The tFS Book Club (please see rules/guidelines in post #1)

[fantastical]

^sounds good to me

 

[snowqueen]

sounds good by me to

 

[tigerrouge]

This tfs book club is brilliant, it's organised chaos, although it has induced me to read something I've been avoiding ever since it came out. In return, I think everyone should read Finnegans Wake. I did once, and you should have seen the respect I got from the people in the library when I resurfaced. Pretentious wouldn't be the word for it... I don't know what the word for it would be. But I'm sure James Joyce would just invent one.

 

[Belowen]

I like the idea of placing book options in the thread while we're reading the current book to save time. (my book arrived today BTW)

My book vote is for Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

 

[Alvedansen]

^oh that's good, i just started it and want to read it before the movie comes out, so you have my vote already=)

for people who don't know anything about it here's the trailer to the movie adaptation

 

[fantastical]

you have my vote as well, b/c I tend to love reading books adapted into movies

 

[Eyrene]

Keira Knightley It seems like a great movie through the trailer, so I guess the book should be even better

 

[*Bianca*]

FINALLY got my copy of the book

 

[Eyrene]

This has taken quite long, no?

 

[Belowen]

Current status of book club: deadline for reading & open discussion is 25th of August so we have until Wednesday to finish the book & start open discussion. All discussion is still welcome in the thread, just please remember to white it out prior to the deadline date for those of us who have not finished yet.

Votes for the next book so far:

Finnegans Wake by James Joyce ( 1 vote )
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro ( 4 votes )

Any other suggestions/votes for the next book choice?

 

[tigerrouge]

I was only joking about the James Joyce - I don't actually want to pitch anyone from tfs into the madness that is Finnegans Wake, where half of every page is taken up with footnotes.

I have to say, these aren't books that I would read, but having finished Unbearable, I really rather enjoyed it, so I'm thankful for the suggestion - and I'm sure I'll get something out of Never Let Me Go as well.

 

[Belowen]

So that is 5 votes for Never Let Me Go and no other suggestions - should we just make that the next book so people can start looking for their copy now pre-reading time?

 

[Alvedansen]

i'd be ok with it, i guess people had enough time to come in here and suggest another book

almost done with unbearable lightness and i gotta say my dislike of much hyped book s continues i couldn't get into it and am pretty disappointed with it...we'll start talking about the book on wednesday, right?

 

[NakedIfIWantTo]

^yep. Intense reading for the next couple of days!
Also I'm good with Never Let Me Go.

 

[eternitygoddess]

My vote is with Never Let Me Go.

It is stupendous.

 

[Belowen]

Okay, we can safely say that the next book for book club is:

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Please get your copy ASAP so that we can start reading as soon as the first cycle completes on the 25th August.

 

[indepwe]

When are we discussing the current book?

 

[Belowen]

Well it is the 25th of August here, but I know my timezone is a little bit ahead of everyone else. I would say it's pretty safe to discuss now though - go right ahead.

 

[Alvedansen]

so i guess i'll start (not whited out since it's the 25th, of course it's spoilerish for the people who aren't finished yet...mods feel free to white it out)

what i didn't like:
- Kundera often tells the reader what he thinks/intended to do etc. i hate when authors do this, let the story speak for itself, when i'm interested in your thoughts i'll read some interview or commentary, he could have written a prologue or something, but i didn't like when he paused the story and commented on it himself
- maybe this is due to the translation, but the language he used was awful. there was no flow, he paused his story every few pages to go on philosophical ramblings, he often sounded pretentious and try-hard
- every single character in the book. i didn't care the least about anyone, i wasn't interested in how their lives played out, didn't care what they went through, the story left me cold (maybe except for Karenin whom i liked)

things i liked:
- his musings about Nietzsche's eternal return (or rather the opposite)

i'm the first to admit that i need characters i can love, hate or at least identify or connect with in a story. i love when books have a deeper meaning or a philosophical theme, but i want it to be more subtle, not as in your face as it was in this book. the plot wasn't interesting or engaging, it left me cold and although many of his ideas about life were very interesting his writing style was terrible. (but i've read some reviews praising his style, so either it was a bad translation or his style just isn't for me)
i guess i'm in the minority because most people love this book, but it simply didn't capture me.
2 out of 5 stars

 

[snowqueen]

Ok so I havent finished this book by the deadline, to be honnest i found it very hard to get motivated to read it..

I dont know if its not translating across well but sometimes i found the sentences didnt flow properly and some of the words were swapped for bigger more fancy sounding words just for the sake of sounding bigger, I dont know if its me but sometimes I felt his writing style didnt have a natural flow, i had to reread certain parts over and over again to understand it..felt like i was studying the book rather then reading it in parts..

I also felt sometimes the book went off on a tangent on little ramblings so much so sometimes I forgot the point

I do not know though if this is just me because im not used to reading these sort of books and my reading isnt amaizing, maybe thats why i feel this way i dont know?

As for the characters Tomas although he sleeps with loads of women, i think Tereza is the one he loves, & dont think he sees a problem with doing both "love" and "sex" along side each other but totally seperatly. This doesnt change through out the book (well what ive read so far..) although I think he becomes more cyncical and he starts to doubt his own views on life etc. His love for Tereza try and tame his ways, prove hes a changed man. He never looses his desires just realises in order to keep Tereza he has to keep them hidden. I think he often sees his wife as a bit of a burden something he has to keep hold of. I think he is the "lightness" taking life in general lightly, espesially sex.

I think tomas is very sexist and controling and he uses this to his advantage to demand women to sleep with ihm. I dont like the way Kundera makes this appear like something in him and not a concious choice kinda glacing over what hes actually doing in an attempt to make you feel sorry for him.He kinda justifies it as being ok because its just his personality. Although to be honest I just think hes creepy.

I think Tereza is a very week woman, i think she is the "heavyness" looking for someone to attactch to and i think she sees tomas as that person. I think she is a very prude woman, and thats why she doesnt like tomas for what he does. She wants to be loved and not just an other woman, i think shes a very self concious person. She is a very dependant woman who depends on others this is what i think scares tomas the most as hes the complete opicite.


and i didnt finish the book so my opinions and that might have been different had i have finished it....