March / War Novel Poll

[Scheherazade]

Please nominate the "war novel" you would like to read in March in this thread.

Please remember that:

- Only those members with 50+ posts can nominate.

- One nomination per member.

- Only the first 10 nominations will be included in the poll.


The Book Club readings are for those who would like to read and discuss books together with other members.

If you are not able to take part or unwilling to (re)read your own nominations, please refrain from nominating book.

[NickAdams]

One can probably guess the books that would be nominated for this genre and what I have chose to nominate seems cliche and like I'm missing the opportunity to explore the depths of the genre, but I'm nominating it anyway.:p

I nominate Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls.:D

[papayahed]

Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield

[Jozanny]

March might be a good time to focus on a text and try to stop myself from going stir crazy, so I will nominate:

The Naked and The Dead by Norman Mailer, which I have wanted to read since he appeared on Charlie Rose in his wheelchair, shortly before he died.

If for some reason I cannot get online from my temporary relocation in the building, I will open a library account, even though I guess I can't transfer this account to the public one--but the packing lady told me they will give me a net line, so here is to crossed fingers...

If someone wants to nominate Joseph Heller's Catch-22 for me, I will join in for that too, as I was a young and healthy teenager with a hamster I named Yossy after the title character when I first experienced it. I love Heller's humor.

[Virgil]

I'm torn between All Quiet on the Westernfront and A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin. Here's something on the Helprin if you've never heard of it:


From Library Journal
In summer 1964, a distinguished-looking gentleman in his seventies dismounts on principle from a streetcar that was to carry him from Rome to a distant village, instead accompanying on foot a boy denied a fare. As they walk, he tells the boy the story of his life. A young aesthete from a privileged Roman family, Alesandro Giuliani found his charmed existence shattered by the coming of World War I. The war led to an onerous tour of duty, inadvertent desertion, near-execution, forced labor, service high in the Italian Alps that took advantage of his (and Helprin's) skill at mountain climbing, capture by the enemy, and return home, dispossessed of most of his friends and family. Along the way, he gains, loses, and eventually rediscovers love. This rousingly good story of survival is all the more remarkable in the telling. The language is rich without cloying, complex yet luminous in Helprin's best style. In a number of thoughtful philosophical passages as engaging as any adventure story, Alesandro struggles to reconcile his appreciation of beauty and his religious faith with the horror around him. That he finally persuades us to believe in a "God without any hope, in a God of splendor and terror" is testimony to the indomitable human spirit. Highly recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/91.
-Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"

I still have a little time to nominate.

[Tallon]

I'll nominate All Quiet On The Western Front for you Virgil. Also, for the rather selfish reason that i've just purchased the book and it will save me effort if it wins :D.

All Quiet On The Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque.

[motherhubbard]

If for some reason I cannot get online from my temporary relocation in the building, I will open a library account, even though I guess I can't transfer this account to the public one--but the packing lady told me they will give me a net line, so here is to crossed fingers...



I'm not sure what you mean. I log in from the library, school, my mom's... all over the place!

[motherhubbard]

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Carried-Tim-OBrien/dp/0767902890/ref=cm_lmf_img_4/181-0406979-6221560

I've read parts and loved it!

[Virgil]

I'll nominate All Quiet On The Western Front for you Virgil. Also, for the rather selfish reason that i've just purchased the book and it will save me effort if it wins :D.

All Quiet On The Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque.

Thanks Tallon. Then I'll nominate A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin and debate with myself on which to vote for. ;)

[hellsapoppin]

Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane - an oldie but goodie!

[Jozanny]

I'm not sure what you mean. I log in from the library, school, my mom's... all over the place!

With the same account mother? I know I commit the sin of off-topic digression, but what has probably ruined me in my middle age as a writer is my inability to handle major disruptions in life without ripping out my hair, and my chair died right before the major American holidays, and now has conveniently merged with it being time to renovate my floor and my ex'es, below me. I have to be placed on the second flr, in a used power chair I can barely manage and don't trust, and my sister is fighting with me because she wants my help financially and I put my foot down, and my little brother wants to kill us both. So I am not writing! Like that solves anything!:D But I am a surf junkie, and it will kill me if the movers freak out my computer, even if I assume the worst:bawling::bawling: But if I can just transfer my handle and account to the library, that will be cool.

[TheFifthElement]

If someone wants to nominate Joseph Heller's Catch-22 for me, I will join in for that too, as I was a young and healthy teenager with a hamster I named Yossy after the title character when I first experienced it. I love Heller's humor.

I'll nominate Catch 22. It's one of the most brilliant, funniest and most well constructed novels I've ever read. And I'll never forget the alpaca sack filled with hairy strawberry ice cream image which has got to be one of the best ever!

[bazarov]

All Quiet on the Western Front - I wanted to read that, so I will add my vote for that.

OT - you can log from everywhere, just sign in.

[Jozanny]

I'll nominate Catch 22. It's one of the most brilliant, funniest and most well constructed novels I've ever read. And I'll never forget the alpaca sack filled with hairy strawberry ice cream image which has got to be one of the best ever!

Jozanny *high-fives* FifthElement (it is not quite a cool American urbanism anymore but I am only a wee little younger than Virgil;) )...

Appropos of nothing, I am listening to a feature about stress and suicide in army recruitment jobs. I am now starting to see how Foucault was fascinated by the way we turn ourselves into subjects.

[Scheherazade]

This genre is proving to be popular!

I would like to nominate Master and Commander by O'brian.

1. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

2. Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield

3. The Naked and The Dead by Norman Mailer

4. All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

5. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

6. A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin

7. Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

8. Catch 22 by Heller

9. Master and Commander by Patrick O'brian

[Jozanny]

This genre is proving to be popular!

Yes indeed, we're about filled up! Virgil picked a good genre, and I am interested in most of the titles; it will be good to open spring with!:thumbs_up

[motherhubbard]

With the same account mother? I know I commit the sin of off-topic digression, but what has probably ruined me in my middle age as a writer is my inability to handle major disruptions in life without ripping out my hair, and my chair died right before the major American holidays, and now has conveniently merged with it being time to renovate my floor and my ex'es, below me. I have to be placed on the second flr, in a used power chair I can barely manage and don't trust, and my sister is fighting with me because she wants my help financially and I put my foot down, and my little brother wants to kill us both. So I am not writing! Like that solves anything!:D But I am a surf junkie, and it will kill me if the movers freak out my computer, even if I assume the worst:bawling::bawling: But if I can just transfer my handle and account to the library, that will be cool.
I'm sorry you're having such a stressful time right now- I hope it's short lived.

I just Google online literature and the lit net comes up first thing ( I don’t know the web address :blush:) and then go to forums and log in as usual. No Problems!

[JBI]

If this counts - Obasan by Joy Kogawa, otherwise, The Wars by Timothy Findley.

Obasan deals with Japanese internment in Canada during WW2, so I don't know if that counts per say as a war novel, but Findley's work definitely is. I nominate Obasan, and if not that, Findley's The Wars.

[Virgil]

Wow, when I nominated this genre I didn't think there would be a lot of interest, but this seems to be the fastest to nine book nominations I have ever seen. Should be an interesting vote. I don't think I'd mind reading (and in some cases re-reading) any of those novels. :)

[Jozanny]

If this counts - Obasan by Joy Kogawa, otherwise, The Wars by Timothy Findley.

Obasan deals with Japanese internment in Canada during WW2, so I don't know if that counts per say as a war novel, but Findley's work definitely is. I nominate Obasan, and if not that, Findley's The Wars.

I think it would count JBI, as it deals with a policy act out of WW2. I knew we had internment camps. I did not know Canadians followed suit. Sounds interesting to me, thanks. I am looking for something out of the mold, as it were, even though I have plenty bookmarks in more than a few things. I might return to Sherman's memoirs too. I have the LOA edition; he may have been a lousy president, but he was the soldier who gave the Union back to Lincoln. I started them years ago and drifted off, but now my temperment could use some history.

[Virgil]

I think it would count JBI, as it deals with a policy act out of WW2. I knew we had internment camps. I did not know Canadians followed suit. Sounds interesting to me, thanks. I am looking for something out of the mold, as it were, even though I have plenty bookmarks in more than a few things. I might return to Sherman's memoirs too. I have the LOA edition; he may have been a lousy president, but he was the soldier who gave the Union back to Lincoln. I started them years ago and drifted off, but now my temperment could use some history.

You must mean Grant's memoirs, Jozy.

[JBI]

We have 10 now? We had nine before, and now that Obasan, I guess, has been decided upon maybe we can start discussing/pasting quotes and things.

[Niamh]

Man this is going to be an interesting vote!!!
I'm torn between Red Badge of Courage, All quiet on the western front and Master and Commander....

[Jozanny]

You must mean Grant's memoirs, Jozy.

No, Sherman hon, except I transformed him into Grant without thinking:lol:. My first senior moment! I remember the opening of the book; he chases Native renegades in Florida and then goes to California, and that is where I left him, but I might return to the book.

Sorry for my slip peoples.:p

[Virgil]

No, Sherman hon, except I transformed him into Grant without thinking:lol:. My first senior moment! I remember the opening of the book; he chases Native renegades in Florida and then goes to California, and that is where I left him, but I might return to the book.

Sorry for my slip peoples.:p

I didn't know Sherman wrote a memoir. I'll have to look into it.

[Jozanny]

I didn't know Sherman wrote a memoir. I'll have to look into it.

Yep. I have a small, not very extensive, LOA collection, and they have a volume of Sherman's memoirs. He comes off as a crusty libertarian, but he actually isn't a bad writer for a General, and perhaps my Freudian slip was due to the fact that he might have been a 19th century Eisenhower we needed, as opposed to Grant.

I am still ashamed of my neurons misfiring here.:blush:

[Virgil]

Yep. I have a small, not very extensive, LOA collection, and they have a volume of Sherman's memoirs. He comes off as a crusty libertarian, but he actually isn't a bad writer for a General, and perhaps my Freudian slip was due to the fact that he might have been a 19th century Eisenhower we needed, as opposed to Grant.

I am still ashamed of my neurons misfiring here.:blush:

Oh don't worry about your neurons. God knows how many mistakes I've made here. :blush:

[_Shannon_]

Shoot- I missed nominating! I was going to nominate Atonement. However- there's lots of great choices there!!

[caspian]

hello everyone! i've not been here almost a year. I decided to skip 2008 foreign reading, came back in december, and skipped january reading too, i'm not in thriller at all. i looked at young adult poll - i'll go with the winner, would be glad even to reread "catcher in the rye". i'm not in war fiction either, but right now i'm reading "african gueen" by Forester and it's good, i'm so glad that i avoided to watch the movie several times.
i've read a lot of novels about Word War II, Napaleon wars, but nothing on Word War I. i hope there's already some book on that subject in our list.
i've read "for whom the bells tolls" and other book of Hemingway :"farewell to arms" years ago. I don't like hemingway- and i know why- if we end up reading him we can discuss it.

[Scheherazade]

Nominations are:

1. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

2. Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield

3. The Naked and The Dead by Norman Mailer

4. All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

5. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

6. A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin

7. Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

8. Catch 22 by Heller

9. Master and Commander by Patrick O'brian[/QUOTE]

10. Obasan by Joy Kogawa

Caspian> It is so nice to see you! :) Hope you will be around for the discusssions.

[JBI]

God, I hope Helprin loses- that book is tosh - I wrote a senior paper on it in high school, after randomply picking it off a list, and all I can say is it is complete rubbish in terms of writing - the characters seem like they are preaching more than talking - they seem to not think but only be fuel for his random "philosophical insights," which for the most, are crap.

[Virgil]

hello everyone! i've not been here almost a year. I decided to skip 2008 foreign reading, came back in december, and skipped january reading too, i'm not in thriller at all. i looked at young adult poll - i'll go with the winner, would be glad even to reread "catcher in the rye". i'm not in war fiction either, but right now i'm reading "african gueen" by Forester and it's good, i'm so glad that i avoided to watch the movie several times.
i've read a lot of novels about Word War II, Napaleon wars, but nothing on Word War I. i hope there's already some book on that subject in our list.
i've read "for whom the bells tolls" and other book of Hemingway :"farewell to arms" years ago. I don't like hemingway- and i know why- if we end up reading him we can discuss it.

All Quiet on the Western Front and A soldier of the Great War both are set during WWI.

[bazarov]

i've read a lot of novels about Word War II, Napaleon wars, but nothing on Word War I. i hope there's already some book on that subject in our list.
.

Try Good soldier Švejk; excellent story about WWI. It's bit too long for book of the month; I guess.

[Virgil]

God, I hope Helprin loses- that book is tosh - I wrote a senior paper on it in high school, after randomply picking it off a list, and all I can say is it is complete rubbish in terms of writing - the characters seem like they are preaching more than talking - they seem to not think but only be fuel for his random "philosophical insights," which for the most, are crap.

Hmm, I did not know that. I've read one novel (Memoirs from an Ant Proof Case) by Helprin and while it wasn't a great novel it wasn't a bad one either. I much admire Helprin's prose, though that may not lead to good character development. But given your warning, I'll probably won't vote for A Soldier of the Great War, even though i nominated it.

[kelby_lake]

A farewell to arms?

[PabloQ]

hello everyone! i've not been here almost a year. I decided to skip 2008 foreign reading, came back in december, and skipped january reading too, i'm not in thriller at all. i looked at young adult poll - i'll go with the winner, would be glad even to reread "catcher in the rye". i'm not in war fiction either, but right now i'm reading "african gueen" by Forester and it's good, i'm so glad that i avoided to watch the movie several times.
i've read a lot of novels about Word War II, Napaleon wars, but nothing on Word War I. i hope there's already some book on that subject in our list.
i've read "for whom the bells tolls" and other book of Hemingway :"farewell to arms" years ago. I don't like hemingway- and i know why- if we end up reading him we can discuss it.
Three Soldiers by John Dos Passos also takes place during WWI.

[JBI]

I really hope Obasan wins, as it is a very strong novel, written by a great author, as for those still suggesting books, check page 2 - the 10 have already been selected, and the reason we are not going to poll is that we are waiting for the end of the month.

[Virgil]

I really hope Obasan wins, as it is a very strong novel, written by a great author, as for those still suggesting books, check page 2 - the 10 have already been selected, and the reason we are not going to poll is that we are waiting for the end of the month.

That really doesn't strike me as a war novel. Sounds more like a social issues novel.

[JBI]

That really doesn't strike me as a war novel. Sounds more like a social issues novel.

It's a good book, and it deals with the war - just because it doesn't have a cliché romance or some blood and guts doesn't make it a bad book. That's the problem with these genre things - people only seem to be willing to vote for books they have heard about, and potentially already have read. Notice also the divide of books by nationality - 7 American, one English, one German, and one Canadian - clearly the expansion of viewpoints is being jeopardized, the same way a thriller that 3 people had already read won for January, whereas a unique book that many hadn't heard about, but had heard good things about was completely ignored.

If I were to talk about War Novels, I would think this one far more important to the genre, and the history of war literature than the others, simply because it is offering the perspective of someone who is truly marginalized by the war, and offering a perspective that goes against the image of the "noble victor" that seems to pollute the rest of these books (with the exception I believe of For Whom the Bell Tolls, and Master and Commander, which offer the good guys tragically losing, and with All Quiet on The Western Front, which begins to approach somewhat a notion of mature war narrative) but even so, where are the minorities caught up in these? Where are the other voices, of Women, of children, of those involved, of those reduced to a status less than human because of cultural bias, and in essence full fledged racism? One book, ironically. Yes, it most certainly is a war novel.

Either way though, I bet Hemmingway wins, he being the most well known of the list, I think.

[Dr. Hill]

Slaughterhouse Five.

[JBI]

Slaughterhouse Five.

Read the thread - too late.

[NickAdams]

It's a good book, and it deals with the war - just because it doesn't have a cliché romance or some blood and guts doesn't make it a bad book. That's the problem with these genre things - people only seem to be willing to vote for books they have heard about, and potentially already have read. Notice also the divide of books by nationality - 7 American, one English, one German, and one Canadian - clearly the expansion of viewpoints is being jeopardized, the same way a thriller that 3 people had already read won for January, whereas a unique book that many hadn't heard about, but had heard good things about was completely ignored.

If I were to talk about War Novels, I would think this one far more important to the genre, and the history of war literature than the others, simply because it is offering the perspective of someone who is truly marginalized by the war, and offering a perspective that goes against the image of the "noble victor" that seems to pollute the rest of these books (with the exception I believe of For Whom the Bell Tolls, and Master and Commander, which offer the good guys tragically losing, and with All Quiet on The Western Front, which begins to approach somewhat a notion of mature war narrative) but even so, where are the minorities caught up in these? Where are the other voices, of Women, of children, of those involved, of those reduced to a status less than human because of cultural bias, and in essence full fledged racism? One book, ironically. Yes, it most certainly is a war novel.

Either way though, I bet Hemmingway wins, he being the most well known of the list, I think.

Well said. I sympathize with you, but I've been pushing a Hemingway read since I joined to no avail.

[Dark Muse]

I loved Gates of Fire I thought it was an amazing book, and Catch-22 I enjoyed throughly, but I am going to have to go with Red Badge of Courage becasue it is one I have not read yet that I would like to do so.

I will try to partake in this discussion if I can.

[papayahed]

Well said. I sympathize with you, but I've been pushing a Hemingway read since I joined to no avail.

I've been here for 5 years and haven't had a book win - except once but that was a sympathy vote and it was only for a halloween read.

[Drkshadow03]

I really enjoyed The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien actually. It was the last book I read, with a blog post here (http://beyondassumptions.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/booklist-2009-6-the-things-they-carried-by-tim-obrien/) (note: all my posts contain plenty of SPOILERS).

So I wouldn't cry if it managed to win because it would be fun to engage in a dialogue about it and see what other people made of it. However, I wouldn't mind the Hemingway or the Catch-22! I always love when there are a couple of decent options.

[Virgil]

No one is interested in All Quiet On the Western Front? It's really the best of the genre.

[Lulim]

I voted for "The Naked and the Dead" because I have it waiting in the shelf already, and by march I will have finished with my current read, "Against the Day". It doesn't look like as if it will end up on top though ...

[Bancini]

I'm too new to vote....would like to read For Whom the Bell Tolls or All Quiet on the Western Front

[papayahed]

I'm too new to vote....would like to read For Whom the Bell Tolls or All Quiet on the Western Front

If you were going to vote for For Whom the Bell Tolls I would very eagerly tell you to go to the games section of the forum where you can very easily rack up 50 posts!

[NickAdams]

I voted for "The Naked and the Dead" because I have it waiting in the shelf already, and by march I will have finished with my current read, "Against the Day". It doesn't look like as if it will end up on top though ...

How is Against the Day?

[Bancini]

how long is the voting open?

[motherhubbard]

it closes on the first

[Bancini]

finally able to vote

All Quiet on the Western Front

[papayahed]

finally able to vote

All Quiet on the Western Front

Hey! I thought we had a deal!!;)

[Bancini]

definitely my second choice....sorry

[Big Al]

I really hope Catch-22 does not win this poll. It's among my favorite books, but I've read it twice already.

[Scheherazade]

I love Catch-22 but am rather hopeful that we will read something else.

[sofia82]

Hi there!

I like to read catch 22 as I never read the original text, but it seems most of you read it more than once :)

[bazarov]

No one is interested in All Quiet On the Western Front? It's really the best of the genre.

Only four of us.

[Sancho]

JBI has piqued my interest so I wanna read Obasan. I’ve already read most of the others.

[Virgil]

Only four of us.

Oh well, it's caught up. :) Still I don't think it will catch Catch 22. Catch Catch 22! :lol:

[papayahed]

nooooooo, anything but catch -22

[Janine]

"All Quiet On The Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque - love the movie, so I am sure the book is remarkable!

[Bancini]

love catch-22...have mixed emotions about the choice since I have not read All Quiet or For Whom....

[Scheherazade]

Come on, peeps. Just 6 more votes for M & C!

[lugdunum]

Voted for"All quiet...". Just to spice up the poll a it just before deadline! LOL!:D

[motherhubbard]

I went ahead and started Catch 22. I need a book when I'm on the treadmill. I wasn't sure if I would be able to read along this time because of school, but I'll do my best.