Chaos Reading discussion
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Chaos Reading Bookclub
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POLLING CLOSED - BOWIE MEMORIAL GROUP READ
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I'd like to add my nomination for a book that I've been dying to read, but not quite brave enough to take a stab at yet:
Herzog
I'd also like to remind people that there is one book on there which we've already done as a Group Read: Last Exit to Brooklyn. It won't be eligible for nominations this time around, but if you'd still like to contribute to the discussion, the thread can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
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I'll pick one of the many on the list that I've never heard of but that sound intriguing: The Insult by Rupert Thomson.
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Oh hey, I like never participate in this group, but I think I will use this as an excuse to readWhite Noise by Don DeLillo.
(Too bad I can't put two, because I would also put Passing by Nella Larsen.)
Ruby-I love you. Either A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924 or
Tales of Beatnik Glory
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White Noise by Don DeLillo.
..."
Ooooh- that would have been my second choice, I think. Good pick!
Ruby wrote: "Lixian wrote: "Oh hey, I like never participate in this group, but I think I will use this as an excuse to readWhite Noise by Don DeLillo.
..."
Ooooh- that would have..."
I'm kind of like not looking forward to it though. Seems intimidating. I picked it up on campus for $1, but it looks interesting too.
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"Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth, and when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.” - David Bowie
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"Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out ..."
No fair playing the Bowie Trump Cards!
This will probably be my first participation in the group since I joined, but what a great excuse to do so! I vote for Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd.
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Yeah... I may have watched a tribute or several lately!
I've been wanting to read The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels, for something completely different. But if the early nominations are anything to go by, I'll probably vote for White Noise
Many choices . . .Still a shock.
As I've posted elsewhere . . .
Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
:{
Whitney wrote: "This is hard! I'll pick one of the many on the list that I've never heard of but that sound intriguing: The Insult by Rupert Thomson."
It's a fabulous book
Stumbled on this (partially) annotated version of the list: http://genius.com/David-bowie-top-100...My suggestion for the voting is: "Darkness at Noon" by Arthur Koestler or "The Leopard" by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa (published after his death).
(I ordered a used copy of A Grave for a Dolphin but doesn't seem like a good group read as it is out of print and hard to find. Also bought George Steiner's short set of lectures: "In Bluebeard’s Castle : Some Notes Towards the Re-definition of Culture").
Is there a deadline for nominations on this? I'm having a hard time settling on one single title to nominate.
Ah yes, I see it now in the original posting. Sorry to ask redundant questions.
Such a difficult choice, but with the deadline being tomorrow, I'll skip over the Chatwin, the bicameral mind thing, and many others, and nominate the following:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Zanoni, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind was actually a very fascinating book. References come up fairly often in science fiction. Bulwer-Lytton, otoh, is the guy after whom they started a competition: The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest A whimsical literary competition that challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels.I don't think it was Zanoni that was the original "worst of all possible novels", but it doesn't bode well.
Thank you! One doesn't want to dig too far into these things...
Hmmm, well, I was aware of Bulwer-Lytton's reputation as an empurpled emperor of preposterous prolixity (one sentence cited as evidence is something like, "He applied the Promethean spark to the tube", used to indicate that someone had lit their pipe), however, as this is a Chaos Reading group, I thought that some might be prepared boldly to go where few these days dare. If Bulwer-Lytton is considered inadmissible, however, perhaps someone could choose one of the other two titles I suggested to nominate?
I suppose in the unlikely event that the book is chosen, I had better make sure I actually read it! Otherwise I can imagine I would cause much indignation.
Honestly, though, I am curious to read Bulwer-Lytton, and the reviews at the link provided suggest his reputation is not deserved. Surely, it's not among Bowie's top 100 books for nothing? If it's possible to nominate one more, I'll also nominate Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
But Zanoni remains by first choice.
Also, there was a boy at the first school I went to called Paul Clifford. I can't imagine him being a highwayman by night, but... that would certainly be interesting.
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As there is only one nomination allowed per person, I will take the first book suggested by each person and add it to the poll.
For future reference also, if you're going to mention a book in any Chaos Reading post, please use the GR booklink (not the url), which can be easily done by clicking "add book/author" above the comment box.
Thanks! I'll post a link to the poll shortly..
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https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...
It looks like the start and end times are automatically set to midnight GR time (ie, Americas/Pacific)
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At my end, I set them to midnight GMT + 9.5 hours (Darwin time). Are you that far behind still?
I'm on GMT, but I see: Voting started on: Jan 21, 2016 12:00AM PST
Ends at: Jan 27, 2016 11:59PM PST
Which would, iirc, be midnight GMT - 7.
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Marc wrote: "Play it safe and vote by the 26th :p"I have exercised my franchise.
Master and Margarita is incredible. Rereading now.
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I second that recommendation! Full self-disclosure: I discovered and read it because Bjork mentioned it in an interview one time.
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I've had that sitting on my shelf for the longest time. One day I'll get chance to read it..
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I'm in with whatever you pick.I'd like to suggest Billy Liar, though, which is sort of like the British Catcher in the Rye--a very fun read.Billy Liar
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https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/69520-chaos-reading?type=group
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Chaos Reading
Books mentioned in this topic
White Noise (other topics)A Grave for a Dolphin (other topics)
Billy Liar (other topics)
Paul Clifford (other topics)
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Don DeLillo (other topics)Rupert Thomson (other topics)
Elaine Pagels (other topics)
Peter Ackroyd (other topics)
Don DeLillo (other topics)
More...
To select the book we will read together, please take a look at the following list of 100 Bowie-Approved Books, pick one you'd like to read, then reply to this thread, including the GR book-link in your response.
Bowie's Top 100
Next Thursday 21 January (Australian time, give or take), I will close off the nominations and put up a GR Poll where we can vote on everyone's suggestions. I'll let you know about the timeframes once we've seen how long the chosen book is!
And for those of you still mourning the loss:
You're not alone
Just turn on with me and you're not alone
Let's turn on with me and you're not alone
Let's turn on and be not alone