Book Club - Page 4 - WritingForums.com - Writing Forums, Writing Challenges, Critiques and Help for Writers

geminye · 08-01-2008, 11:16 PM

All i ask, sauce, is that you give whatever book is chosen a fair chance before you decide not to participate. Hopefully, the idea will be to explore books you wouldn't have chosen yourself. I discovered Murakami's "Hard-boiled Wonderland" this way, and am very grateful.

weak sauce · 08-04-2008, 03:15 PM

soooooooooo.....

do we have a book yet?

geminye · 08-04-2008, 05:47 PM

The Stranger- Albert Camus

geminye · 08-06-2008, 12:10 PM

Ok, so i got my copy from half.com for about $6 total. Let me know if you haven't found a copy, or are still waiting to find one. Remember, the deadline is the 9th unless you guys tell me you don't have a copy yet. Once you have a copy, or have found the free versions online, let me know who is going to participate so i can know when everyone has responded and we can continue with the ongoing chapters.

Dancer Preston · 08-06-2008, 01:45 PM

I have a copy and have already finished half of it. Ready for discussion whenever...

RomanticRose · 08-06-2008, 05:04 PM

Never mind. Thought I'd found an online source, but I was mistaken.

moderan · 08-06-2008, 05:43 PM

Here's one:the stranger
here's another:the stranger

RomanticRose · 08-06-2008, 05:55 PM

On the Questia.com you can only read the first 17 pages without subscribing.

moderan · 08-06-2008, 06:00 PM

*shrugs* Didn't get that far. Just googled. Bought my copy.

geminye · 08-10-2008, 09:15 PM

Okay everybody. Let's get this started. This is a pretty short book, so I figure we can just divide it in half. Shall we say....two weeks to make it through part one? It is shorter than the second half. Try to make it through the first part in two weeks, then we can take two to four to discuss? Again, if anyone has opinions or comments, please let me know.

geminye · 08-22-2008, 11:00 AM

How is everyone coming along? Are we still good for the 24th to begin discussion?

moderan · 08-23-2008, 01:13 AM

Ok by me. I'll be happy to read it again before then.

geminye · 08-24-2008, 11:14 PM

Okay everybody. Let's begin the discussion tomorrow night. Sunday was the last day to catch up on the reading.

Again, the focus here is not necessarily critical theory of literature, but more of a focus on writing techniques and story composition. But, by all means, for those of you who have insight on the more technical aspects, please give us your knowledge. As I've said before, I've only had about 2 years of literature classes, so i am not claiming to be a guru. I am merely trying to find methods of deciphering good writing.

In that vein, lets keep in mind that not everyone participating is necessarily up to par about the schools of literature and so on. If possible, lets keep it in a layman type of setting without dumbing down the material. When a school of thought presents itself and is critical to the story (which it usually is) lets look at it.

So, try to come up with some thoughts about the first part of the story, and start throwing out the ideas. I will not be able to weigh in until about 7 or 8 eastern time, but i'll be checking in throughout the day. If Moderan, or anyone else can get us started at anytime, please do. I think 2 week intervals of reading and discussion should be adequate for now. At least until we get into the swing and habit of doing it.

As always, please voice any comments, suggestions, or concerns.

Reminder: If you feel it is necessary to quote a passage, please include a small citation with your quote. Since we are all reading the same material, but not the same editions, include material which surrounds the quote, not just the page number. What we are doing should fall well within the Fair Use doctrine, but one can never be too cautious when it comes to litigious corporations trying to pad their profit margins.

geminye · 08-25-2008, 09:51 PM

Ok. Probably the first thing to talk about would be: What works, and what doesn't?

Were there things in this story which stood out for you? For one, I'm still trying to decipher his complete apathy, and his motivation for killing the Arab. Any thoughts?

moderan · 08-25-2008, 10:15 PM

Meursault and Raymond had made an agreement during the earlier altercation, in which Meursault said he would use the gun if the Arab drew his knife. The description of the killing has Meursault overwhelmed by the elements (The sun, the heat, etc., salt from his sweat in his eyes.). My take on it has always been that he planned to (or feared he would have to) use the gun from the moment he took it from Raymond.
The MC's distance and diffidence seems to be ascribed to the loss of his mother, though I'm not entirely certain that is the case. That distance is what has always stood out for me-the MC seemed not quite entirely human, not really present in his own life. The interesting thing about it is that recent forensic findings seem to support real serial killers having the same disconnected relation to the world-though in some of those cases it is seen as narcissism so extreme that it's almost solipsism.
Meursault does seem to ape that-he is almost completely inner-directed, though his occasional musings and forays into sensualism have very little depth. He doesn't seem to feel.