I fed off a flowerperson, and I spent the next six hours watchin' my hand move.

Spike ,'Same Time, Same Place'


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***

  • **Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows lie here. Read at your own risk***


Connie Neil - Aug 12, 2004 7:49:51 am PDT #391 of 3301
brillig

There is a sequel to My Name is Asher Lev, but the story is self-contained enough.


-t - Aug 13, 2004 7:51:24 am PDT #392 of 3301
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

I got myself a wee bit confused. Does discussion start on Sunday or Monday?


DavidS - Aug 13, 2004 7:57:56 am PDT #393 of 3301
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

I've got an extra copy of The Intuitionist.

I know it's kind of late, but the discussion will be going for a while. Anybody that's still interested can claim it.


Wolfram - Aug 13, 2004 12:41:32 pm PDT #394 of 3301
Visilurking

I got myself a wee bit confused. Does discussion start on Sunday or Monday?

Sunday. But it will go for a month so people have plenty of time to join in late. No rule that you have to start on Sunday, which is good considering I won't even be here until Wednesday or Thursday.

I think you're confused because I suggested starting all new books on a Monday rather than exactly a month later, which didn't seem to meet with any objections.


-t - Aug 13, 2004 1:28:33 pm PDT #395 of 3301
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

I think you're confused because I suggested starting all new books on a Monday rather than exactly a month later, which didn't seem to meet with any objections.

Yeah, that's the source of my confusion. I had it in my head as this hard deadline that I had to meet. Silly me.


askye - Aug 15, 2004 11:26:10 am PDT #396 of 3301
Thrive to spite them

I read The Intuitionist right away and didn't take notes or reread it and now I'm wishing I had so I could have something more interesting to say right off the bat.

If it weren't for the book club and wanting to particpate I would have stopped reading around the second chapter. I got hung up on the elevators and how important they were. I think at the end I skimmed and missed exactly how things were tied up, or if they were.

I really really should have taken notes.


libkitty - Aug 15, 2004 12:05:59 pm PDT #397 of 3301
Embrace the idea that we are the leaders we've been looking for. Grace Lee Boggs

If it weren't for the book club and wanting to particpate I would have stopped reading around the second chapter.

Ditto. But I'm kind of glad that I forced myself through, because I kind of liked the ending, and I feel so (stupidly) proud of myself when I finish a slow read.

We need Kristin with her book club discussion suggestions. Or some questions to get things started. How about: Did anyone see that Intuitionism started as a joke, and what did you think about it?

I didn't see it coming, but it made the whole book more meaningful for me.


Anne W. - Aug 15, 2004 12:31:49 pm PDT #398 of 3301
The lost sheep grow teeth, forsake their lambs, and lie with the lions.

I'm about two-thirds of the way through, and I've started enjoying the book a lot more. I nearly put it down after the first third, though. I keep wanting to find some sort of allegory in the whole elevator motif, but I'm not sure that's the best way to read the book.

Admittedly, I have a way to go, but I'm almost starting to read the Intuitionist vs. Empiricist debate as the kind of spirit of the law vs. letter of the law debate you might see in theological circles.

I wonder how many others felt bogged down in the beginning, and why they felt that way. For me, it's because the author's voice took a lot of getting used to. Also, there were points where I felt he was trying just a little too hard with certain similes or turns of phrase. There were times (e.g., when describing Lila Mae's hair or the guild's sedans) where I noticed the language more than the image, if that makes any sense.

I'll pop back in here once I've finished. With any luck, that should be some time tomorrow.


DebetEsse - Aug 15, 2004 12:43:14 pm PDT #399 of 3301
Woe to the fucking wicked.

I didn't see it coming. I was waiting for some kind of big "elevators are people, too" moment, which we didn't really get.

It's odd. In the first part of the book (until they got into the theory of it), Intuitionist practice sounded a lot like looking at the big picture or how all the pieces work together, rather than the individual pieces, and listening, rather than looking. So, the Impiricist reaction to it sounded something like gunpowder=magic, or Adrian Monk, Benton Frasier, Sherlock Holmes, etc. I'd have liked more on it earlier, as I think it would have helped inform my reading of Lila Mae, particularly, and pretty much everyone.

And, for the record, I always take the escalator.


Laura - Aug 15, 2004 1:08:30 pm PDT #400 of 3301
Our wings are not tired.

Wah. Haven't finished yet due to other things that needed doing. I'll be back...