Book Club - Page 3 - WritingForums.com - Writing Forums, Writing Challenges, Critiques and Help for Writers

Mira · 07-03-2008, 11:23 AM

Animal Farm-George Orwell
Slaughterhouse five-Kurt Vonnegut
This Side of Paradise-F.Scott Fitzgerald

moderan · 07-03-2008, 03:12 PM

Ok...here's my nominations:

The Stranger-Albert Camus
The Secret Sharer-Joseph Conrad
We-Yevgeny Zamyatin

Sen Yama · 07-09-2008, 08:56 PM

Sorry guys, I probably won't be able to participate until Late August. I'll see you then.

geminye · 07-10-2008, 08:04 PM

Ok. Today is the tenth. Perhaps that wasn't enough time for everyone. We should start slowly to allow everyone to be involved. I will be on vacation until the end of next week. How about we make 7/20 the official deadline? Please vote if you would like to participate. Even if you have to duplicate the vote. If a book is voted for twice, i will put it in twice. This will help to ensure that if a book is popular, it will stand a better chance of being read. And i know i haven't chosen yet either. I will probably only put one book on the list to keep everything as unbiased as possible.

For those who have not been checking the thread, or have just not been posting until a book is chosen, i strongly urge you to chime in so we can keep everything on track. I want this to be a positive experience for everyone.

geminye · 07-10-2008, 08:05 PM

Sen, no problem. Things come up. I'm sure they will for all of us, but you can still participate partially if you'd like. We will probably break each book into a group of chapters. If not, hopefully we will still be here to add you into the group. See you then!

Dancer Preston · 07-14-2008, 01:02 PM

My nominations are:

The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Ethan Fromme by Edith Wharton

geminye · 07-21-2008, 10:47 PM

Ok. Sorry. I thought I had the deadline for today. Anyway. My 3 are

-One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
-The Moon and Sixpence
-Robinson Crusoe

I apologize if these are bad picks, but i just chose from the shortest ones on my shelf. I'll be picking the book randomly from the compiled list. I have also included the books Sen suggested even though she will not be able to participate to add more the the pool.

geminye · 07-21-2008, 10:59 PM

Alright. The method i'll use to pick the books is as follows: I use two 10 sided dice. I roll the two dice, then add the two numbers. Of course, if the numbers are higher than the number of books (15) i re-roll. Also, I numbered the books as the first book from each person in the order they were suggested as 1-5, and so on to break up the groups.

After all that, the book i came up with was Moderan's suggestion of The Stranger. If anyone has any objections, please submit them for review. Otherwise, try to come up with a copy of this story. I believe (and correct me if i'm wrong) this story is also called The Visitor in some collections. I will check on the Guttenburg Project to see if a free copy is there. I will set a deadline for getting a copy of the book before we start. Of course, anyone can jump in and participate, but the idea is for us to be on the same page. Sorry, bad pun. Anyway, begin looking for the story, and I will post again with the deadline.

moderan · 07-21-2008, 11:10 PM

Gutenberg doesn't have it. Amazon has lots. Gonna hie me to the Book Rack. If they have it, I'll get a few.

quarterscot · 07-23-2008, 05:54 PM

Wasn't sure about this idea from the start, but if you're doing The Stranger I'm definitely in. It's perfect for a book club, being short, brilliant and liable to create 14,000 different theories. And it gives me an excuse to buy The Stranger, something I should have done a long time ago. Let us know when you want us to start reading

geminye · 07-26-2008, 08:47 AM

Today is the 26th. I have googled The Stranger, and found a couple of places where you can get an Ebook version. If you prefer, you can buy an actual copy. I have found some for as low as $1.00, plus $3.49 s&h. Or, just check out your local library. So everyone has enough time to acquire a copy, lets begin reading about 2 weeks from now. I know that seems like a long time, but once everyone has a copy, we should be able to move a little more quickly. If you already have a copy, by all means, start reading! Make notes, write down questions and observations. If you are already ahead, you will be able to provide good material to get a discussion started.

As I said in the beginning, I am not a literature teacher. I am/was a literature major, and have had several literature classes, but still have 70 credit hours to graduate. So, this will be a group led discussion. Again, our emphasis here is not necessarily literary criticism, but that will inevitably be the backbone. What we are trying to accomplish is digging to the root of what makes good writing, and writing techniques. I may go to some sights and try to find some questions to guide us, but i will not pull material to be used as a "course guide."

So, try to get a copy as soon as you can. The deadline is August 9th. On the 9th, we can break down the reading schedule by chapter groups. I think the reading portion will include several chapters in a fairly short amount of time, so that we may use more time to discuss and give everyone participating enough opportunity to become involved.

As of now, there have been 15 people who have voted. This means we should have 15 people participating. Please, if you want to participate, but do not like the book that was chosen, try to be involved regardless. I want this to be a chance for us to explore books we may not have read on our own, as well as a lesson on writing. Its not about whether or not you like the book. And besides, if you don't like it, vote next time!!

As always, if there are any questions or concerns, please let everyone know, but let's not bog down the thread with endless arguments. If there is something you would like to discuss, by all means, you are welcome to PM myself, or anyone else who has posted so far. This is a group thread.

Happy book searching! Remember, August 9th!

geminye · 07-26-2008, 08:53 AM

Also, on a side note, my wife has a degree in French Literature, so if we begin to have questions about translation she can help.

Gabriel Gray · 07-31-2008, 06:33 PM

Can i join? i know i missed the vote, or whatever it was. But i'd sure like to read a book i haven't before and discuss it with you crazy cats.

geminye · 07-31-2008, 08:52 PM

Absolutely. All are welcome.

weak sauce · 07-31-2008, 10:33 PM

I'm in as long as its a book I will enjoy.

I'm not that picky either.