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View Poll Results: Poor farmers or robots? Vote for your choice.
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov 19 38.00%
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton 31 62.00%
Voters: 50. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 11-27-2012, 12:51 PM   #1
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December 2012 Run-Off Vote

December 2012 Mobile Read Book Club Run-Off Vote

Help us choose a book as the December 2012 eBook for the Mobile Read Book Club by voting in this run-off poll. It will be open for 3 days, and all MobileRead members are invited to participate. The vote this month will be visible.

We will start the discussion thread for this book on December 20th. Select from the following two choices:

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Amazon (US) / B&N / BooksOnBoard / Kobo / Sony
Spoiler:
The three laws of Robotics:
1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm
2) A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

With these three, simple directives, Isaac Asimov changed our perception of robots forever when he formulated the laws governing their behavior. In I, Robot, Asimov chronicles the development of the robot through a series of interlinked stories: from its primitive origins in the present to its ultimate perfection in the not-so-distant future—a future in which humanity itself may be rendered obsolete.

Here are stories of robots gone mad, of mind-read robots, and robots with a sense of humor. Of robot politicians, and robots who secretly run the world—all told with the dramatic blend of science fact and science fiction that has become Asmiov's trademark.


Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Patricia Clark Memorial Library: PRC / Gutenberg EPUB / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Dymocks Australia / Kobo / Sony Reader Store
Spoiler:
Set against the bleak winter landscape of New England, Ethan Frome tells the story of a poor farmer, lonely and downtrodden, his wife Zeena, and her cousin, the enchanting Mattie Silver. In the playing out of this short novel's powerful and engrossing drama, Edith Wharton constructed her least characteristic and most celebrated book. In its unyielding and shocking pessimism, its bleak demonstration of tragic waste, it is a masterpiece of psychological and emotional realism.

(1911 Pulitzer).

Last edited by WT Sharpe; 11-27-2012 at 12:59 PM.
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Old 11-27-2012, 12:56 PM   #2
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I'm voting forEthan Frome, since we read a science fiction book for November for both this club and the lit club.
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Old 11-27-2012, 01:09 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by issybird View Post
I'm voting forEthan Frome, since we read a science fiction book for November for both this club and the lit club.
Your rational for voting for Ethan Frome is incorrect. Cloud Atlas is not a science fiction book. It got in by mistake for November. So for November, we did not have a science fiction book. What we got was gypped since we didn't get a science fiction book when we should have.
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Old 11-27-2012, 01:36 PM   #4
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Not only did we read science fiction in both clubs in November, but also Ethan Frome is short for a busy month and it's free.
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Old 11-27-2012, 01:39 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by issybird View Post
Not only did we read science fiction in both clubs in November, but also Ethan Frome is short for a busy month and it's free.
Short and free gets my vote.
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Old 11-27-2012, 01:43 PM   #6
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My first vote was for "I, robot", but then I found out that it is only available as print version here in Germany. I don't want to buy any more paper books if possible, so my second vote goes to "Ethan Frome"
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Old 11-27-2012, 01:51 PM   #7
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I am not thrilled with either choice, but between reading Ethan Frome again and once more attempting to read I, Robot, I have to go with Ethan Frome. Nothing to do with whether or not Cloud Atlas was or was not a SciFi/Fantasy novel. It's just my previous attempt to read I, Robot, oh it must be at least 15 years ago, I found what I read of it so dated and silly that I never could finish it. The stories therein were first published as a collection in 1950. Science Fiction does not age well. O.K, so it does have something to do with I,Robot being SciFi/Fantasy.
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Old 11-27-2012, 02:14 PM   #8
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I read I, Robot in my youth and have no particular desire to read it again. Ethan Frome sounds like a jolly little number for Christmas (), so I voted for that, though I really did want to be forced encouraged to read Crime & Punishment, and would have had an excuse to do so if it had been chosen. Maybe I'll add it to my challenge list for next year.
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Old 11-27-2012, 02:36 PM   #9
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I, Robot has been on my "to read" list forever, and I've just not done so as yet. I was hoping this would be motivation.

Ethan Frome sounds depressing as hell.
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Old 11-27-2012, 02:59 PM   #10
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Easy choice: Ethan Frome it is.
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Old 11-27-2012, 03:11 PM   #11
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For those who feel I, Robot is too expensive, please check out the Overdrive links and see if you may be able to get it for free to read for December.

I, Robot is available FOR FREE from some (not just the USA) libraries that support Overdrive.
ePub: http://search.overdrive.com/ti/9ab7d...c-asimov-ebook
Kindle: http://search.overdrive.com/ti/9ab7d...c-asimov-ebook
MP3: http://search.overdrive.com/ti/a6aae...imov-audiobook
WMA: http://search.overdrive.com/ti/a6aae...imov-audiobook
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Old 11-27-2012, 03:12 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird View Post
Not only did we read science fiction in both clubs in November, but also Ethan Frome is short for a busy month and it's free.
Cloud Atlas is not and has never been science fiction. What part of IT'S NOT SCIENCE FICTION don't you get? It's actually labeled fantasy and I think that's wrong too.
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Old 11-27-2012, 08:48 PM   #13
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Ethan Frome for me. I've been meaning to read something from this author, the book is fairly short and is apparently extremely depressing.

What's not to love?

Now - I could have possibly spent some of the money I threw away on Cyber Monday to purchase I, Robot, but in the end I couldn't - because I was throwing it away on Cyber Monday.

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Old 11-27-2012, 08:52 PM   #14
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This is December. It's Chanukah & Christmas. What we don't need is depressing and Ethan Frome is a very poor choice for December giving how depressing it is. We should be reading something that's a lot more upbeat and enjoyable. That would be I, Robot. If you want to risk causing someone to be depressed because of reading Ethan Frome, go ahead and vote for it. But if you care about your fellow man/woman, vote for I, Robot.

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Old 11-27-2012, 09:06 PM   #15
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There should be a minimum of 11 I, Robot votes based on the first round, so this early lead by Ethan Frome could be swallowed easily as the vote progresses.

I'm not sure if I, Robot will suffer from any classic backlash. There might be those who don't particularly think of it as a classic. Ethan Frome fits into the category quite easily. So where a different selection (say Crime and Punishment) might have divided the final vote, it's possible that this run-off vote has a more "black and white" feel for some.

But that sort of consideration is hard to predict. Although I personally wouldn't jump to classify I, Robot as a classic. At the same time, I don't object to its inclusion. I possibly would have voted for it myself in the run-off if I happened to own it already.
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