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yes

14 (82.4%)

no

3 (17.6%)

Total Members Voted: 16

Voting closed: July 12, 2005, 09:51:44 pm

[side_show]

And just as an aside, did anyone else here read Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things?

Did you enjoy it?  I've tried to read The God of Small Things three times,  I really want to read it, and in theory it's the type of book I like, but I always get distracted by other books I want to ready more.  My SO's mom is borrowing it right now...  Tell me more AD.

Also,

Thanks all for even more kick ass suggestions, keep up with the seconding of books you wanna read, and with throwing out other suggestions.  I'm going on a hard core writing jag right now, so I'll return over the weekend and put together a more comprehensive list of what we've got here.  

I say we shoot for declairing an August book by the end of next week so that we can all have a bit of time to pick up whichever book we go with (order from Amazon, talk to the local librarian, etc.), and have it read by August 31st.

[V-Adore]

My official nomination is Geek Love, but I am more than willing to read Franny and Zooey, just for the record.

[jough]

How about Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow"?

I've been meaning to give that one another read, and it's pretty light reading.

[acoxcae]

How about Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow"?

Please.  I think we're all looking for some serious reading.  I'll bet Pynchon doesn't even comprehend the literary force that is Archie comics.  I need something with substance, something I can't just cruise through before bedtime some lazy evening.

acoxcae

(Sadly, my first thought when I read your suggestion was "Hmm...I could probably almost comprehend the Cliff's Notes in a month...")

[St_Zartan]

Please.  I think we're all looking for some serious reading.  I'll bet Pynchon doesn't even comprehend the literary force that is Archie comics.  I need something with substance, something I can't just cruise through before bedtime some lazy evening.

Pynchon and comics are not incompatible - GR, just off the top of my head, has a Batman reference, a Plastic Man quasi-appearance, and a Fantastic Four parody. And Vineland was just fuck*ng rife with pop culture.

Gravity's Rainbow is my favorite book in the whole world. Just give me an excuse to re-read it. And hell, I would love to see what some of you made of it.

[acoxcae]

Taken - and actually, I would love to read GR, but I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to have the sort of time to devote to it in order to be able to read it in a month or so - even if not for book club purposes, if I spend any more than about a month on a book, I start forgetting details from the beginning, and it's all a mess.

I'll add it to the list of great books I've never read, and if I foresee a month of light activity, it's tops on the list.  Well, that and Zinn's "People's History," which I'm nearly halfway through now, but dropped in order to speed through the HP series before the release tomorrow.

I may not make it.

[slink]

Hey - comics - now there's a idea.

I did just get a copy of From Hell and Watchmen, bth of which will take some considerable time to get through. Along with a pile of other stuff - Thessaly included which looks like it could be rather good (published by Sandman comics).

[AlohaDawg]

And just as an aside, did anyone else here read Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things?

Did you enjoy it?  I've tried to read The God of Small Things three times,  I really want to read it, and in theory it's the type of book I like, but I always get distracted by other books I want to ready more.  My SO's mom is borrowing it right now...  Tell me more AD.

Also,

Thanks all for even more kick ass suggestions, keep up with the seconding of books you wanna read, and with throwing out other suggestions.  I'm going on a hard core writing jag right now, so I'll return over the weekend and put together a more comprehensive list of what we've got here.  

I say we shoot for declairing an August book by the end of next week so that we can all have a bit of time to pick up whichever book we go with (order from Amazon, talk to the local librarian, etc.), and have it read by August 31st.

It was sometimes hard to read, both because of somewhat gritty content and because Roy has a Tarantino-like disregard for linear time. It sort of starts at the end, jumps around the middle, finds the beginning, back to the middle and the end again. I think - it's been a few years since I read it.

I did like it, though - interesting social/political themes, I love reading about places like India and especially in terms of society and politics, and particularly especially when set in "interesting times".

I think I wound up reading this book (like probably 90% of the truly worthy fiction I read) because of a review on NPR. I trust a strong liberal bias to give me good leads on The Arts.

[CortJstr]

Hey - comics - now there's a idea.

I did just get a copy of From Hell and Watchmen, bth of which will take some considerable time to get through. Along with a pile of other stuff - Thessaly included which looks like it could be rather good (published by Sandman comics).

I read Watchmen last month (see the book threads) and there's definitely a lot to discuss there.

[side_show]

Okay, rather than drawing from a hat, I've decided to make another lengthy poll (see "August TOUAMB Book o' the Month Poll").  We're far more likely to be successful if we're all reading a book we feel enthusiastic about.

As for all the nominations on this page that aren't on the list, it's because they either had as much opposition as they did support.

Finally, wombat and AuguestWest - you both mentioned John LeCarre, but no specific book by him.  Can you nominate at book by LeCarre, and I'll put it on next month's list?  

Thanks for all the awesome suggestions, y'all - I'm excited to see a list taking shape of books I want to read, books I've never heard of and books that'll be a test of my claim to be willing to read anything!