Next Book Suggestions after Kristin Lavransdatter

Sorry, double posting for some reason ...

Anyhoo .. here's a thread to start the discussion about where to go after Kristin Lavransdatter. I'm just finishing up so I'm going to come back during the week and add my two-pennies-worth....

Once again, I nominate Don Quixote.

Wow...that's when I actually do finish KL.

My TBR list includes....

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre Dumas
Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino

I suggest
The Iliad by Homer
or
The Trial by Franz Kafka

How about Independent People by Halldor Laxness?

'Independent People', is it a very long novel?

I'm not sure if I can manage one more voluminous book right now (just finished 'Kristin Lavransdatter', and earlier this year 'War and Peace' and 'Middlemarch' etc.).

I would like to read something a little different this time, like (cf. #6)
The Iliad, very classic.
The Trial, rather modern and special

or (a new suggestion from me).
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Edited to add touchstones, won't work for the Icelandic novel :(

Not very long; my edition has 544 pages

I support reading Don Quixote or Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino

I would like to raed Don Quixote or The Odyssey

Let's scare up some old suggestions from way back. How about Buddenbrooks or maybe even Death in Venice.

I second Rosemeria's suggestion of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

I have Don Quixote, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Illiad on my shelves, so I'd vote for any of those.

Can I vote against Tess of the D'Urbervilles?? I had to read it at school, and loathed it beyond measure!

grrrrr. LT ate my message, so another try:

The Buddenbrooks! Yes! There is also a film in the pipeline, in 2009 I believe. I might even make a trip to Lübeck, to visit the Buddenbrook-Haus. http://www.buddenbrookhaus.de/ :-)

But what about classics with less than 500 pages? ;-)
From Germany, there would be The Dykemaster byTheodor Storm. We've all read it in school, and for once I think most liked it! It is a great story and has only 120 pages, and I might even get to Husum to see the Storm museum :-).

See, I am campaigning for local literature here! *ggg* But both of these are well-known all over Germany.

I'm up for most of the above suggestions but particularly:

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man or The Trial, neither of which I've read, both of which I should!

kjellika, Things Fall Apart is absolutely great but I read it in an afternoon, it's a really fast read so I don't think that it'll have quite enough meat to it to keep the group going. You really should read it though!

klarusu,
thanks for your recommendation of Things Fall Apart.
I read The Trial some years ago, and would like a reread of it, and I've got a Norwegian edition of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and would like to read it with this group as well.

duplicate post... see below

I'd like to support kjellika's nomination for The Trial. I have this terrible habit of saying things are Kafka-esque, when I've - shh!, don't tell anyone! - never actually read any.

Otherwise, while I'd love to read The Iliad or Don Quixote, I've just begun the arduous process of marking our state's final English examinations, which gives me 13 hour working days, for about a month, so... maybe later!

I think I would enjoy The Trial too (as an added bonus, I own that one, and I would have to go buy a copy of Don Quixote. Lol about your "Kafka-esque secret", Miss Owl.

I would go for either Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man or The Trial, as they are both in my collection, and not huge clunkers, and I did start Portrait a few years back, and really should get on with it before I start Ulysses.

Here's what I wrote on the last "what should we read next" thread: I like Ivanhoe, The Odyssey, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Dr. Zhivago. A few from past votes that I wouldn't mind revisiting are Wives and Daughters, Vanity Fair, and The Count of Monte Cristo.

Having already read Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (several times) and The Trial, I'm not so exited about them.

Touchstones seem wonky this morning

Talbin, I'd also like to read Vanity Fair and Dr. Zhivago. I've read The Odyssey but would be up for a reread...

I'd like to read Wives and Daughters and I would NOT like to read Don Quixote. Read it in college and thought I would die of the tedium.

The Count of Monte Cristo has my vote once again.

I already have my copy of Le Compte de Monte-Cristo (my copy is in French) so I'm ready in case that becomes a group read. Either way, I'll be reading, group read or not.

Otherwise, I go back to my original suggestion of Doctor Zhivago if you guys are willing to Russian again.

Recommendations of large tomes I've already read but wouldn't mind following a discussion on:
Les Miserables
Don Quixote
Notre-Dame de Paris (currently reading)

Or a smaller book but still very important:
Blindness by Jose Saramago (Nobel Prize author)
Les Racines du ciel (Roots of Heaven) by Romain Gary -- also a Nobel Prize winner but hard to find the book in English since it's out of print

Just some recommendations from my part.

Pere Goriot or Moby Dick.

Shouldn't we try for a "smaller" book? I am having a hard time finding enough time to finish Kristin. I had to give up on War and Peace. Another 500-700 page work, and I will probably not even start the effort...

I didn't like Kafka that much, but might have another try (we did read him in school, of course, and I saw a few dramatisations at the theatre).

klarusu, I'm reading Vanity Fair now. It's not a particularly thin book though.

I just read an incredible LT testimony, somewhere, for Pere Goriot. 'Another great choice.

I agree with the "smaller" book for this month. November is especially busy for me with paper deadlines and final exams. But then again, if a large book is chosen, I'm still in!

Sandydog1, you know, I'm sure I've read Vanity Fair but I can't remember the details so I'm wondering if I'm making it up ... hence the desire to read it now ;)

Pere Goriot would be a good one if I can get hold of it because I haven't read any Balzac either...

lilisin said: I go back to my original suggestion of Doctor Zhivago if you guys are willing to Russian again.

I say: fools Russian where angels fear to tread ;)

Sorry, that was terrible. Argh, all this marking is killing off my remaining brain cells... thus I'd just like to say once again how wonderful those shorter books are :)

klarusu, Speaking of no memory, I just went back to the previous (circa June) topic and found these were my suggestions:

1. The Brothers Karamozov
2. The Magic Mountain
3. The Tale of Genji
4. David Copperfield
5. Vanity Fair

Again, several people wanted to go for something shorter, and I'd be fine with that. Most of these are pretty long!

Well, if we are going for size... around 300 pages or less
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Pere Goriot by Balzac
Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino
The Trial by Kafka

I was going to suggest The Pickwick Papers, Clarissa, or Tristram Shandy, but those are all long ones. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is great but a pretty quick read. Death in Venice also seems to me to be too short to sustain in a reading group, although it is an incredible book.

Certainly nothing I've seen mentioned is worth passing up even for a second read, although I could do without reading Thomas Hardy.

The Trial isn't a very long novel, but I think there might be great discussions on it. Its plot and style are quite curious, and who is 'K' and what happens to him?

I think The Trial is a really solid option for a shorter read. My book club of 15 years always chooses shorter reads for November and December because of holiday chaos and fun.

We could just choose two shorter novels and then people could read either one or go ahead and read both.

I think lilisin has proposed a wise solution. On to the voting....???

A shorter book would be ideal and then maybe we could choose one of the excellent longer tomes suggested to start 2009 off. From all the suggestions so far, I would like to read The Trial, Pere Goriot, Portrait of the artists as a Young Man, Blindness and The Dykemaster sounds interesting but maybe a little hard to locate in an Australian library.

#38 If you are interested The Brothers Karamazov is going to be a group read for the 999 Challenge group early next year.

I like the two book option.....something for everyone.

Yes, and maybe then I'll even actually participate, for once! I always have such good intentions.

I, too, like the idea of two smaller books.

I'll go for:
The Trial by Franz Kafka

and/or

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.

Any suggestions about when to vote and how to do it?

Socialpages, The Dykemaster has been published under various titles ("Rider of the White Horse" for ex., see the editions page.

My choice would be The Dykemaster and The Trial. :-)

Casting my vote for The Trial. I'll limit my vote to just one book because that's all I think I can realistically fit in at the moment.

Maybe the vote could be set up here on the thread. I would be willing to tally votes, if that is comfortable for everyone. It looks like there is a lot of postivie feeling for The Trial......so how about three two book options to choose from:

A) The Trial and The Dykemaster
B) The Trial and Pere Goriot
C) Pere Goriot and The Dykemaster
D) The Trial and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
E) Pere Goriot and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Each member could vote for one of the pairs, by letter. If that seems to be set up too arbitrarily.....let's go with another idea.

I vote for (D)

(A) for me. :-)

(B) gets my vote.

I vote (D).

(A) gets my vote.

(D) for me!

I vote (A)

I vote (D)

How about voting until Friday, November 7th at 5pm........unless there is dissent we will go with this...

I vote for (D)

I'm for B!

(D) for Donna :-)

(A) or (D) for me

(D)

my vote goes to A

(D) for me

(D)

(D) for me too.

(C) for me.

Honestly? I think we could've had a bit more discussion once it was decided to go to two shorter books. None of the above have much appeal for me at all, so I'm abstaining. I'll see you all in 2009.

(B) has my vote.

*I've been lurking around until now, but I am looking forward to joining my first group read/discussion.

I vote for D -- though B and E would also suffice.

I think I'll be joining you on the sidelines too, Talbin.

I vote (B).

Maybe for the next time around we can think about the possibility of The Little Prince. It is short and has lots to think about.

I know I mentioned this a long time ago but maybe its time will come sometime in the future......

I've been in this group for a long time but I never join in a group read because frankly I get too confused with when a book starts and what the current book is.

So I'm going to try it this time since it seems I've arrived when a new book is about to start. When will we know what the book will be?

Voting this time lasts till November 7th at 5pm where we will then know which book(s) we will be reading.

Thanks for the information. I'll definitely join for this group read.

#77 - coffeeisyum - Don't forget to vote on a book selection.....options above at post #52

Been out of the loop for a while (I'd already read the last couple of books), but time to rejoin I think - I'll vote for D.

B

I'll say (D).

I vote D.
--BJ

Thanks hemlok gang - my vote definitely goes for D!

nmhale: Welcome! It's my first book discussion too.

My vote goes to -- A

Thanks coffee.is.yum, and welcome back! We can be newbies together. Always better than being the newbie alone.

HERE ARE THE RESULTS:
Option A: 6 votes
Option B: 4 votes
Option C: 1 vote
Option D: 16 votes.....The Trial and The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

I will go ahead and set up two starter discussion threads in "Group Reads - Literature". Perhaps someone else would be willing to set up any divisions in the two works if the books are broken up in some manner conducive to discussion groupings.

Thanks hemlokgang

I have The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and will probable start this book first. It has five chapters & around 280 pages.
We could break it up into three threads:
Chapters I & II (around 100 pages)
chapters III & IV (around 80 pages)
Chapter V & your final option on the book (around 100 pages)

I'm finishing up some Virginia Woolf books and will start in on Joyce in about a week - Nov. 15th-ish

Yay!!!!!

I'll read The Trial as a group read this time.
I'm not sure if I'll participate in the reading of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as I am reading some other books as well.