enjoy lit any more. :(

I think the latest fictional work I read lately was "American Psycho"... unless you count transcripts of anything that the Swiftboat Veterans for Obfuscation have put out. :winkwink::

We want to read, not keel over and die from having the oppressive weight of an Ayn Rand tome on our chests.

SpaceAce

James McManus is not the best author in the world but he is a decent storyteller. He goes out of his way to make unnecessary and obscure references, slip in big words, etc, but the pace of the book is good and both the murder trial and the World Series of Poker coverage provide good reading.

SpaceAce

Stealing the Network series...

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Seriously, though, Atlas Shrugged isn't that huge. It's only ~1k pages, so a day or two of reading should be enough to finish it.

Much like gravity, the issue isn't size, it's density. Reading Atlas Shrugged is like trying to swim in concrete.

SpaceAce

Think so? I'm reading it right now, and I honestly think it reads away quite nicely. Haven't read much of it yet though, so it could be that it's about to change.

Siddhartha - Herman Hesse
One of my favorites!

I like Elmore Leonard books but most of his books have been made into movies now. I love to read "good" books but they seem to be hard to find most of the time so I am definetely writing down your suggestions whether we start a book club or not:thumbsup