Victorians! discussion

Please post your nominations for upcoming group reads here in this thread.

The Nomination thread will be open through June 8. After that time, we will post an actual voting poll where you will click to vote your choice. Current polls are listed at the bottom of the main group page or found by clicking on "Polls" at the list on the right of the main group page.

Poll voting will then end on June 18. This will give you over a month to acquire the book and begin reading the first voted read before discussion if you want.

Remember also that this nominating and voting process will choose the group reading selections for the months of August, September, and October. If any of the reads chosen are lengthy, that time frame will be adjusted accordingly, but essentially we are choosing the top three books of the poll for our continuing reads.

And finally, each member should only nominate only one book for this nomination period.

Thanks very much, and we can't wait to see what reads you have in mind.

The group book shelf lists the books that have been discussed in our group so far.

Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope.

SarahC wrote: "Please post your nominations for upcoming group reads here in this thread.

The Nomination thread will be open through June 8. After that time, we will post an actual voting poll where you will..."

I can't find anywhere saying the number of books we can nominate. Is it still one?

Yes, we should still only nominate one book. And the the top three books in the poll voting will be chosen for our reads.

But we do not acutally nominate a separate book for each month.

My nominate is The Return of the Nativeby Thomas Hardy

The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope is my nomination.

Thanks, I tried to clear that up too by editing my original post.

All of the nominated titles, so far, are simply superb! Well done, folks!

My nomination is Tennyson, The Idylls of the King.

I would be delighted to second, "The Idylls of the King" by Tennyson.

Going to try to get something from the other side of the Atlantic in the mix. My nomination is The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells.

It's fairly short, but Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy is a wonderful story.

I am nominating The Real Charlotte by Edith Somerville and Martin Ross.

Frances wrote: "It's fairly short, but Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy is a wonderful story."

An absolutely marvelous story, and a terrific introduction into the fiction of Thomas Hardy! Do be sure to check out the recent BBC film adaptation of "Under the Greenwood Tree", it is simply superb!

Jackie Renee wrote: "Sorry, I didn't realize I should only nominate one book, so I edited my post."

No problem, Jackie Renee, and that is an excellent choice.

Christopher wrote: "Frances wrote: "It's fairly short, but Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy is a wonderful story."

An absolutely marvelous story, and a terrific introduction into the fiction of ..."

I tried watching "Under the Greenwood Tree" Saturday night, but my son was spending some time with me and we ended up watching 2 of his choices ... NOT ones I would have picked out, but I enjoyed our time together anyway. LOL

I wanted to propose Can You Forgive Her? but Jamie preceded me! I'll go with the second of the serie Phineas Finn: The Irish Member, if read in sequel ...

I nominate
The Moonstone

Christyb wrote: "I nominate
The Moonstone"

I believe the group discussed The Moonstone less than a year ago. To diversify, would you like to offer another nomination, Christyb? (Refer to the group bookshelf for past discussions.)

Sorry for the nominating a book already read by the group. I'm new to the group and did not know. I would like to nominate The Way We Live Now

Sorry again, Christyb, The Way We Live Now was nominated by Marialyce in message 8. Read through the nominations above and let us know if you would like to nominate something else.

We will shortly post a summary list of all that is nominated so far, but for now just scan the messages above, everyone. Thanks.

I'm a bit confused. Have all the books on the bookshelf been read previously? I wasn't sure how it all works.

The books listed under the catagory "Read" are books we have read as a group.

I second nomination for "The return of the native"

I'll third The Return of the Native

The way we live now

I would like to nominate Daniel Deronda by George Eliot

Hi everyone, thanks for providing all the nominations so far. It is a great list, as always. I did want to point out a couple of things, if some of you wanted to make changes.

Rebecca, The Way We Live Now was already nominated above, so you can make a different nomination if you wish. And others of you, when you second and third the nominations, that is fine and supportive of the nomination, but the actual selection of the group reads will be in our poll vote to be posted later. See the message #1 at the top of this thread.

Just wanted to make sure everyone knew that, because I didn't really know if you were "seconding" the nominations just for fun or not.

Proceed everyone, and I think we all enjoy seeing these great books pop up in the nom threads.

SarahC wrote: "Hi everyone, thanks for providing all the nominations so far. It is a great list, as always. I did want to point out a couple of things, if some of you wanted to make changes.

Rebecca, The Way We..."

Don't worry, Sarah, I understood, I just meant to "second" because I was planning on nominating it myself :)

Here is summary list of all titles that have been nominated SO FAR:

Our Mutual Friend
The Idylls of the King
The Rise of Silas Lapham
Return of the Native
Under the Greenwood Tree
The Real Charlotte
Daniel Deronda
Can You Forgive Her?
The Way We Live Now
Barchester Towers
Phineas Finn

Keep in mind that more nominations may be added in this thread before the last day to nominate, June 8. Thanks for all your interest!

Sarah -- thanks for the summary. It felt as if you read my mind, because I was just browsing the posts and was wishing for a "so far" list!

haha, thanks Lily,

Antía wrote: "SarahC wrote: "Hi everyone, thanks for providing all the nominations so far. It is a great list, as always. I did want to point out a couple of things, if some of you wanted to make changes.

Re..."

Good Antia, I always look forward to discussing with you :)

I nominate The Old Curiosity Shop
by Charles Dickens

SarahC wrote: "Antía wrote: "SarahC wrote: "Hi everyone, thanks for providing all the nominations so far. It is a great list, as always. I did want to point out a couple of things, if some of you wanted to make ..."

I will gladly join you if chosen books are available in Spain, that would leave me with Return of the Native, Barchester Towers and the two Dickens' books :)

Antía wrote: "I will gladly join you if chosen books are available in Spain,"

Almost every book chosen here is available for download to your computer or, if you have one, an e-reader. Best place to start looking is:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Everyman wrote: "Antía wrote: "I will gladly join you if chosen books are available in Spain,"

Almost every book chosen here is available for download to your computer or, if you have one, an e-reader. Best place..."

Thank you very much Everyman, I will certainly check on that site, it looks great (even if I don't have an e-reader). My problem is mainly that my English isn't that good as to read all novels on it and I tend to search for spanish translations..

How about" The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft", by George Gissing, a late Victorian writer? This book was published at the end of Victoria's reign, 1904. I don't see that we've read any of Gissing's work yet. He's written others that we can chose among as well.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...

Ellen wrote: "How about" The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft", by George Gissing, a late Victorian writer? "

Interesting suggestion. I've read New Grub Street, but hadn't even heard of Ryecroft. I'll have to look into it whether or not we read it here. Thanks!

Ellen, that is an interesting nomination that I have not encountered before either. (I was just reading a little bit about Gissing last week.) For the group discussions we do, however, stick with books published no later than 1901.

SarahC wrote: "Ellen, that is an interesting nomination that I have not encountered before either. (I was just reading a little bit about Gissing last week.) For the group discussions we do, however, stick with ..."

Thanks for the comments, Sarah and Everyman. I enjoy Gissing very much, and yet this is one I've not yet read. It dawned on my that we seem to be concentrating on the same Victorian authors so much - Dickens, Hardy, Trollope, Eliot, etc., that it might be fun to read books by some of less well-known authors of the time. I'd really like to read this book by Gissing, and am hoping it makes the nomination list. I wonder if we might investigate the works of some of the other middle- to -late-Victorian period? What does everything think?

Thanks again so very much,
Ellen

Ellen wrote: "SarahC wrote: "Ellen, that is an interesting nomination that I have not encountered before either. (I was just reading a little bit about Gissing last week.) For the group discussions we do, howev..."

I haven't read that one by Gissing, but I did read his The Odd Women years ago and I remember I liked it, so I wouldn't mind at all reading more by him. Maybe a "buddy read" apart of "official" group read?

Antía wrote: "Ellen wrote: "SarahC wrote: "Ellen, that is an interesting nomination that I have not encountered before either. (I was just reading a little bit about Gissing last week.) For the group discussion..."

That's not a bad idea, Anitia. Although I'd really like to hear what many of the people in the group think of "The Private Papers...". You mentioned you were reading something about Gissing recently. Would you be able to tell me about it? I'm always interested in articles about writers!! Thanks so much!

Ellen wrote: "SarahC wrote: "Ellen, that is an interesting nomination that I have not encountered before either. (I was just reading a little bit about Gissing last week.) For the group discussions we do, howev..."

Sorry, Ellen, the Gissing book you nominated won't qualify, as I said in my message. For the group discussions we do stick with books published no later than 1901.

Yes, several members of the group, including myself, are interested in exploring writing of those other than the big names in Victorian literature. If you make some suggestions and see if you can gather enough members for a side read, that might be your best route. (Message me or any of the moderators if you want details on how to do that.) Typically in the polls for the monthly group reads, the more "household" names in Victorian fiction do get the vote.

Ellen wrote: "Antía wrote: "Ellen wrote: "SarahC wrote: "Ellen, that is an interesting nomination that I have not encountered before either. (I was just reading a little bit about Gissing last week.) For the gr..."

I just read The Odd Women about ten years ago. I have a nice memory of it but I can't tell much. I own a copy of it so I might check or re-read in future. If it helps you, it was published in 1893. I admit I have a stronger interest right now in choosing "The Return of the Native" because I really want to read it, so I would vote for it.

I nominate The Last Man by Mary Shelley if that's okay with everyone.

[oops! It appears this might have been written too early. How about [book:No Name|45205] by Wilkie Collins?]

SarahC wrote: "Ellen wrote: "SarahC wrote: "Ellen, that is an interesting nomination that I have not encountered before either. (I was just reading a little bit about Gissing last week.) For the group discussion..."

Well, Sarah, as this particular book was written too late to be included, I'll search for another book by Gissing that was written during the correct time period. I'll post again later. How's that? Thanks!

How about this book by George Gissing, published in 1888?

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10...

Or, "New Grub Street", published in 1891:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78...

Or, "In the Year of Jubilee", published in 1893? Of these three, this one sounds the most interesting to me, as it deals with the celebration of Victoria's 50th Jubilee.

Well, that's enough for now. Just thought it'd be fun to read a book by Gissing. Thanks so much!!

Ooops. Forgot to post the Goodreads link for "In the Year of the Jubilee"!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...