Participation this last time seemed a little thin, while we still maintained our devoted core. This surprised me, because it seemed last time there was a lot of response, and many new readers, commentors, and would-be enthusiasts. I am going to offer up a few titles from my collection, and ask for votes on which should be the next selection. I haven't read any of these, just heard good things or have been wanting to read them for some time.
I would also like to hear from other Slaves about which of you wants to choose the next book. Putting nominations to a popular vote is not required, so if you want to decree what next we read, please tell me why you should be so honored. Comments or email are accepted.
Now, the titles:
1. The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris. The cover calls it the first great fantasy novel ever written.
2. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. A Tale of Passion
3. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. A Whitbread Book of the Year.
4. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
5. Thunder on the Left by Christopher Morley.
6. The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
A wide range of offerings, I think. Shout out your vote. By Sunday evening I will announce the final tally and decision, and we can all start reading. Thanks!
"There are four kinds of readers. The first is like the hourglass; and their reading being as the sand, it runs in and runs out, and leaves not a vestige behind. A second is like the sponge, which imbibes everything, and returns it in nearly the same state, only a little dirtier. A third is like a jelly bag, allowing all that is pure to pass away, and retaining only the refuse and dregs. And the fourth is like the slaves in the diamond mines of Golconda, who, casting aside all that is worthless, retain only pure gems." --Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Reading:
FAQs
1. Who the hell are you people?
The Slaves of Golconda are a group of like-minded book-lovers who, without remuneration, individually blog about literary matters and sandwiches, and collectively read a selected book once every two months for the purpose of reviewing and discussing, the goal being, after Coleridge's quote, to retain, shine, and place in a remarkable setting the gems of literature as a gift to the Blogosphere.
2. What wag thought this up?
In the evil laboratory of his mind, the magnificent and munificent Quillhill captured the Slaves and forced them to do his literary bidding.
3. What if I want to toil in obscurity, and maybe even be whipped and starved, reading books and posting comments that sometimes up to three other people will read?
The choice is yours: become one of us, or face the consequences.
Contributing Slaves
- Alex in Leeds
- Anne Camille
- Bud Parr
- Danielle
- Doppelganger
- Eileen
- Frances
- Gentle Reader
- Girl Detective
- Grad
- Iliana
- Imani
- J.C. Montgomery
- Jodie
- Julie
- Kate S.
- Loose Baggy Monster
- Mike B.
- Oanh
- Quillhill
- Rebecca H.
- Rohan Maitzen
- SFP
- Sarah
- Stefanie
- Sycorax Pine
- TJ
- Teresa
- Unknown
- bibliophiliac
- dorian stuber
- dovegreyreader
- harriet
- jlshall
- litlove
- mandarine
- mdbrady
Search The Slaves of Golconda
Previous Book Discussions
The Transit of Venus, Shirley Hazzard
The Summer Book, Tove Jansson
The Small Room, May Sarton
Manservant and Maidservant, Ivy Compton-Burnett
Bad Blood, Lorna Sage
Vertigo, W.G. Sebald
Novel on Yellow Paper, by Stevie Smith
The Woman In Black, by Susan Hill
Dance Night, by Dawn Powell
The Slaves of Solitude, by Patrick Hamilton
The Post-Office Girl, by Stefan Zweig
Sexing the Cherry, by Jeanette Winterson
Ruth Hall, by Fanny Fern
The Glimpses of the Moon, by Edith Wharton
Dreaming in Cuban, by Christina Garcia
The Stone Angel, by Margaret Laurence
The Owl Service, by Alan Garner
The Woman Who Waited, by Andrei Makine
Sleepless Nights, by Elizabeth Hardwick
The Good Soldier, by Ford Madox Ford
Lady Susan, by Jane Austen
The Street of Crocodiles, by Bruno Schulz
Indiana, by George Sand
The Island of Dr. Moreau, by H.G. Wells
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
The Virginian, by Owen Wister
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Summer Book, Tove Jansson
The Small Room, May Sarton
Manservant and Maidservant, Ivy Compton-Burnett
Bad Blood, Lorna Sage
Vertigo, W.G. Sebald
Novel on Yellow Paper, by Stevie Smith
The Woman In Black, by Susan Hill
Dance Night, by Dawn Powell
The Slaves of Solitude, by Patrick Hamilton
The Post-Office Girl, by Stefan Zweig
Sexing the Cherry, by Jeanette Winterson
Ruth Hall, by Fanny Fern
The Glimpses of the Moon, by Edith Wharton
Dreaming in Cuban, by Christina Garcia
The Stone Angel, by Margaret Laurence
The Owl Service, by Alan Garner
The Woman Who Waited, by Andrei Makine
Sleepless Nights, by Elizabeth Hardwick
The Good Soldier, by Ford Madox Ford
Lady Susan, by Jane Austen
The Street of Crocodiles, by Bruno Schulz
Indiana, by George Sand
The Island of Dr. Moreau, by H.G. Wells
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
The Virginian, by Owen Wister
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Content licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
10 comments:
Since you've been chosen the next chooser, you can pick, but, my choice from your list would be either The Wood Beyond the World or The Good Soldier. I sort of like that we try to stick with classics and while the whole list is great, some are too new to be classics yet, IMHO :)
As you probably know, I also lean more heavily toward classics. There is a reason they are.
I vote for The Good Soldier, although I'd be happy to reread Canticle, Road or Curious Incident if one of those is chosen.
While I like Stefanie's logic about classics, I've already read The Good Soldier and am not sure about the Morris, so I'll vote for The Road, a book I've been meaning to read and that's surely going to be a classic one day??
I have been wanting to read The Good Soldier for quite a long time now, so my vote is for that. Of course I would be happy to read any of the others as well.
I read about this on Danielle's blog and after noticing that you have The Good Soldier as a selection, I'd like to vote for that one and give it a go.
well, Oprah claimed "The Road" and while the others soon quite interesting "The Good Soldier" has been on my book shelf asking to be read for too long!
Good Soldier Good Soldier Good Soldier!!!!!! Read it some time ago but have been wanting to go back with company. Hope this is chosen! Fordie is one of my favorite authors!
Lots of good options, but I'm another who has had The Good Soldier on my TBR list for ages so I'll go along with the popular consensus and vote for that one.
I'd jump in if The Road is chosen.
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