[chriservin22]

Long ago, I tried to start a book club on the IC forums. I failed because:
1.) I thought it would be a swell idea to ask if anyone had any suggestions for a book to read

and

2.) I started working on my senior thesis later that week. ("Gnostic Influnences in Flann O'Brien's "The Two Policemen," if you're curious. It got me my BA in Comparative Lit... and only after three different universities and six different years of trying!)

Now that I'm out of school and working for the Man, however, I haven't read anything except "Against the Day," Thomas Pynchon's amazing, soulless, messy novel.

I tackled that massive tome solo, and that sucked; I want to get some book conversation action going again.

I browsed the literature thread here and found others who enjoy "the literature," but there were a few rumored classics that I did not see mentioned.

So I'm going to arbitrarily choose one of them: that book every Russian I've ever met says they have read: Ivan Goncharov's Oblomov. (Disclosure: I only know one Russian).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblomov

Most public libraries carry a few copies of it in various translations; I imagine the full text is up for free online as well. I bought a used copy at the gigantic Powell's bookstore here in Portland, OR for something like five bucks.

I hope some people will be willing to chatter away like old ladies in a sewing circle for a few weeks, because I plan to post questions, observations, interpretations, and perhaps verbal ejaculations on this thread no matter what.

Also, I promise to send participants candy if they finish. Honest to God candy.

[chriservin22]

Oh hell.

I did not notice that one book club was already up and running. At least "Notes from Underground," isn't deep and influential and filled with discussion topics or well written or anything like that...

Still. I'll read MY Russian classic and discuss it with my cat, if I have to. I am still of the lit major mindset -- books exist so they may be attacked by tenured professors who read Focault once in grad school and haven't moved on from there.

[chriservin22]

[chriservin22]

If you can read the 2006 fukubukuru on a computer screen, you're 2/3 of the way there!

Well, not with this book -- it is very long.

Alright, time to get me some Concacaf Gold Cup action on.

[chriservin22]

[chriservin22]