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Emil

Posted 2012-06-28 6:20 AM (#3513 - in reply to #3511)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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@Engelbrecht I'm ashamed to say I'm not far into the series yet. I've finished "The Planet Saver" and "The Sword of Albones." I'm now reading "The Bloody Sun" but a 40-th birthday celebration interfered with finishing it last night. I've planned to read one a day, perhaps over two days. Some of the books are very short, 50 and 100 pages, and does read relatively quickly. Some of the books are merely a collection of short stories, often not even written by MZB, so those I'm probably not going to read. Knowing this does significantly shorten the list for a completest *phew

Who knows, after a few more I might very well lose interest, but so far, it's a blast. I may decide to jump ahead and read the two or three that are sequels in a specific storyline, but generally the novels are predominantly stand-alone. They do jump between Darkover's historical landscape. Many commentators, like Jo Walton, do suggest one reads it according to publication date as there is marked improvement and maturing development in MZB writing style.

I do understand and relate to the Darkover fandom's assertion that MZB is a much underrated SF/F narrator.

Engelbrecht

Posted 2012-06-28 7:05 AM (#3515 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: RE: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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@dustydigger, Yikes! - zombie author!!

I can't think of much in the way of SF house names, except for Victor Appleton, the Tom Swift "author". Interestingly, in looking at Wikipedia, I noticed that the name of the taser was was an homage to a Tom Swift device!!!

BTW, did you notice my belated "fluffy" recommendations above - I hope they're of some interest.

@Emil! Congrats on the big 40!!!!

I've been somewhat interested in reading Darkover, but I'm a series purist, so reading through to the apparent highlights - Sword of Aldones (#2, Hugo Nom), The Heritage of Hastur (#9, Nebula Nom), and The Forbidden Tower (#11, Hugo Nom) has always felt like a bit much. Maybe someday...

Emil

Posted 2012-06-28 8:00 AM (#3516 - in reply to #3515)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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@Engelbrecht, ooh, the 40 wasn't me. That was 5 years ago. This time round it was my sister-in-law's.

I'll be crunching in a few Darkovers for the next week or so and then jump into reading for "Outside the Norm." Are we in agreement that @Rhonda's proposed list is a start?

Rhondak101

Posted 2012-06-28 9:56 AM (#3518 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Engelbrect and Emil, What did I mean by July? Do you think we could all find a copy of Oman Ra (I've seen various spellings), read it, and have a discussion by the end of July? That seems doable for me, but I'm still on summer break!

dustydigger

Posted 2012-06-28 10:50 AM (#3519 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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@ Engelbrecht.Good old Victor Appleton! That house name went on for years,didnt it? I see there are some Tom Swift tales on Project Gutenberg.I promised a member of one of my groups that I would read some of his ''golden oldies'',including Tom Swift.He has the most amazing collection of old 30s and 40s junior books,westerns,and science fiction.All the Barsoom series in the wonderful 30s covers.Tom Swift, Hardy boys,almost every Max Brand he ever wrote etc.I love surfing his shelf looking at all these cute,nostalgic covers.I promised I would read some of that old stuff,and havent got round to it.Thats all I need,developing an interest in 30s pulp.You know,just in case I am at a loose end,with nothing to read.After all,I only have 123 books on my TBR for the rest of this year ......

Scott Laz

Posted 2012-06-28 11:06 AM (#3521 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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I ordered a copy of Oman Ra from Amazon with not trouble (in the U.S.). According to the description, it's 160 pages, so not too time consuming... I can do it in July, but would be happy to wait if not everyone can join in that soon...

@Engelbrecht. I read Wharton's complete stories around the late '80s or early '90s. For some reason I don't remember ghost stories, but that was a long time ago! I would think, as with most of her work, they're along the lines of Henry James, whose ambiguous supernatural/psychological stories are among my favorites...

Scott Laz

Posted 2012-06-28 11:07 AM (#3522 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Oh, and on the subject of mutltiple-author series, I've been reading up on Jack Vance lately, and apparently he wrote a few novels as "Ellery Queen."

Rhondak101

Posted 2012-07-09 10:11 AM (#3670 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Omon Ra and The Master and the Margarita came in today. Omon Ra is 154 pages with large print, so I should be able to read it fairly quickly. The Master and the Margarita looks really interesting. It looks like a scholarly edition with commentary notes and an afterword. I'm looking forward to this project.

jfrantz

Posted 2012-07-10 12:30 AM (#3676 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Oh good god. I overlooked this thread until just now. Has a schedule for this group read actually been solidified? It sounds like Omon Ra is short enough that I can catch up pretty quickly if need be. Let me know and you can count me in too!

Rhondak101

Posted 2012-07-10 7:16 AM (#3681 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Jeremy, No worries. I just got Omon Ra yesterday and Emil will not have his copy for a while. We have this planned so far:

uly: A novel by Pelevin that Engelbrect and Emil decide upon. I have not read any, so Im good with anything you both pick
August: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
September: Saramago, Blindness
October: Bulgakov, The Master and the Margarita

We originally had Lessing, Memoirs of a Survivor for November and Carter, Nights at the Circus for December, but I think we are going to read Zamyatin's We instead. So please voice your opinion on that one and propose any others that you might want to add in the new year.

Welcome!

Emil

Posted 2012-07-10 10:06 AM (#3690 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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It's going to take about 15-25 days to get the books delivered to me, so I will also need to catch up. I just can't see my way clear to pay double the books total for postage to South Africa, so they are taking the long, slow route via the waves. In the meantime, as I fall behind, I'll catch the discussions, which I'm sure will add a delightful dimension to my reading when I am able to start.

@Dave, if you can and want to and should really because it will be

to add Oman Ra to the database, please would you?

Administrator

Posted 2012-07-10 10:20 AM (#3691 - in reply to #3690)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Emil - 2012-07-10 10:06 AM @Dave, if you can and want to and should really because it will be

to add Oman Ra to the database, please would you?

I will gladly add all the books you guys pick for this discussion to the database. No worries.

jfrantz

Posted 2012-07-10 11:19 PM (#3708 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Okay, so it sounds like Omon Ra was the choice for July. I'll grab that on amazon tonight. As for suggestions for further reading... I'll give that some thought first...There are a few on the Guardian list that I'd be interested in.

Emil

Posted 2012-07-11 2:24 AM (#3710 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Hey everyone, I'm very happy to go with @Rhonda's suggestions.

I've ordered: Oman Ra, The Famished Road, Blindness, The Master and Margarita, Memoirs of a Survivor, Nights at the Circus and We. Even if we don't get to all of them, it's still an impressive Outside the Norm collection for my ... err ... collection

And if we decide on reading something else because of other suggestions, well, I'll just go ahead and order those as well!!

Nuts! My therapist says so

I may only be able to contribute fully in August as it will take the remainder of July for delivery.

Scott Laz

Posted 2012-07-11 1:06 PM (#3715 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Is it time to set a date to begin?

Emil

Posted 2012-07-11 2:54 PM (#3716 - in reply to #3715)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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@Scott, yes. Now?

Rhondak101

Posted 2012-07-11 5:29 PM (#3718 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Scott, now-ish is fine. I will start reading soon probably by the end of the week. Emil said that he will catch-up with the rest of us when he can.

Scott Laz

Posted 2012-07-11 8:00 PM (#3720 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Okay. I was thinking that for something like this to work, the date needing to be set is when we should be finished with each book. The end of the month? Or the beginning of the last week of the month, to allow a week for discussion before beginning to read the next one? I've never tried to do something like this online before, but that seems like a logical way to organize it...

jfrantz

Posted 2012-07-11 8:45 PM (#3721 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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I'll be getting this month's book in the mail this week and I don't think I'll have any problem finishing by the end of the month.

As for the discussions, I seem to recall that at one time there was an idea floated for the discussions to be "lead" by someone who had previously read the book, though I think the books that were chosen were all new to everyone? If we end up opting for a less structured discussion with everyone just adding to the thread, I would think a week will be enough time and there is nothing about using the forum that would keep straggling discussions from continuing if necessary. I'm sure this would be easy enough for everyone.

My thought is that this discussion thread will get long/messy real quick. I know that everyone participating is more than capable of lengthy, complex discussion so we could easily end up with some ridiculously long posts and the entire thread might become difficult to navigate. I did come into this discussion late, so maybe you all had a more clear conception of the logistics of this discussion than I picked up on.

All that being said, I am open to however it works out :-)

Engelbrecht

Posted 2012-07-11 10:40 PM (#3722 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: RE: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Well, I read the book a few years ago, but the discussion group is Rhonda's baby, so I assume that she'll be leading it - after all, she's the Professor!

As for timing, I'm perfectly willing to be flexible, especially since Emil is the one who picked the title.

@ Rhonda: I hope that the fact that this discussion group has been started doesn't mean that you'll be derailed from your Outside the Norm blog series - I'm really enjoying it. No pressure though!

Emil

Posted 2012-07-12 1:15 AM (#3723 - in reply to #3722)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Perhaps we can start a new thread per bookas we go along? Jeremy's concerns are valid. I know, I often struggle to follow some duscussions and navigate the forum.

I think reading one book by the last day of every monthcan work, with ensuing discussion starting immediately thereafter. It is a good idea that someone leads the discussion, but I'm not averse to the idea that we just jump and fire off our impressions. Perhaps a more effective approach will be to discuss the books according to some template, i.e. along the lines of: 1. Initial impression of the book 2. Themes 3. Particular theme that impressed 4. Favorite scene/moment etc.

I'm now really excited about these readings.

jfrantz

Posted 2012-07-12 7:09 AM (#3725 - in reply to #3723)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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I'll second the motion to start a new thread for each book if that's possible and organizing our initial posts as suggested or with modifications sounds great too. When we are actually reading them we might come up with other suggestions for topics too.

Can't wait to start!

Rhondak101

Posted 2012-07-12 8:08 AM (#3726 - in reply to #3399)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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Okay, I had a lot to read and catch up on here. Even though I'm a professor (although Scott is too), my classes can be very democratic with everyone doing the heavy lifting sometimes

. But seriously, I don't mind starting off the threads, but I do like the 4 points of discussion that Emil listed.

I certainly think there should be a new thread for each book. I hope that we draw in more people. The best way to do that is advertise what we are reading (via new threads) and let folks drop in and out according to the book. Some people might be itching to read Blindness and want to read it with us but have no desire to read We.

How's that? Did I miss anything?

Oh and @Engelbrecht I do plan to continue the series.

I was originally thinking that we could read and discuss in the same month, but it is probably better to allot a month for reading and then the first week of the next month for discussing (with some carry over, of course).

Administrator

Posted 2012-07-12 1:22 PM (#3729 - in reply to #3726)
Subject: Re: Outside the Norm Reading Forum

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