Independence Day (July 4th) Reading Poll

[Scheherazade]

Please nominate a book by an American author

for

our

Independence Day (July 4th) Reading

by June 15th.


As always, only the first 10 nominations will be included in the poll.

*edit*

Some information on the books nominated:

Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett

A Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Independence Day by Richard Ford

The October Country by Ray Bradbury

Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow

The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

The poll will close on June 23rd.

Book Club Procedures

[NickAdams]

Invisible Man- Ralph Ellison

[Virgil]

That's a long read for a holiday. How about a fun read like Dashiel Hammett's The Maltese Falcon.

[NickAdams]

Oh! It's only to be read over the holiday. Let me think.

[littlewing53]

how 'bout painted bird - jerzy kosinski...

sorry, he's not an american author....i withdraw...it's just a really, really good book

[Schokokeks]

Yippiiiie, another reading !
I'd like to nominate The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill.
I'm totally behind my American Literature reading list, this is good opportunity then .

I do wonder, however, why we only celebrate the American (and the Irish) national day with a reading ? (In case I'm mistaken in this, let me know). Due to the majority of users here (though maybe not the majority of those participating in the Book Club) being from the US and Ireland, perhaps ?

[NickAdams]

I'd like to nominate a shorter work.
Out of Mailer's The Gospel According to the Son, Faulkner's Wild Palms and Anderson's Wineburg, Ohio ...

I would like to nominate Wineburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson.

[Virgil]

Ooh, Schoky good thinking, a Eugene O'Neil play. Actually I would love to do A Long Day's Journey Into Night.

Nick - I like the Winesburg Ohio stories too. but I wouldn't mind reading a Faulkner novel I've never read before either. Or is Wild Palms a collection of short stories?

[NickAdams]

Ooh, Schoky good thinking, a Eugene O'Neil play. Actually I would love to do A Long Day's Journey Into Night.

Nick - I like the Winesburg Ohio stories too. but I wouldn't mind reading a Faulkner novel I've never read before either. Or is Wild Palms a collection of short stories?

I've never read any Anderson.

It's the combination of two novellas I think: Wild Palms and Old Man, which alternate chapters. Faulkner perfered to call it If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem .

I don't know which to choose. Did The forum already read Winesburg for a book club.

[Scheherazade]

Nominations so far:

1. Virgil - The Maltese Falcon by Dashiel Hammett

2. Schokokeks - The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill

3. NickAdams - Wineburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

I do wonder, however, why we only celebrate the American (and the Irish) national day with a reading ? (In case I'm mistaken in this, let me know). Due to the majority of users here (though maybe not the majority of those participating in the Book Club) being from the US and Ireland, perhaps ?

It is so interesting that you mentioned this, Schokokokeks Last night, when I decided to post this thread (actually, this is the first time we are doing a reading on July 4th), I wonder if we could do the same for other countries as well and realised that I do not know any other national holidays (apart from the Bastille Day (France) - July 14th?).

Also, since all Forum members are English speakers (and most either have or are still studying this subject), it seems like a good idea to pick books which are in English (rather than translated).

Having said that, I am not ruling out including books from other countries' literatures. If anyone is interested, please PM me the national holidays of your own countries and we will try to include those into our reading schedule. I think it is wonderful to have diversity and more choices available for everyone who follow the discussions.

Nick> Wineburg, Ohio has not been read by the BC and it is one of my personal favorites.

[_Shannon_]

I nominate The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien


http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Ca...1135997&sr=8-2

(If I am not supposed to put a link- can a mod please remove it??)

[bouquin]

I recommend Independence Day - by Richard Ford

[Schokokeks]

It is so interesting that you mentioned this, Schokokokeks Last night, when I decided to post this thread (actually, this is the first time we are doing a reading on July 4th), I wonder if we could do the same for other countries as well (...) Having said that, I am not ruling out including books from other countries' literatures. If anyone is interested, please PM me the national holidays of your own countries and we will try to include those into our reading schedule.

I'm glad to read that you're not utterly averse to the idea .
Maybe we could take one national-day-reading per month, selecting only short novels or plays in addition to the regular author-per-month-reading ?
I think it would immensely add to this Forum, since being anglophone and/or studying anglophone literature need not be a hinderance to getting to know other international literature of merit. I've recently been introduced to African literature (written in English) and am still pursuing the goal of reading the entire "African Lit" shelf in my library .
But anyway, I hope enough people are interested in widening the borders so that we can get the whole thing started !

[Taliesin]

We'd like to nominate some short story or a short story collection by Bradbury but it is so hard to choose. Argh! At the moment, let it be the short story "The Emissary", or, if it has to be a book, then it is in the collection "The October Country"

[Virgil]

I'm glad to read that you're not utterly averse to the idea .
Maybe we could take one national-day-reading per month, selecting only short novels or plays in addition to the regular author-per-month-reading ?
I think it would immensely add to this Forum, since being anglophone and/or studying anglophone literature need not be a hinderance to getting to know other international literature of merit. I've recently been introduced to African literature (written in English) and am still pursuing the goal of reading the entire "African Lit" shelf in my library .
But anyway, I hope enough people are interested in widening the borders so that we can get the whole thing started !

On this subject I've had Don Quixote on my reading list for years and have not gotten to it. I would love to read that as a group read. Any interest by anyone?