February & March 2008 Fiction Book Suggestions

[jales4]

Hi,

My vote is for either Heart of Darkness or Let's Talk About Kevin. Heart is my first choice though - I've tried it, found it difficult, and quit - so doing it as a group read would give the incentive to work through it.

Jan.

[irishrosem]

I really was just rattling off titles of the types of books we might want to consider. But, since The Heart of Darkness got a couple mentions, I'll throw my weight behind it too. Hell, I haven't read it since high school. Plus we might be able to work a nice movie night tie-in with Apocalypse Now.

So some considerations for Heart of Darkness. It's short, almost like a novella, which is good because, if chosen, I think it might be booktalk's first official foray into modernist literature. But I think Conrad is eminently more manageable than someone like Joyce. And I don't think its shorter length would limit us from having suitable material to keep discussion going. Outside of the story itself, Conrad's prose style is really something to behold. One comes across the most extraordinary passages throughout. It's the type of prose where it's obvious every word is absolutely calculated.

[quote]The earth seemed unearthly. We are accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster, but there

[Chris OConnor]

As requested I have deleted the book images of the books we're swapping. We do want to pick the next 2 fiction books right away. I don't like seeing the blank book boxes up top. Having the 4th box empty with the "To be determined" is a good thing I suppose as it tells visitors that they are joining at a time when they can help us pick the next books, but having 3 blank book boxes in a row looks bad.

So let's pick at least the next fiction book this weekend!

[Constance963]

I would second the Girls by Lori Lansens. I already have it purchased and I think the conjoined twins dynamic looks interesting. I think I would read Heart of Darkness as well. I would have to purchase it but it looks interesting.

[BrianSJNB]

Persepolis is a comic book for children about a girl's childhood.

So it's not suitable for us, I don't know how that escaped me the first time I looked it up at amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0375714 ... eader-link

I know this is irrelevant at this point, but it is definitely not something you should let children read unless they are very mature, or you are a bad parent.

I'd be willing to read Heart of Darkness.

[Raych]

I'd like to pitch in my vote for Then We Came to the End or We Need to Talk About Kevin.

[Mr. P]

Heart of Darkness looks like a clear winner.

Mr. P.

[Ophelia]

First, thanks Brian about the link to Persepolis: so it's definitely not for children, but it's a comic book, and as I haven't read it I can only say that the theme seems to be be interesting.

About making a decision: I can't make up my mind, so I'll say this: I'll go along with whatever book other people choose, I'll read it and I will take part in the discussion (provided I've got somehing to say! )

[Loricat]

I'll pick up whatever book people want to read...at the moment, I'm rather compulsively reading and re-reading a(n albeit very good) fantasy novel. It's like I'm stuck on a fast-forward/rewind loop.

(will a day come when cassettes of any kind are so obsolete that nobody gets that metaphor? )

[JulianTheApostate]

Regarding Persepolis, my wife, who's bright and reads lots of serious books, found that book worthwhile and recommended it to me. Though it's not the kind of book we typically select here, it seemed worth considering, especially since the movie version is coming out and Iran is in the news so much.

For my book suggestions, I deliberately chose books that would be less daunting to read. Our book discussions here are often constrained by the fact that few people manage to read the book. A more accessible book might lead to more people participating.