because so many people were so opposed to the thread

If so many people were opposed, the proposal wouldn't have passed. The vote was 68 for and 22 against. I'm not saying the thread shouldn't be closed, just that support was strong at the time.

Defeat? Were we competing at something?

In my head, I have these grandiose plans for this thread, when my life gets less cluttered. I see us exploring books of classical and modern fiction and maybe even a graphic novel like Watchmen or Maus. I see us experimenting with a chapter-by-chapter read and analysis, and perhaps a stab at using Project Gutenberg [link] for one selection. I see potential in this thread, albeit unrealized.

But in reality, the thread is just sitting. I'd really like to keep it open. But I'm also mindful of the folks who spoke out against it, and if it makes them feel better then I won't oppose its closure.

Um, I don't think anyone is agitating for its closure. If you guys want to close up shop fine, but don't close it just to satisfy some nebulous group of folks who see the thread as a thorn in their side. I don't think they exist.

I don't think they exist.

I don't think they do, either. They've probably forgotten it, since this is a quiet, inoffensive thread that doesn't take up much room.

I like the idea of using Project Gutenberg, because we'd all be able to get a copy of the work, since we all obviously have computers and the Internet.

I agree with DX. And my bringing this up had nothing to do with anything except... it's been six months with no book discussion activity. To me, that seems like a long time without activity and thought it might bear discussion.

I, too, like the Project Gutenberg idea. Also, having some sort of discussion guide might help us get past the, "I liked it","Yeah, I liked it too, but not this part","I like that part but not this other part" kind of conversation, and perhaps into more substance. PG's top 100 list might be a good place to start for titles. For example, a quick google search of The Art of War (currently #4) found many discussion/study guides, including this: [link] Not that I'm advocating we start up again with The Art of War, or not. I just would like to see this not die.

eta: Thanks, Jen, for bringing this up again. I was so tickled to see that there were eight new posts in this thread!

Um, I don't think anyone is agitating for its closure. If you guys want to close up shop fine, but don't close it just to satisfy some nebulous group of folks who see the thread as a thorn in their side. I don't think they exist.

I don't think anyone is agitating for its closure either. And although I don't imagine some group of Buffistas seeing the thread as a thorn in their side, I also know some Buffistas opened their own bookclub in lj, right around the time this thread was created. I don't know that it fared any better than this one. It might even be gone now, but it still seemed a little point-y. Not thorny. Just pointy. Something, with a point.

Also, a lot of the opposition was based on the anti-proliferation stance, which is as much about culture as resources. Because I share that to some extent, I'd rather see us close threads that don't succeed, so that when there is a proposal for a new thread, it doesn't have to bear quite as big a burden. Since this idea never did take off like wildfire, I now really don't see any reason this sort of discussion couldn't take place in the Literary thread.

This thread opened in July, 2004. It's August, 2005. We didn't even make it to 1000 posts.

I also know some Buffistas opened their own bookclub in lj, right around the time this thread was created

They did?

We didn't even make it to 1000 posts.

"I'm not dead yet! I feel happy!"

They did?

Yeah. I just looked it up, and got the "this journal has been deleted and purged" message. But yeah.