Nobel Prize Winners discussion

As we have only about half a dozen active members at the moment, it seems a little early for thinking about selecting a book for a 'group read'. However, we might consider how this could be done should we get to about 20 or so active members.

What I look for in a 'group read' is mainly something I haven't read before and I also hope for something that will challenge me in my reading and understanding. I rarely re-visit a book once having read it, but I realise I may be rather unusual in this. Many Nobel Prizewinners are poets, and while I am quite open to reading poetry, I do realise that poetry does not have universal appeal.

The other thing is that with Nobel Prizewinners we are so often dealing with works in translation and this can be difficult because so much depends on the quality of the translation and this is not always guaranteed. For example, some Russian speakers are quite adamant that Pasternak's poetry loses a great deal in translation and so, in the west, we have the tendency to concentrate on Dr Zhivago to the exclusion of what they consider to be his crowning glory, his poetry.

Perhaps, at this stage in the re-activiation of the group, we might ask members to recommend, in about a hundred words, just one work from a Nobel laureate which they consider of such outstanding quality that, for them, it is quite simply a 'must read' book.

Many of us will have our own Nobel Prizewinners reading schedule, I admit that I'm pretty well into Sienkiewicz at the moment. However, if we are to have a group read, it has been suggested that it might be a good idea to start with the most recent winner. The question then is which one to read?
Can I therefore ask each member to nominate one book by Mario Vargas Llosa for our February/March group read to start from say 14th February.

Nominations will close on Sunday, 30th January and then I will create a poll for members to vote to select from the books nominated.

My nomination would be The_Green House

Hi,

This is interesting. I haven't read anything by Llosa, but reading through the descriptions on Wikipedia, I'd like to nominate The Time of the Hero because its portrayal of Peru is putatively real enough to cause an uproar, and because it's written from multiple perspectives - both of which should be interesting to read.

Hello Aishwarya and welcome to the group. Is that the very early one that really upset the Peruvian generals?

Thanks David.

Yep, it's the very first novel he published, and is considered one among his three major works, the other two being The Green House and Conversation in the Cathedral.

Welcome Aishwarya,

I'd like to start with one of Llosa's early works and then, if we have time, proceed to something more recent. With this criteria in mind, either The Time of the Hero
or The Green House
would work.

I'm leaning more towards The Green House.

I'm not fond of the military, and although it figures in both of these early Llosa works, I expect
The Green House
may have a more strongly human side to it.

A lot may depend on what I'm able to access through my local library. :)

I work with a lady from Peru, and she had told me Llosa was one of her favorite authors. I will ask her which work was in particular her favorite. Thus far, I've not read anything by Llosa.

My friend from Peru also recommended The Green House or The Time of the Hero. I have purchased The Green House from Barnes and Noble (unfortunately not available for my Nook). Looking forward to reading this book.

The poll to select our group read for February/March is up. Click on 'polls' on the top right of the page. (I hope this works, if it doesn't, please bear with me as I'm new to moderating.)

This poll closes on Sunday next, February 6th.

The votes are in and The Green House is the clear winner. Reading will start on Sunday next, 13th February. If there is any member who would like to volunteer to lead our discussions of this book, please feel free to respond to this post. I am about to start an Open University course and don't really have the time to devote to this task. So pretty please!