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
~
"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
On Next Episode.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!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.
Last edited by Etienne; 12-02-2008 at 08:57 PM.
Et l'unique cordeau des trompettes marines
Apollinaire, Le chantre
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.
Last edited by JBI; 12-03-2008 at 02:19 PM.
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"!
If you believe even a half of this post, you are severely mistaken.
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?
"You understand well enough what slavery is, but freedom you have never experienced, so you do not know if it tastes sweet or bitter. If you ever did come to experience it, you would advise us to fight for it not with spears only, but with axes too." - Herodotus
https://consolationofreading.wordpress.com/ - my book blog!
Feed the Hungry!
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?
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.
Last edited by Etienne; 12-07-2008 at 05:21 PM.
Et l'unique cordeau des trompettes marines
Apollinaire, Le chantre
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.A second hand copy in only 'fair' condition will cost me over £10.
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.
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?
Last edited by Etienne; 12-08-2008 at 12:48 PM.
Et l'unique cordeau des trompettes marines
Apollinaire, Le chantre
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.
Last edited by JBI; 12-08-2008 at 01:12 PM.
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.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.
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?
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?
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.
Et l'unique cordeau des trompettes marines
Apollinaire, Le chantre
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