Reading the 20th Century discussion

It's that time again RTTC'ers....


For our February 2025 group read we invite you to nominate anything written in the twentieth century century.

Yes, it's wild card month once again so the choice is yours.

Please supply the title, author, a brief synopsis, and anything else you'd like to mention about the book, and why you think it might make a good book to discuss.

Happy nominating

I will nominate a book suggested by one of our group members (sorry I forget who) but which has made it onto my TBR list:

O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker

The sixteen years of Janet's life begin on a fogbound winter night in wartime Edinburgh. Her father, home on leave, peering into the blue wicker basket, comments, "It's about the size of a cat." Later, as sibling after sibling appears, Janet finds herself slipping further and further toward the periphery of family life. Brought up in the unrelenting chill of Calvinism and the Scottish climate, she turns from people to animals, to literature, and to her own fertile imagination.

Written with lyricism, poignance, and great unexpected flashes of humor, the novel traces the chain of events that, in the dour setting of Scotland in the 1940s and 50s, cause the bizzare death of a young girl. People, birds, and beasts move in a gleeful danse macabre through a lowering landscape in a tale as rich in atmosphere as it is witty and mordant.

Published 1991 and only 131 pages long.

Susan wrote: "I will nominate a book suggested by one of our group members (sorry I forget who) but which has made it onto my TBR list:

O Caledonia by [author:El..."

Holy cow! I was curious and looked this up. The first three paragraphs are stunning. I will certainly be reading this.

Susan wrote: "I will nominate a book suggested by one of our group members (sorry I forget who) but which has made it onto my TBR list:

O Caledonia by [author:El..."

I saw this at my local indie bookstore a year or so ago, but my library doesn't have it--but I can get it from ILL if we pick it. It certainly looked intriguing.

A new one on me too


Looks great

Nigeyb wrote: "A new one on me too


Looks great

"

That's one of my all-time faves, wonderfully gothic laced with lashings of biting, perverse wit. Little bit Shirley Jackson, little bit Barbara Comyns if that helps.

Our recent discussions about the new Smiley book (Karla's Choice by Nick Harkaway) have inspired me to nominate a book by John Le Carré



My nomination is....



Our Game (1995)

by

John Le Carré


JLC was a fabulous writer and I can't think of a better way to spend a few days in February than absorbed in Our Game

There's sure to be plenty to discuss and debate


More about Our Game (1995)....

Le Carré's post-Cold War masterpiece, filled with suspense, betrayal, desire and drama

The Cold War is over and retired secret servant Tim Cranmer has been put out to pasture, spending his days making wine on his Somerset estate. But then he discovers that his former double agent Larry ­- dreamer, dissolute, philanderer and disloyal friend - has vanished, along with Tim's mistress. As their trail takes him to the lawless wilds of Russia and the North Caucasus, he is forced to question everything he stood for.

O Caledonia is wonderful and I think I suggested it for your daughter’s ‘literary advent calendar’, Susan. I’d love to revisit it.

I’ve not read the le Carre novel and am intrigued by it.

Yes, thanks, SueLucie, I forgot as everyone was kindly making suggestions.

Definitely want to read more Le Carre next year too.

S wrote: "Not sure how that fits in, but I nominated it with the best intentions"

Thank you but I have deleted this post as we don't allow self-promotion in our threads, other than the dedicated self-promotion thread - you can post details of your book there.

I'd love to read both O Caledonia and Our Game so not sure whether I should nominate this month 🤔

I was thinking the same thing

Susan wrote: "Yes, thanks, SueLucie, I forgot as everyone was kindly making suggestions.

Definitely want to read more Le Carre next year too."

After Christmas it would be lovely to know what you put in your daughter's advent calendar.

Very excited about her opening them from tomorrow, Sonia.
Thank you RC, I hadn't noticed that someone nominated their own book. We had a similar issue on Detectives once and there were a sudden flurry of new members and votes. A book should win on its merits so there should be no link from nominee to book.

Nominations so far....



O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker (Susan)
Our Game (1995) by John Le Carré (Nigeyb)



Who else is nominating?

Our Game is currently in the Audible monthly deals for £3.99.

If nobody else nominates then what about a buddy read for the Barker, and a group read for Le Carré?

Sounds like a plan


Let’s see if there are any more nominations

O ... I'm Game

Ben wrote: "O ... I'm Game"

😂 Me too!

How do you guys feel about something Science fiction or fantasy? Say, If it’s got great reviews or is a classic if it’s genre?

I was thinking about something like The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley or The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold, who is one of my favorite authors.

Darn. I spoke too soon. Chalion was published in 2001.
Maybe The Warrior's Apprentice by the same author but actually published in the 20th C.

Science fiction is fine Renee - this is wild card month so anything that is written in the twentieth century century works

Awesome! Then I’m going to nominate The Mists of Avalon. It was a very big deal in the 80s, perhaps as part of a mid-Century resurgence of interest in Arthurian legend, probably kindled by the publication of The Once and Future King in 1958.

From Wikipedia…
“The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 historical fantasy novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which the author relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters. The book follows the trajectory of Morgaine (Morgan le Fay), a priestess fighting to save her Celtic religion in a country where Christianity threatens to destroy the pagan way of life. The epic is focused on the lives of Morgaine, Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), Viviane, Morgause, Igraine, and other women of the Arthurian legend.

The Mists of Avalon is in stark contrast to most other retellings of the Arthurian tales, which consistently cast Morgan le Fay as a distant, one-dimensional evil sorceress, with little or no explanation given for her antagonism to the Round Table. In this case, Morgaine is presented as a woman with unique gifts and responsibilities at a time of enormous political and spiritual upheaval who is called upon to defend her indigenous heritage against impossible odds.

The story is told in four large parts: "Book One: Mistress of Magic", "Book Two: The High Queen", "Book Three: The King Stag", and "Book Four: The Prisoner in the Oak". The novel was a best-seller upon its publication and remains popular to this day.”

Thanks Renee


Anyone else nominating?

Renee wrote:



"I’m going to nominate The Mists of Avalon"

It's a whopper

1000 pages

Reviews are through the roof though

Free to listen with an Audible subscription - almost 51 hours though. Makes Anthony Trollope look like a slacker 🤠

Nominations


O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker (Susan)
Our Game (1995) by John Le Carré (Nigeyb)
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (Renee)

Let's do a poll as we've now got three nominations


We can still read both JLC and Elspeth B if that's what we decide


*I'll get the poll up tomorrow so still time to nominate*

Please don’t feel the need to create a poll on my account. If you all are looking forward to reading the other two nominations, I say go with your plan. (Guinevere can wait.)

Maybe propose The Mists of Avalon as a buddy read, Renee, to see who would join you?

I remember being obsessed with that book when I read it as a teenager but I'm not sure how I'd react to it today - It could be another Jilly Cooper!

Okay, instead of a poll please answer the following question....



Which of the three books mentioned would you definitely like to read and discuss?

You can choose one, two, all three, or none at all


O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker
Our Game (1995) by John Le Carré
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley


If we get at least two people per book we'll set them up as a group or buddy read

My answer...




Our Game (1995) by John Le Carré



I might be tempted by O Caledonia but don't want to commit 100% just yet

The Mists of Avalon is just too long for me to contemplate at the moment

Our Game and O Caledonia for me.

Not sure why, and I have tried, but I just have never been able to immerse myself in reading fantasy fiction, not even Tolkien. Funny that I have enjoyed the genre in film form.

I can’t do any more bleak right now, so I’m going to pass on Game or Caledonia, but I’ll be interested in your thoughts as you read. (Spoilers don’t bother me. I just care about whether a book is “Good to the last drop.”)

Ben wrote: "Our Game and O Caledonia for me."

Same for me.

O Caledonia, as I nominated it!

I want to read all the Smiley books before reading the new one, so probably won't do any other Le Carre before I have read those.

The Mists of Avalon is a book I also read as a teenager, but it is just too long and I am going to be very strict about how many books I commit to next year.

Thanks all - summary so far....


O Caledonia: Ben, RC, Susan
Our Game: Ben, RC, Nigeyb


That means we've definitely got enough participation to read both books. I'll set up the threads later with O Caledonia as the Group Read for February and Our Game as a buddy read in the same month

Anyone else tempted by these?

Or The Mists of Avalon?

My vote goes to Our Game for the group and O Caledonia forma buddy.

I have never managed to get past page 5 of Mists of Avalon, despite its being the first novel I bought in hardback because I could not wait a year for it to come out in paper.

Thanks for organizing us, Nigeyb!

G wrote:



"My vote goes to Our Game for the group and O Caledonia for a buddy"

Okay, I'll switch it round just for you G



Roman Clodia wrote:

"Thanks for organizing us, Nigeyb!"

Always a pleasure