21st Century Literature discussion
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Nominations for November 2020 Open Pick
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I nominate Missing Kissinger by Etgar Keret for no other reason than it was sitting on the top of the closest pile of books.
I'd like to nominate Hanya Yanagihara's The People in the Trees. I read it last month and it left me wanting to discuss it with people!
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I nominate The Last Samurai. Picked this up used on Independent Bookstore Day, and it's calling me from the pile.
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The main obstacle to my leading the discussion will be if I can find the time to read the book. I’m a full-time student and just got hired for a full-time job. I’ll finish the book I’m in the middle of now and then start The Last Samurai. (edit: I declined the job for now)
Jason wrote: "The main obstacle to my leading the discussion will be if I can find the time to read the book. I’m a full-time student and just got hired for a full-time job. I’ll finish the book I’m in the middl..."Jason, congratulations on getting a full-time job! And good luck with your studies.
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I’m reading it now. I’d never cracked it before. It’s something else. Watched the first hour of The Seven Samurai yesterday. Don’t understand 90% of the literary references.
I totally missed the opening of the vote for November (hence the zero votes for my nomination!). The Last Samurai sounds like a wild but interesting ride based on the reviews by GR friends. I'm going to give it a shot (had an unexpected $10 credit that make the Kindle price 99 cents), although I there are a couple of books I need to read before turning to it (especially since it is long at 500 plus pages).
I'm along for this and I encourage others to read it. It is good postmodern meta and I suggest you don't become discouraged with the first couple of chapters,. Once you finish Book One you'll not only have the hang of it but will find it very appealing. I do suggest you start it now. I am only 40% done and I started a few days ago.
I suggest you watch The Seven Samurai if you can because it's referenced a lot.
The Japanese film, not the American one, I assume.
Yes. Sibylla laughs at the Hollywood version The Magnificent Seven in one part, but it's the Japanese film The Seven Samurai that matters for this book. Matters is probably strong, but it's added to my enjoyment. And, most of the other obscure references are impossible to consume.
LindaJ^ wrote: "The Japanese film, not the American one, I assume."The Japanese film by Kurosawa. It is not essential for understanding the novel. The novel pretty much describes what happens in the film so you understand why it is referenced, but it helps to have visual references for what is described plus it is a classic film. In the U.S. it is streaming on Criterion Channel, HBOMax, and Kanopy if your library has Kanopy. The book has nothing to do with The Last Samurai film that was released in the U.S. The book is a much different story.
I finished reading all the words in this book this morning. I don't think we need a No Spoilers topic, do we? It's not really that kinda book.
I like the no spoiler/general thread so we can post reviews, author interviews, discussion about the movie, etc. Then the spoiler thread can be dedicated to the book. I'm really intrigued by this book so looking forward to some background on the author and reviews from those newspapers (NYT, Guardian, etc) and other sources.
Ok. Sounds good. I'm compiling several articles and will open it tomorrow
21st Century Literature
Books mentioned in this topic
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse (other topics)The Last Samurai (other topics)
The People in the Trees (other topics)
Missing Kissinger (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Louise Erdrich (other topics)Etgar Keret (other topics)
Nominating guidelines:
- Fiction (original & translation, if applicable) first published between January 1, 2000 and November 1, 2019. For translations the latter date must be an English edition.
- One nomination per person (please do not nominate or vote for a book unless you are certain you can read and discuss if it wins)
- A book this group has not yet read (see the group bookshelf or the Index of all Group Reads here)
- A book that is not better suited to the wild card (genre) category
If you are nominating, please begin your post by stating "I nominate [name with hyperlink to book]"
The discussion will start on November 1st