MobileRead August 09 Book Club Nominations

[RWood]

Perhaps Poor White by Sherwood Anderson. Then there is The Triumph of the Egg & Other Stories also by Sherwood Anderson. Both are available in the MobileRead library in multiple formats.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by macaruchi

I would like to nominate 1984.

Please go back and edit your message to add in the description. Thanks.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by RWood

Perhaps Poor White by Sherwood Anderson. Then there is The Triumph of the Egg & Other Stories also by Sherwood Anderson. Both are available in the MobileRead library in multiple formats.

I don't see how either of those are contemporary. For example Poor White has the time/era of the story to be 1900-1920's.

And if they are considered to be such, they need descriptions.

[pilotbob]

OK,

What's contemporary?

Here is how I am gonna score this. Basically, if three people nominate a book for this month (August) it is because they all felt it fit the category it will be added to the list.

Is that fair?

Now, by my score I think I saw at least 3 nominations each for Little Brother and 1984.

Is 1984 valid? Granted it is in the library but technically not out of copyright in US and UK. I will put it on the list for now unless there are alot of objections.

BOb

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by =X=

Yeah, I agree with BenG, I always understood contemporary author or works to mean the author is alive and writing in our era, but that doesn't mean the place of the work has to take place in our time.

To say "contemporary works" is not the same to say a "work that takes place in contemporary time".

=X=

One definition I found that also makes sense is that they author sets the story in the same time frame in which he lives. So if we add that to an author that is still alive I think that is a pretty good definition?

Anyway, please see my previous message.

BOb

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

One definition I found that also makes sense is that they author sets the story in the same time frame in which he lives. So if we add that to an author that is still alive I think that is a pretty good definition?

Anyway, please see my previous message.

BOb

My definition of contemporary would be books written about time periods ranging from a given year to now. What that given yeqar is we should decide. Maybe go back to 1970 and anything earlier is a no go.

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

OK,

What's contemporary?

Here is how I am gonna score this. Basically, if three people nominate a book for this month (August) it is because they all felt it fit the category it will be added to the list.

Is that fair?

Now, by my score I think I saw at least 3 nominations each for Little Brother and 1984.

Is 1984 valid? Granted it is in the library but technically not out of copyright in US and UK. I will put it on the list for now unless there are alot of objections.

BOb

I second this motion. Just let it roll. If you don't think it counts, don't nominate it, and if it goes to vote, don't vote for it.

I won't nominate 1984 since I've already read it But I do think it's contemporary in the sense it could easily apply today and is pretty relevant considering some of the stuff going on.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

I second this motion. Just let it roll. If you don't think it counts, don't nominate it, and if it goes to vote, don't vote for it.

I won't nominate 1984 since I've already read it But I do think it's contemporary in the sense it could easily apply today and is pretty relevant considering some of the stuff going on.

Given my definition, 1984 would count since it's written about a time period between 1970 and now.

[HarryT]

To me, "Contemporary Fiction" is fiction set in the "real world" of today or the recent past, which rules out SF. But that's just me .

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

To me, "Contemporary Fiction" is fiction set in the "real world" of today or the recent past, which rules out SF. But that's just me .

So what would you nominate as the August book?

[=X=]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

One definition I found that also makes sense is that they author sets the story in the same time frame in which he lives. So if we add that to an author that is still alive I think that is a pretty good definition?

Anyway, please see my previous message.

BOb

I think that is fine, my real point is that using the term "Contemporary" is confusing without providing clarification. I suggest that in the future we clearly define what we are applying the "Contemporary" era to.

So if we want to limit the choice to works taking place in contemporary time we state it in the title/description. "Mobileread works that take place in contemporary time".

If we want authors whose body is still warm we say
"Mobileread contemporary authors from any genre or time"

Originally Posted by JSWolf

My definition of contemporary would be books written about time periods ranging from a given year to now. What that given yeqar is we should decide. Maybe go back to 1970 and anything earlier is a no go.

Actually the time period for contemporary is clearly defined, it is anything that took place in post WWII era to present.


=X=

[jharker]

Having a book that is set (or written) post-1970 AND is in the public domain is quite difficult, so I'm going with the more liberal 1900 limit. I nominate two books:

1. "At the Mountains of Madness" by H.P. Lovecraft. From user hudson on Feedbooks: "One of the best longer Lovecraft novels, a story of a doomed antarctic exploration party that uncovers the eldritch nightmares buried and sleeping under the snow." I've been reading a lot of Lovecraft recently, but haven't read this one yet.
2. "Planet of the Damned" by Harry Harrison. From Feedbooks: "Hugo nominated in 1962 ... Brion has just won the Twenties, a global competition to test achievements in 20 categories of human activities -- but before he can enjoy his victory he's forced to leave his homeworld to help salvage Dis, the most hellish planet in the galaxy."

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by jharker

Having a book that is set (or written) post-1970 AND is in the public domain is quite difficult, so I'm going with the more liberal 1900 limit. I nominate two books:

FYI: It doesn't have to be public domain... just freely available.

BOb

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So what would you nominate as the August book?

I'm afraid that I'm not going to make a nomination this month; it's honestly not a "genre" which particularly interests me.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

My definition of contemporary would be books written about time periods ranging from a given year to now. What that given yeqar is we should decide. Maybe go back to 1970 and anything earlier is a no go.

Can I nominate 'Looking Backward' by Edward Bellamy (1888)?

It's available here (thanks to Patricia).

"The book tells the story of Julian West, a young American who, towards the end of the 19th century, falls into a deep, hypnosis-induced sleep and wakes up more than a century later. He finds himself on the same spot (Boston, Massachusetts) but in a totally changed world: It is the year 2000 and, while he was sleeping, the U.S.A. has been transformed into a socialist utopia."