[TTLG Book Club] An introduction and August's selection: The Life of Pi (discuss!)

OnionBob on 30/6/2006 at 19:39

Probably going to be in on this, depending on how my course reading is going. Suggestions for further books are only ones that I've read before (CRYPTONOMICON OH GOD YES) so i'll keep them to myself. ;)

Stitch on 30/6/2006 at 20:02

Quote Posted by Para?noid

Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh

I'm starting to see some problems in keeping this democratic, igs.

Kyloe on 30/6/2006 at 20:05

May I suggest Master and Commander by Patrick o'Brian? (Or any of the other twenty books in the series.) ~~It's like a Star Trek novel without aliens.~~ It's exactly like a Star Trek novel (there are Spaniards)!

Stitch on 30/6/2006 at 20:08

If you will be participating even if it isn't selected, then you can suggest anything you like.

Morte on 30/6/2006 at 20:52

I'll likely bow out after the first two or three months due to being horribly busy, but I'm in for now.

As for September's book, how about After The Quake by Haruki Murakami? Or Hell's Angels by Hunter S Thompson.

TheGreatGodPan on 30/6/2006 at 22:00

I just finished Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities" two days ago. I got it because Steve Sailer won't shut up about how great Wolfe is, and when I read some of Wolfe's online stuff like his "Fiction Absolute" speech, I decided to give it a shot. I really enjoyed the book, even though the main characters aren't all that likable. I suppose the difference with this and other books that put me off with their dislikable characters is that I don't think the reader is SUPPOSED to like them, and on the contrary should indulge in schadenfreude.

I'm not sure what I'll read next. I've had my fill of "observer of American culture" and might go for "The Master and Margarita", "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch", "The Storm of Steel" or "One Hundred Years of Solitude".

OnionBob on 30/6/2006 at 22:38

Oh also, I know we're vetoing genre books generally but I was thinking about this - how about The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler?

It's a classic hardboiled noir detective novel (I haven't read it but want to). It's cheap as fuck and easy to get, there's a film of it for those of us who might want to make the comparisons (always good for discussion and Bogey is in it too <3) and also the plot is reportedly rather sprawling at times, so a support group would be excellent if just for helping keep the thread.

I think it would be a lot of fun, however I do understand the wish to stay away from genres. God knows Internet needs places to talk about non-formulaic but not-impossible-to-enjoy books.

edit: hrr

Aja on 30/6/2006 at 22:50

I'm in; having people tell me which book to buy makes it so much easier.

Scots Taffer on 1/7/2006 at 00:10

I too am in, perhaps not every month, but maybe every second month.

I'll have a look for the Life of Pi in the bookstores and I'd like to second the nominations for a Master and Commander book by Patrick O'Brien, and The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler for a future month.

Also, I think the potential for movie tie-in discussion as Onionbob suggests is also quite nice but that'll evolve organically among those who wish to discuss the adaptive process and the translation between mediums.

Para?noid on 1/7/2006 at 01:08

Quote Posted by Stitch

I'm starting to see some problems in keeping this democratic, igs.

It was a suggestion, jeez. Think how I feel about you suggesting a book where some cunt named after an irrational constant twats around with a tiger on a boat.