11 O'Clock Book Group!

[Chad (Grilled Cheese Sandwich)]

I am particularly interested in this concept, and have to agree that Skype might be the way to go...as well...I don't think there is anything to stop this from becoming more than one discussion on more than one book. We can choose two...that way people have a choice. And if both appeal, try giving both a read if time permits...just a thought...

I would suggest something small as a start as well...

Old Man & the Sea by Hemingway
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Howl by Allen Ginsberg
Anything by the Bard
Beowulf
The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Just a few thoughts...

[Doug!]

I am particularly interested in this concept, and have to agree that Skype might be the way to go...as well...I don't think there is anything to stop this from becoming more than one discussion on more than one book. We can choose two...that way people have a choice. And if both appeal, try giving both a read if time permits...just a thought...

I would suggest something small as a start as well...

Old Man & the Sea by Hemingway
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Howl by Allen Ginsberg
Anything by the Bard
Beowulf
The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Just a few thoughts...

In all seriousness, I'd be in.  The Great Gatsby, Catch-22 and Catcher in the Rye are some of my favourite pieces of literature.

I'd think some other books we might want to look at:
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Dune by Frank Herbert

[Papercut]

For more books ideas, here's the TIME All-Time 100 Novels list -- just as a resource, not a validation of said list.

And there are a number of sites that have a large number of classic books available either online or as downloads, like ClassicReader.com.

[malpractice]

I'd be down. I personally suggest Bram Stoker's Dracula as one of the early selections. It's a pretty quick read and there is a good discussion comparing alan moore's writing techniques in watchmen to stoker's techniques in dracula that is waiting to happen. I also want to re-read it again with Leah Moore and John Reppion's Complete Dracula comic on the horizon.

[Matt H.O.W.L.]

There are some great suggestions so far! Chad won my heart with his list. Some of my faves including my all-time fave Catch-22. I'm still wanting to hear more discussion about Skype, book length, nomination, reading time, etc., so keep up the talk.
For me, off the top of my head, I've wanted to read Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms & For Whom the Bell Tolls, Updike's Rabbit books, Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ellison's Invisible Man, anything by Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, or Jack London. I haven't read McCarthy's Suttree either. All of the stuff suggested so far is sounding great (although I think I'd have start a bar brawl with Ayn Rand if I met her).

[Farrell]

Alright, here's my list for consideration:

On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (or maybe another of his books)
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Naked Lunch William S. Burroughs
I am Legend by Richard Matheson

I've liked several of the other suggestions so far, too.  In fact, I was going to nominate Rabbit, Run myself, but Matt beat me to it.

I have a suggestion about how we should handle voting: I think it would be beneficial if everyone voted for, say, three books, and ranked them according to preference.  The top choice would be 3 points, the second 2, etc.  That would hopefully prevent nasty 37 way ties when everyone votes for a different book.

I tried to stick with relatively short books (not sure about the Pynchon book) but I don't know if we need a page limit, per se.  Voting might take of that.  I guess it boils down to the fact that people should only nominate books they feel reasonably sure they can finish in the allotted time.

And what should that allotted time be?  Well, we don't want to discourage people with busy lives (probably all of us) but if it's too long, interest might very well wane.  I guess I'd say no less than one month, and no longer than two months, as a general framework.

[Matt H.O.W.L.]

Alright, here's my list for consideration:

On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (or maybe another of his books)
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Naked Lunch William S. Burroughs
I am Legend by Richard Matheson

I've liked some of the other suggestions so far, too.  In fact, I was going to nominate Rabbit, Run myself, but Matt beat me to it.

I have a suggestion about how we should handle voting: I think it would be beneficial if everyone voting for, say, three books, and ranked them according to preference.  The top choice would be 3 points, the second 2, etc.  That would hopefully prevent nasty 37 way ties when everyone votes for a different book.

I tried to stick with relatively short books (not sure about the Pynchon book) but I don't know if we need a page limit, per se.  Voting might take of that.  I guess it boils down to the fact that people should only nominate books they feel reasonably sure they can finish in the allotted time.

I like your voting idea. I'll compile them over the weekend (I have to work from home tomorrow, listen to episode 45, AND take my daughter to the doctor's!). I'm proud to say I've read all yr proposed books but 1. I looked up reviews of Gravity's Rainbow and was intimidated by how long and difficult it sounded, but I wouldn't rule it out!

[clever_username]

OK, then. I better weigh in with a couple choices. First I'll go with books I haven't read.

Less Than Zero – Bret Easton Ellis
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Neuromancer – William Gibson
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
Rob Roy – Sir Walter Scott
Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy

[Wood]

I am particularly interested in this concept, and have to agree that Skype might be the way to go...as well...I don't think there is anything to stop this from becoming more than one discussion on more than one book. We can choose two...that way people have a choice. And if both appeal, try giving both a read if time permits...just a thought...

I would suggest something small as a start as well...

Old Man & the Sea by Hemingway
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Howl by Allen Ginsberg
Anything by the Bard
Beowulf
The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Just a few thoughts...

All great reads, particularly Old Man and the Sea

[Wood]

In all seriousness, I'd be in.  The Great Gatsby, Catch-22 and Catcher in the Rye are some of my favourite pieces of literature.

I'd think some other books we might want to look at:
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Dune by Frank Herbert

Doug Adams is one of the, if not THE, favorite writer of my lifetime. I've read the "Trilogy" at least a dozen times front to back. Love it.

Dune is also a great one. I saw the movie as a kid and was   then I read some of the novels and was  

Fight Club is a lot of fun, but I personally liked the movie better. If you're going to go down that route of modern depravity, I would much rather give one of Irvine Welsh's books a recommendation. Trainspotting is perfectly fine but books like Filth or Acid House or Porno will melt your mind and make you wonder if humanity is capable of saving.

[Wood]

Alright, here's my list for consideration:

On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (or maybe another of his books)
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Naked Lunch William S. Burroughs
I am Legend by Richard Matheson

I've liked several of the other suggestions so far, too.  In fact, I was going to nominate Rabbit, Run myself, but Matt beat me to it.

I have a suggestion about how we should handle voting: I think it would be beneficial if everyone voted for, say, three books, and ranked them according to preference.  The top choice would be 3 points, the second 2, etc.  That would hopefully prevent nasty 37 way ties when everyone votes for a different book.

I tried to stick with relatively short books (not sure about the Pynchon book) but I don't know if we need a page limit, per se.  Voting might take of that.  I guess it boils down to the fact that people should only nominate books they feel reasonably sure they can finish in the allotted time.

And what should that allotted time be?  Well, we don't want to discourage people with busy lives (probably all of us) but if it's too long, interest might very well wane.  I guess I'd say no less than one month, and no longer than two months, as a general framework.

Karma because I LOVE the two books bolded, LOVE them. And seeing you recommend those two has me very interested in reading the other three. I'm embarrassed to say I've never read any Pynchon.

[Wood]

OK, then. I better weigh in with a couple choices. First I'll go with books I haven't read.

Less Than Zero – Bret Easton Ellis
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Neuromancer – William Gibson
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
Rob Roy – Sir Walter Scott
Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy

Bret Easton Ellis is another one of my modern favorites. I think reading his stuff in order of release is essential because I believe he makes a natural progression as he continues to push the boundaries of humanity's ego wrapped in a satirical examination of the pop culture morays of the time of writing.

[Jay Tomio]

Yucky old stuff.

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski.

[Papercut]

I like your voting idea. I'll compile them over the weekend (I have to work from home tomorrow, listen to episode 45, AND take my daughter to the doctor's!). I'm proud to say I've read all yr proposed books but 1. I looked up reviews of Gravity's Rainbow and was intimidated by how long and difficult it sounded, but I wouldn't rule it out!

Um, yeah -- GRAVITY'S RAINBOW is neither short nor relatively "easy." It would be like starting this group by reading Joyce's ULYSSES.   

And as much as I liked HOUSE OF LEAVES, that may be a bit daunting for a first book, too, IMO.  Another modern book that I'd love to finish is Wallace's INFINITE JEST, but that's another book that may squash this group before it began. 

[clever_username]

Fight Club is a lot of fun, but I personally liked the movie better. If you're going to go down that route of modern depravity, I would much rather give one of Irvine Welsh's books a recommendation. Trainspotting is perfectly fine but books like Filth or Acid House or Porno will melt your mind and make you wonder if humanity is capable of saving.

I agree about Fight Club. I love the book (I have a rare first edition, signed). But it was one of the rare instances when the movie was better. Personally, if we were reading Palahniuk I would pick Survivor, but I'm not sure how easy that one is to find.

[Matt H.O.W.L.]

Maybe people should PM their list of titles they'd like to submit for the voting (maybe 5 each?). I'll compile the list and post it with voting buttons over the weekend. This would just be the starting point, of course. Anybody know if we can do voting with different values, like Farrell suggested? I've never checked. It might just be easier for people to send me their votes in order of preference and I'd do a hand tally. Dunno.

I think you are all in the right place regarding length and complexity. The book I was going to reference with Gravity's Rainbow was Ulysses, in that the former seemed as dense and complex as the latter . While I want to read both of those books, I think we should start with something short and direct so we can work the kinks out of the system and gain, rather than lose, interest.

[Mike Smith]

I would be down for this.  My non comic reading is at an all time low. 

[Doug!]

Bret Easton Ellis is another one of my modern favorites. I think reading his stuff in order of release is essential because I believe he makes a natural progression as he continues to push the boundaries of humanity's ego wrapped in a satirical examination of the pop culture morays of the time of writing.

So long as we aren't reading American Psycho.  I tried to read it but couldn't get through it.

[clever_username]

So long as we aren't reading American Psycho.  I tried to read it but couldn't get through it.

That's the one Ellis book I've read. I thought it was great.

[Wood]

So long as we aren't reading American Psycho.  I tried to read it but couldn't get through it.

Doug, can I ask what you didn't like about it? I think it's important to determine whether you would like any of Easton Ellis' stuff. Was it the over the top gore and violence? Or was it the 80s vibe? Was it the characterizations in general?

Ellis starts playing with themes about ego, self interest, the lack of real emotional fulfillment in our relationships, etc...in his early work and then just keeps taking those themes to new extremes in his later stuff.

Glamourama is probably his most debated work, and I loved it but totally understand how others might actually DETEST it.