Sept. 2012 Open Read - Nominations closed

[William]

Due to the poll on changes we recently had which debated moving to a staggered format but did not pass, we'll be having an abbreviated nomination, polling, and acquisition period for this month. Please nominate books written from January 2000-present, which are works of fiction and are of the very highest quality. Books failing to meet these standards (as judged by any of the mods) will not be considered for entry into the poll. This may also include books considered "overly genre". You may nominate one book.

[William]

I'll get things rolling with:

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao written by Junot Díaz which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008.

[Mikela]

I think I'm going to pass on this one.

[Thing Two]

Oops - already read both of those. How about The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson. It won the Man Booker in 2010 and an Int'l Impac Dublin Lit Award nominee in 2012.

[Daniel]

I will take my first stab at nominating for this group with The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht, winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2011 and a nominee for the National Book Award for Fiction. The write-up from the NY Times Sunday Book Review is available here.

[Silver]

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Baccante Literary Prize (2009)

[Sophia]

Tigers in Red Weather: A Novel



If the reviews are to be believed, this is an "immensely gripping and well-told tale of two generations of a family spanning the period from 1945 to 1969." So, a perfect summer read, then!

[Lily]

I'd like to suggest reading something by Mario Vargas Llosa (Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010). I own, but have barely started, The Bad Girl (2006), buying it after using Llosa's The Perpetual Orgy (1975) while reading Flaubert's Madame Bovary. Llosa is a great admirer of Flaubert and The Perpetual Orgy is the best accompaniment to Madame Bovary that I have found. See comments from Publishers Weekly below for more.

But, it might be more interesting here to read one of the other novels Llosa has published since 2000:

The Feast Of The Goat (2002) -- set in the Dominican Republic. Well rated, reviews as if a compelling read.

The Way to Paradise: A Novel (2003) Double portrait of artist Paul Gauguin and his proto-feminist grandmother Flora Tristán.

The Dream of the Celt: A Novel (2010, 2012 in English) Irish nationalist Roger Casement was hanged by the British government in 1916 for treason; story of his pioneering human rights work in Africa and Northern Ireland.

I'm not nominating any of these with this message, but will vote for a Llosa entry if there is sufficient interest for another member to nominate one.

From Publishers Weekly:
Veteran Peruvian novelist Vargas Llosa's appealing, nostalgic latest opens in the summer of 1950, as Ricardo Slim Somocurcio, a rambunctious teen in the affluent Miraflores section of Lima, meets 14-year-old nymph Lily. With her younger sister, Lily is masquerading as a wealthy, liberated Chilean girl to disguise her slum origins. She is soon exposed by a jealous schoolmate and disappears, but Ricardo is smitten. There are dashes of Vertigo and Last Year at Marienbad in what follows. As an adult, Ricardo's work as a translator for UNESCO takes him over the decades everywhere from late '50s Paris to the Beatles's London to gangland Tokyo. Everywhere he goes, his bad girl shows up in dramatically different disguises, denying she was his childhood sweetheart or that they've ever met before, but ravishing him completely. None of the characters is particularly nuanced, but Vargas Llosa is a master of description, and his gift for evoking sounds, smells and tastes makes each (often very graphic) encounter with Lily fresh. And with Ricardo's knack for being where the action is, whole scenes of the postwar period flare into view, as Lily's sexual perfidy eventually leads to serious trouble. The result is rich but not in the least deep. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Lily]

Lily wrote: "I'd like to suggest reading something by Mario Vargas Llosa (Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010).

I see now that The Feast Of The Goat is on the moderator's list!

[Deborah]

Shadow Country

[Zadignose]

How about a surprisingly engaging story about the history of a Cello?:

The Adventures of a Cello

[Lily]

KJ wrote: "Oops - already read both of those...."

"both"? What happened? Did something get edited after you posted? Did you start to suggest a couple of books and then changed your mind? Were you being facetious or funny or mocking? Am I missing something else?

[William]

@ Lily - You have to pick ONE! although you get points for enthusiasm! So which one? Also, I read The Perpetual Orgy in studying the process of creation, which I constantly study as a composer. However, I dislike Bovary still. The study of it's creation is fascinating.

@ Silver - We'll have to get a mod ruling on the The Lace Reader as it's listed in some genre lists, and it's prize seems to be fictitious, which is fascinating in and of itself. *CORRECTION* it's not made up, it's just given out in italian at a women's literary festival. Even Google had a little time with that one.

@ Zadignose - Looks cool, but it's non-fiction. Has to be fiction. Believe me, as a classical musician, I'm all about the violincello, but in this instance, it must be a non-existent one.

[Zadignose]

Ah, I didn't realize that it was for fiction only. Okay, how about:

The Fault in Our Stars

[Salome]

Hello, I'd like to nominate:

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2010)
A Visit from the Goon Squad

[Allen]

I'll nominate Jeet Thayil's Narcopolis

[Lily]

Will wrote: "@ Lily - You have to pick ONE! although you get points for enthusiasm! So which one? Also, I read The Perpetual Orgy in studying the process of creation, which I constantly study as a composer. How..."

Will -- I recognized that I wasn't nominating! If no one else cares enough about nominating a Llosa this month, I'll leave it with the moderator suggestion and vote there. But I really will continue to haggle for interest to develop! (Am I correct that all their nominations, at two each, come up for vote? I am still a newbie at the rules here and learning!)

[Silver]

Will wrote: "@Silver - We'll have to get a mod ruling on the The Lace Reader as it's listed in some genre lists, and it's prize seems to be fictitious, which is fascinating in and of itself. *CORRECTION* it's not made up, it's just given out in italian at a women's literary festival. Even Google had a little time with that one."

I was a bit iffy about that one and was not sure it would qualify, I know the award is a bit obscure, but I figured I would give it a try, since I have been wanting to read it.

[amaZioni]

Since I am the new kid on the block I am not quite sure if it is needed that a nominated novel itself has received a price or if it is enough that the writer did?

I would like to nominate then, yeah I am brave ^^ by Nobel Laureate Herta Müller The Hunger Angel. This new translation was published in April this year, the original in 2009. I have to say I would read this one in original German as thats the language I know best if you dont mind :)

[Lily]

amaZioni wrote: "I have to say I would read this one in original German as that's the language I know best if you don't mind :) ..."

So long as you provide a translation of your comments to English if you write them first in German? LOL!

[amaZioni]

Lily wrote: "So long as you provide a translation of your comments to Englis..."

LOL I will write my comments surely in English :P just noticed from other groups and discussions people are awfully afraid of translations, which I think is silly, so I thought I better mention it. And since I can read the original...

[Casceil]

I support the Lace Reader. I read it after I heard the author interviewed on Diane Rehm's show on NPR. I have since reread it, and I have also read the author's second novel, a map of True Places. (The title is a Moby Dick reference.) Brunonia Barry is a serious author. I think I gave The Lace Reader five stars.

[William]

ok, lots here:

@ Zadignose - It's on a bunch of romance and YA fiction lists, so I'll have to get a Moderator ruling on The fault in our stars.

@Silver - We've decided to not accept The Lace Reader this month, it was kind of a toss up, but I think the concencus was to let the book age in the barrel a bit longer. Let's see how time treats it. It's not (Casceil, as well) that Barry isn't a serious author, although that certainly is a concern with many nominated works at times, but whether someone might someday consider this book a real contender for a literary peak of the 21st century. Again, time may render my note here little more than a humorous footnote in the career of a famous book and glorious author, something for which I shall gladly accept the blame. In the meantime, please feel free to nominate another book.

@amaZioni - Neither the book nor the author need have received any award of any kind, simply that you (or somebody) really feel that the book might be a truly great literary work of the 21st century. A famous author might write a book that isn't good enough, and a total unknown might write something brilliant. Or, it might be a book that we're simply taking a risk with, because it MIGHT be great, but none of us have read it. We do the best we can. We're pretty accepting and open to weird and new things, but since if a book wins, we're accepting a solid month of dragging our weary bodies through it (and for the leader of the discussion, it can be horrid if the book isn't good..leading a discussion of a poor book is a thankless task) we try to do what we can to ensure a positive month for all.

As for books in translation, we've actually read quite a few, a significant percentage of our total so far, in fact. As long as a version is obtainable in English for those unable to appreciate the native language of it's birth, a book originally in any other language is acceptable.

[amaZioni]

Will, thank you for the clearification :) I am aware of the fact but honestly did not think about it when I have posted that you guys read a lot of translated literature. In this case the group is different in a positive way. I surely don´t have to mention the famous "Three percent" *smile* but for some reasons translations ARE a topic and widely discussed, even feared. My apologizes for being so short-sighted, I didn´t know it any better by past experiences on other forums and groups :)

Indeed, I have read two books by now by Herta Müller and I am hugely impressed by her unique way of story-telling and her wonderful command of language. Furthermore I am absolutely convinced that giving her the Nobel Prize in Literature was one of the strongest decision the guys over there in Stockholm made in the recent years. And mind you, my judgement is based solely on two, rather "minor" novels of her.

"Atemschaukel" as is the original title is also considered by the most professional critics in the German speaking countries as her strongest work of fiction.

[William]

I'm actually eager to read her, she's been on my list for a while, and haven't yet had the chance to.

[Silver]

Ok I will go for Snow by Orhan Pamuk

Prix Medicis Étranger (2005), Prix Méditerranée Étranger (2006)

[William]

@ Silver - Nice pick!

@ Zadignose - Sorry, but the mods have ruled the book too genre for this month's pick.

However, we're working on a really cool surprise for next month's picks that this book would be more than eligible for! Details after it's hammered out.

[Katie]

Hello, I'm new to this group and love it so far! Can I nominate Darkmans by Nicola Barker ? It was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize.

[Jason]

Salome wrote: "Hello, I'd like to nominate:

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2010)
A Visit from the Goon Squad"

I'm not sure just how much time I will have next month to be able to participate, but I second this!

[Lily]

Katie wrote: "Hello, I'm new to this group and love it so far! Can I nominate Darkmans by Nicola Barker ? It was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize."

Katie -- you do know this is over 800 pages in length and one of a series? With those caveats, do you still recommend it as a single month's read for this group?

[Katie]

It can be read independently from the other books. They all involve a similar town and a couple of similar characters, but are separate entities. I read it in a couple of days, guess I'm just a fast reader. Sorry.

[Zadignose]

Apparently nominating is much more difficult than I realized. Alright, then, it's back to China:

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers

And, just to be clear, this is a novel, not a dictionary. The author has a newer novel published this year, but I haven't seen the criticism on the new book yet.

[Lily]

Katie wrote: "It can be read independently from the other books. They all involve a similar town and a couple of similar characters, but are separate entities. I read it in a couple of days, guess I'm just a fas..."

Sounds ok then. Thx, Katie. I had wondered from the reviews.









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[William]

Ok, a really good round of nominations! Nominations closed, and polls will be up shortly.