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May 2008 - Book Group Suggestions

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abecedarian said:
How about The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?
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I just talk to some russian guys. They actually say that the better novel of Solzhenitsyn is "The First Circle ".

As to "Gulag Archipelago", they warned me that it is not a "literature" as such, it reads rather like many documents collected together - for instance "Mr. Petrov, nr. XXX, arrived to place YYY in such-and-such day, was tortured so-and-so. Witnessed and signed by Mr. Kulikov and Mr. Ivanov". Not literatic but rather dry, very formal.

Somebody compared it to the collection of documents in Nuremberg Trials.

So what would you say about "The First Circle " instead of Gulag? I am simply not sure that I could survive more than 1/3 of the Gulag book till getting bored. Otherwise it could be a good opportunity to read some Solzhenitsyn.
 
The waveguide said:
I just talk to some russian guys. They actually say that the better novel of Solzhenitsyn is "The First Circle ".

As to "Gulag Archipelago", they warned me that it is not a "literature" as such, it reads rather like many documents collected together - for instance "Mr. Petrov, nr. XXX, arrived to place YYY in such-and-such day, was tortured so-and-so. Witnessed and signed by Mr. Kulikov and Mr. Ivanov". Not literatic but rather dry, very formal.

Somebody compared it to the collection of documents in Nuremberg Trials.

So what would you say about "The First Circle " instead of Gulag? I am simply not sure that I could survive more than 1/3 of the Gulag book till getting bored. Otherwise it could be a good opportunity to read some Solzhenitsyn.
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First Circle is terrific! Kenny Shovel told me to try that one first, and he deserves a whole box of his favorite chocolates for that suggestion. It took me a while to work through it..not because the language was so difficult, but because I had to stop and think about the characters and their situation...not the sort of book to buzz through and toss aside. Excellent suggestion!

PS-I had the same experience with Cancer Ward..my mom was in a TB Sanitorium as a young girl and I kept comparing this book to the stories she told me about her experience..
 
abecedarian said:
First Circle is terrific! Kenny Shovel told me to try that one first, and he deserves a whole box of his favorite chocolates for that suggestion. It took me a while to work through it..not because the language was so difficult, but because I had to stop and think about the characters and their situation...not the sort of book to buzz through and toss aside. Excellent suggestion!
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I have read both First Circle and Cancer Ward, and if I could only read one I would take First Circle. While it is a great picture of a certain life and circumstance, the characters and their reactions take you out of Soviet Russia in much wider considerations of freedom and commitment. If you want to start with a short introduction to Solzhenitsyn, then try A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.
 
Last summer I went to a flea market, and a guy had these books thrown in a box :

WORK OF POE
WORK OF HOOD
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE VOLUMES 1 AND 5
RUDYARD KIPLING -TWENTY ONE TALES
JULIANA EWING-FLAT IRON FOR A FARTHING
POETIC WORKS OF LONGFELLOW
STORIES BY ENGLISH AUTHORS
CHARLES DICKENS -CHRISTMAS STORIES
MILTON-PARADISE LOST
LEW WALLACE-THE FAIR GOD
T.S ELIOT-A CHOICE OF KIPLINGS VERSE

some of them are about 100 years old and i bought them for 15 dollars. sadly to say they were damaged. Searching on the net about them I realised I have not read

BEN HUR:D so I will suggest this one!
 
I am thinking of reading The Fair God and as I was searching about it I saw Ben Hur was his best ever.
Sparkchaser this summer I am going alone to the fleamarket:D
They are beautiful books. The Fair God is a red hardcover with white lilies., and its the Lily Series.
 
Flea markets in my area are notorious for having nothing but Beanie babies and baby clothes.
 
Its the same crap here , I think I was just lucky. This guy was selling other stuff , I just happened to see the boxes of books under the table.The more I was taking the more he was trying to put up the price. I am just upset that I couldn't buy all that he had. They get them from estate sales for nothing, they don't know what they have. Its a shame.

I found this site and whoever can't get their books on time it's a good start
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/meta/authors.html
 
Maybe you should start going to estate sales/auctions. Years ago my father went to one and came home with three boxes full of old medical book and turn of the century novels. $5 for all that.
 
sparkchaser said:
Maybe you should start going to estate sales/auctions. Years ago my father went to one and came home with three boxes full of old medical book and turn of the century novels. $5 for all that.
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wow! good idea!


Stewwarrttt, any decisions yet???
 
Just to get back on track...

I believe this is the current list of suggestions:
  • A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway
  • The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
  • The First Circle, 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
  • The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Maggie O’Farrell
  • Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin, Vladimir Voinovich
  • Embers, Sandor Marai
My heavy favorites on this list are:
  • A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway
  • Dreams Of My Russian Summers, Andreï Makine
  • Fathers And Sons, Turgenev
  • The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann
  • This House Of Sky: Landscapes Of A Western Mind, Ivan Doig
 
I sort of liked picking an author of the month, like we did with John Irving, I liked the comparisons of the different books by the same author. We could do this with maybe a country of the month, a genre of the month, and era of the month and perhaps have 3 examples (these could be voted on) to choose from and compare. Each month could be a different theme and some could just read one of the books and join in or they could read all the choices but it would allow a little more choice and still have a focused conversation. Maybe we could even just do that a couple of times a year? And all other months just have the one book?
 
Robert said:
Just to get back on track...

I believe this is the current list of suggestions:
  • A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway
  • The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
  • The First Circle, 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
  • The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Maggie O’Farrell
  • Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin, Vladimir Voinovich
  • Embers, Sandor Marai
My heavy favorites on this list are:
  • A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway
  • Dreams Of My Russian Summers, Andreï Makine
  • Fathers And Sons, Turgenev
  • The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann
  • This House Of Sky: Landscapes Of A Western Mind, Ivan Doig
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Thanks for getting us back on track. :D

A Farewell To Arms is my vote.
 
Ronny said:
I sort of liked picking an author of the month, like we did with John Irving, I liked the comparisons of the different books by the same author. We could do this with maybe a country of the month, a genre of the month, and era of the month and perhaps have 3 examples (these could be voted on) to choose from and compare. Each month could be a different theme and some could just read one of the books and join in or they could read all the choices but it would allow a little more choice and still have a focused conversation. Maybe we could even just do that a couple of times a year? And all other months just have the one book?
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I don't know, Ronny. The idea is good, but do we have enough interest to do multiple books?
 
Robert said:
I don't know, Ronny. The idea is good, but do we have enough interest to do multiple books?
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Maybe not, but I feel that if folks were so inclined offering the opportunity for comparison can help fuel the conversation and it's something that does not happen as much in the other threads. With a single book there is often other threads available for discussion of the book and this might lead some to think they can read it whenever they get to it defeating the point of a BOTM.

Also, I am not suggesting we do this every month just a couple of times a year. Maybe no one will be interested but I thought it worth consideration.
 
Ronny said:
Maybe not, but I feel that if folks were so inclined offering the opportunity for comparison can help fuel the conversation and it's something that does not happen as much in the other threads. With a single book there is often other threads available for discussion of the book and this might lead some to think they can read it whenever they get to it defeating the point of a BOTM.

Also, I am not suggesting we do this every month just a couple of times a year. Maybe no one will be interested but I thought it worth consideration.
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Please don't get me wrong, Ronny, I think it's a good idea. I would love to try it at least once to see what kind of discussion would follow.
 
Stewart said:
On what? I was just going to take the general concensus, as regards the most 'oh, I like the sound of that posts'.
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There are alot of choices, are we doing a poll or are we continuing to add?:confused:




MY choices:




Dreams Of My Russian Summers, Andreï Makine
Taras Bulba, Nikolai Gogol
Fathers And Sons, Turgenev
Villette, Charlotte Brontë

The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The First Circle, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
 
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