13. HF - THE FIRST MAN IN ROME - FINAL THOUGHTS (11/29/10 - 12/05/10) ~ No spoilers, please

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the historical fiction discussion of THE FIRST MAN IN ROME
by Colleen McCullough.

This is the reading assignment for week 13 which happens to be the very last week of this discussion - (November 29, 2010 to December 5, 2010)

Week 13 - Nov 29 - Dec 5: Final Thoughts

This is the third historical fiction group selected book.

We have opened up a thread for each week's reading. Please make sure to post in the particular thread dedicated to those specific chapters and page numbers to avoid spoilers if you are catching up.

This book was kicked off on September 6th; but we are now entering the thirteenth and final week of discussion

This discussion was led by assisting moderator - Alisa. She has done an amazing job.

We always enjoy the participation of all group members. Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other noted on line booksellers do have copies of the book and shipment can be expedited. The book can also be obtained easily at your local library, but this is not available on Kindle or audible.

This thread opens up Monday, November 29th for discussion. This is a non spoiler thread.

Welcome,

~Bentley


TO ALWAYS SEE ALL WEEKS' THREADS SELECT VIEW ALL

by Colleen McCullough

Alisa is using the current version available to her as follows:



Please feel free to research the complete Table of Contents and Syllabus on this thread:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/3...

[Garret]

I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would when I started it. I thought it was well written and a good balance between the historical facts and the creative filling in of the story line. It also did a great job of creating sense of what life was like in Rome for different classes.

[Alisa]

Garret, glad you enjoyed the book. I also found it to be well written.

It would be great to hear from anyone who has read this book, whether or not you participated in the group read and discussion, as to overall impressions, anything you learned, surprises, reflections on any of the themes and/or characters portrayed. I hope you all enjoyed reading this, and got something out of it!

[Garret]

Thanks. I also enjoyed the background info you contributed in the glossary. Very informative.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Thank you very much for a great journey through this wonderful book, Alisa. A great job and I am sure that I speak for everyone.

Being more a non fiction reader; I still thoroughly enjoyed this very well researched historical novel with all of its intrigue and would highly recommend it for anyone who would like to know more about Rome and this time period. This was that well researched.

Announcement: All group members who are reading or who are completing reading this book; Vicki Cline has graciously accepted taking on the next book in the series as the assisting moderator. The next book in this series is The Grass Crown. See you there beginning February 7th, 2011.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

By the way, Alisa had graciously accepted moderating this book for Elizabeth S who just recently had a new addition to her family. Not only did Alisa step up and help out; she did an outstanding job doing it. Alsia, you deserve a lot of credit. This was her first moderating experience and she did it like the pro she is.

Alisa as everyone knows is the Assisting Mod for the SCOTUS threads and Civil Rights which we plan to expand.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

In a previous post before I made the announcement in message 5, Alisa asked the following:

It would be great to hear from anyone who has read this book, whether or not you participated in the group read and discussion, as to overall impressions, anything you learned, surprises, reflections on any of the themes and/or characters portrayed. I hope you all enjoyed reading this, and got something out of it!

[Alisa]

Bentley, thanks for the kudo. Reading something outside my usual areas of interest was a good exercise and as I mentioned at the beginning of all this, I do love Rome. Reading this gave me terrific historical context on the Eternal City. On my next visit I will make it a point to trapse through the Forum and perhaps hear an echo of the Conscript Fathers!

I know Vicki is looking forward to moderating the next book in this series and was glad to have her participate in the discussion on this book.
(Bentley, ahem, you forgot the link!)

by Colleen McCullough

This final thoughts thread is open to anyone who has read the book previously and wants to leave their general impressions as well.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Tsk, tsk...I certainly did in my effort to get everything posted. Thank you for adding the required info.

And of course the kudos are well deserved.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

Colleen McCullough did an amazing job of pulling together fragments of historical writings and making such wonderfully interesting characters. Reading the book (and the Glossary) is like getting a college course in Roman history. Thank goodness there are other books in the series - I want to find out what happens next to all these people.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Vicki, thank you for the link; most of the time discussions on the specific book threads do not have to link and relink the book that is being discussed with each and every post.

If it was on a different thread and not the book discussion, then it would look like this:

Colleen McCullough

Photo when available and then link.

However, since you were just talking about the author of the book discussion; you were OK.

Marge, however, you need to cite the book cover, author's photo and author's link for Caesar's Women.

Colleen McCullough

You must cite the above with all three elements.

Thanks for your cooperation and good comments.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

All who are reading and discussing the first book in the Masters of Rome series; we have now set up the event notification for the reading of the second book in the series: The Grass Crown.

Please join us and Vicki Cline for that discussion beginning on February 7, 2011.

I hope you will accept the invitation to join us and support Vicki who has been kind enough to accept this moderating challenge.

Colleen McCullough

[Bryan]

I could not imagine the research the author had to do and I hear her health is not 100%. I always wanted to read the book and I found it much better than I thought. It really was a page-turner. Her style was good and the plots interesting. I'm happy to read number 2!

[Garret]

Bryan wrote: "I could not imagine the research the author had to do and I hear her health is not 100%. I always wanted to read the book and I found it much better than I thought. It really was a page-turner. ..."
Bryan, I found it a page turner too. Once I had some time I finished it off in a few days, far ahead of the schedule. And when I did not have time I found myself wanting to get back to it.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

Bryan, I couldn't agree more. I stand in awe at her research and ability to make such interesting characters. I would love to have been in Rome during this time, as long as I was in the upper classes ;-). Hope to see you for the next book discussion.

[Alisa]

There were some very exciting parts, and for the most part it went quicker than i was expecting. She is a good writer, keeps things moving along.

I'm just curious, have any of you been to Rome? Just wondering...

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

An excellent article about the author:

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/enter...

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Marge, it has nothing to do with being techie or not. Most of us are not for sure. The add book/author feature use is part of our guidelines otherwise when you post an author or a book recommendation they are lost in the shuffle and folks will never be able to refer to them or to find them easily. The good reads software if the citations are made correctly or at all is able to cross pollinate the site and populate all of the fields accordingly. Also folks will be able to do research on the links.

The Help Desk folder has a thread called Mechanics of the Board and that should help you. However, if you need any additional help either Alisa (since this is one of her threads that she is moderating) or any one of us would be very happy to help out.

Here is the link:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

Don't worry Marge, you are not alone in trying to learn this; every person when they were new to the group or to another goodreads group where this was a required guideline was in the same boat. We are here to help but we just want to point out that this is a required guideline.

And there is no apology needed.

[Alisa]

Thanks Bentley.

[Bryan]

Vicki wrote: "Bryan, I couldn't agree more. I stand in awe at her research and ability to make such interesting characters. I would love to have been in Rome during this time, as long as I was in the upper cla..."

You can count me in for the next round!

[Alisa]

Bentley wrote: "An excellent article about the author:

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/enter..."

Great article. She sounds like a fiesty gal!

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Alisa wrote: "Thanks Bentley." It seems Marge disappeared after we tried to help her with the citation guideline. Too bad but it is a guideline and we are willing to help anyone who needs help.

Yes I really liked Colleen more after that article. What a force.

[Karol]

Well, I am not sure whether I'll read the next in the series, as my "to read" list is so full. And I do plan to taking part in other discussions in this group. Still, it is tempting!

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Well we hope you can fit it in Kay to also help support Vicki for stepping up to help move us through the next book in the series.

But of course sometimes it is hard to read everything one wants to.