MobileRead May 2010 Book Club Nominations

[Kevin2960]

Originally Posted by Madam Broshkina

Here is a list as of Dec 09.



https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64323

Much Appreciated Thank You

[Kevin2960]

Originally Posted by lene1949

I'll third The Three Musketeers...

Thank You Lene

[Format C:]

My three nominations:

Niccolò Macchiavelli - Il Principe (the Prince)
The views expounded by Machiavelli in The Prince may seem extreme even for the time period in which they were written. However, his whole life was spent in Florence at a time of continuous political conflict. Accordingly, Machiavelli emphasizes the need for stability in a prince’s principality; at stake is its preservation.

The theories expressed in The Prince describe methods that an aspiring prince can use to acquire the throne, or an existing prince can use to maintain his reign. According to Machiavelli, the greatest moral good is a virtuous and stable state, and actions to protect the country are therefore justified even if they are cruel.[citation needed] Machiavelli strongly suggests, however, that the prince must not be hated. He states, "...a wise prince should establish himself on that which is his own control and not in that of others; he must endeavor to avoid hatred, as is noted."[1]

The opening discourse of The Prince defines effective methods of governing in several types of principalities (for example, newly acquired vs. hereditary). Machiavelli explains to the reader, the "Magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici",[2] member of the Florentine Medici family, the best ways to acquire, maintain, and protect a state. The methods described therein have the general theme of acquiring necessary ends by any means.

Aldous Huxley - Brave New World
Copyright ended on september 2008.
Brave New World is a novel by Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Set in the London of AD 2540 (632 A.F. in the book), the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis of futurism. Huxley answered this book with a reassessment in an essay, Brave New World Revisited (1958), and with his final work, a novel titled Island (1962), both still in copyright.

In 1999, the Modern Library ranked Brave New World fifth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.

Homer - the odyssey
In a way or another every western literary work comes from it.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by Verencat

I second that, I always meant to read it.

Cheers Verencat.

I've not read "Barry Lyndon" yet myself - that was one of the reasons I nominated it - but I really enjoyed Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" and am hoping "Barry Lyndon" is as good.
And with an opening line like:
"Since the days of Adam, there has been hardly a mischief done in this world but a woman has been at the bottom of it."
What's not to like?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Book selection category for May per the "official" club opening thread is:

May 2010
Classic (a book in the public domain that is still published and sold today. For example, it can be found as a pbook at Amazon.)

(emphasis added)

I request a clarification. Which public domain? life+50, life+70, or the weird American one?

[ctol]

Originally Posted by Kevin2960

Daft Question of the Week .... Do the Nominations HAVE to be Classic's ?

I'd like to make a Modern nomination, but if classic's only then How about

The Three Muskateers by Alexander Dumas,

By the way is there a list of books already used ?

I second The Three Musketeers

[beppe]

I propose as my 2nd nomination The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Rudolf Erich Raspe.

The Baron was a real man in the british army who was posted in various places throughout the British empire in the 1700's. When he came home he apparently used to regale all his friends and neighbors with tall tales based on his travels. They seemed to become wilder and and wilder flights of fancy and lies until he becasme legend.


Fairly funny book.. In the Paul Bunyan tradition of exaggeration. In one chapter they catch a shark with 6 live birds still alive in its stomach and one of the hens is sitting on an egg that hatches, then the ships cat nurses the baby chick as her own kitten. The Baron's astounding feats included riding cannonballs, travelling to the Moon, and escaping from a swamp by pulling himself up by his own hair.


The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is one of the most famous book of tall tales. It is based on stories told by Karl Friedrich von Münchhausen, a retired army captain, who was noted for his exaggerated and fantastic accounts of his war adventures and hunting experiences. The German scientist and librarian Rudolf Erich Raspe produced the first, small book based on these and some other stories.

Several people jumped on the bandwagona and wrote multiple versions of his tall tales.

He became so infamous that a meantal illness was named after him, Munchausen syndrome is a psychiatric disorder in which those affected feign disease, illness, or psychological trauma in order to draw attention or sympathy to themselves.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

(emphasis added)

I request a clarification. Which public domain? life+50, life+70, or the weird American one?

The weird American one.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

(emphasis added)

I request a clarification. Which public domain? life+50, life+70, or the weird American one?

Whoooo Yooooo callin' weird?

[Ea]

I second "The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen"

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Ea

I second "The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen"

Here's a third.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

(emphasis added)

I request a clarification. Which public domain? life+50, life+70, or the weird American one?

Originally Posted by HarryT

The weird American one.

Right... pd in the US...

BOb

[beppe]

Originally Posted by Ea

I second "The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen"

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Here's a third.

Ea, Jon,
thank you for making Baron Munchausen a candidate!

Now, I would like your help for my 3rd nomination. I was thinking of something with depth for which the group could express good commentaries (if voted of course). So to my mind has come a play of Ibsen. Ea, I am pretty sure that you are a theater going one. For no rational reasons (just pure intuition), I think the same of you, Jon. Now, with this post I am not yet making any proposal, but could either of you suggest me a play of Ibsen, or equivalent, not even a play for what it matters. I could then propose it right in the open and you would still have your 3 intact.

What do you think?

[cearbhallain]

I'll second Brave New World. I haven't read it in years.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by beppe

Ea, Jon,
thank you for making Baron Munchausen a candidate!

Now, I would like your help for my 3rd nomination. I was thinking of something with depth for which the group could express good commentaries (if voted of course). So to my mind has come a play of Ibsen. Ea, I am pretty sure that you are a theater going one. For no rational reasons (just pure intuition), I think the same of you, Jon. Now, with this post I am not yet making any proposal, but could either of you suggest me a play of Ibsen, or equivalent, not even a play for what it matters. I could then propose it right in the open and you would still have your 3 intact.

What do you think?

Well - and I'm not necessarily suggesting it - "A doll's house" - I had to sit through it in school, I've seen it at least twice with friends and/or family - and apart from the plays of Holberg there is no more well-known play in Denmark (in my generation). It's also a truly great play - and after having read "The children's book" by Byatt I am even more amazed by the play. But all in all I prefer plays to be seen rather than read sol I can't really propose it. My alternative proposal would be a fairytale by the brothers Grimm.