Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Welcome

So Let's get the choices started.

Everyone respond to this post with a comment with a book they'd like to read first, and once we have a few, I'll make another post so we can vote:)

6 comments:

Alasdair said...

So Here are my proposals:

a) Anthem - Ayn Rand. It's short, I've never read anything by her and feel like I should. Apparently it was written in '38, and is about the future when mankind has fallen into another dark age.

b) Life and Loves of a She Devil - Fay Weldon. Interesting story raising questions about the nature/value of beauty and the nature/value of revenge. I read it my freshman year at Dartmouth for a seminar on justice, and i recall it producing some very interesting perspectives. Also not too long.

c) Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller. Here I know i'm reaching. It's a very interesting picture of the church in a post-apocalyptic era as the guardian of knowledge and learning. Very interesting questions on the relationship of science and religion, the nature/value of faith and morality.

I've read the second two, and am eager to hear your suggestions.

josh said...

a)The Road - Cormac McCarthy

Man and boy encounter an apocalyptic world. While I've heard it a bit despairing I've also heard nothing but praise for it. Hey, it won the Pulitzer.

b) Falling Man - Don DeLillo

This is DeLillo's most recent. Its hard to come by credible - non politicized or gushy nationalistic - reflections on 9/11.

"Falling Man is Don DeLillo's exquisite, memorable take on 9/11...themes he has addressed throughout his body of work — terrorism, religion, signs and symbols — come together eerily in this novel, which is by far the most significant work of fiction about 9/11 to date."

thats all I got right now

Karen Keller said...

The dumb one of the club would like to read either:

a)Hop on Pop
or
b)Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase

IF these are dismissed as choices, I would like to read:

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini.

It is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan’s last thirty years—from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to the post-Taliban rebuilding—that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives—the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness—are inextricable from the history playing out around them.

Propelled by the same storytelling instinct that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once a remarkable chronicle of three decades of Afghan history and a deeply moving account of family and friendship. It is a striking, heart-wrenching novel of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love—a stunning accomplishment

Karen Keller said...

Hey -who else is joining the book club?

anne said...

well we have a lot of choices
now we need to pick and set up a night to have this book club
how are tuesday nights?
when should we start
and what book should we read?
i think it m igh tbe good to start with a short one, so i vote for anthem, (plus i want to be able to say i have read ayn rand)

josh said...

so someone needs to just make a decision on what to start with. We can add all the suggestion to our list.

Anthem
Life and Loves of a She Devil
Canticle for Leibowitz
The Road
Falling Man
A Thousand Splendid Suns

Al whats first?