I like, "Isn't the Point of Computers to Replace Books?"
Yeah, we're building a race of frog-people. It's a good time
Xander ,'Selfless'
The Buffista Book Club: the Harry Potter iteration
This thread is a focused discussion group. Please see the first post below for the current topic and upcoming book discussions. While natter will inevitably happen, we encourage you to treat this like a virtual book club and try to keep your posts in that spirit.
By consensus, this thread is reopened specifically to discuss Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It will be closed again once that discussion has run its course.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Maysa - Jul 14, 2004 5:10:52 am PDT #140 of 3301
Angus G - Jul 14, 2004 5:14:02 am PDT #141 of 3301
Roguish Laird
I'll throw "Geez, crack a book sometime" in there...although has that been used already for another thread?
erikaj - Jul 14, 2004 5:23:23 am PDT #142 of 3301
Always Anti-fascist!
Was it a literary once, or did it get voted down? And, Cindy, bwah, but it is not my book. I am a rather devoted Simon's Bitch, though, if that just wouldn't bring up such negative associations in a crime reporter.
Ginger - Jul 14, 2004 5:25:49 am PDT #143 of 3301
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
Would it be helpful for those of us who nominated books to come back with a condensed version of our recommendation? Here's mine:
The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams
Part autobiography, part cynical observation of politics and progress. An insightful and at times darkly humorous exploration of both a remarkable man and the tumultuous age in which he lived.
Eventually I'm going to start pimping for Gospel by Wilton Barnhardt and The Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher, but for this round, I'd like to throw a few more "classics" into the mix.
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
In our discussions in Literary, a number of people said they'd like to read Dickens, either because they never had or because they'd only read Great Expectations in high school, which is a good way to learn to loathe Dickens. (It's a great book, but perhaps not something to tackle in the 9th grade.) Hard Times is a relatively short work that explores Dickens' social concerns and the affects of an abusive system on both the abused and the people who profit from their work.
A Pairing:
Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Each book includes a mystery, an exploration of the effects of race and racism, and a courtroom drama. Together I think they could provoke an interesting discussion on the effects of racism and culture, plus they're both wonderful books. Pudd'nhead Wilson is Twain at his most savage and his most funny; To Kill a Mockingbird features one of the more engaging children in literature and one of the better portraits of quiet heroism.
UTTAD - Jul 14, 2004 5:36:04 am PDT #144 of 3301
Strawberry disappointment.
What about calling the thread "809". dewey decimal for literary criticism.
Wolfram - Jul 14, 2004 5:41:52 am PDT #145 of 3301
Visilurking
Buffista Book Club: It Should Be Smelly
I'm changing my vote for thread title to this because it makes me smile.
This thread is a focussed discussion group. Please refer to [link] for the current topic, and upcoming book discussions.
I thought the nattering line in the description was Stompy approved. Also "focussed" discussion group may have been a bit of a Freudian slip - let's go with focused.
Trudy Booth - Jul 14, 2004 5:46:52 am PDT #146 of 3301
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart
I'm partial to smelly (and Giles titles in general).
Wolfram, is your profile addy good?
Wolfram - Jul 14, 2004 5:48:59 am PDT #147 of 3301
Visilurking
Trudy - yep. Just checked it.
Amy - Jul 14, 2004 5:54:14 am PDT #148 of 3301
Because books.
Isn't the Point of Computers to Replace Books?
Casting my vote for the above for the quotey thing.
JenP - Jul 14, 2004 5:57:37 am PDT #149 of 3301
Wolfram - I actually can't find where the natter line was stompy supported. Seems the other way to me. There might be another segment of the discussion, but here's what I found:
P.M. Marcontell "Voting Discussion: We're Screwing In Light Bulbs AIFG!" Jul 7, 2004 3:59:59 pm PDT
Betsy HP "Voting Discussion: We're Screwing In Light Bulbs AIFG!" Jul 7, 2004 4:55:21 pm PDT
M-W lists both spellings, so I didn't change the spelling when I cut and pasted the language, though, yeah, I spell it with one "s," too.