The BURIED Book Club discussion

Zag... take it away!

(or just c-n-p that thing you said in that other thread ; then I can delete this comment)

NEW FEATURE!!! I think it aligns well with this group's focus.

Tease your clan members with the savage taunt, You Haven't Read This.

NOW, recommend a book that:

-YOU have read
-YOU believe is an excellent book that members might appreciate
-NO other member has read yet
-PREFERABLY, NO other member has even considered reading

How do you know? Well

-Go Here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/book_... (That searches for member's reviews of whatever book you put in the search box)
-search out a book by title, ISBN, whatever
-find it and click "view group reviews"
-if no one has even added it to their to-read list, and no one has commented on the book in any way, you've found something suitable
-if a couple of people have added it to to-read long ago but never actually read it, use discretion.

This feature can serve the purpose of either

A) Pointing this group's members to their blind-spots

or

B) Reminding them of something that's truly buried, has already been added more than a year ago, and no one ever picked up the challenge!

Finally, when people do read the book and tell you it sucks, blame yourself or blame them.

-----------------------------------

It occurred to me that this task may be nearly impossible unless you're the kind of member who has been keeping silent about some hoarded gems that you haven't yet shared. Anyway, boast now, and you'll probably find something which could be redundantly posted in the buried threads too... pending a careful examination of rulzes, etc.

no but I think there might be something to this. only just though if you, Zag, will properly chastize those who disregard the Rulez. er, well, i'll have to look into this. There is serious BRAG potential here.

Well this: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Has not been picked up by anyone yet, but was fantastic...AND YOU HAVE NOT READ IT

Oh and Rosalind Belben remains unread (though her recent two books have got more traction)

First score!

Maybe... in some strange way, that book doesn't seem to exist. Your link works, yet GR search can't find any tea with mrs. goodman, or even the ISBN... glitchy glitchy, maybe in ten minutes... someone kick it...

And it's actually buried too, and not in the UNburied folders.

As an aside, there's a surprising number of writers named Toynbee.

And Rosalind Belben is also not in the UNburied folders! Hidden hoards of treasure!

John Hawkes, The Innocent Party
Robert Steiner [who's blurbs from Hawkes y Coover, and writes rather like an hawk], Dread

Read them, perditivesouls.

Aha, none of us have read those... The Steiner looks kind of like an unanswered challenge as many have planned to read Dread, but none have followed through.

I see now that Rosalind Belben and Robert Steiner were probably not added due to being recent/contemporary authors, so I reckon Nathan will figure whether Knot-Read-Buboes or this here thread is the right homeland for such neglected recent treasures... and Hawkes who is known but has a buried book of plays.

Meanwhile, I might actually have to follow up and read one of these myself, eh?

Argh, no books have been mentioned in this thread, according to the automated link reading thingy. Let's say these are the ones:

Tea with Mrs. Goodman
Dreaming Of Dead People
The Innocent Party: Four Short Plays
Dread

Whoah, whoah, I didn't think it likely, but apparently

YOU HAVEN'T READ A Trip to the Moon by Cyrano. Well, true, it's hard to get an English version, and one has to be very careful to avoid a "retold" version that kind of massacres the work. But it's GOOD if you can get it. My Review.

YOU also HAVEN'T READ Crazy Like a Fox. However, Perelman has reached at least two members of this group through other compilations. He ain't quite buried, but he's frighteningly close.

Do they have to be novels?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

Is it a non-book?
Have I read it?
Should I NOT read it?

No, no, no.

Sounds good. Except that Tom Buchanan read it in 2012: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Still, mission accomplished, you've reminded me to read it.

Oops, sorry I guess that blended in with all the addedits.

Wait a minute, how come we have one member who has read close to 7,000 books? That makes me feel inadequate, and also limits my bragging rights.

Though Konwicki has managed to become pretty unburied, at least as far as he is translated, only Zag has even claimed to want to read his bizarre 70s children-not-for-children adventure story Zwierzoczłekoupiór.

I'm ashamed to admit that all the titles on my buried-books shelf have (usually one pesky) ratings or to-reads. I must try harder to become the lonesome spade-wielder in the post-nuclear wilderness I know I can be.

Nate D wrote: "Though Konwicki has managed to become pretty unburied, at least as far as he is translated, only Zag has even claimed to want to read his bizarre 70s children-not-for-children adventure story [book..."

I almost certainly got a peek at that one on your shelf. I guess I ought to get around to reading it, eh?

If one person or a couple of people planned to read it but never did, then perhaps "use discretion" is code language for don't be very discrete.

Eric wrote: "Robert Steiner [who's blurbs from Hawkes y Coover, and writes rather like an hawk], Dread"

Yes it's on my Immediately the Next Book Honestly Stack.

Third's a charm?

I can't believe nobodaddy's picked up Sister Carrie yet.

I call upon those who have CONSIDer'd but have either REneg'd or have gotten faul ::
Jonathan
Ali
Jimmy
Aidan
Nate D
Jur
Rand


This adVOCation brought to you by the proud sponsors of "N.R." brand HYPE!

Nathan "N.R." wrote: "Third's a charm?

I can't believe nobodaddy's picked up Sister Carrie yet.

I call upon those who have CONSIDer'd but have either REneg'd or have gotten faul ::
Jonathan
Ali
Jimmy..."

yeah - I keep forgetting to order a copy...I have even read Dreiser

Jonathan wrote: "yeah - I keep forgetting to order a copy...I have even read Dreiser "

Yes. And you even have this sitting on very chide-able shelves ; a missed opportunity on my part.

Shelves: to-buy-and-read-this-year, buy-in-the-next-month-or-else

Just ordered it Sir. Please don't tell my mum.

Hmmm... and I think I even have a print edition thats been sitting unread on a shelf for years.

And... No I don't... I was thinking of the Dreiser Sister Carrie... okay, different book, new awareness.

My first group and first post, absolute newbie. I note that only one member has The Artificial Kingdom (Celeste Olalquiga) on a to-read list, and think it is the kind of book that would be appreciated here, though it may not be obscure enough (65 ratings, 9 reviews) to include. What's not to like about artifice, memory, dioramas, imaginary landscapes and Victorian obsessions? A book inspired by a crab entombed in a paperweight. On my list of favourites.

Hey Monica! Welcome to The BURIED Book Club! (and welcome to gr too(?))

This group here is really rather unwieldy and complicated so please don't hesitate to ask about anything. Typically, questions about including a book (or really any questions) go in the May I ADD? thread ::
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

If you want to bother looking through our criteria, there's a thread for that somewhere, but I'm more than happy to clarify them, because they look more complicated than they are. Meanwhile, the Celeste you recommend is published too recently for our stuff. We're looking mostly for stuff from earlier generations of writers, those whose first major work was published in 1985 or earlier.

And this thread here is just weird. I'll have to let Zadignose make the specific determination, but I think he's got in mind books which have zero ratings, zero reviews, and zero adds. Or something like that. I don't fully understand it myself -- I understand the rest of this group (being moderator and all), but, well....

Welcome!

Welcome, Monica!

Olalquiga's book of theory certainly sounds enticingly obscure but I am not at all certain that that one qualifies as being "buried" due its recent publication. Do you know who translated it perchance? I'm sure that the original French reads much more nicely . . .

Hi Rand,
Think it was written in English, though the author hails from Chile. She lives in NYC.

Oh okay. I had presumed that the French version listed in this database was the original. I'm sure it's a great book nonetheless though kitsch can certainly be a tricky concept to convey.

Her book reminds me of The Secret Life of Objects . . . cheers

I think the kitsch in the title is what puts people off reading it. It doesn't easily reflect the content, which to me is really about nostalgia, much more Proust than Disney. A lot of comes from the deep sea (shell-encrusted grottos, Verne's Nemo) and there are lots of surreal images. An eerie dream-like retro quality to the whole thing, like something half seen in a murky speciman jar.

Have not read The Secret Life of Objects, will add to reading list. Sadly decided that unless I read a book a day, I will never catch up with that list.

I have a candidate that might work for the list, though am sad to say I haven't read it. I offer up Hope Mirrlee's first novel, Madeline, One of Love's Jansenists. If it is even half as good as Lud-in-the-Mist, it belongs here. 0 ratings, 0 reviews, pub. 1919.

Monica

Monica wrote: "I have a candidate that might work for the list, though am sad to say I haven't read it. I offer up Hope Mirrlee's first novel, Madeline, One of Love's Jansenists. If it is even half as good as Lu..."

oh yes please!! ADD please. It would appear that she is a One Hit Wonder -- and I'm guessing perhaps that this One Hit is due to an unEARTHing by Gaiman. That her first novel Madeleine: One of Love's Jansenists features some stuff about Mlle de Scudéry (BURIED too!!) only adds to the weight. yes by all means ADD please!

(just start an author thread in the appropriate alphabetic folder and tell us all you know about her. Link any review of hers you might have, etc.)

Hmmm Should I evaluate? Monica has correctly identified a book that she has read that no other member has read, and only one has "considered reading it", (according to my Ouiji board consultation). The remaining question is whether it is an excellent book that members would appreciate. Monica attests to the excellence, and I can't gainsay... whether members would appreciate is the borderline question and it's somewhat doubtful... older books, fiction works, experimental works, and obscurities are defining features of what the group mainly focusses on... still, let's call it a brag and see if anyone rises to challenge it.

Speaking of which, I was meaning to poke my head back in here just as soon as I had read one of the other books and I could answer someone's brag... but I haven't done that yet.

P.S. I didn't aim to be a super stickler here, but rather to have an alternative way to call attention to books that the members oughta oughta read, to boast of our own superiority, and to make others feel generally inadequate. (Or, in friendlier terms, to edify and inspire... (through ridicule)).

So (clarification) :: a member is a member of the BBC or a member of gr? cuz there's just not a lot of us here in the BBC and bragging over such a small flock might not garner much real cred out in the real world which is all hurly=burly.

I am feeling uncomfortable about suggesting Mirrlee's first novel as I haven't read it. Though I can't imagine it being a waste of effort given her skill with words and intelligence. Still, maybe I should be posting in another thread? No patience to read all the previous ones :(

Also, was thinking today about Aubrey Menen's The Space Within the Heart published 1970. It's his autobiography and I only stumbled onto it because it was being cleared. Love it. Menen is well worth reading, slyly satirical, & iconoclastic (a perpetual outcast, as a gay Anglo Indian in a jingoistic repressive era), which makes his holing up in Rome to read the Upanishads and sort out his life all the more interesting. I don't see much on it (9 ratings including my 5 stars, one review). He has 10 novels; I'm sure they are not read nearly enough.

Monica wrote: "Still, maybe I should be posting in another thread? "

Yep! May I ADD Please? is a good place for checking in about stuff NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD OF BEFORE!!! (thanks!) ;;
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Aubrey Menen

YES! ADD please! (and we like to ADD the entire AUTHOR rather than just one book because typically it works out that if the best is BURIED, the REST is BURIED too, as in is the case with Menen). Yes! ADD please!

Menen is fantastic and certainly deserves reading!