Fiction selections needed for Sep./Oct. discussion

[Suzanne]

"The Tin Drum" by Günter Grass -- I don't want to read this, and neither does oblivion, as in Germany they are overexposed to it.

What? No votes for Xombies? The Tin Drum it is then!

I missed that it won the nobel... I'm in for drum.

The Tin Drum does kind of cool though.

(The Tin Drum) Sounds good.

I'm in... (for The Tin Drum)

No way, no how will I let you pick and choose the comments that you care to read and see, and those that reinforce your preferences. "The Tin Drum" has recieved the most possitive feedback. You cannot get around this fact.

I think that's the breakdown so far. You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is where we stand as of now.

I'm correcting you. This is a community effort, the weight of one person’s opinion is not greater than any other. I find your above summary to be prejudicial.

[Genocide]

Why don't we just forget all comments on these eight and start fresh? Give our nominated books a clean slate?

[wilde]

Wasn't the discussion about how people didn't want to read books taking place in Japan?

Someone pointed out that a few of the books were by Japanese authors... There was also a book that took place in China. They said they didn't want to read them, and someone else misinterpreted it... It was a big discussion over nothing, really.

Oh, bleacheden, you were correct about me and Les Mis and Jane Austen.


I agree with genocide; everyone's getting really defensive about their favorite books (can't say I blame anyone to be honest; I get pretty defensive here about Steinbeck sometimes).

And Suzanne's list looks about right. Shades of Grey and Girl with Glass Feet was nominated by the same person; maybe they could choose just one for this time? I'm out of ideas.

[Theomanic]

Ahhh... I was joking about Xombies! Sorry, my bad.

[wilde]

Ahhh... I was joking about Xombies! Sorry, my bad.

Don't back down! Zombie novels are great!

You guys don't know what you're missing....

[Suzanne]

Ahhh... I was joking about Xombies! Sorry, my bad.

Figured as much, I was tempted to include Xmen!

The problem we may be experiencing is that there seems to be too many opinions about what not to read, and too few opinions about what to read. Instead of “I don’t want to”, maybe there should be more, “I would like to”. This certainly would be more constructive and ultimately more productive.

There is no magic number of how many book suggestions should be amassed for consideration. Frankly, the more options, the greater the likelihood of a book being chosen that is appealing to the majority of fiction readers. So keep the suggestions coming. One member can nominate more than one book, this is not a contest to see whose book will win. Good grief, if that were true, I’d be the biggest loser.

There is no control over which books are suggested. They are what they are. But what is needed is positive feedback about the books nominated. The books with the most positive feedback will go up in the poll. The books nominated MUST have a link so members can review the suggestions.

We need to wrap this up. The discussion book should be selected in the next two weeks so people have a chance to get their copy and be ready for the start of this discussion which is September. This means that within the next few days, the poll will be open. It would be nice to be able to put up three strong contenders.

[Genocide]

Ahhh... I was joking about Xombies! Sorry, my bad.

Don't say that! I would have voted for it...

[wilde]

Well, the four ones I would pick would be:

Blindness (Well, obviously, since I nominated it... I made my case for it on the first page.)

Handmaid's Tale (I'm going to read Year of the Flood soon, by the same author. Plus, from what I understand, it's sort of post-apocalyptic, and you know how much I love those. )

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (I'm a little iffy, but it does remind me of Jose Saramago's The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, so I might like it.)

Shades of Grey (I listened to one of those Thursday Next books, by the same author, and while I did feel it had way too many subplots, it was good overall, so I think I might like this.)

[Suzanne]

I like "Blindness" too.

And I like, "The Tin Drum".

[wilde]

Tin Drum would probably be my fifth choice.