Colette Jones
Reader
Just wondering, Stewart, if you'd be open to us setting up occasional group reads? I want to read more literature in translation and that would incentivise me. Apologies if this has already been brought up and disregarded.
Beyond that, there's so many more months. I can set up a specific 'Book Group' area. How would others think it would be best orchestrated? I've never taken part in a book group in my life.Surely the first WLF group read is Ammaniti's new one - in preparation for the Q&A? To be scheduled once we've received our copies.
I was thinking some more about this over lunch. How about following an A is for Albanian/Austrian/etc, B is for Bulgaria/Bermuda/etc. pattern.
Well, book group typically means the same title.Would we all be reading the same title or just going with the theme country? The latter might be fun.
Well, book group typically means the same title.
in the mean time people could make suggestions for the next book. Like Bernhard Schlink Self's Punishment... or Jose Carlos Somoza The Art of Murder anyone?
I have initiated a second one, on Thomas Mann's Royal Highness. Sybarite signed up.
yep. I tried to set up one already, on Goethe's Wilhelm Meister novels, but lionel the only fixed member dropped out, so there.
I agree - a handful gets more "real" discussion going. I looked up Royal Highness and see that it is not available new, which means buying used, which always disappoints me, especially from amazon.Mirabell: I'm ready to take on Royal Highness anytime you'd care to initiate the group read. Three is a sufficient number - I find that forum-wide group reads, while nice, can have mixed results. The discussions become a bit too wide-ranging- every opinion is expressed by someone or the other and there's no room for the nicely fraught subjectivity of a handful of people opining and getting on one another's nerves.
Yeah, but I think I had a reasonable reason: Goethe didn't seem to translate that well. I tried, but was sweating like hell. Be fair, Mirabell: from what you told me, he doesn't even translate well in his own language.
alternatively,