Boards Book Club - No.1 Vote choices now please

buck65

Here is my list of 6 books for you to choose 2 from. I picked 3 recent releases and 3 older books. O Neill was born in Ireland, raised in Holland, Lahiri is a Bengali/American writer. Kurkov and Gogol are both Ukrainian, Edgeworth was born in England but moved to Ireland at a young age, Hamilton is English.
My choices are all fiction and I have tried to give a mix of genres and styles. Please feel free to comment on my choices. I have not read any of the books but would be happy to.
The consensus is to pick a recent and an older "classic" book and discuss both aprox 1 month later. What do you all think?
Maybe we should decide in the next week and aim to have discussion threads beginning 1st week Aug?

turgon

Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth

Forgive my ignorance Buck65; but if we are to pick one classic and one modern which are old classics and which modern?

buck65 wrote:

Recent
Netherland - Joseph O Neill (interesting looking recent release)
Unaccustomed Earth - Jhumpa Lahiri (well received collection of stories)
Death and the Penguin - Andrey Kurkov (have almost read this a few times, Ukrainian writer, dark and surreal humour-my type of guy!)

Older
Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth (set in Ireland in the 1800s, old but supposedly good, link above to free book!)
Hangover Square - Patrick Hamilton (shamefully overlooked English crime writer)
Dead Souls - Nikolai Gogol (another classic that I have been neglecting)

John

Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth

I've read Castle Rackrent and never want to open its covers again: TURGID!

So two arbitrary votes for other books

buck65

Dead Souls - Nikolai Gogol

John wrote: »

I've read Castle Rackrent and never want to open its covers again: TURGID!

So two arbitrary votes for other books

Was it that bad?!

turgon

Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth

The Ukrainians doing well!!

I assume everyone voting will be getting involved in the book club?

buck65

Dead Souls - Nikolai Gogol

turgon wrote: »

The Ukrainians doing well!!

I assume everyone voting will be getting involved in the book club?

Hopefully! The more the better.

Dead souls text link on gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1081/1081.txt

turgon

Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth

I wonder which would be a better translation:

Penguin Classics
Oxford World Classics

I dont like this talk of "a poem," I dont think I could read a book long poem! Seeming as it looks set to win I might and go away and order.

Would the first or second Saturday of August be ok as a target? Any later and I wont be here, and even the latter leaves only 2 days. Sorry!

buck65

Dead Souls - Nikolai Gogol

turgon wrote: »

I wonder which would be a better translation:

Penguin Classics
Oxford World Classics

I dont like this talk of "a poem," I dont think I could read a book long poem! Seeming as it looks set to win I might and go away and order.

Would the first or second Saturday of August be ok as a target? Any later and I wont be here, and even the latter leaves only 2 days. Sorry!

We choose 2 books though right? or do we pick one of the 2 winners?

turgon

Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth

buck65 wrote: »

We choose 2 books though right? or do we pick one of the 2 winners?

We sound like a pack of sheep

Erm, well Id say we could do the two?

lemon_sherbert

Having heard only of Netherland (which I didn't really like), I don't have any real preference. I have noticed though, that the Gogol one is listed at over 500 pages on Amazon, so it would be a bit of a push to read two... or maybe that's just me?

líreacán

Dead Souls - Nikolai Gogol

Been wanting to read "Death and the Penguin" for a while, so if this is chosen, I will definitely be joining!

On the other hand, if "Castle Rackrent" is chosen...not so much.

LoLth

Death and the Penguin - Andrey Kurkov

I owuld say , read the two if you want or just read the one you prefer. I dont think it should feel like a chore or a competition of any sort. Its supposed to be fun after all

TedB

Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth

So what happens then, do the top two books get chosen? I only chose one book, 'Death and the Penguin' because I've quite a lot of reading to be done as it is. Should be fun!

raah!

Dead Souls would work out pretty well for me, I have it on my shelf and was gonna read it this summer anyway. Though, being a mere physics student I'm afraid I'll not be able to contribute as much to the discussion as some other people might do.

turgon

Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth

raah! wrote: »

being a mere physics student I'm afraid I'll not be able to contribute as much to the discussion as some other people might do.

No, I disagree! Its doesn't matter what you are studying - and studying English does not necessarily mean you can dissect books well, nor that you've even an interest. Its just about liking it!

TedB

Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth

raah! wrote: »

Dead Souls would work out pretty well for me, I have it on my shelf and was gonna read it this summer anyway. Though, being a mere physics student I'm afraid I'll not be able to contribute as much to the discussion as some other people might do.

I study history and the method we are taught for analysing literature is completely different than the methods English lit. students would be taught. Its all about what you like and why. Having a good grounding in English studies enables you to express why you like something much better than someone who doesn't have this experience. I don't have the experience so I'm afraid I have to work with what I have!

turgon

Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth

Im assuming Death and the Penguin and Dead Souls are deemed selected, and Im going to buy them now.

TedB

Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth

turgon wrote: »

Im assuming Death and the Penguin and Dead Souls are deemed selected, and Im going to buy them now.

My problem is that I'll be ordering them on my sisters credit card... And she'll be asking questions when she see's the credit card statement showing two books with death in its title

buck65

Dead Souls - Nikolai Gogol

It is all a bit morbid alright:D

Ok I reckon as the guy who picked the books we should go with Death and the Penguin for Book no. 1. (It tied with Dead Souls )I will set up another thread for the books discussion.

Everyone ok with that?

TedB

Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth

How long do we get to read them before discussing them? I haven't even ordered it yet.

turgon

Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth

I thought we picked two?? I just ordered both But thats fine!

buck65

Dead Souls - Nikolai Gogol

Absolutely read 2 , maybe we can do Death first? and then Dead?:D
Will I do another thread for Dead Souls so?

LoLth

Death and the Penguin - Andrey Kurkov

I thought it was both as well. that way you have a choice or you can read both then again, not as if there's any rule against reading both. the whole point of the book club is to get as many people as possible reading the same book so there is something to discuss.

buck65

Dead Souls - Nikolai Gogol

TedB wrote: »

How long do we get to read them before discussing them? I haven't even ordered it yet.

I reckon about a month or so. Gives you time to buy it and get reading. I would imagine the thread/discussion might run for a few weeks anyway.

John

Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth

buck65 wrote: »

Was it that bad?!

Yes!