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Nominations for Group Classic Read for Aug/Sep 2015
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message 51:
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poorvi
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Jul 17, 2015 06:25AM
I vote Far from the Madding Crowd
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To recap, the following books have been nominated (number of seconds is in parenthesis after the book title).These will be definitely going into the poll:
Far from the Madding Crowd (7)
Zuleika Dobson (5)
The Master and Margarita (4)
Les Misérables (3)
2 of these will also go into the poll:
The Odyssey (2)
East of Eden (1)
Tender Is the Night (1)
Madame Bovary (1)
Sophie's Choice (2)
The Wings of the Dove (0)
Lady Chatterley's Lover (0)
If by the end of nominations (July 20th), there is still a tie for the last spot on the poll, I will select one (based on past nominations & what general interest I have perceived people to have in the books).
Anything BUT The Odyssey. I'm pretty sure it won't matter, though, since Far From The Madding Crowd is gonna be the winner. :)
Lei wrote: "Anything BUT The Odyssey. I'm pretty sure it won't matter, though, since Far From The Madding Crowd is gonna be the winner. :)"I read The Odyssey in the last few months and thought it was very good.
Lei wrote: "Anything BUT The Odyssey. I'm pretty sure it won't matter, though, since Far From The Madding Crowd is gonna be the winner. :)"Haha, I think we have a strong month of nominations, I'd be happy to read most of these, but especially The Odyssey!
The group is doing really well with the nominations. Should be a great discussion, whichever is chosen
Leslie wrote: "I think I have correctly updated the seconds in post #40. Alice, I assumed you were seconding Les Mis but now looking at your comment, I am not sure.Keep the seconds coming -- the top 4 are fair..."
Sorry Leslie, please take me out from the seconds - I don't think I can manage a re-read in Aug/Sep. :P
Mod
Lei, I think you might find good translations of The Odyssey are not at all what you think, in fact a lot of fun. That being said, there are several books on the list that I'd be enthusiastic to read!
Leslie wrote: "Mary Glass wrote: "I would like to nominate A Confedracy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole."I think this would be more suited to the group fiction read that the classics. Please do nominate it for..."
I believe time will prove me right on this. Literature is nothing if not subjective though.
Gill wrote: "Lei wrote: "Anything BUT The Odyssey. I'm pretty sure it won't matter, though, since Far From The Madding Crowd is gonna be the winner. :)"I read The Odyssey in the last few months and thought it ..."
Ditto
I'd like to nominate Metamorphoses. Although I've been meaning to re-read Tender is the Night for a while.
B the BookAddict wrote: "I'd like to nominate Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. LawrenceIs this thread 'wrong side up' or is it just me? The thread explanation is at the bottom of the page. ?"
Second this
Mod
An excellent choice A.L., one I've only read selections of and would love to read in full. Unfortunately I've already seconded. If it doesn't make group read, maybe we can set up a readalong at some point?
Sure, it's quite long. I'm pretty busy atm but could be fun. Have you read The Love-Artist: A Novel? It's historical fiction about Ovid after he publishes Metamorphoses and has to leave Rome in a hurry as he upsets Caesar. It's a good book.
Mod
Have you read The Love-Artist: A Novel? It's historical fiction about Ovid after he publishes Metamorphoses and has to leav..."
No A.L., I haven't, but it looks interesting! I loved the selections of Metamorphoses I read though - great, vibrant, lusty stories!
I've just finished a course on mythology and read the Odyssey, the Homeric Hymns, Orestia, Oedipus, the Aeneid and Theogony:)
A.L. wrote: "I've just finished a course on mythology and read the Odyssey, the Homeric Hymns, Orestia, Oedipus, the Aeneid and Theogony:)"That sounds like a great course!
Mod
I've read most of those (except Theogeny) but mostly on my own - the class sounds fun A.L. (especially if it had lively discussions)!
Theogony was dull. It was like those books of the bible were so and so begets so and so. That was about it. If you're interested in the course go to my blog or the Coursera website. Best thing it was free!
I've always been intrigued by Greek mythology! But the works seem very daunting to me :)
Iliad is good, but hard going. I find the trickiest thing is many of the characters have similar names, or several names so you have to keep track of who is who and on which side. It's violent too - as you'd expect so not for the faint hearted. Odyssey is awesome. A real adventure.
Many of them read like a soap opera - revenge, betrayal, love, sex, affairs, murder, war, more affairs.
Mod
It all depends on the translation Alice. They're probably not as difficult as you think.
We've totally and shamelessly diverted this thread, but I do enjoy the discussion.
Lots of dramatic events as you say A.L. in The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex / Oedipus at Colonus / Antigone, but I quite liked it nevertheless.
Alice, I read the Richmond Lattimore translation, which was very good.
I read Lattimore's translation as well and really liked the flow of the words.Alice, you can check out some of the "read it now" sections on Amazon and compare the translations for yourself to see which version works for you.
Alice wrote: "I've just added The Odyssey. Greg, so you reckon the Robert Fagles translation is OK?"I read the Fagles translation a year or so ago along with the free Alexander Pope Kindle edition. The Fagles translation was very good in my opinion. I think that my first reading of this back in high school was the Lattimore translation which I have fond memories of.
A.L. - you can either nominate The Metamorphosis or second Lady Chatterley's Lover but not both. Which would you rather do?
Just reposting for any newcomers: the following books have been nominated (number of seconds is in parenthesis after the book title).These will be definitely going into the poll:
Far from the Madding Crowd (7)
Zuleika Dobson (5)
The Master and Margarita (4)
Les Misérables (3)
2 of these will also go into the poll:
The Odyssey (2)
East of Eden (1)
Tender Is the Night (1)
Madame Bovary (1)
Sophie's Choice (2)
The Wings of the Dove (0)
Lady Chatterley's Lover (0)
If by the end of nominations (July 20th), there is still a tie for the last spot on the poll, I will select one (based on past nominations & what general interest I have perceived people to have in the books).
Gill, Petra & Leslie, thanks for the input. I found the Fagles version in the downtown library, so will probably go for that one, in due course.
Mod
Alice, I think I slightly prefer the Robert Fitzgerald translation myself, but the Fagles and Lattimore translations are also excellent in their own ways. The Fagles translation is definitely a good one!
Greg, interestingly Fitzgerald's translation is the only version that's all lent out at the library, showing it must be the most popular! And they don't carry the Lattimore translation.
Just for my own information, what are the criteria here for calling a book a classic? I suppose that almost any book published before the beginning of the twentieth century and still remembered could be said to qualify as might books like Lady Chatterly's Lover, published at the beginning of the 20th century that were game changers or told a compelling story. That would certainly grandfather in some books written by authors like Ernest Hemmingway, john Steinbeck or even J. D. Salinger. But what of later authors, some of whom might still be alive, or who published their great works in the last twenty or thirty years? Are there "rules" that might exclude a book like Sophie's Choice or even an author like John Updike or Kurt Vonnegut? Or is any book considered a "Classic" if somebody nominates it and wants to read it? Not being critical here; I would just like to know.
David wrote: "Just for my own information, what are the criteria here for calling a book a classic? I suppose that almost any book published before the beginning of the twentieth century and still remembered co..."Good points made. Looking forward to the response.
David wrote: "Just for my own information, what are the criteria here for calling a book a classic? I suppose that almost any book published before the beginning of the twentieth century and still remembered co..."This is something we discussed when the group was new (see HERE if you want to read that discussion) and we decided we didn't want to set firm rules if possible as everybody has different ideas of what makes a classic. However, there was a consensus that more modern work would be considered for group fiction and older works would be considered for group classics.
OK, thanks Leslie. I tried to read through the posts on the classics section but I guess I missed that piece. Anyway, that was exactly the kind of information I was looking for.Thank You,
Still about 12 hours left if anyone hasn't seconded yet & wants to.
I would like to nominate To Kill A Mockingbird
Mod
Jessica, we've already finished nominations and are in the voting phase. See below in message 93 a link to where you can vote.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Far From the Madding Crowd (other topics)Lady Chatterley's Lover (other topics)
Zuleika Dobson (other topics)
The Master and Margarita (other topics)
Les Misérables (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
D.H. Lawrence (other topics)D.H. Lawrence (other topics)
