MobileRead May 2011 Book Club Nominations

[pilotbob]

Help us select the next book that the Mobile Read book club will read for May 2011.

The nominations will run through April 28 or until 10 books have made the list.
Voting (new poll thread) will run for 5 days starting April 28.

Book selection category for May per the "official" club opening thread is:

May 2011
Classic (that is in the public domain in the US or Canada)


In order for a book to be included in the poll it needs THREE NOMINATIONS (original nomination, a second and a third).

How Does This Work?
The Mobile Read Book Club (MRBC) is an informal club that requires nothing of you. Each month a book is selected by polling. On the last week of that month a discussion thread is started for the book. If you want to participate feel free. There is no need to "join" or sign up. All are welcome.

How Does a Book Get Selected?
Each book that is nominated will be listed in a pool at the end of the nomination period. The book that polls the most votes will be the official selection.

How Many Nominations Can I Make?
Each participant has 3 nominations. You can nominate a new book for consideration or nominate (second, third) one that has already been nominated by another person.

How Do I Nominate a Book?
Please just post a message with your nomination. If you are the FIRST to nominate a book, please try to provide an abstract to the book so others may consider their level of interest.

How Do I Know What Has Been Nominated?
Just follow the thread. This message will be updated with the status of the nominations as often as I can. If one is missed, please just post a message with a multi-quote of the 3 nominations and it will be added to the list ASAP.

When is the Poll?
The poll thread will open at the end of the nomination period, or once there have been 10 books with 3 nominations each. At that time a link to the poll thread will be posted here and this thread will be closed.

The floor is open to nominations.

There are now 10 fully nominated books - nominations closed.

Official choices each with three nominations:

1984 by George Orwell [siraks, Pablo, voodooblues]
1984 is not PD in the USA yet.
Upload by RWood - Mobi/PRC & LRF | Upload by ShellShock - LRF (enhancements) | Upload by Pablo - ePub

Spoiler:

from wiki: Nineteen Eighty-Four (sometimes written 1984) is a 1949 dystopian novel written by George Orwell, about an oligarchical, collectivist society. Life in the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, and incessant public mind control. The individual is always subordinated to the state, and it is in part this philosophy which allows the Party to manipulate and control humanity. In the Ministry of Truth, protagonist Winston Smith is a civil servant responsible for perpetuating the Party's propaganda by revising historical records to render the Party omniscient and always correct, yet his meager existence disillusions him to the point of seeking rebellion against Big Brother, eventually leading to his arrest, torture, and reconversion.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde [arkietech, Nyssa, caleb72]
Upload by Dr. Drib - LRF - upload by Jellby - Mobi/PRC & ePub
German uploads by ravenne - LRF - Mobi/PRC & ePub
LibriVox: free audiobook (dramatic reading)

Spoiler:

Amazon.com Review
A lush, cautionary tale of a life of vileness and deception or a loving portrait of the aesthetic impulse run rampant? Why not both? After Basil Hallward paints a beautiful, young man's portrait, his subject's frivolous wish that the picture change and he remain the same comes true. Dorian Gray's picture grows aged and corrupt while he continues to appear fresh and innocent. After he kills a young woman, "as surely as if I had cut her little throat with a knife," Dorian Gray is surprised to find no difference in his vision or surroundings. "The roses are not less lovely for all that. The birds sing just as happily in my garden."

As Hallward tries to make sense of his creation, his epigram-happy friend Lord Henry Wotton encourages Dorian in his sensual quest with any number of Wildean paradoxes, including the delightful "When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy." But despite its many languorous pleasures, The Picture of Dorian Gray is an imperfect work. Compared to the two (voyeuristic) older men, Dorian is a bore, and his search for ever new sensations far less fun than the novel's drawing-room discussions. Even more oddly, the moral message of the novel contradicts many of Wilde's supposed aims, not least "no artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style." Nonetheless, the glamour boy gets his just deserts. And Wilde, defending Dorian Gray, had it both ways: "All excess, as well as all renunciation, brings its own punishment."

Call of the Wild by Jack London [voodooblues, John F, edbro]
Upload by Madam Broshkina - Mobi/PRC - LRF | MultiFormat at Fictionwise
multiple formats at feedbooks | LibriVox: free audiobook

Spoiler:

From Wikipedia: The Call of the Wild is a novel by American writer Jack London. The plot concerns a previously domesticated and even somewhat pampered dog named Buck whose primordial instincts return after a series of events finds him serving as a sled dog in the treacherous, frigid Yukon during the days of the 19th century Gold Rushes.

Published in 1903, The Call of the Wild is one of London's most read books and it is generally considered one of his best. Because the protagonist is a dog, it is sometimes classified as a juvenile novel, suitable for children, but it is dark in tone and contains numerous scenes of cruelty and violence.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy [DixieGal, beppe, jkeene]
Upload by phrodod - LRF | Multiple formats from manybooks.net
German uploads by Targor - ePub - Mobi/PRC - LRF
Dutch edition from manybooks | Dutch LibriVox: free audiobook
LibriVox: free audiobook (1-8)

Spoiler:

from Borders: Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, writes Tolstoy in his literary masterpiece Anna Karenina. Commonly regarded as one of the greatest realist novels ever written, Tolstoy himself saw it as his first true novel. The novel was not well received by critics when first published, but Tolstoy's fellow Russian greats all considered it a great work of art.

Joan of Arc (The full tiltle is Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc) by Mark Twain [Ron., DixieGal, issybird]
Upload by Stanart - IMP - Mobi/PRC - LRF
Multiple formats at feedbooks | Inkmesh search
LibriVox: free audiobooks | epubbooks

Spoiler:

"Book Summary

In 1429, a 17-year-old peasant girl receives a message from Heaven that she is to rescue France from its English oppressors. Within two years this most unlikely of heroines leads a ragtag army to victory, sees the king crowned, and dies at the stake, martyred by traitors. America's most famous storyteller, Mark Twain, was obsessed with the story of Joan of Arc, and labored 12 years to tell it in this novel, which he considered his masterpiece "

War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells [JSWolf, Nyssa, siraks]
Upload by HarryT - LRF - Mobi/PRC - ePub
Upload by crich70 (H.G. Wells Novel Omnibus) - Mobi/PRC - ePub
Upload by JS Wolf - LRF - Mobi/PRC
LibriVox: free audiobooks

Spoiler:

"H.G. Wells's science fiction classic, the first novel to explore the possibilities of intelligent life from other planets, it still startling and vivid nearly after a century after its appearance, and a half-century after Orson Wells's infamous 1938 radio adaptation. The daring portrayal of aliens landing on English soil, with its themes of interplanetary imperialism, technological holocaust and chaos, is central to the career of H.G. Wells, who died at the dawn of the atomic age. The survival of mankind in the face of "vast and cool and unsympathetic" scientific powers spinning out of control was a crucial theme throughout his work. Visionary, shocking and chilling, The War Of The Worlds has lost none of its impact since its first publication in 1898."

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (warning it's pretty long) [AnemicOak, obs20, Piper_]
Spanish Upload by =X= (Vol 1 & Vol 2) - LRF - IMP - Mobi/PRC - ePub - Lit
Spanish Upload by Jellby (Illustrated) - ePub & Mobi/PRC
Multiple formats at feedbooks | LibriVox: free audiobooks

Spoiler:

"Don Quixote, errant knight and sane madman, with the company of his faithful squire and wise fool, Sancho Panza, together roam the world and haunt readers' imaginations as they have for nearly four hundred years."

Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey [GA Russell, DixieGal, JSWolf]
Upload by Dr. Drib - LRF -
Upload of two volume collection of Zane Grey's books by crich70 - Mobi/PRC - ePub
Multiple formats at feedbooks | LibriVox: free audiobook

Spoiler:

The year is 1871, and wealthy ranch owner Jane Withersteen is in trouble. She has incurred the displeasure of her Mormon church leaders by refusing to marry a church elder and by befriending Gentiles (non-Mormons). In rides Lassiter, the quintessential Western hero: mysterious, purposeful, a deadly gunslinger, but with an unexpected streak of gentleness. While Lassiter is assisting Jane at the ranch, her friend and rider Bern Venters is having an adventure of his own in the Utah canyonlands. Riders of the Purple Sage is a story of heroism, love, brave men and strong women, good dogs and fast horses. And who is that Masked Rider? (Summary by Laurie Anne Walden)

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton [AnemicOak, DixieGal, lila55]
Upload by Madam Broshkina - IMP - Mobi/PRC - LRF
Upload by 6charlong - pdb | Inkmesh search
LibriVox: free audiobooks

Spoiler:

"Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, The Age of Innocence is Edith Wharton’s masterful portrait of desire and betrayal during the sumptuous Golden Age of Old New York, a time when society people “dreaded scandal more than disease.”

This is Newland Archer’s world as he prepares to marry the beautiful but conventional May Welland. But when the mysterious Countess Ellen Olenska returns to New York after a disastrous marriage, Archer falls deeply in love with her. Torn between duty and passion, Archer struggles to make a decision that will either courageously define his life—or mercilessly destroy it. "

The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith and Weedon Grossmith [Ea, beppe, lila55]
Inkmesh search | online book
LibriVox: free audiobook

Spoiler:

From Wikipedia: "The diary is the fictitious record of fifteen months in the life of Mr. Charles Pooter, a middle aged city clerk of middle-class status but significant social aspirations, living in the fictional 'Brickfield Terrace' in Upper Holloway which was then a typical suburb of the impecuniously respectable kind. Other characters include his wife Carrie (Caroline), his son Lupin, his friends Mr Cummings and Mr Gowing, and Lupin's unsuitable fiancée, Daisy Mutlar.

The humour derives from Pooter's unconscious gaffes and self-importance, as well as the snubs he receives from those he considers socially inferior, such as tradesmen. In The Diary of a Nobody the Grossmiths create an accurate if amusing record of the manners, customs and experiences of the Londoners of the late Victorian era."

[siraks]

1984 by george orwell - i've had this one for while in dead tree format. i believe it's available ( at least in epub ) on MR here. does that count?

from wiki:

Nineteen Eighty-Four (sometimes written 1984) is a 1949 dystopian novel written by George Orwell, about an oligarchical, collectivist society. Life in the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, and incessant public mind control. The individual is always subordinated to the state, and it is in part this philosophy which allows the Party to manipulate and control humanity. In the Ministry of Truth, protagonist Winston Smith is a civil servant responsible for perpetuating the Party's propaganda by revising historical records to render the Party omniscient and always correct, yet his meager existence disillusions him to the point of seeking rebellion against Big Brother, eventually leading to his arrest, torture, and reconversion.

[JSWolf]

A classic book does not just have to be in the public domain. So the idea that the definition of a classic as a moldy oldie is just incorrect. Can we have a proper use of the term classic for a change?

I feel we should have a vote on this and decide the use of the term classic as PD only is highly incorrect.

[edbro]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

A classic book does not just have to be in the public domain. So the idea that the definition of a classic as a moldy oldie is just incorrect. Can we have a proper use of the term classic for a change?

I feel we should have a vote on this and decide the use of the term classic as PD only is highly incorrect.

I didn't see the "(in the public domain)" as a definition of a classic; only a further qualification for this month's pick. I agree with you though. Gone With the Wind is certainly a classic, but not yet PD.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by edbro

I didn't see the "(in the public domain)" as a definition of a classic; only a further qualification for this month's pick. I agree with you though. Gone With the Wind is certainly a classic, but not yet PD.

Not all public domain books are classic books. So What we have here is two terms that do not match. Let's just go with classic as in a true classic public domain or not.

[DixieGal]

I've been meaning to read Anna Karenina, so that's my nom.

[Pablo]

I second 1984 by George Orwell. It is available in MR's library in ePub, prc and LRF formats (as "1984" and "Nineteen Eighty-Four")

PRC format

LRF format

LRF format

ePub format

[JSWolf]

However, legally in the USA, 1984 cannot be downloaded for free as it's not PD in the USA yet.

[edbro]

I nominate Madame Bovary. It has been on my TBR list. Description lifted from Amazon.

For daring to peer into the heart of an adulteress and enumerate its contents with profound dispassion, the author of Madame Bovary was tried for "offenses against morality and religion." What shocks us today about Flaubert's devastatingly realized tale of a young woman destroyed by the reckless pursuit of her romantic dreams is its pure artistry: the poise of its narrative structure, the opulence of its prose (marvelously captured in the English translation of Francis Steegmuller), and its creation of a world whose minor figures are as vital as its doomed heroine. In reading Madame Bovary, one experiences a work that remains genuinely revolutionary almost a century and a half after its creation.

I love reading about bad girls!

Available here in lrf:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14570

Available in multiple formats here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2413

[Format C:]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Not all public domain books are classic books. So What we have here is two terms that do not match. Let's just go with classic as in a true classic public domain or not.

Just "and" the two conditions: this month's book is a bool who is a classic AND it's in the public domain (BTW: where in the world?)

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Format C:

Just "and" the two conditions: this month's book is a bool who is a classic AND it's in the public domain (BTW: where in the world?)

Are we going to do this legally or are we going to do this illegally? By that I mean, are we going to list which books are not PD in the USA and not allow anyone in the USA to nominate and vote for them?

[siraks]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Are we going to do this legally or are we going to do this illegally? By that I mean, are we going to list which books are not PD in the USA and not allow anyone in the USA to nominate and vote for them?

then it shouldn't be available on MR at all. (1984 that is)

and if we do change these rules a bit i want another nomination

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by edbro

I didn't see the "(in the public domain)" as a definition of a classic; only a further qualification for this month's pick. I agree with you though. Gone With the Wind is certainly a classic, but not yet PD.

You got it right.

A Classic in the public domain (in the US or Canada is fine). Basically, if it could be in the MR library.

This is because many club members don't have the budgets to buy a new book every month, so they wanted at least a month were the selection would [most likely] be free.

BOb

[issybird]

I'd like to nominate Can You Forgive Her?, the first of Trollope's Palliser novels, available here at MR as part of the Palliser omnibus.

HarryT's blurb: Can You Forgive Her? (1864)

Alice Vavasor cannot decide whether to marry her ambitious but violent cousin George or the upright and gentlemanly John Grey - and finds herself accepting and rejecting each of them in turn. Increasingly confused about her own feelings and unable to forgive herself for such vacillation, her situation is contrasted with that of her friend Lady Glencora - forced to marry the rising politician Plantagenet Palliser in order to prevent the worthless Burgo Fitzgerald from wasting her vast fortune. In asking his readers to pardon Alice for her transgression of the Victorian moral code, Trollope created a telling and wide-ranging account of the social world of his day.

[beppe]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

I've been meaning to read Anna Karenina, so that's my nom.

It is the best thing ever written or almost, but it is enormous. Ok, I second your choice. From a one liner champ like you, I expect pages of comments in the discussion.