As an aside, I've always felt that the story behind the writing of "Confederacy Of, Dunces" was much better than the book itself. Seems like that, could be an entire book club category in itself.
A bunch of those sound interesting--I voted for Burning Chrome mostly because I think it would be fun to switch things up with a short story compilation rather than a novel.
Also, in spite of the fact that my input has no actual bearing, I would also like to toss into the aether the suggestion of doing “First Blood” by David Morrell. The book is immensely better than the movie and full of fertile soil to analyze and discuss.
Ignatius J. Reilly is one of the great characters in U.S. literature. The book's publishing backstory is Louisiana State University press and Walker Percy--not NY. Ignatius J. Reilly ranks with Judge Holden, Hester Prynne, Yossarian, the Compson family, and Pecola Breedlove as a major character in our American narratives. Plus those communiss.
I have struggled with William Gibson every time I've tried to give him a read. Every time I pick up Neuromancer, I give up on it earlier than the time before. But it's possible a group read will help push me through. Maybe he'll finally click for me.
Two of those would be rereads for me, but I actually chose one of them because I’d love to talk about something I’ve already spent time thinking about before.
Just had another thought - it might be interesting to do one of Ishiguro's less successful novels. Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go, and The Buried Giant all land somewhere between best book of the year to best book of the decade category to me.
But A Pale View of the Hills and The Artist of the Floating World feel sort of like prototypes for Remains of the Day. The Unconsoled is just wildly different. When we were Orphans is a legitimately terrible novel, which is interesting in its own right, considering he wrote it after one masterpiece and directly before another. Klara and the Sun is quite good but also mostly forgettable.
Delving into any of those might be a more interesting discussion.
I remember reading *Things Fall Apart* as part of a high school English class. The class was one of the worst I've ever suffered through, but the book was pretty good.
I voted for The Confederacy of Dunces because I have a friend who dubbed a group of my professional acquaintances that and I'm curious about if the reference was dead on.
I considered the William Gibson one but the idea of cyberpunk stories means potentially reliving the horrors of Cyberpunk 2077. I don't need to be reminded of T posing NPCs, magical cops, and constant crashes, thank you very much Freddie.
Confederacy is hilarious and especially great if you have some knowledge of New Orleans, but it gets pretty depressing towards the middle end (really the whole story is pretty sad) and I remember having trouble finishing it
As a former bookseller, I can say that Confederacy of Dunces is a polarizing book. There are *many* who hate it, which is to say I think it would lead to a spirited conversation. That said, I stopped recommending it to friends, family, and customers because of the haterific feedback.
Your book choices a betray a shocking lack of taste and decency. I'd begin with the late Romans, including Boethius, of course. Then you should dip rather extensively into early Medieval. You may skip the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. That is mostly dangerous propaganda. Now that I think of it, you had better skip the Romantics and the Victorians, too. For the contemporary period, you should study some selected comic books. I recommend Batman especially, for he tends to transcend the abysmal society in which he's found himself. His morality is rather rigid, also. I rather respect Batman.
Please finish and/or write a review of the The Dawn of Everything. I'm particularly interested in the issues you have with the citations standards they used.
I voted!
As an aside, I've always felt that the story behind the writing of "Confederacy Of, Dunces" was much better than the book itself. Seems like that, could be an entire book club category in itself.
A bunch of those sound interesting--I voted for Burning Chrome mostly because I think it would be fun to switch things up with a short story compilation rather than a novel.
I’m doing my part!
Also, in spite of the fact that my input has no actual bearing, I would also like to toss into the aether the suggestion of doing “First Blood” by David Morrell. The book is immensely better than the movie and full of fertile soil to analyze and discuss.
Ignatius J. Reilly is one of the great characters in U.S. literature. The book's publishing backstory is Louisiana State University press and Walker Percy--not NY. Ignatius J. Reilly ranks with Judge Holden, Hester Prynne, Yossarian, the Compson family, and Pecola Breedlove as a major character in our American narratives. Plus those communiss.
a suggestion for reading: Elsie Bean's "Financial Exposure: Carl Levin's Senate Investigations into Finance and Tax Abuse"
I have struggled with William Gibson every time I've tried to give him a read. Every time I pick up Neuromancer, I give up on it earlier than the time before. But it's possible a group read will help push me through. Maybe he'll finally click for me.
Two of those would be rereads for me, but I actually chose one of them because I’d love to talk about something I’ve already spent time thinking about before.
Just had another thought - it might be interesting to do one of Ishiguro's less successful novels. Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go, and The Buried Giant all land somewhere between best book of the year to best book of the decade category to me.
But A Pale View of the Hills and The Artist of the Floating World feel sort of like prototypes for Remains of the Day. The Unconsoled is just wildly different. When we were Orphans is a legitimately terrible novel, which is interesting in its own right, considering he wrote it after one masterpiece and directly before another. Klara and the Sun is quite good but also mostly forgettable.
Delving into any of those might be a more interesting discussion.
I remember reading *Things Fall Apart* as part of a high school English class. The class was one of the worst I've ever suffered through, but the book was pretty good.
I voted for The Confederacy of Dunces because I have a friend who dubbed a group of my professional acquaintances that and I'm curious about if the reference was dead on.
I considered the William Gibson one but the idea of cyberpunk stories means potentially reliving the horrors of Cyberpunk 2077. I don't need to be reminded of T posing NPCs, magical cops, and constant crashes, thank you very much Freddie.
Confederacy is hilarious and especially great if you have some knowledge of New Orleans, but it gets pretty depressing towards the middle end (really the whole story is pretty sad) and I remember having trouble finishing it
This was a hard choice! Great variety.
As a former bookseller, I can say that Confederacy of Dunces is a polarizing book. There are *many* who hate it, which is to say I think it would lead to a spirited conversation. That said, I stopped recommending it to friends, family, and customers because of the haterific feedback.
I voted for Dunces. It's my favorite novel.
Your book choices a betray a shocking lack of taste and decency. I'd begin with the late Romans, including Boethius, of course. Then you should dip rather extensively into early Medieval. You may skip the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. That is mostly dangerous propaganda. Now that I think of it, you had better skip the Romantics and the Victorians, too. For the contemporary period, you should study some selected comic books. I recommend Batman especially, for he tends to transcend the abysmal society in which he's found himself. His morality is rather rigid, also. I rather respect Batman.
Please finish and/or write a review of the The Dawn of Everything. I'm particularly interested in the issues you have with the citations standards they used.