I love that idea for a book club. It makes me want to start one up again.
If every vampire who said he was at the crucifixion was actually there, it would have been like Woodstock.
Spike ,'Same Time, Same Place'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Sue - Jul 07, 2010 3:41:21 pm PDT #11693 of 28343
hip deep in pie
megan walker - Jul 07, 2010 3:45:02 pm PDT #11694 of 28343
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
Rebecca's cheating! She's not the heroine!
True, but I think that very point will be great for discussion. I really hope someone reads it.
The great thing about focusing on the classics was that even if someone hadn't read a particular book for the salon, they could talk about it and add to the discussion because they had read it in the past.
For quests, I cribbed some notes from Joseph Campbell and we discussed the hero's journey and whether our book fit the classic mythology model, etc.
Amy - Jul 07, 2010 6:27:12 pm PDT #11695 of 28343
Because books.
I really like the idea for the book club, megan. How often are you meeting?
megan walker - Jul 07, 2010 6:35:56 pm PDT #11696 of 28343
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
Well, the original idea was once a month, but since so many people picked longish books, we're thinking that might be too often.
What we decided after our first meeting (where everyone was really thrilled with the discussion) was that we would continue with quests next time but pick our next topic (so we had a bit more time to read).
So, for next time, some people are finishing their quest book, some are reading a second shorter quest book, but others are starting on longer eponymous heroines (Jane Eyre and Anna Karenina I believe).
Note: This is a work thing, so we just head out for drinks after work so it's easy to coordinate.
Dana - Jul 07, 2010 6:36:48 pm PDT #11697 of 28343
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
Wow, so you like, read things? And talk to people? Socially? People who don't exist on the internet? Oh, brave new world.
Connie Neil - Jul 07, 2010 6:38:11 pm PDT #11698 of 28343
brillig
force me to get through The Count of Monte Cristo
t weep it shouldn't take force to get through The Count. Ah, Msr. de Nortier, how cunning you are even though you can't talk.
megan walker - Jul 07, 2010 6:41:59 pm PDT #11699 of 28343
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
it shouldn't take force to get through The Count
I am reading the unabridged novel in the original French. At 1400 pages, it's by far the longest thing on my should-reads list.
Connie Neil - Jul 07, 2010 6:44:47 pm PDT #11700 of 28343
brillig
in the original French
OK, that wins at literary badassery, I adore my unabridged Count, but I can't attempt the original French. Though it's always fun to find where someone very formal suddenly trots out casual English where the French was translated oddly.
megan walker - Jul 07, 2010 7:06:20 pm PDT #11701 of 28343
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
If you are looking for book salon theme ideas, here are the other book lists I proposed:
Classic "Boys" Adventures
Around the World in 80 Days
(Jules Verne)
Captain Blood
(Gabriel Sabatini)
The Count of Monte Cristo
(Alexandre Dumas père)
Journey to the Center of the Earth
(Jules Verne)
Kidnapped
(Robert Louis Stevenson)
King Solomon’s Mines
(H. Rider Haggard)
The Lost World
(Arthur Conan Doyle)
The Scarlet Pimpernel
(Baroness Orczy)
She
(H. Rider Haggard)
Tarzan of the Apes
(Edgar Rice Burroughs)
The Three Musketeers
(Alexandre Dumas père)
Treasure Island
(Robert Louis Stevenson)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
(Jules Verne)
Dystopian Novels
Brave New World
(Aldous Huxley)
The Children of Men
(P.D. James)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
(Philip K. Dick)
Fahrenheit 451
(Ray Bradbury)
The Handmaid’s Tale
(Margaret Atwood)
The Hunger Games
trilogy (Suzanne Collins)
Iron Heel
(Jack London)
Lord of the Flies
(William Golding)
Neuromancer
(William Gibson)
1984
(George Orwell)
Oryx and Crake
(Margaret Atwood)
The Stand
(Stephen King)
The Time Machine
(H.G. Wells)
V for Vendetta
(Alan Moore & David Lloyd)
Water, Water, Everywhere
Billy Budd
(Herman Melville)
The Falls
(Joyce Carol Oates)
Heart of Darkness
(Joseph Conrad)
Kon-Tiki
(Thor Hyerdahl)
Moby-Dick
(Herman Melville)
The Old Man and the Sea
(Ernest Hemingway)
Sail Away: Stories of Escaping to Sea
(Jules Verne, Virginia Woolf et al)
Sea Tales
(James Fenimore Cooper)
The Sea, the Sea
(Iris Murdoch)
Ship of Fools
(Katherine Anne Porter)
Silent Spring
(Rachel Carson)
Treasure Island
(Robert Louis Stevenson)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
(Jules Verne)
Two Years Before the Mast
(Richard Henry Dana)
Zeitoun
(Dave Eggers)
Strix - Jul 07, 2010 7:06:54 pm PDT #11702 of 28343
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
Oooh, I love the eponymous heroine theme! (Although Anne of Green Gables totes needs to be on there!)
Hmm, I think perhaps tomorrow needs to be a library day.
Classic horror needs to include The Haunting of Hill House. One of my all time favorite creepies.
The last thing I read in the original language was The Satyricon, and I haven't read Latin much since. Dirty idioms are really a pain to translate.