Literary The MobileRead Literary Book Club June 2011 Run-Off Vote

[sun surfer]

Help us choose the June 2011 selection to read for the inaugural month of the MobileRead Literary Book Club! The run-off poll will be open for one day.

We will start the discussion thread for the selected work on June 17th and a thread for July's nominations will be created five days later on June 22nd. I will start the threads, but the discussion thread may have a "discussion leader" if one volunteers. Everyone can post whatever thoughts they wish on the month's selection, but the discussion leader's goal will be to continue the dialogue in a thought-provoking direction with discussion questions and the like.

Unlike pilotbob with the general book club, I will vote in this poll. In the event that the run-off poll also ends in a tie, the tie will be resolved in favour of the selection that received all five of its initial nominations first.


Select from the following works:

On The Beach by Nevil Shute

Spoiler:

After the war is over, a radioactive cloud begins to sweep southwards on the winds, gradually poisoning everything in its path. An American submarine captain is among the survivors left sheltering in Australia, preparing with the locals for the inevitable. Despite his memories of his wife, he becomes close to a young woman struggling to accept the harsh realities of their situation. Then a faint Morse code signal is picked up, transmitting from the United States and the submarine must set sail through the bleak ocean to search for signs of life.

“The most haunting evocation we have of a world dying of radiation after an atomic war.” — The New York Times

“The most shocking fiction I have read in years. What is shocking about it is both the idea and the sheer imaginative brilliance with which Mr. Shute brings it off.” — San Francisco Chronicle

“A novelist of intelligent and engaging quality, deservedly popular. . . . Nevil Shute was, in brief, the sort of novelist who genuinely touches the imagination and feeling.” — The Times (London)

The Master And Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Spoiler:

Nothing in the whole of literature compares with The Master and Margarita. Full of pungency and wit, this luminous work is Bulgakov's crowning achievement, skilfully blending magical and realistic elements, grotesque situations and major ethical concerns. Written during the darkest period of Stalin's repressive reign and a devastating satire of Soviet life, it combines two distinct yet interwoven parts, one set in contemporary Moscow, the other in ancient Jerusalem, each brimming with incident and with historical, imaginary, frightful and wonderful characters. Although completed in 1940, The Master and Margarita was not published until 1966 when the first section appeared in the monthly magazine Moskva. Russians everywhere responded enthusiastically to the novel's artistic and spiritual freedom and it was an immediate and enduring success.

[caleb72]

Apologies On the Beach, but I voted for you previously only to vote against you now.

[ficbot]

Ha! Dead heat so far. I really want to read On the Beach and if it wins, will promise to lead a good discussion on it (since I was the nominator).

[DiapDealer]

I just finished On the Beach, so even though I thirded (or fourthed) it, I'm voting for The Master And Margarita... and starting it. I figure I win either way.

[Nyssa]

My original choice didn't even come close. The Master And Margarita caught my attention when I looked at the two in the lead, so it gets my vote.

[issybird]

I've read On the Beach and it's merely a popular novel, IMO, and not especially worthy. I also suspect it hasn't aged well.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by issybird

I also suspect it hasn't aged well.

I thought it aged very well, actually.
But that's not meant to be taken as an argument for it's selection.

[fantasyfan]

My own nomination didn't make it but I would be happy with either of these two.

[sun surfer]

It's a hard choice for me. I found all five of the nominations interesting.

[orlok]

I voted for The Master And Margarita as coincidentally they mentioned it on the Book Review on the BBC a couple of days ago, citing it as an example of the best in it's class.

[toomanybooks]

Since I nominated the book, I will volunteer to be the "discussion leader" but if anyone else wants to be a co-leader I would be happy to share.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

I've read On the Beach and it's merely a popular novel, IMO, and not especially worthy. I also suspect it hasn't aged well.

I've read On the Beach last year sometime and I think it's held up very well. I've even seen the movie and it's held up well as well.

[JSWolf]

Too bad. The better book didn't win.

[sun surfer]

And so we have our selection!

Personally I want to read the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation; that's the translation I'm reading of Anna Karenina and I think they're very good. Does anyone know where I can get that version in a format that will read on my Sony?

[Gronk]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

And so we have our selection!

Personally I want to read the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation; that's the translation I'm reading of Anna Karenina and I think they're very good. Does anyone know where I can get that version in a format that will read on my Sony?

I got it at Kobo yesterday using the one dollar off promo code may27us1 but I think that promotion ended yesterday. It is the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation and it's an Adobe DRM epub for $8.69.