catervalibre

Book 2 Discussion - Time Traveller's Wife

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:43:42 GMT

Sorry I'm a day late in posting this!

This post will not be locked down or closed, so if you want to come back and add to the comments once we've moved on to another book, you're more than encouraged to do so!

Let the discussions begin!

Book 2: Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:49:21 GMT

From Wikipedia: The Time Traveler's Wife (ISBN 0224071912) is a novel by Audrey Niffenegger. It is an unconventional love story that centers on a man with a strange genetic disorder that causes him to unpredictably time-travel and his wife, an artist, who has to cope with his frequent absences and dangerous experiences. In this book, unlike many other time travel stories, it is not possible to change the past or future.

Because I forgot to post this early enough, discussion of this book will start at the end of March 2008 (the post will go up on Monday 31st) (not 2009 as I initially put up... ever had one of those months?)

Adminy type things - I'm happy to say wenchpixie has agreed to help me out with the more organisational side of things and be a co-maintainer of the community. Cheers hun!

Also, discussion of the first book, Behold the Man - Michael Moorcock, is still ongoing. We took the decision not to actively close off the discussions so that if you have something to add a few weeks/months/years down the line you are more than welcome to do so! To that end I'll be posting a master list of the discussions we've had in the past, and of the upcoming ones.

The reading list is right here - if you have a suggestion for it, please drop us a comment on that post, or if you have any questions at all, comment right here and we'll try our best to get answers for you!

Behold the Man - Discussion post

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:47:15 GMT

Welcome to the first discussion post of the group! Let's all make it a good one!

This post will remain open for as long as LJ exists so if you have more thoughts you want to share about the book next month, next year, next decade, next century, you'll always have a place to share it. (For that reason, I'd recommend if you're specifically interested in this discussion that you track comments so that you know when updates are made.)

Right! Now that's over with, who wants to be first to share his or her thoughts on the book?

Book One: Behold the Man

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:17:18 GMT

Hello all! The first book we're going to look at is:

Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock

Amazon.co.uk link // Amazon.com link // British Library record //Library of Congress record

Good grief I hope those links work...

From Wikipedia : "The story begins with Karl's violent arrival in the Holy Land of A.D. 28, where his time machine, a womblike, fluid-filled sphere, cracks open and becomes useless. By interpolating numerous memories and flashbacks, Moorcock tells the parallel story of Karl's troubled past in 20th century London, and tries to explain why he's willing to risk everything to meet Jesus. We learn that Karl has chronic problems with women, homosexual tendencies, an interest in the ideas of Jung, and many neuroses, including a messiah complex."

Behold the Man was first published as a Novella in a 1966 issue of New Worlds, and an extended version (which we will be reading and discussing) was published in 1969. It won the Nebula Award for 'Best Novella' in 1967.

This promises to be a controversial discussion, and as such please be aware that flaming is not tolerated in this community.

Discussion of the book will begin on Monday 4th February 2008, giving you a coupld of weeks to get hold of the book and read it. If you have problems finding it, let me know and I may be able to help. (Although I have yet to get my own copy yet!)

I'll post a discussion post on the 4th, all discussion of the book should be contained within that post.

If you have a suggestion for books the community should read please comment to the reading list post

Reading list

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:40:55 GMT

Comment to this post if you have a suggestion for a book you would like the comm to read.

Books should be:

Published and/or available in the english language (or with available english translations).
Readily available through libraries and/or bookshops - rare books, while amazing finds, don't generate as much discussion

Other than that I have no objection to the type of book suggested. I don't agree with state enforced censorship, I feel the individual should be enouraged to educate themselves so they can reach an informed decision. So if Mein Kampf is added here (obviously in the english translation) then that works for me. Knowledge is power, ignorance is no excuse. Know the enemy, know thyself. And all sorts of other trite sayings.

The most controversial subjects can engender the most interesting debates.

So here's the initial list. This post will be edited and updated as new suggestions are received.

Behold the Man - Michael Moorcock
Flowers For Algernon - Daniel Keyes
Einstein's Dreams - Alan P. Lightman
1984 - George Orwell
Animal Farm - George Orwell
Mort - Terry Pratchett
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Time Traveller's Wife, The - Audrey Niffenegger
Duncton Wood - William Horwood
Silver Pigs - Lindsey Davies
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The - Mark Haddon
Adventures of Blue Avenger, The - Norma Howe
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, The - Michael Chabon
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
The Stars, My Destination - Alfred Bester
Handmaid's Tale, The - Margaret Attwood
Kite Runner, The - Khaled Hosseini
Thirteenth Tale, The - Diane Setterfield
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Watchmen (graphic novel) - Alan Moore
Abarat - Clive Barker
Duma Key - Stephen King
Blaze - Richard Bachman
Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
Red Tent, The - Anita Diamant
Evening Class by Maeve Binchy
Interface - Neal Stephenson and Frederick George
Ghost Written - David Mitchell
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The American Boy - Andrew Taylor
Doomsday Book - Connie Willis
Lovely Bones, The - Alice Sebold
Pure Land, The - Alan Spence

(I'm a librarian, I can't code in the non-filing characters so I'm doing the 'comma the' thing, sorry if that bugs anyone!)

Welcome post

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:41:08 GMT

Welcome to the newest book group on LJ. This community is aimed at encouraging the members to share their views on books and writing suggested by the community. Membership is completely open and with the nature of the group discussions will extend for longer than the standard evening meeting.

We aim to have members of all nationalities, educational standards, faiths, sexualities, genders, political standpoints and opinions. Discussion and debate is encouraged - after all it's the whole point! However flaming is a bootable offence.

We will have more in depth rules set up soon, we are just starting up right now so any suggestions much appreciated!

We will have a book suggestion post, which will be linked to from the discussion posts and from the user info. If there is a book you would like to see discussed within the community please add it to the list!

If you have any suggestions for how the comm should run, then please leave us a comment here or feel free to send me a message. At the moment I am the sole maintener but I will be looking for additional moderators (potentially from different time zones) in the near future. Again, if you're interested please leave a comment or message me!