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Next book! Short stories by Annie Proulx - the collection is called Close Range, but different editions have different subtitles: Wyoming Stories, or Brokeback Mountain and other stories. They're all the same. You can either get a nice understated cover or one with moody Jake Gyllenhaal on (I HATE film tie-in editions).
We decided to all read one of the stories to make sure we all had one to talk about, and because I couldn't remember the names of any others, we went with Brokeback Mountain - it's only 35 pages. Then I guess we'll read as many more as we have time for.
Old Dairy again unless anyone has any objections/suggestions?
New people always welcome - our male member specially requests more male company! -
Yes where are the blokes? :-) We all had a really pleasant evening tonight and once the ladies had stopped talking amongst themselves about gender-specific issues, it was good fun.
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you do realise you've started a dangerous trend of bringing delicious foodstuffs...
strangely, it seems one can buy a book about this book for kindle, but not this book itself. -
It's published by 4th Estate, I don't think they make their books available as ebooks yet. Not many of the smaller publishers do. You can buy it in actual bookshops, if they don't have it they can order it for you, takes 48 hours. http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/annie+proulx/close+range3a+v-+1/4254465/
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Thanks Sophie, have ordered a copy from Amazon. A real live book! :)
Looking forward to reading it...
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I'm considering adding to the number of male members, what is the format? Just a general chat about the book and a few drinks.... Is if anything like The Henchman's book club by Danny King? :). Time I used that English Lit A-level.....
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The format is: Get drink from bar. Find group according to instructions on SG.org. Get the introductions over (5 mins max incl. chat about spouses, pending engagements, football, cars etc etc accorcing to gender.) Say what you thought of book, general conversation about merits, failings etc, rating on literary crapometer, etc etc (unstructured discussion, say about 45 mins). Get more drinks. Choose next book. Revert to general chat abt spouses, football, cars, pubs, engagements, food, work etc. Leave bar possibly rather late.
I have to say I have found the ladies (and a couple of gents) at the book club quite delightful, the general quality of discuission very high, insightful, and thoughtful, and not at all pretentious or threatening as I had feared. Just sharing opinions. Not aademic in the slightest. All very civilised really.
So come on chaps. The next book is about cowboys, after all (isn't it)?
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Hey all, I'll try and come along to this. I realise I have said this before, many times, but I mean it this time (new year and all that!)
I'm a female. Sorry! -
not available for kindle which is a bit of a pain seeing as I have left it late :(
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@N2N4 Just read one or two of the stories.......I recommend the one about the talking tractors.
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Hi all - am going to deeply invest in the area as they say.... looking forward to the book club and will try and get broke back mountain before I turn up!
Debby -
Just in case you haven't got hold of the book - here's a link to the text..
http://brokebackmountain.blog.bg/lifestyle/2006/02/06/jake-gyllenhaal.128 -
Will be coming but will be a bit late - about 8ish.
Happy New Year to all and look forward to seeing you. -
i am a terrible person... despite being the one to choose this book, i won't be able to come tomorrow night. i am unexpectedly playing hostess to a friend - since he announced his visit, i told him to read the book so that he could come along as well but he is too chicken! i will try my best to drag him along even just for a minute, but otherwise have fun without me. sorry.
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Sorry my wedding planning has got in the way for this meeting I need to go shopping to get bridesmaids dresses. I really enjoyed the short stories and look forward to next time.
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Looks like this book group meeting is ... er ... going West.
I've read most of the stories but probably won't be there as I've had to agree to fit in a late afternoon/early evening work meeting which looks like it'll eat into the time.
Reschedule?
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Anyway, I wouldn't be able to bring anything to snack on this time - I'm right out of rocky mountain oysters, elk, antelope, cheese wheels, chokecherry preserve, fry bread and bison fritters.
I'll look in later on and see if anyone's about.
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I'm still planning to be there - how about anyone else? I think it would be better not to reschedule if there are new members planning to come along! I'm happy to meet at 8pm if that suits people better?
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I can still come along, but if you need to reschedule that is fine also!
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Hi everyone, is this still happening or being resheduled? Thanks
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Er......
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I'm so sorry Annbag! For some reason your last post was not showing on the site till the evening after I had already set off for book group - I ended up sitting at the bar in the Dairy on my own with the book prominently displayed in the hope that I would find any new members but nobody came! Jenny was the only person who made it in the end so we had a very brief discussion about the book and whether we might want to reschedule or just move on to the next book. I'd be happy to reschedule but can't do Thursdays for the next four weeks but don't worry if you all want to go ahead without me on a Thursday. We wondered if perhaps we should just move on to the next book and remembered we discussed doing something by Dickens at our Christmas meeting - so perhaps we could do that for our next book? We could all consider suggestions online. Our February meeting will be the 2nd anniversary of our first meeting so it would be great if lots of people come along!
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I vote moving on to the next book, although would be happy to recovene for a quick chat on Brokeback.
I've listed below some of the 'less long' Dickens novels (minus 400 pages counts as a shorter Dickens novel):
Oliver Twist - approx 374 pages
A Christmas Carol - approx 200 pages
Great Expectations - approx 395 pages
Hard Times - approx 272 pages
Of course, if anyone does want to consider Nicholas Nickleby (approx 928 pages) then please speak up! -
Sorry Charlo, I became confused about whether the book club was happening or not, or if it was at 7.30 or 8 so didn't go in the end. I would've if I'd realised it was still on! Sorry you had to wait in the Dairy on your own.
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I'd be for rescheduling personally as I'd read the stories and I don't have time to read a Dickens (though I have read all but one of the classic novels - so there).
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OK. Anyone got a suggestion on dates? Any weekday expect Weds is good for me and Thursdays aren't good for Charlo for a few weeks. Mon or Tues?
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Not Tue
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Shall we try to fix a date and discuss Close Range then? I could do any Monday in February or this coming Monday (30th January). It would be good to get our next meeting in the diary!
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By the way, if we were to choose a Dickens sometime this year then would it bother people if they had read it before?
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Hi there. New to the area and would love to come to book club. Have you decided on a new date and book yet?
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Thursdays are better for me. But go ahead without me if that's not good for everyone.
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i can do any monday or thursday coming up. and i haven't read any dickens (for shame) but would like to!
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I can't do the next four Thursdays because of antenatal classes but don't mind if you want to go ahead with a Thursday.
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Ok I think we should meet on the 23rd Feb or the 1st March and discuss a Dickens book. Hard times?
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Ok I think we should meet on the 23rd Feb or the 1st March and discuss a Dickens book. Hard times?
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That would be great! We could have a short discussion about Close Range on the same evening too. I'd be keen to do any of the Dickens novels Jenny suggested and would be happy with Hard Times.
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I'd love to come along. I can do either date.
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either date is fine by me.
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Please don't do Hard Times. I know it's not my book group, but it's by far the worst Dickens novel. Old curiosity shop, oliver twist, pickwick papers & christmas carol are all short. Mutual Friend, Bleak House, Dombey & Son & Little Dorrit are all wonderful.
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Ok let's do the 1st March! Sophie can you please change the date on this post and I'm not sure about the book but maybe Old Curiosity Shop taking into account Mirandola's post above!
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I don't mind doing a rubbish book, it gives us more to talk about. @Jenny is the one who's read them all (?), what do you think? Or @krappyrubsnif ?
And I agree we can still talk about the Annie Proulx stories if we remember them by then. -
While I certainly don't hate Hard Times it is rather an atypical Dickens novel and certainly not the best place to start if you haven't read him before. I'm happy to go with the Old Curiosity Shop as I haven't read that one (despite my apparent reputation) :)
March 1st is in my diary. Charlo - will you be available by then? -
Yes, 1st March is good for me. Looking forward to it!
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I will change the thread title again.. any objections, let me know! Looking forward to it too.
Maybe I should have just started a new thread. Never mind, people can scroll down and find out what went on. -
The Old Curiosity Shop – cripes – it’s one of his worst! Little Nell is one of his soppy Victorian portrayals of girls/women. Quilp is an offensively grotesque dwarf. All this remembered from my teenage years – I gave up on Dickens for some time, on the back of it. Quite long, too, if I remember. I wonder how many of you will finish it?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
If I were in your group, I would vote for Bleak House. It starts with a powerful description of fog, which emerges as his metaphor for the corruption and venality of the Victorian legal system. I’ve only read a couple of chapters, but I gather the book is Dickens at his satirical, devastating best.
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Bleak House is very very very wonderful. I suppose it is also long.
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Bleak House! Yes!
Penguin edition, about 990 pages. So around 33 pages a day by 1st March.
Quite do-able, so long as you don't also have any plans to eat, sleep, see friends, get drunk, go to a movie, have sex, take the dog for a walk, cook a fantastic curry ot do any housework.
But OK if you have a long commute, I guess.
Why not do Annie Proulx first, and then set Bleak House as the set book for, say, April 1st?
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33 pages a day? That's one bus ride (and I only work in Clerkenwell), or half a lunch break.
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So Annie Proulx for Mar 1st and then will it The Curiosity Shop or Bleak House for Apr?
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just went to the book shop, the old curiosity shop is effing MASSIVE. no way i'm reading that by march 1st, sorry, i give up.
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It sounds like we should just do the Annie Proulx stories for 1st March and a Dickens for the next time. I don't know about anyone else but I haven't bothered to start reading The Old Curiosity Shop as there's been so much discussion about whether to read it or not! Could we just settle on Proulx, change the heading again (sorry Sophie!) and debate which Dickens to choose at the next meeting? (Or maybe just scrap the Dickens idea for the timebeing given how much indecision it has been causing!)
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In this Discussion
- ADGS February 4
- Angelab February 27
- Annbag January 13
- Charlo March 2
- checkski January 31
- Donna March 1
- Idoru January 27
- Jenny February 29
- krappyrubsnif January 31
- Ludotolive January 6
- Mirandola January 31
- miss annie December 2011
- N2n4 December 2011
- sophie March 1
- Ullswater February 6
