TRS Bookclub Discussion -- June

[popltree2]

So the book for the month was Battle Royale. I unfortunately couldn't get around to reading this one. But what did everyone think?

Also, the poll is up for July's book. Get voting!

EDIT: I was smart enough to put a timer on the poll this time. It will close after 7 days.

[popltree2]

My vote this month goes to I Am Legend. It is an awesome (and short) story.

[k4ng]

Yeah I didn't get to read Battle Royale either :(

I'm voting for I Am Legend because I've always wanted to read that book and this will give me an extra push to actually go get it and sit down with it.

Plus I love zombie stories.

[magunwarrior]

I actually never finished Battle Royale, but I watched the movie...and it's pretty much the same ending with a few minor alterations.

I really enjoyed the book, lord of the flies on crack laced with heroin dipped in chocolate.

[popltree2]

I actually never finished Battle Royale, but I watched the movie...and it's pretty much the same ending with a few minor alterations.

I really enjoyed the book, lord of the flies on crack laced with heroin dipped in chocolate.

Chocolate you say? Interesting....

[farco]

First TRS book for me... my votes for I Am Legend.

[puddlefish]

Plus I love zombie stories.



...... huh?

[popltree2]

...... huh?

She was referring to I Am Legend. It is a zombie-vampire story.

[chevmalfet]

I hate to say it but I haven't got my copy yet. The local bookstore doesn't have it and I'll likely have to wait until I venture out into civilization again before I can get one at a Barnes & Noble or Borders. That said, once I get it I read pretty quickly so it'll likely only take me 2-3 days to catch up.

Which strikes a thought. why not divide the book into chunks, say thirds, and discuss a third a week or such. It would keep the club more current in everyone's minds and help nudge procrastinators (such as myself) in line.

[theinevitable]

I hate to say it but I haven't got my copy yet. The local bookstore doesn't have it and I'll likely have to wait until I venture out into civilization again before I can get one at a Barnes & Noble or Borders. That said, once I get it I read pretty quickly so it'll likely only take me 2-3 days to catch up.

Which strikes a thought. why not divide the book into chunks, say thirds, and discuss a third a week or such. It would keep the club more current in everyone's minds and help nudge procrastinators (such as myself) in line.

dude. eBay

[theinevitable]

My vote goes to Ender's Game. Audio book is readily available. In fact, I just finished listening to it again this week.

[tomremixed]

Oh come on Ender's Game is amazing. Best Sci-Fi I've ever read.

[popltree2]

Looks like I Am Legend is whipping ass on everything right now. It is a fairly short story (under 200 pages if I remember correctly) so if it wins for the month, I also suggest we pickup the second place book (which is looking to be Ender's) and read that. Everyone up for that?

[magunwarrior]

Looks like I Am Legend is whipping ass on everything right now. It is a fairly short story (under 200 pages if I remember correctly) so if it wins for the month, I also suggest we pickup the second place book (which is looking to be Ender's) and read that. Everyone up for that?

Sure, I'll at least read I am Legend if it wins.

[chevmalfet]

dude. eBay

Quirky about books that way. I prefer to pick them up in person.

[kingkilr]

Enders Game hands down, it and its follow ups(specifically the shadow books) are just plain awesome.

I could easilly write several pages on bean, which I will do if anyone requests it ;)

[xcontr0l]

I'm a little disappointed no one wants to read slaughterhouse five. It's a great book, better than Cat's Cradle in my opinion and seriously the greatest anti-war novel ever written, which in today's america, I feel could be greatly appreciated.

[k4ng]

I'm a little disappointed no one wants to read slaughterhouse five. It's a great book, better than Cat's Cradle in my opinion and seriously the greatest anti-war novel ever written, which in today's america, I feel could be greatly appreciated.

I definitely want to read it. I just didn't want to do two Vonnegut books in a row.

[vehemens]

the greatest anti-war novel ever written, which in today's america, I feel could be greatly appreciated.

Dalton Trumbo - Johnny Got His Gun has that title I'm afraid. I would like to recommend it for the next read.

Background info on Johnny Got His Gun; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Got_His_Gun

[xcontr0l]

When I said greatest anti-war novel I forgot about the"Holy-****in Bible" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ymvT682XZ0).

[oliviakay]

I'm a little disappointed no one wants to read slaughterhouse five. It's a great book, better than Cat's Cradle in my opinion and seriously the greatest anti-war novel ever written, which in today's america, I feel could be greatly appreciated.

I Wholeheartedly agree. I also voted for it because I was already reading it. I haven't read cat's cradle yet..but I should

[poltah]

I vote A Game of Thrones for August!

[whattheydontsay]

August Recommendation- Rant: An Oral Autobiography of Buster Casey by Chuck Palahniuk (yes, the guy who wrote Fight Club).

It's considered his best by most people that follow Palahniuk. There's time travel, car crashes, rabies, murder, godliness, oppressive governments... ALSO the entire story is subjective and it'd be great to hear their take on what really happened.

[magunwarrior]

August Recommendation- Rant: An Oral Autobiography of Buster Casey by Chuck Palahniuk (yes, the guy who wrote Fight Club).

It's considered his best by most people that follow Palahniuk. There's time travel, car crashes, rabies, murder, godliness, oppressive governments... ALSO the entire story is subjective and it'd be great to hear their take on what really happened.

If you want to make a book suggestion PM Popltree2

[keithnl]

Had to give it up to "I am legend"

I love enders game, holy christ that thing blew my mind. I read the ender series but never bothered to read any of the shadow stuff. I read a bunch of the Alvin Maker books as well.

I've never read "I am legend" which is why I voted for it. I also remember seeing The Last Man on earth with vincent price on cable a long time ago

[nobodysleeps]

Let's just hurry up and pick ender's game so it can stop taking votes away from other books.

Or better yet, how about they have a segment next week where they talk about Ender's game since every nerd has already ready it.

Dan was dissapointed when Battle Royale was picked. But I think it was because we've all read Ender's Game. And it would be nice to read something that none of us have read. Oh well...

[chevmalfet]

I've read the entire Ender series, and Shadow series, recently, so it would be against my interest to vote it in again. This last reading, oddly enough, Card’s religious position really stuck out like a sore thumb for some reason. I still enjoyed it, but it does get in the way it bits.

[k4ng]

Kinda off topic but I hate how expensive books are. Usually I pick up a bunch of books from library sales (where books are 1 or 2 bucks each instead of $20) and read those. I read the online pdf file of Cat's Cradle but I guess I'll have to suck it up and go buy a new copy of the next book :p

[popltree2]

Oh snap! Ender's and Legend are neck-and-neck. Who is gonna win?!?

[ngower]

I'm reading Kafka on the Shore right now. Haven't gotten that far into it, but have read some of Murakami's other books and was shocked to see he is up for contention, great author. I actually bought Cat's Cradle yesterday, I hate reading so it's great to get book recommendations from people like me that I can actually read.

[nobodysleeps]

I'm reading Kafka on the Shore right now. Haven't gotten that far into it, but have read some of Murakami's other books and was shocked to see he is up for contention, great author. I actually bought Cat's Cradle yesterday, I hate reading so it's great to get book recommendations from people like me that I can actually read.

Yeah I'm a big Murakami fan. Such a great author. Still have to say that Norwegian Wood is my favorite book of his. But I have yet to read Kafka on the Shore. I'm hoping for it to be picked as a Book club book so I can pick it up.

[zebracakes]

Has everyone here read 1984? I've read it twice in the last year, so I'm not voting for it, but it is a must read. I suggest anyone reading it regardless of if it gets picked (which doesn't seem like it's gonna happen) or not.

[vehemens]

Has everyone here read 1984? I've read it twice in the last year, so I'm not voting for it, but it is a must read. I suggest anyone reading it regardless of if it gets picked (which doesn't seem like it's gonna happen) or not.

Yeah, read it, but haven't actually finished it yet. It drags on a bit, goes over the same stuff and ultimately left me thinking "jesus christ how many more pages!?", so I've set it aside and will finish it at some point.

[farco]

Has everyone here read 1984? I've read it twice in the last year, so I'm not voting for it, but it is a must read. I suggest anyone reading it regardless of if it gets picked (which doesn't seem like it's gonna happen) or not.



Love that book and I completely agree with you.

[poltah]

What's it about?

[vehemens]

What's it about?

State control, censorship and political corruption. It's a good read, very good, my previous posts make it sound like I didn't like it. I just find it long, but it's still a good read. I would highly recommend it.

[popltree2]

And the winner is.....I AM LEGEND!!! As I stated earlier, we will be reading both this AND Ender's Game due to the shortness of the book. Pick'em up and get reading!

[magunwarrior]

Okay, I might have to buy both, I have no clue where my copy of Ender's game is.

[diggkisser]

I think that the Watchmen and Cat's Cradle are two books that are way to complicated to suggest to friends. I think Watchmen is one of the best books (graphic or otherwise) ever. I love Alan Moore. I really love him. But if friends that don't know about the world of comics or his writing wouldn't understand Watchmen. It took me years to digest it. It's not the kind of book that you can read in one sitting. It's a modern classic. It's so complex and amazing that it's not like you're going to read it one week and come back and say... "That was the best book ever".

I'm sure the same goes for Cat's Cradle (if I'm spelling that right). You have to have some sort of perspective to understand these books. Yes, I'm sure they are the best of the best... but you've got to work up to them. I would suggest much simpler less complex books or graphic novels. You have to have friends enjoy them first. Get them into understanding that graphic novels are fun to read. Give them a taste with some easier stuff first... after a couple dozen under their belt then hit them with some background... and then give them at least 6 months to read something like Watchmen. It's the Huck Finn of the comic world... and if you haven't read Huck Finn: Look up some information about it and take a year to read it... but you may want to start with Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer is fun... Huck Finn is genius. Comic Books are fun... Watchmen is genius... but you won't get it unless you have read a bunch of regular comics about super heroes or other graphic novels.

[ambientsound]

I was able to get a copy of Battle Royale a couple months ago and loved every page of it. At first I was concerned that keeping track of every student's name would be difficult, but once the story got into full swing it wasn't an issue. The movie is alright, but I'd definitely read the book first. Pretty disturbing!

I've had the intention of reading "I Am Legend" for a while now, so I'm glad it's the book for July.

[poltah]

I wouldn't describe Cat's Cradle and defenitely not Watchmen as books you have to work up to.

I would describe Shakespeare, Zweig, Altorac, Kierkegaard, Johannes V. Jensen, Nietzhe and those guys as people you have to work up to read.

[popltree2]

I wouldn't describe Cat's Cradle and defenitely not Watchmen as books you have to work up to.

I would describe Shakespeare, Zweig, Altorac, Kierkegaard, Johannes V. Jensen, Nietzhe and those guys as people you have to work up to read.

Agreed. Vonnegut is perfect for high school. Also, if you haven't read him in the past, you won't feel like you are reading a pop-up book if you pick it up several years down the line.

[chevmalfet]

I wouldn't describe Cat's Cradle and defenitely not Watchmen as books you have to work up to.


Well, in fairness, everyone has their own baseline. All depends on background and how much and what types of books you read. There are plenty of very literate people out there that haven’t read a novel in a decade or more.

[theinevitable]

So when's the deadline?

[catavarie]

So what is the book for July? I am legend?

[popltree2]

Two books this month: I Am Legend and Ender's Game. Discussion will begin on the 24th.

[eddyman]

finished with both the books....
so we just start posting stuff about it on the forums on the 24th?
i wasnt doing the book club last month to see what happens

[popltree2]

New thread will be up on the 24th for the discussion of the two books from this month.

[theinevitable]

So where exactly is the discussion? I'm guessing it right before my eyes, but I'm not seeing it.


EDIT: Oh I see. The July sticky thread is not only to vote for next month, but to discuss THIS month! doh!