Hello, hubski, especially you 74 people who follow this tag and you twenty-something I have just highlighted. I suspect almost complete overlap in the two groups. Oh well.
Anyway, we are gathered here today to select a new material for the hubski book club. Three or four of us just finished reading Blood Meridian. This time we would like more people to finish reading our choice, so while all suggestions are welcome it would be nice if we kept things light this go-round. Light-ish. Suggest away!
eightbitsamurai, StJohn, DiamondLou86, AnSionnachRua, _refugee_, minimum_wage, flagamuffin, fuffle, b_b, hugitout, JakobVirgil, zebra2, AdSeriatim, mk, thenewgreen, SufficientGrace, ecib, kleinbl00, cliffelam, hootsbox, lil, rezzeJ, cgod, blackbootz, onehunna, AshShields, BLOB_CASTLE, insomniasexx, kuli, cowboyhaze, louderwords, Floatbox, maynard, hiss, NikolaiFyodorov, Meriadoc, wasoxygen, BlackBird, jayfixkleenit, crimsonlight, Kaius, spearhard, iamducky, humanodon
*can totally be a play, compilation of poems, movie^, selection of essays, etc.
^nope, can't be this! Ya got me!
I think the idea of a movie would be a good idea. It's generally a two hour affair, and discussions could happen over a weekend. For suggestions... I'm torn, part of me wants to link a trailer for the movies I want to suggest, but isn't it fun to watch a movie without any prior knowledge or expectations? but how will I convince people that it's a movie worth watching? I'm for A Separation, an Iranian movie about a divorce in modern day Iran. The Guard* is a violent, crackerjack comedy with a strong Irish flavor and an eminently likable Brendan Gleeson in the main role. Children of Men* works on every level: as a violent chase thriller, a fantastical cautionary tale, and a sophisticated human drama about societies struggling to live. This taut and thought-provoking tale may not have the showy special effects normally found in movies of this genre, but you won't care one bit after the story kicks in, about a dystopic future where women can no longer conceive. It will have you riveted. Three of my favorite movies, and if you haven't seen them yet, do yourself a favor and don't watch the trailer. Just let the film do the storytelling. Let me know gang. (*) means I stole the summary from rotten tomatoes.
but this time, it'll be different ;) I'm sorry the last movie talk was a bit of a bust. I think the problem with asking the crowd to decide what to watch/read next is that most people will nominate their personal suggestion, a suggestion with 3 votes behind it rises to the top, and another with 2, and then all the rest have just the one vote from the nominators. The OP goes along with what looks like consensus when, really, most of the people who suggested a movie/book are now turned off to the whole thing because their suggestion was asked for but wasn't picked, and only 3 people are happy. Just like how 32 flavors of ice cream is paralyzing, a dozen suggestions that run the gamut of genre and medium is too much choice. But anyone can make a decision between vanilla or chocolate. Now that we have felt the community out a little bit, the OP can put up a binary or three-option vote. /$0.02
I've considered that maybe we should attempt to splinter the book/movie clubs into more specialized niches. Maybe people will be more likely to stick around if something's at least within the genre of what they expect. Like for me, I'm much more open to reading scifi in one of these things. I've thought maybe if I want to actually see some of the books I want to read, I should just start my own scifi club, which I may very well do. I also want to emphasize choosing freely-available content, and perhaps preferably short stories so that people can participate with minimal effort, hopefully leading to greater turnout.
Science fiction short story, I'm so down. Zebra you have a sign up.
My vote's for a little book called Swamplandia! OK, now that I've crawled out of bed, showered, and even gotten all the way to work (yes guys I hubski long before I am dressed) here is Swamplandia! on Amazon. I was introduced to this book because of an NPR (a NPR?) book review. NPR considered Swamplandia! one of the best books of the year the year it was published. I bought the book and then it sat in my house for like a full year. Recently I picked it up, probably because I'm supposed to be reading Contact by Carl Sagan and uggghhh I just can't get into it. Well, Swamplandia! is amazing. Swamplandia! is SO amazing, I want to know what happens next, but I don't want to read the Wikipedia page to find out. I have a funny approach to a lot of things which is that if I'm into it or interested in what happens next I'll read the Wikipedia page and I'll find out. Then I continue with the book or with the series. Recently I did this with American Horror Story and The Road. Half of it is because I'm afraid the author is going to do something really stupid that makes me mad, so if I check it out first on Wikipedia, I'll know what to expect. Well, with Swamplandia! i know I could access the summary, but I don't want to. Maybe a little part of me is afraid to. Short summary: so Swamplandia! is set in an alligator used-to-be amusement park. It's on an island in the Thousand Islands and the amusement park (called Swamplandia!) is run by a family, except (like the amusement park) the family is slowly falling apart. The main character is a young girl who wants to grow up to be an alligator wrestling champion. IT'S WONDERFUL. Even if we don't choose it I will try to participate more for book club this round. Sorry guys :(
Actually I'm re-reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, so I'm occupied, book-wise. And it's about as far from light as you can get.
I've never read any David Foster Wallace and would like to.
I read his essay Shipping Out - On the (nearly lethal) comforts of a luxury cruise a few weeks ago. I think it was linked somewhere on here? I don't remember. Or spurred by this short discussion. Throwing it in as a second recommendation. It's great read.
If you'd like a sample of his writing, I'd recommend the essay "Federer as Religious Experience". His fiction has a similar style, methinks.
That was an absolutely amazing read, thank you. I have taken up tennis in the last year and although it is 30° outside, I am trying to find a game tonight. What beautiful writing. I saw some collegiate tennis players playing competitively recently. It was the first time I had seen tennis played at a higher level. It really is hard to express just how fast the game is moving, and this wasn't even professional. Television does tennis a disservice. The piece talks about how Ivan Lendl is the first to transition tennis to the power baseline game it is now. I recently watched a McEnroe Lendl match that they had to raise money for charity. It was really cool to see those two go at it again, even as older men. Lendl still has power and Mac can still volley with the best of them. Once and a while I will watch old doubles matches. I've heard it said that the best doubles team in history is John McEnroe and whoever he's playing with. From what I've watched, that seems just about right. Now that Nadal is more mature, do you think that he has the subtleties that made Fedderer so special? What do you think b_b? Thanks for posting that.
Thanks for the link; that was great. I was a big fan of watching tennis during Fed's heyday. It's amazing to have such an articulate writer describe the feeling of watching him. He really is the most unbelievable athlete I've ever seen (and I never got to experience it in person, sadly). The only other man I've ever seen that can blow my mind with his technique is Pavel Datsyuk (a professional hockey player, for the uninitiated...here is an amazing compilation, but watch it without sound). Both men have a unique blend of physical and creative impossibility that watching them is transcendent in a way that redefines sports.
Yeah, that's the thing. I mean, I got halfway into St John's book way back and didn't even finish that - same for that book about the German author, whose name eludes me. I can't imagine how many people would agree to read Infinite Jest and how few would come back (not to mention when). Not to poo-poo the suggestion of b_b and _refugee_ that we actually do read it (I do have a hundred-page headstart).
It might be for some. Plus, something that one person finds absolutely enthralling is not at all guaranteed to have the same effect on another. I'd just like this round to get as much participation as possible, so it would be great to set this round up for success as much as possible, you know?
Totally. I don't disagree with you, I was just making the point generally that 100 pages is a slog if the writing isn't captivating, while 1000 goes by like nothing when your interest is piqued. Swamplandia is 400 pages. My suggestion or Darkness at Noon is <300. Neither should be too herculean to tackle. After reading a bit about it, I'm pretty interested in reading Swamplandia. It's contemporary and popular, but by all accounts it's apparently also interesting and different. That all seems like good criteria for a book club book.
Generally speaking, people are very keen to say they'll do things, whereas anything that actually requires voluntary effort is only done by a few.
I'd like to forget 2666, I wasn't a fan. The Fountainhead has it's flaws, but it was at least entertaining. I think people have forgotten about Jamrach's Menagerie.
Got it. Jamrach was a long one too though... It would be nice to have a book we could all burn through and enjoy.
I retract my suggestion for Infinite Jest and stick with my first suggestion The Boys in the Boat -My wife highly recommends it, as flagamuffin pointed out, it won a ton of awards and my guess is that nobody here has already read it, which is good. Plus I've never read a book on a kindle and it's on my wife's kindle. It will be my first ever e-book.
My vote is for Darkness at Noon, by Arthur Koestler. I've been wanting to get into him lately. I'm not so good at joining the book club discussions, but I read them, and enjoy the collective experience. So take that FWIW. I know that kinda defeats the point of a book club.
The anti-communist book? [well anti-Stalinist I read it in my read every single dystopia phase lit is like animal farm with no animals. good book ]
I want to throw in my suggestion that I put in to the last thread for something to boost participation, is easy to read, and is fun to read, as well as taking very little time: we should do a graphic novel. There are plenty of very literary ones we could pick from that would certainly be a benefit to our lives for reading them, and it would be nice to boost appreciation for the artform as well. For example, Maus was an incredible graphic novel detailing the artist's father's tale of survival through the concentration camps. The art and writing were impeccable, and while you could dwell on it and read it over weeks, it could easily been read through in a day or two. The one downside would be availability and price, but at the same time it's very easy to find .cbr files and magnet links to practically anything we want to read. Thought?
With that caveat, I guess I'm in. There are things I prefer to read that aren't graphic novels but let's see what everyone else thinks.The one downside would be availability and price, but at the same time it's very easy to find .cbr files and magnet links to practically anything we want to read.
Just a couple of suggestions - Theodore Sturgeon for short stories. I've only read "A Touch of Strange" and "E Pluribus Unicorn", long ago, but great stuff. Some of his short stories are available online. "Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman" - because anyone who hasn't read it, should.
Random suggestions: Brave Story
Ready Player One The latter I think may be more interesting to some. Edit: HOLY SHIT NO YOU ALL HAVE TO READ THE EVOLUTION OF BRUNO LITTLEMORE.
some short stories would be sick i just started reading Seek: Reports from the Edges of America & Beyond
I would like to read The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. It comes very highly recommended by my wife, she couldn't put it down and more than once looked over at me saying, "you have to read this book!" The link is a review from the Guardian.
short and beautiful practically a novella. The Tale of the Unknown Island: Jose Saramago Saramago is a Nobel Laureate for another book Cain which is also great.