Literary The MobileRead Literary Book Club October 2011 Nominations

[sun surfer]

Help us select the work that the MobileRead Literary Book Club will read for October 2011.

The nominations will run through September 27 or until FIVE works have made the list.

Final voting (in a new poll thread) will begin by September 27, where the month's selection will be decided.


The category for this month is:

Plays


In order for a work to be included in the poll it needs FIVE NOMINATIONS (original nomination plus four others).

Each participant has three nominations. You can nominate a new work for consideration or you can support (second, third, fourth or fifth) a work that has already been nominated by another person.

To nominate a work please just post a message with your nomination. If you are the FIRST to nominate a work, please try to provide an abstract to the work so others may consider their level of interest.

Please keep in mind the differences in nominations between the general book club and this one - only five works will make the final list here, and a work needs five nominations to make the final list here.

What is literature for the purposes of this book club? A well-regarded work. Often (but not always) it is important, challenging, critically acclaimed, has a deeper meaning, makes one think. It may be from ancient times to today; it may be from anywhere in the world; it may be obscure or famous, short or long; it may be a story, a novel, a play, a poem, an essay or another written form. If you are unsure if a work would be considered literature, post it and ask. This is an educational (and enjoyable) process for us all.


The floor is now open to nominations!
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[Hamlet53]

So I have been looking forward to the category for a while, enough to get me to actually submit a couple of nominations. I am sure that there will be one or more nominations for works by Shakespeare so I would like to nominate a couple of more recent works.

Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet.

A really excellent study of the dark side of the “animal spirit” of capitalism. Probably better known to most from the film adaption.

Winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize, David Mamet’s scalding comedy is about small-time, cutthroat real estate salesmen trying to grind out a living by pushing plots of land on reluctant buyers in a never-ending scramble for their fair share of the American dream. Here is Mamet at his very best, writing with brutal power about the tough life of tough characters who cajole, connive, wheedle, and wheel and deal for a piece of action—where closing a sale can mean a brand new Cadillac but losing one can mean losing it all. (Amazon)


The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

My favorite play of the many written by the great American playwright.

Menagerie was Williams's first popular success and launched the brilliant, if somewhat controversial, career of our pre-eminent lyric playwright. Since its premiere in Chicago in 1944, with the legendary Laurette Taylor in the role of Amanda, the play has been the bravura piece for great actresses from Jessica Tandy to Joanne Woodward, and is studied and performed in classrooms and theatres around the world. (Amazon)

[toomanybooks]

I will second Glengarry Glenn Ross.

I nominate the first play in Tom Stoppard's Coast of Utopia trilogy, Voyage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coast_of_Utopia

The Coast of Utopia trilogy is about the philosophical debates in prerevolutionary Russia between 1833 and 1866.

The ebook is available from Kobo and Amazon for $7.99.

[HomeInMyShoes]

I'll third Glengarry Glenn Ross.

[issybird]

Second Glass Menagerie.

I'm going to nominate Candida by George Bernard Shaw. From Wikipedia:

Candida, a comedy by playwright George Bernard Shaw, was first published in 1898, as part of his Plays Pleasant. The central characters are clergyman James Morell, his wife Candida and a youthful poet, Eugene Marchbanks, who tries to win Candida's affections. The play questions Victorian notions of love and marriage, asking what a woman really desires from her husband. The cleric is a Christian Socialist, allowing Shaw—himself a Fabian Socialist—to weave political issues, current at the time, into the story.

[fantasyfan]

I'll nominate Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. This is one of the most famous examples of the use of intertextuality. Stoppard makes these two minor figures in Hamlet the main characters and we see the events of the play through their eyes. There is cleverness, wit, tragedy and philosophy in this play. It explores areas such as free will and determinism and the problem of human beings trapped in a hostile world.

It is only $4.95 in the Kindle Store.

[fantasyfan]

I'll second The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.

[HomeInMyShoes]

I'll second Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

Is this the first time that Plays have been a category for either of the book clubs?

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Is this the first time that Plays have been a category for either of the book clubs?

As far as I know, yes.


Nominations through post #12:

Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet [3]
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams [3]
Voyage by Tom Stoppard [1]
Candida by George Bernard Shaw [1]
Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard [3]

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Is this the first time that Plays have been a category for either of the book clubs?

"Plays" will be exclusive to this club unless the other club overhauls its Category List, adding it in the process.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^There's always the second ducks for cover Classics category.

Thanks for the confirmation. I couldn't find plays before. I'll have to think about my third vote and maybe look through some stuff I was thinking I wanted to read.

[caleb72]

I'll third Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. Always been interested in reading that and I think I have a copy at home.

[sun surfer]

If enough nominees do not make it to five nominations, then here is how things will go:

If only one nominee makes it to five nominations, it is our de facto winner and we will not need a vote thread.

If no nominees make it to five nominations, then the nominees with the most nominations will be our de facto nominees for the vote. So, for example, if no one else nominated anything this month, we would have three nominees to go to the vote with three nominations each. If only one nominee has the most nominations, then that will be our de facto winner and we will not need a vote thread.

[sun surfer]

And I'll fourth The Glass Menagerie.

[Hamlet53]

I will use my final vote to second this: Coast of Utopia trilogy, Voyage. Of those mentioned the one that I have never read or seen performed on stage.

I appreciate toomanybooks for mentioning it. For information the entire trilogy is available form Amazon in paper back for $10.20: http://www.amazon.com/Coast-Utopia-V...mm_pap_title_0