Poll - November 2014

[Silver]

We will be starting The Portrait of a Lady in October, and because of the length of the book discussion will carry into November, but I have been wanting to make our Short Story Salon more active, and lately I just haven't had the time to really organize short story reads.

So I thought for November, along with our continued discussion of Portrait of a Lady we can also read a short work of fiction.

Please nominate either a short story, short story collection, or novella (as long as the work(s) you choose are under 200 pages) to be read in November.

You have until the end of the month to nominate.

[Frances, Moderator]

The Lifted Veil

A Pair of Silk Stockings

The Green Dwarf: A Tale of the Perfect Tense

Souls Belated

[Wendel]

I would recommend a novella by Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, The Jew's Beech Tree. Published in 1841, it is considered a German classic - obligatory school reading.

It’s a piece of gothic mystery with more than one possible interpretation. But also a very down to earth description of the hard life in one of the more backwards regions of Germany around 1800.

An English translation can be downloaded from Gutenberg, pages 932-1037
And here is an on-line HTML version: http://germanstories.vcu.edu/droste/j...

More info in English on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Jude...

A Goodreads link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[Silver]

Because it was my original intention to read some of Hawthorn's short stories to correspond with House of Seven Gables, but than I just had too much going on to arrange it, I will nominate one of his short stories for November.

The Birthmark

[Renee]

Hawthorne's short stories are an unprecedented delight. I'm in for any that you choose Silver. I'll be reading the following for a Coursera MOOC class: The Birthmark; Rappaccini's Daughter;
Dr. Heidegger's Experiment; The Artist of the Beautiful

But there are many others which I just love!

[Renee]

I don't know as much about Henry James but we could finish November with another, shorter dose to follow Portrait of a Lady...

The Turn of the Screw
Daisy Miller
Washington Square
"The Beast in the Jungle”
"The Jolly Corner”

I'm not nominating all, Silver. Just mentioning. Maybe you could pick one for the poll?

[Frances, Moderator]

However if we've just done Hawthorne and James I'd prefer to do something different...

[Silver]

I will keep that in mind and consider one for the poll

[Everyman]

Renee wrote: "I'll be reading the following for a Coursera MOOC class:."

Which course??

[Pip]

Ditto - which course?

[Pip]

For something a bit different, I'd like to nominate The Doings of Raffles Haw by Arthur Conan Doyle. Is philanthropy a good thing or not?

[Renee]

It's a Coursera course from University of Michigan called Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World. The reading list is fun, starting with Grim's Fairytales and ending with some modern science fiction (Bradbury, LeGuin). It's my first MOOC. :)

[Pip]

Renee wrote: "It's a Coursera course from University of Michigan called Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World. The reading list is fun, starting with Grim's Fairytales and ending with som..."

I'd love to hear how you get on Renée - I started the same course the last time it was run, but had to give up due to lack of time. The reading list certainly is interesting, particularly as this is a (very broad) genre I wouldn't normally read.

[Lynnm]

Renee wrote: "It's a Coursera course from University of Michigan called Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World. The reading list is fun, starting with Grim's Fairytales and ending with som..."

I've wanted to take this class for awhile. But it is always offered while I'm teaching, and there is no way that I can keep up with the reading.

I think what I'm going to do is sign up, print out all the readings, un-enroll, read them at my leisure, and then the next time the course is offered, I'll be set to go.

[Renee]

Lynn-

I'm also a teacher. And so so crazy right now. X-0

I plan to listen to most of the reading. I found everything, except the three modern scifi novels, on Librivox. The Bradbury and LeGuin I'll have to borrow from the library and eyeball-read.

I will probably watch the lecture videos, and tap in on the discussions as much as I can. But, I doubt I'll get to the quizzes and essays. I'm okay with that. I just want to feed my brain. :-)