July / Counter-Culture Literature Reading Poll

[Scheherazade]

Please nominate the "counter-culture literature" novel you would like to read in July 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.


Information on counter-culture literature

[papayahed]

So many choices! erm....

[The Comedian]

What exactly do we mean by "counter-culture" here? I'm not looking for an exact definition, necessarily, just a better sense of the type of book to nominate.

[EDIT: And one more question, does a graphic novel count as a novel?]

[Scheherazade]

What exactly do we mean by "counter-culture" here? I'm not looking for an exact definition, necessarily, just a better sense of the type of book to nominate.

[EDIT: And one more question, does a graphic novel count as a novel?]

To be perfectly honest, I was not very sure either (nominated and chosen by members so...). I did a little search on Wiki *oh, noes* and it seems like Beat Generation and such. And graphic novels are listed there too so why not?

Information on counter-culture literature

[Uberzensch]

Well, I wish I had something a little less obvious to suggest, but here goes...

On the Road, Jack Kerouac

[papayahed]

I'm torn between Junky and Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga

[The Comedian]

Here's my official nomination:

American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar


The link to Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/American-Splen...ref=pd_sim_b_1

[PoeticPassions]

I am going to second Comedian's nomination. It is a terriffic graphic novel/comic book

[The Comedian]

I am going to second Comedian's nomination. It is a terrific graphic novel/comic book

Thanks PoeticPassions -- it's a book that I've long wanted to read, but have yet to do so. Your recommendation makes me want to read it all the more.

Good hunting!

[lupe]

I am sorry to say that the definition proposed by Wikipedia on "counter-culture literature" cannot satisfy even the minimum of serious criteria to allow me nominate a novel. The Wikipedia article is, by the way, the first to note that there are problems on the "quality standards", the "neutrality" and the "verification" of its contents.

And to start with the obvious: counter- to witch culture we are talking about?

[Scheherazade]

Nominations so far:

1. On the Road by Jack Kerouac

2. American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar

I am sorry to say that the definition proposed by Wikipedia on "counter-culture literature" cannot satisfy even the minimum of serious criteria to allow me nominate a novel. The Wikipedia article is, by the way, the first to note that there are problems on the "quality standards", the "neutrality" and the "verification" of its contents.

And to start with the obvious: counter- to witch culture we are talking about?

Hi Lupe,

I understand your confusion and frustration very well as I am not very clear on the issue either. However, the Book Club is a not a part of a school activity. If you think something is suitable for this genre, just nominate it. It is up to others to vote for it or not.

Re. which culture: English speaking cultures.

[papayahed]

Wiki seems to have a pretty good definition :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterculture

Countercultural milieux in 19th-century Europe included the traditions of Romanticism, Bohemianism and of the Dandy. Another movement existed in a more fragmentary form in the 1950s, both in Europe and the US, in the form of the Beat generation, or Beatniks,[2] followed in the 1960s by the hippies. However, the act of labeling any group is a controversial activity. For example it could be stated that a "gangsta" counterculture has formed in the last few decades, but this would clearly raise many issues about who is imposing what standards, and why.

[Scheherazade]

Wiki seems to have a pretty good definition :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterculture

So, what are you nominating?

[papayahed]

So, what are you nominating?

I'm still mulling it over.

[lupe]

Re. which culture: English speaking cultures.

OK, thanks for the precision. I will therefore leave to English speakers the task to define their "culture" and their "counter-culture"...