I'm going to hold off on creating a Fiction Poll due to lack of interest in fiction right now. There are very few suggestions by active members. From extensive experience we have to place VERY little weight on suggestions by members with less than 25 posts. While these new members might end up being some of our most loyal and dedicated members there is a much higher probability that their suggestions will be their one and only forum post. And our goal is to have books suggested and then actually discussed. So suggestions by people that aren't here for the duration aren't really book discussion suggestions...they are book advertisements.

Only 25 why not 250 posts to be taken seriously?

Chris, WildCityWoman suggested reading Dickens' The Mystery of Edmund Drood (on another thread) and I agree. I'm about a third into it and it's typical Dickens in many respects. Dense with flowery language and lots of British colloquialisms. Fortunately, this edition has extensive notes. I'm still fairly new here and I have yet to participate in a fiction discussion, but I would certainly enjoy a discussion of this book.

The Mystery of Edmund Drood is Dickens' unfinished last novel. It was only about halfway completed when the author died.



Here's the Amazon link.

http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Edwin-Dro ... 625&sr=1-1

Edwin Drood is contracted to marry Orphan Rosa, but they break the engagement off-and soon afterwards Edwin disappears. Is it murder? And is his jealous uncle-a sinister choirmaster with a double life and designs on Rosa-the killer? Dickens died before completing the story, leaving the mystery unsolved and encouraging successive generations of readers to turn detective. In addition to its tantalizing crime, the novel also offers a characteristically Dickensian mix of the fantastical world of the imagination and a vibrantly journalistic depiction of gritty reality.

This edition features a new critical introduction that assesses the evidence to show whether the mystery can truly be solved, as well as a chronology, illustrations, appendixes (including one on opium use in the nineteenth century).

Edited with an introduction and notes by David Paroissien.

If the Dickens doesn't grab your interest, might I suggest a very different kind of book. The Keep by Jennifer Egan. I've read this one and I can heartily recommend it. It's also a relatively short book and is the kind of book that would generate discussion.



Here's the Amazon link for that one.

http://www.amazon.com/Keep-Jennifer-Ega ... 854&sr=1-2

In Jennifer Egan's deliciously creepy new novel, two cousins reunite twenty years after a childhood prank gone wrong changed their lives and sent them on their separate ways. "Cousin Howie," the formerly uncool, strange, and pasty ("he looked like a guy the sun wouldn't touch") cousin has become a blond, tan, and married millionaire with a generous spirit. He invites his cousin Danny (who as an insecure teenager left him hurt and helpless in a cave for three days) to help him renovate an old castle in Germany. To reveal too much would ruin the story, just know that The Keep is a wonderfully weird read--a touch experimental in terms of narrative, with a hefty dose of gothic tension and mystery--balanced by an intimate and mesmerizing look at how the past haunts us in different ways. --Daphne Durham

Thanks, Geo. Both of these books look great and I'll wait to see if other members leave comments with regards to them. "The Keep" - is this fantasy?

Drood sounds rather interesting. Dickens was a fascinating guy and as big of a celebrity writer in his day as J.K. Rowling.

Drood does sound interesting.

I just picked up Widows of Eastwick by John Updike. So far, I am on page 8 and it is pretty good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Widows_of_Eastwick

Chris OConnor wrote:Thanks, Geo. Both of these books look great and I'll wait to see if other members leave comments with regards to them. "The Keep" - is this fantasy?

It's called a modern gothic tale, but I would say it's postmodern fiction. Definitely not fantasy.

Any additional suggestions for the next fiction poll?

Please review the suggestions your fellow members have made. If I don't see any follow-up posts about other peoples suggestions I am left to assume nobody but that person are interested in the book. Help us narrow down the poll choices please! Thank you.

Drood or the Keep sounds good.

Raving Lunatic wrote:Drood or the Keep sounds good.

I'm with RL on this. Would likely prefer The Keep, Dark Dickens might be a bit too .. dark for this time of year. But I would read it were it selected.

I do have a suggestion, perhaps for some point in the future. Over the holidays I was browsing my bookshelf and came up with

"The Apprentice" by Lewis Libby (1996)

It's been a while since I read this book but I do recall enjoying the amazing setting for the book, a snow-bound lodge in northern Japan, and the Japenese cultural setting. I must be high-brow or have a short memory (more likely) because the reviews I checked (there aren't many) call it a 'dirty book' and a 'thriller'. Well, there is some sex for sure and I think it may have been of the less than conventional variety (pedophilia?bestiality?) and there is a murder.

There may be more intrigue/thriller qualities in the authors life though. It is the only book he has written and it went out of print until recent events brought Libby into the public eye (see below) .... Anyway, I thought it was pretty fair read.


"I. Lewis Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted March 6, 2007, of lying to F.B.I. agents and grand jurors investigating the unmasking of a C.I.A. operative amid a burning dispute over the war in Iraq.

The jury rejected Mr. Libby's claims of memory lapses as it convicted him of obstruction of justice, giving false statements to the F.B.I. and perjuring himself, charges embodied in four counts of the indictment.

The panel acquitted him on a single count of making false statements.

On July 2, 2007, President Bush commuted the prison sentence."

New York Times