The Rory Gilmore Book Club discussion
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Nominations & Voting
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January Nominations...
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whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass
(last edited Dec 18, 2007 03:03AM)
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Dec 18, 2007 03:03AM

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Madame Bovary by Flaubert
Galapagos by Vonnegut
Sense and Sensibility by Austen

Rebecca - Never read, but DuMaurier's haunting imagination draws me to this otherwordly story. Would be fun to read and discuss in comparison with Hitchcock's 1940 adaptation, Rebecca as well.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn : Again, never read before. This might be one of those classics that go along with To Kill A Mockingbird that reveal something about coming of age of young people parallel to a society on the edge of turning its leaf once more.
Jane Eyre - Arctic, I had been against reading this for ages becuase I thought the Bronte Sisters would be boring. So wrong, suspenseful, tragic and engaging, Charlote Bronte is darker than Jane Austen, but a great read.

And the way to tag the book is as follows:
{book: book name}
only instead of { use [.

On the other hand a lot of my friends had to read Jane Eyre during freshman year in college and I've always been a little curious as to what it's about.
not sure why i had the austen mix-up. i guess maybe the title just sounds austenish to me. there was an austen discussion in another thread on this forum that piqued my interest in her though, hence the austen choice.

Can't wait to see what we'll be reading next month!

My favorite Austen is Sense and Sensibility, Heather, so it's a good pick! :) And the film version by Ang Lee is just beautiful.
No way Beth, I almost picked An American Tragedy. Did you know it was the basis for the movie A Place in the Sun? You would love that movie if you haven't seen it.

I loved Jane Eyre also -- and if you haven't read it and do -- then I'd add The Wide Sargasso Sea to be read also -- it is related to Jane Eyre and is worthy of being mentioned in the same breath -- some of those "extensions" of classic books are so not up to par that it is really great when one hits as does Rhys's TWSS.
Also -- Rebecca the book and Rebecca the film by Hitchcock are inseparable in my mind -- I've seen at least two more recent versions of it on TV and so on but the Hitchcock is still my favorite.



Reading Lolita in Tehran
Madame Bovary
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Jane Eyre is also a fav of mine! I love Emma and Sense and Sensibility and go back and forth as to which is my fav Austen at any given time:)

My choices are:
[Daniel Deronda] by George Elliot
[Women in Love] by D.H. Lawrence
[Bostonians] by Henry James

The Group
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Czar (Next to Henry VIII, my favorite family in history)
The Kite Runner (#2 on my list of all time favorites)
I can't believe that it's time to pick for January already :)

I second the Kite Runner and the Kitchen Boy.
I'd also like to nominate the Grapes of Wrath, because I really think I should have read it.
Don't forget that the books need to be on our Rory Gilmore Book List.
While your books sound great, Courtney, we decided as a group to stick with the books on the list for now. I should have posted that before. Sorry. Anyway, you can submit again!
While your books sound great, Courtney, we decided as a group to stick with the books on the list for now. I should have posted that before. Sorry. Anyway, you can submit again!
Ick to Wuthering Heights. It was torture to get through, especially when reading it on a beach in Cinque Terra!
I adore Jane Eyre, of course. I think I might have mentioned that once or eight-five times. In my opinion, the two books are night and day from each other.
Oh, Courtney, you need to do [ book : (title) ] without the spaces for the book links!
I adore Jane Eyre, of course. I think I might have mentioned that once or eight-five times. In my opinion, the two books are night and day from each other.
Oh, Courtney, you need to do [ book : (title) ] without the spaces for the book links!

I probably should check Rory's list to see which of those I've not read might fit with other reading needs -- but I think I'll just go with whatever y'all decide.

"My God, it's a recipe for disaster! You've got a vulnerable woman and an unstable man in a Gothic mansion on a rainy night! The only thing missing is someone shouting 'Heathcliff!' across the moors!"
My all-time favorite quote referencing Wuthering Heights is from Bridget Jones' Diary (the book)...
"It struck me as pretty ridiculous to be called Mr. Darcy and to stand on your own looking snooty at a party. It's like being called Heathcliff and insisting on spending the entire evening in the garden, shouting 'Cathy' and banging your head against a tree."
I'm laughing just typing it! Gah! So great! The first time I read this I was howling - I mean my gut ached so badly from laughing over it! And what was so lame was that I didn't have a soul around who'd understand the reference. I mean I was in Italy. Loads of international friends, but none of them that read - especially the classics! *contented sigh* Yet another reason to think you all rock!
"It struck me as pretty ridiculous to be called Mr. Darcy and to stand on your own looking snooty at a party. It's like being called Heathcliff and insisting on spending the entire evening in the garden, shouting 'Cathy' and banging your head against a tree."
I'm laughing just typing it! Gah! So great! The first time I read this I was howling - I mean my gut ached so badly from laughing over it! And what was so lame was that I didn't have a soul around who'd understand the reference. I mean I was in Italy. Loads of international friends, but none of them that read - especially the classics! *contented sigh* Yet another reason to think you all rock!

Ohhhh! I didn't realize that either...
So I suppose DuMaurier's Rebecca is out.
1. A Tree Grows in Broolyn
2. Jane Eyre
3. The Portable Dorothy Parker (I'm sticking with classic nominations. Would love to talk about Kite Runner in the near future.

Oops, forget my previous noms...I really thought Madame Bovary and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe were on it...oh well!
How about:
Reading Lolita in Tehran
The Portable Dorothy Parker
Just a Couple of Days


A Separate Peace
A Tree Grown in Brooklyn
Atonement
Emily I'm going to take your first nominations as they were all on the list. If you wish to change them, let me know.
If anyone would like me to email the book list in an Excel spreadsheet, let me know. I have it. It's ever so much easier to navigate and see what's actually there.
If anyone would like me to email the book list in an Excel spreadsheet, let me know. I have it. It's ever so much easier to navigate and see what's actually there.

This is what happened though, I had been looking at the Rory Gilmore list posted at http://www.listsofbests.com/list/697?... which is somewhat different...maybe the host of that site changed it a little when they moved it from the WB site? I dunno...



If Dorthy Parker is chosen, are we planning on choosing a contemporary? Or is she considered contemporary? How are we defining "classic" vs. "contemporary"?
I ask because DP is looonnnggg and while January is a slower month, I'm almost certain that I won't be reading two books for this club if one is over 600 pages. Not to say what I can and cannot do should dictate the reading for others...
Secondly:
Can we make it so that the discussion threads all begin on one date? I love the idea of saying every month, threads may begin on the 7th (giving members a whole week to start getting into the books). Since we're doing threads by chapters, this should allow discussions to start while not revealing too many spoilers.
But my point is what if someone chooses only to read one of the two books picked? Or chooses to read the second book before the first. Making them wait a whole week simply because they chose to read the second book, seems not right (to moi). Plus, I tend to read simultaneously. I really wanted to compare and contrast the two books this month, but because we had to wait a week before discussing ACC, I never did (mainly because I forgot).
Anyway, these are mere musings on my part. Take them as you will.

And I am a little slower about getting books than y'all. Between the selection and the start of discussion for Holidays on Ice & A Christmas Carol, I hadn't gotten to the library, let alone had the time to read the two books.
So, if you do decide on one start date, perhaps there can be more time between announcing the selections & starting discussions? (Difficult with this group of enthusiastic readers, I know).

I just hope that the Portable Dorothy Parker doesn't get paired with The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (636 pages).

I really felt that having a fixed start date part way through the month worked well. A wider variety of people were involved because they weren't going to be way behind in the discussions.
As far as a single start date, you know there was only five days between the two this month but that was great for those that needed that little extra time. Even if you only want to read the second book to be discussed, you'd have all that time and then be discussing it with everyone. Basically if we did do a single start date, it seems to me it would have to be later in the month.
Using start dates was all about participation and no one feeling like they could never catch up or feeling overwhelmed at everything that had already been posted. This month at least it really worked. Don't you think?
As far as a single start date, you know there was only five days between the two this month but that was great for those that needed that little extra time. Even if you only want to read the second book to be discussed, you'd have all that time and then be discussing it with everyone. Basically if we did do a single start date, it seems to me it would have to be later in the month.
Using start dates was all about participation and no one feeling like they could never catch up or feeling overwhelmed at everything that had already been posted. This month at least it really worked. Don't you think?
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