Bob’s Comments (group member since Jun 22, 2011)

Bob’s comments from the Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) group.

This has been on my TBR since it won the poll in 2015. I started it last night.

To Build a Fire by Jack London
is our April 2024 Short Story/Novella Read.

This discussion will open on April 1

Beware Short Story Discussions will have Spoilers

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is our March 2024 New School Classic Group Read.

This is the Spoiler Thread.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy is our April 2024 New School Classic Group Read.

This is the No Spoiler Thread
The Spoiler Thread will open on April 1, 2024.

This early posting of the No Spoiler thread is to discuss any non-plot issues pertaining to the book.

Appropriate Posts can contain:
1. Information about the author.
2. Compare editions/translations.
3. Any historical or background information
4. Are you familiar with this author’s work? Do you have any expectations going into the book?
5. What made you decide to read this book?
6. Any fan fiction that you have read or would like to read? Just link the books.
7. If you loved the book and want others to share in that experience, use this thread to motivate others, again save plot specifics for the Spoiler thread
8. If you hated the book, it would be best to keep that for the spoiler page

The most important thing to remember is no plot discussion. Any post that contains plot information or spoilers will be deleted.

Welcome back to Godreads and the group! See you at the Buffet.

Tim, welcome to the Buffet. Set up your own thread and join as many challenges as you want.

Directions-
Create your own separate thread to list the challenge/s you wish to participate in. If you plan on participating in several challenges, you will want to save/reserve several message/posts at the beginning of your thread to list each challenge you intend to try. Reserve 1-17 if you are going to try them all. Remember you can always delete the save posts if you don't need them.

These are the 14 titles randomly selected from our Master Short Story List. Please vote for the one that interests you the most. You can cast your vote by using the list number or the titles name. The top 7 will move forward to the poll on the 15th. A maximum of 7 titles will move to the poll. If there is a tie for 7th place only 6 titles will go to the poll.

Example: I vote for #__ -or- I vote for Story Title

9. The Jewbird by Bernard Malamud
31. Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Nikolai Leskov
353. The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter
69. So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ
47. A Respectable Woman by Kate Chopin
397. Politics and the English Language by George Orwell
131. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco
266. The Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges
15. The Garden Party in The Garden Party and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield
254. Haircut by Ring Lardner
377. The Ballerina and the Body by Alfred Döblin
161. The Horla by Guy de Maupassant
293. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
356. The Chase by Alejo Carpentier

Matt, I agree this has been a great start. I'm reading more than normal, and the variety has been good. I am hitting the short stories hard, 15 to date. I hope the rest of the year continues as good.

Congrats on finishing #7.

Congrats on finishing #7.

Sarah Penner was one of my new authors last year. I liked your thoughts on The Lost Apothecary.

The poll winner, To Build a Fire by Jack London

Voting results


7 votes - 334. The Poor Clare by Elizabeth Gaskell
5 votes - 143. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
4 votes - 167. Big Blonde and Other Stories title story by Dorothy Parker
3 votes - 41. To Build a Fire by Jack London
3 votes - 319. A Horseman in the Sky by Ambrose Bierce
2 votes - 76. Le Colonel Chabert by Honoré de Balzac
2 votes - 218. alphabet by Inger Christensen
2 votes - 298. Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
-----------
1 vote - 374. The Web of Earth by Thomas Wolfe
1 vote - 296. Childhood by Tove Ditlevsen
0 votes - 352. An Imaginative Woman and Other Stories title story by Thomas Hardy
0 votes - 10. How the Two Ivans Quarrelled by Nikolai Gogol
0 votes - 262. Teddy by J.D. Salinger
0 votes - 48. Dreamtigers

The Divine Comedy
I'm reading my sixth Old and New read and I have just completed a journey through Hell. I will be spending some time in Purgatory and hopefully end up in Paradise. This is a very difficult read and I hope it will be worth the effort. One saving grace is that last night after coming through the Inferno I found an excellent YouTube summary. It was very helpful. I got a better understanding of what I had read and resized that I had actually absorbed and retained quite a lot.

The Razor's Edge
I am also reading my second reread of the year. It is every bit as good as I remember.

I second True Grit

The Sea, The Sea was my first and so far my only by Murdoch, I hope there will be more.

Nice start. I too, rarely reread, but I am on my second of the year and plan on several more.

Glad things are better, another enjoyed review.

Great review, now I am curious. I agree, Pulitzer is not a promise of quality. Some are as bad as I have ever read.

I also enjoyed the writing but bizarre is a fair description for The Ice Palace. Nice progress.