Re-edit: Next book group! Thursday 1st March: Annie Proulx! Dickens! Books!

sophie

i can do any monday or thursday coming up. and i haven't read any dickens (for shame) but would like to!<br>

Charlo

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.<br>

Angelab

Ok I think we should meet on the 23rd Feb or the 1st March and discuss a Dickens book. Hard times?

Angelab

Ok I think we should meet on the 23rd Feb or the 1st March and discuss a Dickens book. Hard times?

Charlo

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.<br>

Idoru

I'd love to come along. I can do either date.<br>

sophie

either date is fine by me.<br>

Mirandola

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. 

Angelab

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!

sophie

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 ?<br><br>And I agree we can still talk about the Annie Proulx stories if we remember them by then.<br><br><br>

Jenny

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) <br>March 1st is in my diary.   Charlo - will you be available by then? <br>

Charlo

Yes, 1st March is good for me. Looking forward to it!

sophie

I will change the thread title again.. any objections, let me know! Looking forward to it too.<br><br>Maybe I should have just started a new thread. Never mind, people can scroll down and find out what went on.<br>

checkski

<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">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" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><o:p><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-GB style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">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.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P> <P> </P> <P> </P></P>

Mirandola

Bleak House is very very very wonderful. I suppose it is also long. 

krappyrubsnif

<P>Bleak House! Yes!</P> <P>Penguin edition, about 990 pages. So around 33 pages a day by 1st March.</P> <P>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.</P> <P>But OK if you have a long commute, I guess.</P> <P>Why not do Annie Proulx first, and then set Bleak House as the set book for, say, April 1st?</P>

ADGS

33 pages a day? That's one bus ride (and I only work in Clerkenwell), or half a lunch break. <br>

Ullswater

So Annie Proulx for Mar 1st and then will it The Curiosity Shop or Bleak House for Apr?

sophie

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.

Charlo

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!)

sophie

sorry my last post wasn't very proactive. i'm happy to come along and just meet and chat about books in general. the annie proulx, talking about dickens, even if other people have read it and i haven't, other books we've read recently, i don't mind. i think i would need a lot more notice for a dickens, not because they're long but because i find it verrry slowww.<br><br>maybe it's best to choose one at the meeting. i'll have a proper look at the number of pages in each one. he also wrote a lot of short stories, maybe that would be more manageable...<br><br>i'll come on the 1st of march anyway, even with no book at all!<br>

Charlo

Thanks for changing the heading again Sophie! Look forward to seeing everyone on 1st March and talking about Brokeback Mountain etc.<br>

Jenny

<br>Look forward to seeing everyone on 1st March for Annie Proulx chat and Dickens choice debate.  It's all getting very complicated! <br>

Angelab

What time are we meeting on Thursday?

Donna

Am going to try to make it! Baby permitting.... Are you guys aware there is a really well publicised music quiz in the dairy from 7pm on the 1st?

sophie

thanks for letting us know donna, it's obviously not well publicised enough!<br>shall we meet in the stapleton instead, at 7.30? i could call the dairy to book a table in 'our room', but if they've pushed people into there because of the quiz then it might still be noisy.<br>

Angelab

Yes stapleton is fine with me and tine is good too.

Charlo

Hoping to make it tomorrow, and the Stapleton at 7.30 sounds good, but it depends how tired I'm feeling - I'm still living in west London and getting very close to the baby's due date so trying not to get too exhausted travelling about! Hope to come though as I've been looking forward to catching up with you all.

Jenny

I will be there. Charlo - I hope you are feeling ok.

Charlo

Thanks Jenny - I'm fine but just getting very tired in the evenings now! I'm afraid I won't make this meeting but hope to see you all next time depending on when the baby arrives etc. Have a good time tonight!<div><br></div><div><br></div>