July '11 / Existentialist Reading Poll

[Scheherazade]

Nominations so far:

1. The Trial Frank Kafka

2. Cloud Atlas

3. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

4. The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus.

[TheFifthElement]

I was going to choose Nausea. I wanted to go back to it and see if I understood it any better. Not to worry.

I loved Nausea.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Wellllll, if Nausea is so good, and no one else wants to nominate it, and since I don't know much of anything about the genre, I will nominate it ... so, I nominate Nausea by whoever wrote it.

[Paulclem]

Wellllll, if Nausea is so good, and no one else wants to nominate it, and since I don't know much of anything about the genre, I will nominate it ... so, I nominate Nausea by whoever wrote it.

Now what will I nominate?

It was Jean-Paul Sartre by the way.

Er... I nominate The Age of Reason then.

[TheFifthElement]

Excellent selections so far. A choice between Sartre and Sartre eh Paul? How to choose

I'd like to nominate Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. There are some parallels with The Castle by Kafka, and I feel it's about time for a re-read. That being said, I'd be happy to read any of the nominated books (again, I've read them all) except, perhaps, Cloud Atlas as I only re-read it a few months ago. It is an excellent book though.

Tough choice.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Er... I nominate The Age of Reason then.

Two of my favorite come from this book:

"My own mind is my own church."

and

"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."

Yeah, Thomas Paine is the man.

[Scheherazade]

Nominations so far:

1. The Trial Frank Kafka

2. Cloud Atlas

3. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

4. The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus.

5. Nausea

6. The Age of Reason

7. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

[Shakira]

I nominate As I Lay Dying

[Psyche Zenobia]

I've always wanted to read The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. Another book in my queue is Hesse's Steppenwolf. My favorite existentialist books (that I have read) would have to be C&P Dostoevsky and Camus The Stranger.

I'd have to nominate the first one, though, methinks!

[gekko]

Hi all. It's my first post on here although I've been a lurker for a while. I just wanted to say that I'm definitely in for the July book club. Obviously I can't nominate or vote as I don't have 50 posts yet. Fortunately, I'd be happy to read any of the books nominated so far .

[Scheherazade]

Nominations so far:

1. The Trial Frank Kafka

2. Cloud Atlas

3. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

4. The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus.

5. Nausea

6. The Age of Reason

7. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

8. As I Lay Dying

I've always wanted to read The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. Another book in my queue is Hesse's Steppenwolf. My favorite existentialist books (that I have read) would have to be C&P Dostoevsky and Camus The Stranger.

I'd have to nominate the first one, though, methinks!

Hi all. It's my first post on here although I've been a lurker for a while. I just wanted to say that I'm definitely in for the July book club. Obviously I can't nominate or vote as I don't have 50 posts yet. Fortunately, I'd be happy to read any of the books nominated so far .

Welcome to the Forum, Psyche and Gekko.

If you can increase your posts counts before the end of the month, you can still nominate/vote.

[sethyirak_7]

I would love to get in on this. However, I am in Afghanistan (deployed) at the moment and can't really visit the local library to pick up books. I should be home around September and can hopefully join in by then. I'm new to this site, and figured this could be a good way to become aquainted with how these discussions work.

[Paulclem]

I would love to get in on this. However, I am in Afghanistan (deployed) at the moment and can't really visit the local library to pick up books. I should be home around September and can hopefully join in by then. I'm new to this site, and figured this could be a good way to become aquainted with how these discussions work.

Hi Seth.

Can't you get someone to post it out to you when it's been decided on?

[sethyirak_7]

Hi Seth.

Can't you get someone to post it out to you when it's been decided on?

Yes, but it is unreliable and it takes a good long while. How long do you guys usually decide on material before the month it is for? Post here takes anywhere from 2-4 weeks, depending on the sender and the state of things.

[Paulclem]

Yes, but it is unreliable and it takes a good long while. How long do you guys usually decide on material before the month it is for? Post here takes anywhere from 2-4 weeks, depending on the sender and the state of things.

There usually delays as people get hold of the books from Amazon and libraries. i suppose it would help if we decided soonish and got the final vote. Scher usually runs the nominations. perhaps she'll give you a clearer picture of the timing.