Thank you all for participating in the last round of discussions whether it was here or at your own blog. I appreciated the attempts to share your views even though the book wasn't to your liking.
Perhaps the next selection will fare better? Eloquent litlove from Tales of the Reading Room has consented to pick the next book for discussion. I'm sure that it will prove to be excellent. We will reconvene at September *30th. See you then and enjoy the rest of your summer!
*Ouch. It seems as though I've forgotten the rhyme from my primary school days.
"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.
6 comments:
Thank you for picking the Hardwick novel, Imani (actually, we chose it, didn't we, from the great list you provided) -- I'm very glad I read it, even though I struggled with it a bit. But struggling is not a bad thing, and I think the Slaves choices should challenge us a bit.
I too am very glad I read it, Imani - so thank you! It was knotty at times, but I found it to be poetically knotty, requiring more attention than a lot of the novels (if it even is a novel) or fiction (if it even is fiction) that I normally read. Upon further reflection, that was not at all a negative quality.
Imani--Thanks for giving us such great choices. I actually voted for the Hardwick, but I think I left it for too close to the deadline to read. It is definitely not one to be rushed! Even though I didn't mesh with it, I am always glad to try new authors and different styles of writing. I didn't post here on the Slaves blog as I thought it wasn't fair since I didn't finish the book. I will have to give her a try when I know I can devote more time to the book. In any case I am still looking forward to reading her essays!
I'm very glad we all chose the Hardwick; I learned a lot about my reading interests from it, AND I've got a couple of books of her essays on order which I'm sure are going to be excellent. So you certainly did me a favor by introducing me to her, Imani.
I have got to get myself sorted out so I can post onto this blog!
Imani--thank you for giving us such great choices. I enjoyed the book quite a bit, and it was definitely a new kind of reading experience for me! I also bought Hardwick's essays, and am looking forward to reading those. Also looking forward to the next Slaves read and discussion!
Awww, thanks everyone! I forgot to put the qualifying "some" before the "you" -- I know very well that a few did enjoy the book and that others found it a worthwhile reading experience even if they didn't like it.
Thanks again.
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