Night Watch! I would read that!
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Night Watch! I would read that!
You'd much rather read Next Episode, believe me. If you only knew :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Drkshadow03
yes, I did. I didn't realize I had made that mistake. so sorryQuote:
Originally Posted by hellsapoppin
I heartily recommend The Next Episode.
Etienne, what do you mean by "If only you knew"? Is that a comment on Night Watch or a comment on The Next Episode?
This is a very mixed bag of choices. I've researched all of them, and they really run the gamut - from actual classic suspense to psychological thriller to mystery to fantasy.
Some information on the books:
Next Episode by Hubert Aquin
Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky
The Eight by Katherine Neville
The Day Of The Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
The Ghost by Robert Harris
The Sea Hawk by Rafael Sabatini
Night Watch by Sergey Lukyanenko
In the Heat of the Night by Ball
On Next Episode.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paige19
Arguments in favor:
- Prize-winning translation, by a well-known translator.
- Great piece of literature
- Short (less than 200 pages)
- Much to discuss about
- Written by an interesting personality
Hear! Hear!Quote:
I heartily recommend The Next Episode.
By the way, this link http://www.amazon.ca/Next-Episode-Je...8265778&sr=8-1 might be more useful than the "official" one.
No, the reason why one should vote for Aquin is simply because the other books, with the exception of a couple, wouldn't yield much discussion.
Next Episode, though short, offers much, whereas I'm afraid the Forsyth offers very little.
Though, I think more importantly, it represents one of the (two?) non-English books on the list.
Ahem!
If it is so important then I would note that "Next Episode" is French, "Crime and Punishment" Russian and "Night Watch" also Russian. And there might be some others.
That makes n+2, where n is a natural number, non-English books.
"Next Episode" doesn't seem like a bad book by the short description I read, though.
Nevertheless, GO, "Night Watch"!
No, it is the concept that the majority of books we discuss on these boards are English, and these book club books are supposed to expand the ranges of reading. Why vote for something you would probably read and discuss anyway? What's the real point, seeing as how anyone can start a topic. Whereas when something new, something not always talked about on the boards is brought up, then there is an opportunity.
I suppose I had better vote for The Ghost as I nominated it! But I would be interested to read or re-read any of the titles. I can't comment on the amount of discussion each title would generate as I have read only six of the titles already, not all of them, and I tend to comment only on books I have read, not just on any cursory research or hearsay I may have encountered. I am looking forward to reading books in the genres theme in the hope that some discussion will be generated on the nature of the genres themselves and how the chosen title fits or does not fit into the definition of the genre it represents.
Oh come on, no one else wants to read Nightwatch? What about the person who nominated it?
Well one of the levels of the book is about a guy writing a thriller, he starts by saying that it is hard to overstep it's barriers, but then the books goes on and is a thriller that overcomes these so-called limits. So the book is not only a thriller, but also a deconstruction of the thriller book at the same time. Not to mention, that, in term of discussion, it is very rich, both in term of direct content in the book, but also to the understanding of the context. For example, how many here know anything about the revolutionary history in Canada?Quote:
Originally Posted by kasie
It is basically a thriller written by a revolutionary while in a psychiatric hospital about a revolutionary writing a thriller while in a psychiatric hospital. And it's fabulous writing too.
I thought I'd make a start on this reading forum by starting on The Next Episode so I went onto Amazon using the link provided and found that if I want a new copy of the book it will cost me the best part of £40 including postage. :eek: A second hand copy in only 'fair' condition will cost me over £10. :eek: And it will take goodness knows how long to reach UK, given the Christmas rush at the PO. Now I know I have been known to be extravagent on books but I'm afraid this is too much even for me - £40? That's four tickets in the upper gallery for the RSC or two tickets for Welsh National Opera or the train ticket and the entrance ticket for Byzantium at the Royal Academy or.....no, sorry but if this title wins, I'm afraid I won't be able to join in the discussion, I'll just read and enjoy the comments by others.
Of course paying 40 pounds for a less than 200 pages paperback book is ridiculous, but...
Check the link I provided, on amazon.ca. http://www.amazon.ca/Next-Episode-Je...8265778&sr=8-1 That's about 5 pounds for you.
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...pisode&x=0&y=0 has cheap copies as well. :thumbs_up
There's more than amazon.co.uk, y'know. You could even order it through any bookshop near your home anyways, borrow it at a library, what's all this helplessness? ;)
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/...F6Z4Nu03JhY%3d from a Canadian book-seller, who ship internationally.
Also, with shipping from Amazon.ca, it'll come to around 9 or so pounds, with the quick 3-7 day shipping.
Oops, posted on wrong thread.
Thanks for the reference: not quite sure where you get the £5 from, with overseas shipping it's closer to £14, still a lot for a shortish p/b, but thanks for your help.Quote:
Originally Posted by Etienne
Re: borrowing it from the library.......hollow laughter.......a foreign book, you mean, it's not English (or Welsh).....mystified silence.....
And my local bookshop (nearest in a town ten miles away, hence turning first to amazon) .....more hollow laughter.....you should have seen the reaction when I asked for the title in the recent Chinese thread!
But just a minute, hang on here just for a second - is this a translation you are proposing we read? :eek: I thought they were well nigh impossible? Or is this an exception?? :D
Well, Etienne will judge that - I recognized one or two American Yiddish English words in the translation a while back, and I'm sure those aren't in the original. Translation = necessity.
Well considering I am studying in translation, I should believe in translations... I just don't like ton read poetry in translation, personally. This particular book is surely quite a job to translate, but it's not an untranslatable work at all. Besides on the amazon.ca you have used copies for 81 cents, which is less than half a pound. Shipping is about 6 or 7 pounds...
The abebooks website ships much cheaper to UK too, 9US for fast shipping with copies at 1US. No. Excuse. Possible. :D
TBH, I'm not sure about some of the choices... is The New York Trilogy really a thriller? Of course, it's almost a dead cert for the 'Detective Fiction' category whenever that comes up, so either way, it's probably getting read. I'd probably have picked Leviathan if I was going to describe any Auster book as a 'thriller'.
This poll is more heated than the Presidential elections! :D
I hope Next Episode wins. I only read The New York Trilogy a few months ago =(
The Admin's been to an astrologer and has been informed that the stars are lined up in favour The Day Of The Jackal in January and if it hasn't been chosen, some bad luck might befall the Forum!
:p
CEASE THIS TALK OF SUPERSTITION:flare:
Ahem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Etienne
Stands in corner with slapped wrist, snivelling quietly :bawling:
Thank you, will order straight away if it wins the poll. Promise. And will try to be good in future.
You can vote for Next Episode, just raise your post count to 50 in some of the games or whatever.Quote:
Originally Posted by NEEMAN
I really don't want to read Day of the Jackal, so I am holding onto my vote. NEither of the books I'd most like to read have any votes--so I'll vote against Day :)
As soon as I have 50 posts, I'll be voting for Next Epidsode, as I've already read all the other front-runners.
And thanks for the suggestion about the games Etienne!
I have 50+ posts, but I don't seem to be able to vote- can anyone fill me in?
"The New York Trilogy" :banana:
I got a hold of a copy of Next Episode. It is short, but it looks weird. Maybe I should have voted for the Auster.
Argh. These critical life decisions.
I didn't plan on participating, but I couldn't resist.
Going once...
The New York Trilogy it is, then.
May i join in?
Of Course, Lima. Anybody can join the the reading and discussion, you just have to have 50+ posts to vote and nominate.Quote:
Originally Posted by limajean