About this discussion

MadArchitect · Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 2:08 am Post subject: About this discussion

Hi, guys! I hope you've all tracked down a copy of the book, and are gearing up for the discussion. Here are a few things to bear in mind.

Be courteous to others
In particular, bear in mind that most people like to handle fiction at their own pace, and don't like to know about important plot points before they've read them themselves. I've provided threads for discussing specific sections of the novel; please don't talk in early threads about things that happen in later sections of the book. If you must look ahead in an earlier thread, please give a spoiler warning in bold print so that readers know what parts of your post to skip. It's also a good idea to put a good inch or so of blank space between the warning and the spoiler itself. Do not assume that a spoiler warning in a previous post covers spoilers in replies to that post.

Conversation need not be limited to the pre-made threads
I've provided threads for discussing each section of the book (for more on why I've divied it up the way I have, see below), but if you want to raise a point that is tangental to the text, or if you want to highlight a point that seems to be getting drowned out in the pre-made threads, feel free to start your own thread. If you do so, please give your thread a clear, descriptive title (eg. "What's your favorite character?"), and as always, be sure to mark spoilers.

Volunteer needed to serve as discussion leader
As per usual, we'd like to have at least one regular contributer serving as discussion leader for this reading. All that's required is that you read the book and participate in the discussion like anyone else, and that you spur conversation along as needed. If you'd like to volunteer, say so in a reply to this post.

A note on the structure of discussion
I wanted to provide threads covering sections of roughly congruent sizes. Breaking it down by chapters would have necessitated 31 threads, which would have made for an unruly thread listing; breaking it down by parts would have given us only 3 threads, which would have required that we cover too much ground in each thread.

The compromise I've decided on is to divide the book up first by parts in order to stick to Abe-san's original flow, then dividing those parts up into sections that are roughly the same size in page length. So Part I gets broken down into halves; Part II, the bulk of the book, gets broken down into thirds; and Part III, the smallest, stands undivided.

Knowing all that probably isn't crucial to navigating the discussion, but there it is, for anyone who was curious.

Get going!
The official term for the reading is two months, starting now and ending on the last day of December. Feel free to start reading as soon as you get a copy of the book, and don't be afraid to jump in as soon as you have something to say.

Enjoy!

Edited by: MadArchitect at: 11/2/06 2:10 am


	HOME	ABOUT	BOOKS	VIDEOS	TRANSCRIPTS	LINKS	BLOGS	DONATE	CONTACT