Boards Book Club?

Elmo

Do we have a book club?

A thread each week/month to disscuss a particual book.

dudara

We've tried a good few times now and it's never worked. Back in April or so, nesf got the ball rolling again for one, we nominated Lolita and For Whom The Bell Tolls (I think) as our books, we opened threads and guess what? Next to no replies.

Elmo

Perhaps we should go with more modern books.

LoLth

Has happened every time. there is a huge amount of interest in starting a book club and a lot of input into which book to read but when it comes to discussion almost no-one responds except to say "i liked it".

Most successful one so far was the one for Catch 22. that was quite popular but no one really had anything to discuss on the book as it was uniformally liked.

Perhaps a title that is a bit controversial would be a good idea, like one of the commentaries on western world culture or that guy from teh times new york who wrote a book about why snap decisions are usually better than thought out solutions. You know, something people will argue with.

Elmo

Yeah but not eveyone is into political/factual books.

John

I don't think LoLth meant a book that was necessarily political or factual, just one that would polarise opinions and allow for discussion. Catch-22 was a great book but I found it incredibly difficult to discuss especially when everyone agreed with me.

the dice man

Elmo wrote:

Yeah but not eveyone is into political/factual books.

ya but not everyone is going to be into the chosen book either.

i think it would be interesting to pick something along the lines LoLth was describing but i think it still should be fiction as discussion about a political book is really a discussion about politics.

Dades

the dice man wrote:

i think it would be interesting to pick something along the lines LoLth was describing but i think it still should be fiction as discussion about a political book is really a discussion about politics.

That's a fair point.

I'm all for a bookclub in theory, however a look at the bookpile on my bedside table tells me I won't be picking up anything new any time soon. (I'd imagine a lot of people here are the same).

You could always declare your intention to read a particular book and see who wants to join you. Other than that I wouldnt think the volume of users is there.

the dice man

The Atheist wrote:

You could always declare your intention to read a particular book and see who wants to join you. Other than that I wouldnt think the volume of users is there.

thats not a bad idea either, that way there's less pressure on people to finish the book or even read it

but what timeline would you set on someone reading a book?

i'd normally take a week but others seem to take months

theCzar

in the discussion thread of what book to read, dozens of people said they'ed read For Whom The Bell Tolls or wanted to read it. There's been other posts about hemingway and lots more people commented on how good For Whom the Bell Tolls is and how great Hemmingway is, and yet when the Discussion thread was posted, 2 people replied... go figure.

dudara

Not to sound peeved or anything, but I made an effort to go buy "For Whom The Bell Tolls", and to read it. When the discussion thread opened, I eagerly awaited a disucussion, as it was the first time in a while that I'd read a book with the intention of discussing it afterwards. So I was a bit upset at the lack of interest. Not surprised, but peeved.

I think that if you've read a good book and want to discuss it, just open a new thread. Concerted organised efforts don't seem to work too well here.

Enii

For book discussions and book talk, check out the forums in www.bookcrossing.com

ObeyGiant

I'd suggest going for books that aren't necessarily 'great'. For Whom The Bell Tolls is a very grand book, but having been dissected so many times by incredibly intelligent people, it makes it hard to give your own opinion (either because it's already been said, or might make you sound like an idiot).

So I'd suggest something a little more commonplace and/or contemporary. One that doesn't come with any baggage whatsoever.

I just finished Gregory Maguire's 'Wicked: A Novel', which even included a bunch of stepping-stones for book-groups - perhaps something like that might produce better results?

Elmo

how about the sea by john banville?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0330483285/qid=1126797861/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8667635-1293535?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Since its up for the Man Booker Prize.

Perhaps it's too new a book.