I know that to generate mass appeal the best sellers are probably the best books to have on the fiction reading list.

I enjoy reading fiction but I like to limit myself to "classics". The best sellers from back in the day

I know that opening up another book of the month will probably cause the science fiction people to think up theirs, and the romance people to dream of theirs, which will make the mystery people wonder why they don't have their own, and may finally cause the horror people to scream.

But I think that opening up another book of the month for older classics serves this community in a beneficial way.

First, the classics would encompass all those genres.

Second, there won't be any requests for classical fiction books in the normal book of the month thread anymore. This will help best-sellers achieve book of the month status and will net more newcomers to BT.

Third, new and popular books will be offered and displayed on the BT home page which will peak the interest of passers by, again netting more members.

Fourth, those who want intellectual stimuli from their books can vote for the 'classical' book of the month and those who wish for a great read and general mind numbing enjoyment can choose the new popular fiction book of the month.

Fifth, by separating the new books from the old books, it opens up a greater possibility of author involvement per month. For example, a dead author wouldn't be as involved with BT as say one that was still alive.

The name doesn't have to be 'classics' or all about old literature but rather a place where intellectual works of fiction or 'boring' works or unpopular works or even re-discussed books can be read and reviewed.

I think this might be a good idea.

Hello Mr President,


Thanks again for your suggestions, I find all the suggestions we receive to be thought-provoking.


First, about the fiction forum in general: Chris is going to change one important point in the organization, so this should be coming up soon and answer some of the questions you asked in your post.


For the moment I don't think we are ready to share novels between classics and contemporary in a firm way, as we are separating fiction from non fiction.

But anything possible if a new idea catches other members' attention.


As you know, we discussed Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and it was a very enriching experience.
I have also suggested some twentieth century classics in the current "Suggestions and polls", and "Vanity Fair" is a 19thC English classic.


Which classics would you like to read and introduce to us?

How about "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins ?

Or The Steppenwolf, by Herman Hesse?

Or Lolita by Nabokov (1955). Is this a classic for you?
Two new members have mentioned it recently.

The most difficult thing is always to find a book a few people can agree on.

"So, which classics would you like to suggest?The name doesn't have to be 'classics' or all about old literature but rather a place where intellectual works of fiction or 'boring' works or unpopular works or even re-discussed books can be read and reviewed".


the use of the word "intellectual" book of fiction is not the best. If we choose a contemporary novel, it will be quality book which will make discussion possible.

You mention "rediscussed books" I have seen books that have already been discussed in the non-fiction forum that I'd like to discuss--- three of them. So again, if we could agree on something there's no reason read it at BT.

oooooh, I don't have any specific titles to suggest.... I don't read much fiction. When I do read it though, and this might sound horrible, I read what others deem ground-breaking works of literature. I like to read firsts, as in the first author to write a novel in a specific country, or novels that pushed society to change, or other works that caused other significant events to occur.

I don't like to read a novel to cry, or become hopeful, or smile, ....

I read a novel to say I've read it. If I enjoy it... thank god.

Horrible right? But that is the truth of me concerning novels.

So among those novels you read... let's say for your general culture, and among those you read in school, are there none that you liked?

I don't remember anything that I read in school. I didn't read any fiction for class or on my free time. I slept through most of my classes because of sports and then senior year they tried to kick me out of school. I was put in a class for slow learners - it was the last step before getting the boot. I didn't cause any problems... I just didn't want to be there.

Now, though, I like to read and I have years of catching up to do. When I first started reading, I read action novels. It started when I crashed my motorcycle and tore up my leg pretty bad. I was hospitalized for a couple days and then sent home with some pieces of my ass sewn on to my leg.

My Mom gave me Sho-Gun by Clavell. Great book. So after that I read Tai-Pan, and continued reading Clavell.

That was almost 10 years ago. My tastes have changed since then. The last fiction I read was Dead Souls by Gogol and the one before that was Weiland by Charles Brockden Brown.

I'm pretty stubborn so I'll stick with the classics for a while.

So what is next on your list of classics?

no idea

President, have you read any Tolstoy? I've read War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Both very good.

I enjoy reading the classics as well. Secret Garden was just one that I throughly enjoyed. I am always picking up classics but don't get the chance to read them because of other commitments. I have Anna Karena, Potrait of Dorian Gray, Gone with the Wind, Dante's Inferno, Brothers Grimm, Crime and Punishment, and many more. I would love to have a classic fiction section. I know that Chris is very busy but I would love a section just for that. Call me crazy! :laugh2:

President Camacho

Your idea of discussing classics is a fantastic one, but we're already spread a bit thin. We read and discuss several books concurrently, but only a small handful of members participates in any particular discussion. It might thin out the discussions even more if we introduced a new book discussion subject area (classics) before we gained some new members.

I've actually thought about this idea a great deal. My father left behind a few of his book collections and they are all classics. I now own most of the "100 Greatest Books Ever Written" by Easton Press and two collections of the Harvard Classics. It sure would be nice to start digging into these quality books.

If you look at our Forum & Member Statistics page at http://www.booktalk.org/statistics.php you'll see that we have about 20 - 40 new posts per day. I'm forced to guess what would be a good goal for total new posts per day so my goal might not match with your own goal. I think we need to be over 50 to add a new book subject such as classics, but preferably over 100 per day.

In fact people have asked me about my goals with BookTalk.org so I'll share them here. I'd like to see us regularly having over 100 new posts per day. This would mean we need to triple in size or activity level. Don't read this wrong. I don't want every forum to triple in activity. I'd like the book discussions to grow so that they are a bigger part of what we offer.

Again, I am pulling these numbers out of my @$$. The point is that we need more members participating on the forums actively so that if we added a new "Classics" forum we wouldn't make the existing book discussion forums even less active as members move from the current book forums into the classic forum.

If you can think of another way to add a Classics forum and have it not dilute the other book forums let me know, because this is one of the best suggestions we've ever had. It sure would draw in the types of people that will contribute quality material to the community.

I'm all ears.