07-01-2012, 02:19 AM | #1 |
languorous autodidact ✦
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Highly Challenging Nominations • July 2012
Help us select what the MR Literary Club will read for July 2012! (and Happy Canada Day, Canada!)
The nominations will run for up to THREE days until July 4 (Happy Independence Day, U.S.A.!) or until five works have made the list. Final voting in a new poll will begin by July 4, where the month's selection will be decided. The category for this month is: Highly Challenging (especially difficult or long works we may be hesitant to choose otherwise) In order for a work to be included in the poll it needs FOUR nominations - the original nomination plus three supporting. Each participant has FOUR nominations to use. You can nominate a new work for consideration or you can support (second, third or fourth) a work that has already been nominated by another person. To nominate a work just post a message with your nomination. If you are the first to nominate a work, it's always nice to provide an abstract to the work so others may consider their level of interest. What is literature for the purposes of this club? A superior work of lasting merit that enriches the mind. Often it is important, challenging, critically acclaimed. 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, just ask! The floor is now open! * Note - (edited) I ended up with good enough internet access during nominations, hooray! Nominations closed. Final results: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess - Fully nominated Spoiler:
The Aeneid by Virgil - Fully nominated Spoiler:
Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar - Fully nominated Spoiler:
Middlemarch by George Eliot - Fully nominated Spoiler:
Ulysses by James Joyce - Fully nominated Spoiler:
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs - 1 Spoiler:
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy - 3 Spoiler:
Last edited by sun surfer; 07-03-2012 at 06:57 PM. |
07-01-2012, 07:44 AM | #2 |
o saeclum infacetum
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I'd like to nominate The Aeneid, by Virgil, the epic poem that tells the story of how Aeneas, a Trojan, fled Troy at the end of the war, and his wanderings and eventual arrival in Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Roman people.
I think Americans (can't answer for others) are less familiar with the stories of The Aeneid than they are with the epic poems of Homer, but it's as compelling a story. For those who have been on the epic journey here at MR, it dovetails nicely. |
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07-01-2012, 07:59 AM | #3 | |
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I'll second The Aeneid, and add my own nomination, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. I last read this in my late teens, and remember it as a challenging read due the future-slang employed by Burgess, a hybrid English/Russian argot. I kept having to refer to the glossary/dictionary at the back of the book to work out what was being said - difficult to start, but soon it started to flow. But be warned, this book is a real tolchock in the yarbles!
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07-01-2012, 11:10 AM | #4 |
o saeclum infacetum
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I'll second Clockwork Orange, difficult indeed. I was not able to get over the hump in my teens; I'm game for another stab at it.
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07-01-2012, 12:24 PM | #5 |
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I'll third Clockwork Orange. I read it as a teenager too and have been wanting to re-read it.
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07-01-2012, 02:20 PM | #6 |
languorous autodidact ✦
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Since I mentioned U.S. Independence Day, I have been alerted that today is Canada Day! I'll edit that into the first post.
ETA - And I'll third Aeneid. Last edited by sun surfer; 07-01-2012 at 09:17 PM. |
07-02-2012, 04:47 AM | #7 |
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I'll fourth Clockwork Orange.
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07-02-2012, 04:56 AM | #8 | ||
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I'm not sure if people think this qualifies, but could I humbly suggest: William S. Burroughs with Naked Lunch.
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07-02-2012, 09:23 AM | #9 |
o saeclum infacetum
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I'd like to nominate Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar. Jacob Epstein in the WSJ had this to say about it: (spoilered for length, not spoileriness)
Spoiler:
Now where's Paola? I know she wants to read this! |
07-02-2012, 02:45 PM | #10 |
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I'll second Blood Meridian. I've been wanting to read this for a while.
Just out of curiosity, caleb, why do you think it's challenging? |
07-02-2012, 03:08 PM | #11 |
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I'll fourth The Aeneid. and second Memoirs of Hadrian.
Last edited by fantasyfan; 07-02-2012 at 03:12 PM. |
07-02-2012, 03:12 PM | #12 |
languorous autodidact ✦
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I just nominated this in the general club a month ago and it was close to making the final run-off there, and I know that we can't nominate the same thing so soon again in that club, but...this is a different club with (even if cross-over) different membership, so I want to nominate it here for its highly challenging length and breadth:
Middlemarch by George Eliot Spoiler:
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07-02-2012, 03:18 PM | #13 |
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I'll second Middlemarch.
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07-02-2012, 03:21 PM | #14 |
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All Comac McCarthy books are challenging due to his writing style.
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07-02-2012, 03:23 PM | #15 |
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What is it that makes a book challenging? Is it a challenge to read because it's so heavy (not weight) like Ulysses or is it because the ideas are a challenge?
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