MobileRead April 2015 Book Club Nominations

[crich70]

I nominate Oliver Twist.

[GA Russell]

I third The Invisible Man.

It's one that I've been planning to read soon.

[GA Russell]

In addition to our Patricia Clark Library, I see that The Invisible Man is free today at...

Amazon
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Google
Indiebound
Kobo

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by crich70

To a lot of people "classic" translates as old and PD.

That's why this category needs to go away and never see the light of day.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Oooooh - definitely seconding For Whom the Bell Tolls.

[sun surfer]

I’ll throw three nominations into the ring for a few more options. Each is a different type of classic, none have ever been nominated before and all are under 400 pages (one is under 200).


Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Spoiler:

From Goodreads:

Unburdened by the material necessities of the more fortunate, the denizens of Cannery Row discover rewards unknown in more traditional society. Henry the painter sorts through junk lots for pieces of wood to incorporate into the boat he is building, while the girls from Dora Flood’s bordello venture out now and then to enjoy a bit of sunshine. Lee Chong stocks his grocery with almost anything a man could want, and Doc, a young marine biologist who ministers to sick puppies and unhappy souls, unexpectedly finds true love.

Cannery Row is just a few blocks long, but the story it harbors is suffused with warmth, understanding, and a great fund of human values.

First published in 1945, Cannery Row focuses on the acceptance of life as it is—both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. John Steinbeck draws on his memories of the real inhabitants of Monterey, California, and interweaves their stories in this world where only the fittest survive—creating what is at once one of his most humorous and poignant works. In Cannery Row, John Steinbeck returns to the setting of Tortilla Flat to create another evocative portrait of life as it is lived by those who unabashedly put the highest value on the intangibles—human warmth, camaraderie, and love.

Goodreads / Amazon US / Amazon CA / Amacon UK / Amazon AU / Kobo


Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Spoiler:

From Goodreads:

The most popular pirate story ever written in English, featuring one of literature’s most beloved “bad guys,” Treasure Island has been happily devoured by several generations of boys—and girls—and grownups. Its unforgettable characters include: young Jim Hawkins, who finds himself owner of a map to Treasure Island, where the fabled pirate booty is buried; honest Captain Smollett, heroic Dr. Livesey, and the good-hearted but obtuse Squire Trelawney, who help Jim on his quest for the treasure; the frightening Blind Pew, double-dealing Israel Hands, and seemingly mad Ben Gunn, buccaneers of varying shades of menace; and, of course, garrulous, affable, ambiguous Long John Silver, who is one moment a friendly, laughing, one-legged sea-cook . . .and the next a dangerous pirate leader!

The unexpected and complex relationship that develops between Silver and Jim helps transform what seems at first to be a simple, rip-roaring adventure story into a deeply moving study of a boy’s growth into manhood, as he learns hard lessons about friendship, loyalty, courage and honor—and the uncertain meaning of good and evil.

Goodreads / Amazon US / Amazon CA / Amazon UK / Amazon AU / Kobo
Partial Selection from the MR PCM Library - Illustrated epub version by SBT / Kindle version by pdurrant


Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry

Spoiler:

From Goodreads:

Geoffrey Firmin, a former British consul, has come to Quauhnahuac, Mexico. Here the consul's debilitating malaise is drinking, an activity that has overshadowed his life. Under the Volcano is set during the most fateful day of the consul's life--the Day of the Dead, 1938. His wife, Yvonne, arrives in Quauhnahuac to rescue him and their failing marriage, inspired by a vision of life together away from Mexico and the circumstances that have driven their relationship to the brink of collapse. Yvonne's mission to save the consul is further complicated by the presence of Hugh, the consul's half-brother, and Jacques, a childhood friend. The events of this one day unfold against a backdrop unforgettable for its evocation of a Mexico at once magical and diabolical.

Under the Volcano remains one of the most powerful and lyrical statements on the human condition and one man's constant struggle against the elemental forces that threaten to destroy him.

Goodreads / Amazon US / Amazon CA / Amazon UK / Amazon AU / Kobo

[kennyc]

Ooooh! Oooooh! Cannery Row! Everyone must read Cannery Row!


Seconded or whatever....

[obs20]

I second Shogun.

[obs20]

I nominate Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut.

Spoiler:

Kurt Vonnegut’s first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul’s rebellion is vintage Vonnegut—wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.

[issybird]

I've had Under the Volcano on my mp3 player for a while, meaning to revisit it. Seconded.

[caleb72]

I third Cannery Row without hesitation and I'll also second Treasure Island, a story from my childhood that I promised myself I would re-read as an adult.

[WT Sharpe]

I'll third Treasure Island. I've never read it as a child or an adult. I feel deprived.

[WT Sharpe]

With my last nomination I'll second Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist and provide a synopsis and links to the ILLUSTRATED HarryT (yay!) versions in our library.

The Patricia Clark Memorial Library: ePub / Kindle

From Wikipedia (edited & condensed):

Oliver Twist is about an orphan who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to London where he meets the Artful Dodger, leader of a gang of juvenile pickpockets. Naïvely unaware of their unlawful activities, Oliver is led to the lair of their elderly criminal trainer Fagin. The book is notable for Dickens' unromantic portrayal of criminals and its exposé of the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London during the Dickensian era.

[issybird]

With my last nomination, I'll nominate Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos. From Wikipedia:

Manhattan Transfer is a novel by John Dos Passos published in 1925. It focuses on the development of urban life in New York City from the Gilded Age to the Jazz Age as told through a series of overlapping individual stories.

It is considered to be one of Dos Passos' most important works. The book attacks the consumerism and social indifference of contemporary urban life, portraying a Manhattan that is merciless yet teeming with energy and restlessness. The book shows some of Dos Passos' experimental writing techniques and narrative collages that would become more pronounced in his U.S.A. trilogy and other later works.
<snip>
Sinclair Lewis described it as "a novel of the very first importance ... The dawn of a whole new school of writing." D.H. Lawrence called it "the best modern book about New York" he had ever read, describing it as "a very complete film ... of the vast loose gang of strivers and winners and losers which seems to be the very pep of New York." In a blurb for a European edition, Ernest Hemingway wrote that, alone among American writers, Dos Passos has "been able to show to Europeans the America they really find when they come here."

It's free for Kindle Unlimited.

Kobo US

Overdrive

[kennyc]

It's also a sf novel by a buddy of mine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_E._Stith