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Well, as far as straight up "weird"ness, the book I'm currently reading, House of Leaves, definitely qualifies, as it's the most bizarre thing I've ever read. It technically qualifies as a chunkster, since it's nearly 700 pages, but there are some pages with only a few words, and some with the most jam-packed run-on sentences that you've ever seen, so I guess it more or less balances itself out in the end. It would be difficult to figure out the best way t break down the sections, though, as it's not really a conventional book (although we're managing ok in my other group).As for "old" weird, I'll have to think on that.
That's a book I've always been interested in reading. I'm sure we could find a way to divide it but if not it could be a free for all for the month.
It can be divided well enough, but it won't LOOK even, because of the weirdness of the pages. One section might have 150 pages in it, but another only 30, but be about the same amount of reading.For a "versus" for that I guess it would be an earlier ground-breaking novel, as far as style (at least for its day), but I'm completely blanking on anything right now.
A few of us read House of Leaves as a buddy read here in the Chunksters group at the beginning of this year. Definitely weird!! If it ends up getting voted in, we had divided the book into 4 parts: Chapters 1-4, 5-8, 9-16, and 17-23. I like the "versus" theme for the year, jennbunny! What a fun idea.
I was thinking about the Iliad and All Quiet on the Western Front to contrast not so much the methods of war, though that would have maybe some interest, as the thoughts, motives, and philosophies of those who engaged in war in the 8th century BC versus those who engaged in war in the 20th century AD. Unfortunately AQOTWF doesn't really qualify as a Chunkster, but perhaps somebody knows a legitimate Chunkster of modern war which would do for the modern side of the contrast?
Everyman, how about Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes? Vietnam.
SusanK wrote: "Everyman, how about Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes? Vietnam."Don't know it. But if you recommend it, I'm happy to have the group consider it as a pair with the Iliad. Certainly qualifies as a Chunkster, and has very good reviews. And seems, like the Iliad, to focus on the individual fighters rather than on the generals and strategies. And it's very affordable, at under $10 for new paperback and less for Kindle, plus plenty of used copies available.
Quanjun wrote: "Do we nominate in this thread?"Yes, this is the nomination thread :)
Everyman wrote: "Unfortunately AQOTWF doesn't really qualify as a Chunkster, but perhaps somebody knows a legitimate Chunkster of modern war which would do for the modern side of the contrast? "
Yes, that's the main problem with this topic. We discussed it a bit back in September in this thread. I was thinking about nominating The Iliad
(actually I was thinking more about The Song of Achilles, but this one doesn't qualify as a chunkster) together with Ilion and Olympos by Dan Simmons. I don't know if that qualifies, however, as it's sci fi and not New weird.
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War seems a very interesting proposal, too.
Yes please nominate in this thread. And both books do not have to be chunky, as long as they fit your pairing of weird.
SusanK wrote: "Everyman, how about Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes? Vietnam."Matterhorn was excellent - and definitely a chunkster! Also, I would think, a great corollary to the Iliad.
Looks like we are getting some good thoughts and nominations. I'm still thinking on my own nominations as well.
Jen wrote: "SusanK wrote: "Everyman, how about Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes? Vietnam."Matterhorn was excellent - and definitely a chunkster! Also, I would think, a great corollary to the Iliad."
I rather like the look of this combination too. Forget my previous suggestion.
Couple more days to get suggestions in! We have some good suggestions.I put the nominations up in the first thread. I added mine as well: Imajica VS Carrion Comfort.
Alana wrote: "Well, as far as straight up "weird"ness, the book I'm currently reading, House of Leaves, definitely qualifies, as it's the most bizarre thing I've ever read. It technically qualifies ..."Did you think of a book you want to pair up with House of Leaves?
The poll is up and ready for everyone to start voting.https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
If there are any other challenges everyone would be interested in, please let me know and I will set them up too. Personally I am planning The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge (339 books on the list). If you want to join, I can set up a thread for that too!
Have a great Sunday!
jennbunny wrote: "54 views
Nomination Ideas > Nominations for a New Chunky Challenge 2016
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message 1: by jennbunny (last edited Dec 10, 2015 04:31PM)
Dec 05, 2015 09:02AM
Mod
Good morning chunksters!
After looking at some ideas in the new suggestion posts, I came up with OLD vs NEW Chunky Challenge for this New Year 2016. There are many ways this could go with old classic vs new classic, father vs son (such as King versus Hill), old weird vs new weird, or really any version of the word “versus” that would fit. The goal is nominate and vote on two books to fit the challenge. Then each "versus" challenge will run two months to fit in two "chunky" books. By the way, the terms old and new are subjective. It does not necessarily mean the old book has to be super old or the new book as to be super new. It is more of a versus challenge: pitting two “chunky-ish books against one another in the same theme. Also if you think of a versus set of books and one of the books is already paired with a different book, please feel free to use the same book to pair up with a different one.
Theme for January vs February 2016 : Old Weird VS New Weird
I thought we could start with old weird versus new weird (your definition of weird {sci-fi, fantasy, just plain weird, weird horror, weird theme, non-fiction weird, twisted weird, etc} - this is to each his/her own). Please nominate two books: one old weird and one new weird. The combined page total of the two books should come in around 700 or more (I am not super strict on this rule) to keep in line with the chunkster theme. If two extra large books are nominated and win, then we can certainly take extra time to read if necessary.
In addition to your nomination of two books, please also feel free to make suggestions for any future versus chunky themes. There are lists of weird books on GR if ideas are needed. Again this is your own version of weird so no hard and fast rules here.
Once the nominations are in, I will set up a poll with the versus books. I would like to have all of the nominations in by December 12th or so. The gives everyone a week to think on this chunky weird challenge. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask here in the thread or message me directly.
NOMINATIONS FOR JAN/FEB 2016
Old Weird VS New Wierd
The Iliad VS All Quiet on the Western Front
The Iliad VS Matterhorn
The Song of Achilles VS Ilium/Olympos
The Odyssey VS Ulysses
Battle Royale VS Under the Dome
Imajica VS Carrion Comfort
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message 2: by Alana
Dec 05, 2015 09:29AM
Well, as far as straight up "weird"ness, the book I'm currently reading, House of Leaves, definitely qualifies, as it's the most bizarre thing I've ever read. It technically qualifies as a chunkster, since it's nearly 700 pages, but there are some pages with only a few words, and some with the most jam-packed run-on sentences that you've ever seen, so I guess it more or less balances itself out in the end. It would be difficult to figure out the best way t break down the sections, though, as it's not really a conventional book (although we're managing ok in my other group).
As for "old" weird, I'll have to think on that.
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message 3: by jennbunny
Dec 05, 2015 09:42AM
Mod
That's a book I've always been interested in reading. I'm sure we could find a way to divide it but if not it could be a free for all for the month.
reply | flag *
message 4: by Alana
Dec 05, 2015 10:03AM
It can be divided well enough, but it won't LOOK even, because of the weirdness of the pages. One section might have 150 pages in it, but another only 30, but be about the same amount of reading.
For a "versus" for that I guess it would be an earlier ground-breaking novel, as far as style (at least for its day), but I'm completely blanking on anything right now.
reply | flag *
message 5: by Linda
Dec 05, 2015 10:13AM
A few of us read House of Leaves as a buddy read here in the Chunksters group at the beginning of this year. Definitely weird!! If it ends up getting voted in, we had divided the book into 4 parts: Chapters 1-4, 5-8, 9-16, and 17-23.
I like the "versus" theme for the year, jennbunny! What a fun idea.
reply | flag *
message 6: by Everyman
Dec 05, 2015 03:25PM
I was thinking about the Iliad and All Quiet on the Western Front to contrast not so much the methods of war, though that would have maybe some interest, as the thoughts, motives, and philosophies of those who engaged in war in the 8th century BC versus those who engaged in war in the 20th century AD. Unfortunately AQOTWF doesn't really qualify as a Chunkster, but perhaps somebody knows a legitimate Chunkster of modern war which would do for the modern side of the contrast?
reply | edit | delete | flag *
message 7: by SusanK
Dec 05, 2015 07:28PM
Everyman, how about Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes? Vietnam.
reply | flag *
message 8: by Quanjun
Dec 05, 2015 07:45PM
Do we nominate in this thread?
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message 9: by Everyman
Dec 05, 2015 08:28PM
SusanK wrote: "Everyman, how about Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes? Vietnam."
Don't know it. But if you recommend it, I'm happy to have the group consider it as a pair with the Iliad. Certainly qualifies as a Chunkster, and has very good reviews. And seems, like the Iliad, to focus on the individual fighters rather than on the generals and strategies. And it's very affordable, at under $10 for new paperback and less for Kindle, plus plenty of used copies available.
reply | edit | delete | flag *
message 10: by Teanka
Dec 06, 2015 02:11AM
Mod
Quanjun wrote: "Do we nominate in this thread?"
Yes, this is the nomination thread :)
Everyman wrote: "Unfortunately AQOTWF doesn't really qualify as a Chunkster, but perhaps somebody knows a legitimate Chunkster of modern war which would do for the modern side of the contrast? "
Yes, that's the main problem with this topic. We discussed it a bit back in September in this thread. I was thinking about nominating The Iliad
(actually I was thinking more about The Song of Achilles, but this one doesn't qualify as a chunkster) together with Ilion and Olympos by Dan Simmons. I don't know if that qualifies, however, as it's sci fi and not New weird.
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War seems a very interesting proposal, too.
reply | flag *
message 11: by jennbunny
Dec 06, 2015 04:57AM
Mod
Yes please nominate in this thread. And both books do not have to be chunky, as long as they fit your pairing of weird.
reply | flag *
message 12: by Anne (last edited Dec 06, 2015 03:48PM)
Dec 06, 2015 03:46PM
What about The Odyssey vs Ulysses
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message 13: by Jen
Dec 07, 2015 10:08AM
SusanK wrote: "Everyman, how about Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes? Vietnam."
Matterhorn was excellent - and definitely a chunkster! Also, I would think, a great corollary to the Iliad.
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message 14: by Quanjun
Dec 07, 2015 03:24PM
Old: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
New: Under the Dome by Stephen King
Both are scifi (sort of) and about survival in a closed environment. Battle Royale is the original Hunger Games and I think the dome idea is quite original as well. Hopefully they qualify as weird and I know they're definitely chunksters (Under the Dome, especially).
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message 15: by jennbunny
Dec 07, 2015 04:51PM
Mod
Looks like we are getting some good thoughts and nominations. I'm still thinking on my own nominations as well.
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message 16: by Anne
Dec 10, 2015 02:10PM
Jen wrote: "SusanK wrote: "Everyman, how about Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes? Vietnam."
Matterhorn was excellent - and definitely a chunkster! Also, I would think, a great corollary to the Iliad."
I rather like the look of this combination too. Forget my previous suggestion.
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message 17: by jennbunny (last edited Dec 10, 2015 04:34PM)
Dec 10, 2015 03:26PM
Mod
Couple more days to get suggestions in! We have some good suggestions.
I put the nominations up in the first thread. I added mine as well: Imajica VS Carrion Comfort.
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message 18: by jennbunny
Dec 10, 2015 04:33PM
Mod
Alana wrote: "Well, as far as straight up "weird"ness, the book I'm currently reading, House of Leaves, definitely qualifies, as it's the most bizarre thing I've ever read. It technically qualifies ..."
Did you think of a book you want to pair up with House of Leaves?
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message 19: by jennbunny (new)
12 hours, 42 min ago
Mod
The poll is up and ready for everyone to start voting.
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
If there are any other challenges everyone would be interested in, please let me know and I will set them up too. "
And how many decades are you planning for the challenge? It took her seven seasons just to show the titles of all the books!
Well I've read some of the books (maybe 17 or so). I figure if I try really hard I may get through the list in one decade!
Something weird is going on. How did Post #20 get posted under my name? I had nothing to do with it!Oh, wait. The very end looks like my response to jennbunny's post about the Rory Gilmore challenge, but there's a ton of stuff in there that wasn't in the post I responded to. Weird.
lol. I wondered about that. I just figured it was some kind of glitch. :)
Voting ends tomorrow! Get your votes in. The poll is open so you can see who is in the running.
I can't find the poll. I click on Polls and sort by Newest first, but what I get is the August poll that chose The Luminaries. Oh, wait, I went to the link posted above and found it here, in case others have the same problem finding it:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
I notice that there are two options for the Iliad. I'm sorry about that, because the Iliad has as many combined votes as the other leading choices, but its votes are split because of the dual options. If there is a run-off poll and there are still as many votes for the Iliad as for the other leading books, maybe it would be an idea to include just one Iliad selection to give it a fair crack?
Everyman wrote: "I can't find the poll. I click on Polls and sort by Newest first, but what I get is the August poll that chose The Luminaries. Oh, wait, I went to the link posted above and found it here, in case..."
I think that is a good idea. The Iliad is something that everyone should read.
I have changed my vote from the less popular Iliad combo to the more popular Iliad combo to try to get around the effect of splitting the vote.
So did I. This could be an interesting discussion.
I like the way the vote is going now. Could be an interesting read and discussion.
Good luck! I'm a bit happy to see the turn of events as well. It's a close race.
We have the winners: The Odyssey VS UlyssesI will set up the threads this weekend for the winners of the first 2016 VERSUS Challenge. If anyone would be interested in leading the discussions on either book, please let me know. Or if you just have some good discussion points you would like included, I am happy to incorporate those too.
Happy Holidays!
Having just struggled through Ulysses last year, I'm not up for another shot at it so soon, so sadly will have to pass on this. I don't know the "rules" for this challenge (maybe nobody does, since it's first for the group!), so don't know whether it's legitimate to read and discuss one of the books if one has no intention of reading the other.
You do not have to read both books to participate in the discussion. Anyone is welcome to join the discussions if they've read the books in the past as well.
I also struggled through Ulysses last year, alongside Everyman. :) So yeah, not enough time has passed for me to want to tackle it again, but I'm curious about how the discussions will develop.jennbunny - are these Versus Challenge reads going to be set up as one book after the other, or are the threads going to be set up at the same time?
I would consider joining for Ulysses since I'd like to tackle it at some point, and group reads are always best. However, looking at the poll results, about 7 of the people that voted for this book have never participated in a discussion before, or even posted a comment in the group so I'm wary on counting inn them until i see how it goes. Will an email sign up go out by chance where people need to indicate their participation? Id like to see who is actually really committing to read and actively comment before i try this monster myself!
I dont think I will manage Ulysses either. Happy to do a reread of Odyssey but my university year starts in March and I will be studying English Lit full time. Will be overloaded with books to read.Odyssey is not a sequel of Illiad. Odyssey is story of Odyssius's 10 year journey home after the war.
Ok...so...If you have read the book in the past (or even part of the book) feel free to jump into the discussion. No need to reread unless you REALLY want to.
I am actually going to set up both threads at the same time with the reading schedule for each one (one after the other), but the discussion can evolve with however the books progress. I will work on that this weekend.
I was not going to send out an e-mail to sign up for these VERSUS reads. It would be nice for those who voted to actually participate. I might ask in the thread once I start them about who plans to participate (and maybe I will send an email about it once I get the threads set up too). Maybe that would help see how many are actually interested.
I have tried Ulysses once or twice and never was able to finish, but maybe this time I will (maybe). I have read parts of Odyssey for a class a few years ago so I would like to finish that one for sure.
Feel free to ask any other questions. I will do my best to set up some guidelines in the new threads for discussion this weekend.
Quanjun wrote: "Will be joining The Odyssey discussion :). Should I read the Illiad first? I've heard somewhere that Odyssey is the sequel, or is it the other way around? .."The Odyssey is a sort of sequel to the Iliad, but only marginally so. The Iliad tells the story of several weeks in the tenth year of the Greek war against Troy, but it's mostly the story of Achilles and, as the opening words say, his anger and its consequences.
Odysseus is a significant character in the Iliad, but not central. The Iliad ends while the war is still going on.
The Odyssey happens after the end of the war, and is the story of Odysseus's travails trying to get from Troy back home to Ithaca, an island off the west coast of Greece. So it happens after the Iliad, and both relate to the war and its aftermath, but that's about the only connection.
Most scholars think that there were many epics written about the war and aftermath, by various poets, which would have filled in much of the rest of the story, but only the Iliad and Odyssey survived, perhaps because they were the best of the bunch. Remember this was before printing, so every book had to be hand written, so copies were rare and valuable. Nothing like today when you can buy a copy for a few bucks.
I will read the Odyssey with the group. I read both a long time ago, and I definitely want to reread the Odyssey (and also the Iliad, sometime) but not Ulysses - although I'm sure the comparison will be interesting and I just might join in with that too if I find I have time. It will depend on how the reading schedule combines with my schedule.
This will my third (and last) attempt to read Ulysses. Going to listen to it while I travel.Read the Odyssey 20 years ago, need to re read.
So it's not necessary to read the Iliad before the Odyssey? I really need to read both anyway, but not sure I'm ready to tackle both right now.I have to admit, I'm nervous about attempting Ulysses; it sounds so daunting! I DO want to read it, though, and this is probably the best forum to do it in.
Alana wrote: "So it's not necessary to read the Iliad before the Odyssey? ."No, not necessary.
Originally, I read The Odyssey first, then The Illiad. And it was fine. I loved my first experience reading The Odyssey! The adventures are exhilarating. I did have a little background knowledge of the story of Troy and Greek mythology, but the story of Odysseus and his travels quickly comes into its own. It is definitely interesting to see who he was during the siege of Troy, and what mythological interactions put him on his odyssey. But I thought it was just as interesting when read later. (Maybe more so because you connect with the characters in The Odyssey in a different way.)
These comments about translation were really helpful! I skimmed through a few versions at my library and ended up with the Fagles version. I read a heavily abridged version of the Odyssey in high school but have very little memory of it. Maybe the sirens part? I'm hoping to enjoy it a lot more this time around!
Everyman wrote: "Alana wrote: "So it's not necessary to read the Iliad before the Odyssey? ."No, not necessary."
But is it recommended? Another group I'm in read the Iliad recently, so I may just go ahead and read i and check out their comments, then jump into this discussion.
Alana wrote: "Everyman wrote: "Alana wrote: "So it's not necessary to read the Iliad before the Odyssey? ."No, not necessary."
But is it recommended? Another group I'm in read the Iliad recently, so I may jus..."
I think that Iliad is a much harder read. Bit of a boy's book - full of battle scenes. I know that I had trouble with it.
Will join in on both discussions...first time to a group discussion...read The Odyssey 6 years ago- never have conquered Ulysses- hopefully up to the challenge! Will look for guidelines soon from this site- Thx!
Reading the Chunksters
Books mentioned in this topic
The Iliad (other topics)The Odyssey (other topics)
Olympos (other topics)
Ilium (other topics)
Carrion Comfort (other topics)
More...
After looking at some ideas in the new suggestion posts, I came up with OLD vs NEW Chunky Challenge for this New Year 2016. There are many ways this could go with old classic vs new classic, father vs son (such as King versus Hill), old weird vs new weird, or really any version of the word “versus” that would fit. The goal is nominate and vote on two books to fit the challenge. Then each "versus" challenge will run two months to fit in two "chunky" books. By the way, the terms old and new are subjective. It does not necessarily mean the old book has to be super old or the new book as to be super new. It is more of a versus challenge: pitting two “chunky-ish books against one another in the same theme. Also if you think of a versus set of books and one of the books is already paired with a different book, please feel free to use the same book to pair up with a different one.
Theme for January vs February 2016 : Old Weird VS New Weird
I thought we could start with old weird versus new weird (your definition of weird {sci-fi, fantasy, just plain weird, weird horror, weird theme, non-fiction weird, twisted weird, etc} - this is to each his/her own). Please nominate two books: one old weird and one new weird. The combined page total of the two books should come in around 700 or more (I am not super strict on this rule) to keep in line with the chunkster theme. If two extra large books are nominated and win, then we can certainly take extra time to read if necessary.
In addition to your nomination of two books, please also feel free to make suggestions for any future versus chunky themes. There are lists of weird books on GR if ideas are needed. Again this is your own version of weird so no hard and fast rules here.
Once the nominations are in, I will set up a poll with the versus books. I would like to have all of the nominations in by December 12th or so. The gives everyone a week to think on this chunky weird challenge. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask here in the thread or message me directly.
NOMINATIONS FOR JAN/FEB 2016
Old Weird VS New Wierd
The Iliad VS All Quiet on the Western Front
The Iliad VS Matterhorn
The Song of Achilles VS Ilium/Olympos
The Odyssey VS Ulysses
Battle Royale VS Under the Dome
Imajica VS Carrion Comfort