Monthly Group Reads: Reading the Poll Losers Instead?

[[deleted user]]

I plan on reading Gods of Gotham after I'm done with The Afghan Campaign. My library has it, so why not?

[Jane]

Derek wrote: "I plan on reading Gods of Gotham after I'm done with The Afghan Campaign. My library has it, so why not?"

I probably will too, since my library has both.

[Bryn]

I've got Gods of Gotham, so I'll have a look inside.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Jean wrote: "

I'm really into 'Pure', a third of the way through now. I am there with Jean-Baptiste, embarrassed for him in his would-be tre..."

Yes! I felt tall this too. The clothes, the wanting to be modern. The awkwardness in ones first public position. I found it wonderfully convincing also.

[Dawn]

Oh good, this should give me a few opinions on The Gods of Gotham so I can decide whether to add it to my shelves or not. :)

[Lia]

Finished Pure and this is my review;

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jean]

I will read all your reviews with interest when I finish!

I was NOT expecting the event in Ch 12!! It's interesting that the women all seem predatory; even Jeanne's innocence is a kind of trap.

I had a bad moment this morning when I could smell dead body in the dining-room. I thought 'Pure' was starting to get to me but then I saw a tail underneath the central heating boiler. Yes, a mouse had popped his clogs there. How disgusting is that on the run-up to Christmas!

[Daniel]

Jane wrote: "Derek wrote: "I plan on reading Gods of Gotham after I'm done with The Afghan Campaign. My library has it, so why not?"

I probably will too, since my library has both."

Me too, I have both on hold at my library as we speak

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Jean wrote: "I will read all your reviews with interest when I finish!

I was NOT expecting the event in Ch 12!! It's interesting that the women all seem predatory; even Jeanne's innocence is a kind of trap.

..."

hahaha. I was a bit squeamish with the descriptions of death scent in the book. The dead mouse would not have helped my repulsion factor. ;)

I felt that too. That the women were predatory. No matter how innocent or guileless, they still were predatory.
I wonder if that is just how the author felt the charatcers should be, or, whether that is how he sees women.

[Jean]

To me, it all feels like part of the world being out to get John-Baptiste. I could feel the paranoia building but at the moment, now that something very bad has happened, it's as if it's freed him and returned his values from back home.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Yes, that is an important piece of the puzzle for this book I feel. Simple country lad goes to the big city. A place where, traditionally, the naive get swallowed up by modernity and fast paced urgency.
Simple country lad tries to assimilate, tries to be part of the ebb and flow, but in the end..he remembers who he is and where he came from.

[Lia]

Jean wrote: "... It's interesting that the women all seem predatory; even Jeanne's innocence is a kind of trap..."

To a certain level I was able to tolerate them. Some of these women were very smart but there were very limited venues available to channel their brain power. So they constantly on the look out for the new possibilites in order to safely use their cunning without being stared at with suspicious eyes. Worse yet being branded heretic or a witch. They didn't wanted to be the next Joan the Arc.

[Amanda]

Finished Pure. I'll start The Gods of Gotham soon.

[Jean]

Interesting line of thought, Lia. I'm too much in Jean-Baptiste's viewpoint to have thought about the women from their own point of view, and I don't mind that.

Terri - that's it, exactly! What I'm liking at the moment is that he's stopped sinking. For me, the author has really captured the way a person gets caught up in what other people 'make' him do. I like the fight back. I love the moment where he looks at the pawnbroker and stands up to him instead of politely agreeing and scuttling off. Do you have to be in a position where you don't care any more to do that??

[Jean]

Oof. Finished. I feel punched in the guts, stimulated. I think this is a book that will turn in my imagination for a long, long time.

I love the way it is written (OK I could pick fault but the spare style, the realism has me completely won). I love this quote 'He might ask for something decent, something small, something that does not place him at the disposal of men he does not respect, who do not respect him'. This speaks to me.

I don't like not knowing why Ziguette behaved as she did; I can feel story-threads trailing (the graffiti - all that potential for misunderstanding and bad bad outcome just peters out); and the very end section feels a bit like 'I must have something horrible or it's not literature' but at the same time works because this is just before all hell breaks loose - the revolution.

And the stories of redemption and personal choices were timeless. I really lived this one. Off to read your reviews now. I always find I can see what other readers mean, even when their views are so different from mine.

[Jean]

Jane wrote: "Here's my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I took it as a surface story, but also as a 'novel of ideas'."

I didn't take in these metaphors as such at all - though I can see it. This novel is so rich in levels of interpretation.

Terri's review and further comments in the thread express my feelings best but I shall be thinking about this novel for a long time.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I am so glad this book touched your mind in the same way it touched mine, Jean.
It is always nice when someone likes a book the same as you, but to actually feel similar depths of thought over it, that is a good fun.

I enjoyed all your thoughts on the book. They reminded me of why I liked the book so much and it made me reminisce on the thoughts that had come to me as I was reading the book last month.

Thanks for finding the time to share your views on what you were reading. :)

[Jean]

Terri, the start of your review could have been me writing - I put off reading it and am so glad I now have.

I completely agree about the sexual undercurrents too. Too much agreement :) we'd better get a romance on the group reading list ;)and I'll try not to come late to the party next time I join in.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

lol! Argh!! Romance!! Wash out your mouth. ;)

[Linda]

Terri wrote: "lol! Argh!! Romance!! Wash out your mouth. ;)"

Ha. Ha. I agree, Terri. No romances on my shelves.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Linda wrote: "Terri wrote: "lol! Argh!! Romance!! Wash out your mouth. ;)"

Ha. Ha. I agree, Terri. No romances on my shelves."


That must be a fine shelf! ;)

[Bryn]

I read about 80 pages of The Gods of Gotham yesterday, not bad. Reminds me of Les Mis for the street slang, and maybe Dickens for the grime, grot & chaos of said streets. One thing I'm interested to read about is the rampant prejudice against Irish & Catholics.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Does the street slang seem natural in the dialogue?

[Bryn]

Terri wrote: "Does the street slang seem natural in the dialogue?"

It's heavily used. It's without doubt authentic, although it can come across a bit naff to us, when the slang has halfway survived but gone out of fashion. Makes it interesting, I like that she does that.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Is it like this? :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhninL...

[Bryn]

Maybe a bit!!!!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

lol ;)

[Bryn]

The Gods of Gotham Author is mad on metaphors. I don't mind that, though maybe a sentence consisting of two similes is overdoing it: He still looked like the edge of a serrated knife, fingers twitching like a smashed spider. What with them & and the slang (known as 'flash'), it's strongly picturesque language.

I'm at p.150.

[Darcy]

I've just returned from the bookshop and there's a sequel to The Gods of Gotham called Seven for a Secret for those so inclined.

[Lia]

I am starting The Gods of Gotham tonight. Taking a break from reading on Kindle.

[Portia]

Darcy wrote: "I've just returned from the bookshop and there's a sequel to The Gods of Gotham called Seven for a Secret for those so inclined."

Thanks for the info, Darcy. New York in any time period is of interest to me.

I am planning to start The Gods of Gotham on Wednesday.

[Alicja]

You all are making me want to pick up The Gods of Gotham from this discussion where I had no interest in it before. :P

[[deleted user]]

I'm on page 127 of Gods of Gotham. Really liking it so far. As Bryn said, very descriptive language. I had no idea what 1840's New York was like, but this author is making me feel like I'm there. Very good so far, in my opinion.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Keep the feedback coming. I want to hear it to help me decide whether to move Gods of Gotham up or down my tbr.

[Darcy]

I'm really enjoying it too. The characters are interesting and I'm 125 pages in or so, and have yet to figure out who did it. Usually by now I have it narrowed down.
I'm liking the language, it reminds me a lot of how Travellers speak, but some of those words are still said around here, so it maybe wont't sound as strange to some as it might to others.

[Lisa]

Ooh I'd never seen that until now, sounds interesting!!

[Jean]

Yes, you've got me interested too - on my tbr list

[[deleted user]]

Darcy wrote: "I've just returned from the bookshop and there's a sequel to The Gods of Gotham called Seven for a Secret for those so inclined."

Thanks for that link, Darcy. I'm not quite finished with The Gods of Gotham yet, but I've read enough to know that I want more of this series. I'm very impressed with this author.

[Lia]

I am only on page 54. This is a suprisingly good story telling. Different but in a good way.

If my memory served me right, the book's setting was about the same era as the movie Gangs of New York?

[Darcy]

I'm impressed by it too, and because of that I actually got a copy of Seven for a Secret that night because hard copies were 30%, I have a 10% discount and I had a $5 coupon. Sometimes it pays to :D

[Portia]

Just about to start.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Darcy wrote: "I actually got a copy of Seven for a Secret that night because hard copies were 30%, I have a 10% discount and I had a $5 coupon. Someti..."

haha. Score.

[Darcy]

I know right. The only reason I was even there is that my mate wanted a new recipe book. I hadn't planned on buying anything. We were leaving the store when I saw the book on the verge of toppling off a table. Kismet for sure.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

How much did you pay in the end? Not much I imagine.

[Darcy]

I think I paid around $10 for it. The first one I got when it was on sale for $4. So between the two I've paid less than $15. I'm well pleased with this. Only problem any future books will have to be hardbacks.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Bargain!

Ha. yes. that is one reason I don't buy hardbacks in a series if they are around the same price as the softcover. becasue I feel I then have to buy only hardbacks with the rest of the series.

I expect many of us have the same issue on that. :)

[Simona]

I have both hardbacks and paperbacks in the same series. AND different editions, also. It gives them quite a nice shabby-chic feeling! ;)

[Darcy]

I do to with some of them, but when I start a particular series I like (though don't always succeed) in getting them in the same format. It helps with my shelving system. But my Bernard Cornwell for example is all over the place: hard, soft, tall, short, thick, and thin.

[Simona]

Really creative! :)

[Portia]

I'm not able to find an "Old New York" thread. Books like The Alienist (swallowed it) and New York (on my TBR). Am I alone?