MobileRead September 2015 Book Club Nominations

Originally Posted by issybird

I hope Tom doesn't mind my quoting him from a different thread. I agree with this. Banned books at this point are a well-worn list of books that people mostly have read (because, Ooh! Banned!) and there's no point in even feeling superior, as people are all agreed that it's just silly. YA books, and so far three of the four nominated books are YA, are even more tedious in the context of being banned. Parents will be parents, even if everyone agrees they're wrong-headed.

So I thought I'd nominate three books that at least are for adults and might not have been read by everyone and are mostly free or cheap (depending on translation) and I won't provide links (except in one case) since all but Kafka are PD everywhere and Kafka most places, and choices will also depend on whether to get a paid or a free translation for Voltaire and Kafka.
.

Yes I tend to agree with this. Though it's two books intended for children or young adults that I had not read or even heard of that received two of my votes. It's been a long time since I as a child or YA.

I've read the Castle and Candide already, actually multiple times, but I've never read Can Such Things Be? So it gets my final vote as a second. I've read Beloved so don't care to third that. It is a heavy read that I don't believe would be a popular choice.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

Yes I tend to agree with this. Though it's two books intended for children or young adults that I had not read or even heard of that received two of my votes. It's been a long time since I as a child or YA.

I've read the Castle and Candide already, actually multiple times, but I've never read Can Such Things Be? So it gets my final vote as a second. I've read Beloved so don't care to third that. It is a heavy read that I don't believe would be a popular choice.

I've read all three YA books, with a niece or nephew of the appropriate age (theirs); I have no interest in revisiting them and one of them is terrible. I also have no interest in rereading Beloved. I think Morrison's Nobel was motivated by considerations other than an abstract assessment of quality, as with most awards.

I've read Candide but would enjoy reading it again and it's short. Although I've read Kafka's other major works, I must confess to never having read The Castle, hence my nomination.

ETA: Oops, I didn't realize that The Earth, etc., is YA. So all four nominated books are YA. I haven't read that one.

[Almamida]

I third Candide.

[bfisher]

I will third Can Such Things Be?

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

I'll put forth One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. I haven't read anything by the famous Solzhenitsyn and this short book would be a good introduction.


From Goodreads:

First published in the Soviet journal Novy Mir in 1962, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ...

I admire your choice of Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, but does "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" count as a banned book, since it was actually published in the USSR in Novy Mir. Perhaps Cancer Ward or The First Circle would be more appropriate, as they were not published in the USSR but only circulated as samizdat. It was after he wrote Cancer Ward that he was expelled from the Soviet Writers Union.

[fantasyfan]

I'll fourth Can Such Things Be.
Whoops Sorry, It doesn't need a fourth. I think it is a good choice though.
.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by bfisher

I admire your choice of Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, but does "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" count as a banned book, since it was actually published in the USSR in Novy Mir. Perhaps Cancer Ward or The First Circle would be more appropriate, as they were not published in the USSR but only circulated as samizdat. It was after he wrote Cancer Ward that he was expelled from the Soviet Writers Union.

Thanks bfisher. It's been banned and challenged, and not only in Russia. It was initially published in Russia, but banned after a change in power. Here's the relevant paragraph from an article on the book:

After Brezhnev came to power, Solzhenitsyn's works were pretty much banned, and a black-market rose up where people read his work in secret. Solzhenitsyn was arrested and deported from Russia in 1974 and his works, including One Day, weren't openly available again until 1989, when the Soviet Union began to crumble. The Soviet Union finally collapsed in 1991.

If the link works correctly, here's a google books preview of the book "Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds" open to the section on Ivan Denisovich. It talks about various U.S. school libraries challenging and sometimes removing the book, often for "vulgar language".

Relatedly, the film version was banned in Finland for many years too.

I think it'd be a great selection for the last banned/challenged month.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by fantasyfan

I'll fourth Can Such Things Be.
Whoops Sorry, It doesn't need a fourth. I think it is a good choice though.
.

As I was tallying things up just now I was going to give it one of my votes. We were both beaten. Bierce was an interesting writer. I wonder if we'll ever know what happened to him? Probably not. His body's probably in a shallow grave in Mexico if the vultures didn't get it.

[bfisher]

I'll second "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich"

[JSWolf]

After this month's disaster, we do need something lighter and more enjoyable. YA means these books are for adults because you are either an adult or not. There is no in between.

[JSWolf]

Please, no books that are cult classics or cult favorites as we already have Dhalgren that fits this and it's awful. So please, any books that are cult anything, please remove them from consideration.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

After this month's disaster, we do need something lighter and more enjoyable. YA means these books are for adults because you are either an adult or not. There is no in between.

Then why, pray, are they a separate category? YA is just the term given to books for older kids who haven't graduated to adult books, yet.

Frankly, I don't see what a discussion of a YA book offers an adult, but I do understand that's just my opinion. I'll even make an exception for The Golden Compass, but for the reason that it's not light. I won't bother to read it again, however.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

Then why, pray, are they a separate category? YA is just the term given to books for older kids who haven't graduated to adult books, yet.

Because someone thought it was a good idea when it wasn't..

Frankly, I don't see what a discussion of a YA book offers an adult, but I do understand that's just my opinion. I'll even make an exception for The Golden Compass, but for the reason that it's not light. I won't bother to read it again, however.

It depends on the book in question. I've read YA that were more A then Y and would make for a good discussion. I've also read adult books that would make a terrible discussion (take this month's book for terrible).

[fantasyfan]

I'll third One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It depends on the book in question. I've read YA that were more A then Y and would make for a good discussion. I've also read adult books that would make a terrible discussion (take this month's book for terrible).

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that adults shouldn't or can't read YA with enjoyment. But I don't think it offers much to discuss except in the context of what the book says to children, which doesn't seem that interesting to me for a book group. I hope we're all past shipping Hermione and Harry!