Group reads?

[Stewart]

Originally Posted by promtbr

I am up for If On a Winters' Night.... You say in August? I haven't read Calvino and its on my TBR. Count me in.

Great. I'm saying August just to give a month or so to get things set up, to try and publicise it a bit more, to give people a chance to read it, and whatever else.

[KevinfromCanada]

I'll join in as well. Like matt.todd, this is a work that I have tried and, despite its reputation, it did not hold my interest. So the discipline on a group read would be good for me.

[Flower]

Stewart,
when in August? Im on holieday in August....

Im one of them people who has tried to read that Italian book If on a winters night but found it hard...so this sounds like a good thing to give it another go.

[Stewart]

Originally Posted by Flower

Stewart,
when in August? Im on holieday in August....

Im one of them people who has tried to read that Italian book If on a winters night but found it hard...so this sounds like a good thing to give it another go.

Whole of August. Discussion commences August 1st. Next book starts September 1st. And so on.

[Beth]

I'm so glad we're doing this. Isn't If on a Winter's Night about the joy of reading with another person? This gives me an excuse to buy it!

[titania7]

Oh, Stewart, I would love to join in, you know I would! I applaud you
on a magnificent choice, as well. The only reason I might not be able to join in is if I'm unable to write a fair amount of book reviews over the rest of June and July. Plus, I am working on a collection of short stories of my own. But it would delight me to read Calvino! So, if I possibly can take part in this group read, I will.

I am so glad to be back with everyone at WLF. I simply can't begin to
tell you, Stewart, how much I've missed being here.

I can honestly say that I have missed you all, every single one of you.
Why life just isn't the same without the WLF!!

~Titania

[e joseph]

The library's short on Calvino. This gives me one month to score a secondhand copy - commence search!

Well done on setting everything up Stewart. I appreciate you deciding on a novel and setting up the time frame. Kudos!

[mansaturday]

I read if on a winter’s…. recently, and it didn’t really grab me. Perhaps I didn’t fancy being grabbed at the time, so maybe a re-read is called for. Maybe I can say something then about how I‘ve been grabbed by the book. But I’d hate to be lost in the fictional woods like several saddos I‘ve come across, full of sound and fury. Yes, I’d hate to be lost in childish delusions of my own importance like them (all apparently male, natch), talking so much but saying nothing owing to almost complete ignorance.* Who cares? Roll out the barrel!

*This comment doesn't directly relate to this forum, I'm just talking to myself.

[mansaturday]

I should have added that I was talking about a barrel of water. My husband and I are teetotal. Drink kills as surely as drugs do.

[Colette Jones]

I've got my copy from the library and should be able to keep it for quite a while if no one else reserves it.

[beelzebubbles]

Hello all, a reading group sounds like fun. I will check out the book and see if it is something I would be interested in.

I would just like to put my 2 cents in about rereading. I think re-visiting a book if it is an old friend is a great idea. Certainly, on a second or third reading ones idea of the book becomes clearer and that can only benefit discussion.

As for long books, we could read them piecemeal if we found one that inspired us.

Question: Has the thread for a book club been set up yet or is it in the works still?

[promtbr]

Originally Posted by beelzebubbles

I would just like to put my 2 cents in about rereading. I think re-visiting a book if it is an old friend is a great idea.

Most here get tired of me referenceing that I always come from the perspective of returning to reading literature after a looooong hiatus. I early on came across an essay by Italo Calvino,(the first author we are going to read) called "Why Read The Classics" , where he said something to the affect that one reads a book as a younger person and if on subsequent reads there are gaps in time, you are then reading them as a different self or person, thus the way they affect you maybe, and often is different. For me, this has been so true. To the point that novels I have read once 20-30 years ago, I no longer consider having read them. An example is Joyce's Dubliners. On the first read as a young man, I found it stale and boring. I read it last winter, and it has haunted me since....



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Originally Posted by Galatea92

Can we include the Robbe-Grillet as well? (Though that might be a tough read )

Count me in on Robbe-G. It would be a re-read for me, but thass a good thing when it comes to R-G. Benefits from even re-reading a page

[Stewart]

In case you hadn't noticed, this area is now visible.

As such, I suppose we can consider this thread closed.