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Suggestions for our Oct. & Nov. fiction discussion

Assist us in selecting our upcoming FICTION book for group discussion in this forum. A minimum of 5 posts is required to participate here!
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Chris OConnor

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Suggestions for our Oct. & Nov. fiction discussion

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Suggestions for our Oct. & Nov. fiction discussion

Please use this thread for suggesting fiction books you think would be excellent choices for a group discussion. As you may notice there isn't a date for the next fiction discussion. The starting and ending date of the next discussion period will be determined by the quantity and quality of posts in this thread.

So what would you like to read?

Should we do Wicked? Wicked received a ton of posts when it was an unofficial discussion book.
Last edited by Chris OConnor on Sat Sep 13, 2008 12:59 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Saffron

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I would like to suggest The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.

http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Carri ... 0767902890

It is a work of fiction and yet the main character's name is Tim O'Brien. It is based on facts and real stories from O'Brien's experiences during the Vietnam war as a foot soldier. He does this intentionally; in his words to better tell the truth. This is an idea that has roots in the work of the German philosopher Martin Heidegger and the Greek concept of truth, Aletheia (anyone read the Golden Compass? Ring any bells - speaking of bells, check out Verbal Fireworks).

Wikipedia Aletheia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aletheia

Here is a simplistic version of Aletheia and writing fiction to tell the truth ((there is a bit of Joseph Campbell in this too). Aletheia is the idea that in describing or telling the truth about anything means you are focusing on one or two aspects or characteristics and not focusing on other aspects. The very attempt to tell the truth warps the whole truth of something -- revealing a truth conceals truth or the truth emerges from what is concealed. So, in order to more accurately tell the truth one must create a story that captures the truth even if all the events are not completely accurate to actual events.

I find this story telling to get to the truth very interesting. I think this book would generate a lot of conversation. It has a hot political aspect, emotionally, the book is super charged and it has a controversial way of telling history.
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I'd love to have a chance to read and discuss this book (
The Things They Carried).

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Fiction

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I think both Wicked and The Things They Carried are fine choices. I think we need to have some sort of fiction choices. I will look around amazon and see if I see any good suggestions.

I have not read it, but I have heard that House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende is good. Below is what Wiki had to say about it.
The House of the Spirits (La Casa de los Espiritus, 1982) is a debut novel by Isabel Allende. Initially, the novel was rejected by several Spanish-language publishers, but became an instant best seller when published in Barcelona in 1982. The novel was critically acclaimed around the world[1], and catapulted Allende to literary stardom. That same year, the novel was named Best Novel of the Year in Chile, and she received the country's Panorama Literario award.[2] The novel has been translated to over 20 languages worldwide.[3]

The book was first conceived by Isabel Allende when she received news that her grandfather was dying, and she began to write him a letter that ultimately became the starting manuscript of The House of the Spirits. [4]

The story details the life of the Trueba family, spanning four generations, and tracing the post-colonial social and political upheavals of the Latin American country they live in.
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Thanks, Babyblues, for suggesting The House of Spirits, by Isabel Allende.
I haven't read anything by this author, but i'm interested in the themes of the novel.
Here is a link to The House of the Spirits: Politics, History and Class.
http://74.125.39.104/search?q=cache:1l0 ... =firefox-a
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I haven't heard of any of those titles but they all summarize good. I am interested in anything!!

YEAH FICTION
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I've been meaning to read Honore de Balzac. Anyone else interested? Have any suggests for me, as to what to read first?

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My memories go back to high school.

Le Pere Goriot is considered typical I think, with realistic descriptions of life in Paris of people who live betweeen the middle and the upper middle class.

Le lys dans la Vallee is more romantic, and I think different from his other novels, the hero being in love with a married woman from the nobility (I write from memory). The setting for this novel is a manor (chateau) from the area where I live, the Touraine.
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Thanks, Ophelia!
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If we can get 4 or 5 people interested in a single book we'll add it as an official fiction selection. Now would be a great time to pick a fiction book since we're a week before the end of the month. September and October would be the reading period. But I will sit back and wait for someone to take the bull by the horns and make this happen.
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