Book Club Chit Chat Thread

[Diore]

Thank you for the education! It is pretty much blowing my mind that it is difficult to get books at reasonable prices anywhere on the face of this earth.

It really does depend on where in the world you are! If you're far from the Americas or Europe, and especially if you're in a country where censorship is a big deal - yeah, books can be tricky to get. Less so now with Amazon - but they don't deliver some things internationally (even some of their Kindle ebooks can't be bought in certain regions!), and international shipping for physical books can get really expensive (especially to countries where the postal service is unreliable so you have to fork out for a courier). And many countries don't do public libraries.

That said, I was lucky that one of the local bookstores which carries English books (there are only 2!) happened to have The Tiger's Wife. And I'm glad, because I'd have had to opt out on this first book otherwise.

 

[simplekindofgirl]

I was not able to find the book here in English. I have ordered it in the states and must wait until I arrive to receive it (Feb. 7th). But this brought up an interesting (yet stupid) question.

While some of us are out of the US or english speaking countries, does anyone mind if we read the books in the language native to our location? I ask because usually I find that the translations tend to be off in dialect, and it may (or may not) make a difference in purposes of discussions. But for future references (because it would be way easier for me), does anyone mind if we read it in another language bearing in mind that we can discuss it in English?

 

[KP the nut]

But for future references (because it would be way easier for me), does anyone mind if we read it in another language bearing in mind that we can discuss it in English?

Personally, I think you should read it in a format/language which is best for you.

 

[CitizenMabel]

Otherwise we will drive the 47 miles or so to get the book from a store.

There are a couple bookstores in town, but they are small and carry mostly used books that are a few years old. It usually a lot easier to wait to get it from the library than to drive 45 minutes to the closest Barnes and Noble (and I only bring 49 books home, not 50;).)

I ask because usually I find that the translations tend to be off in dialect, and it may (or may not) make a difference in purposes of discussions. But for future references (because it would be way easier for me), does anyone mind if we read it in another language bearing in mind that we can discuss it in English?

Go for it. I think it would be interesting to see how the differences in translation affect the discussions, how lines are interpreted, etc.

 

[angel2write]

Yeah, I think it would be interesting to hear the differences in translations.

About the discussion... perhaps there should be someone sort of "sponsoring" each book. The sponsor will open each section of discussion... Put a post on the book thread saying that Chapters 4-6 are now open for discussion.

Maybe, instead of having daily reading allotments, cut it up by week? And each week open a new section of the book for discussion? (That's just a thought... it might help people who have days where they can and can't keep up, but might be able to accomplish a certain amount of reading within a week.)

 

[Sammy]

I agree with going chapter by chapter, even if the chapters are different lengths. Reading it as an ebook, it is hard to tell how many book pages I am reading.

 

[catjudo]

I personally like the idea of sectioning the discussion by the week instead of by the day. You can still do it by chapter...instead of one chapter every couple of days we could agree to two or three (or however many) chapters per week.

 

[Diore]

does anyone mind if we read it in another language bearing in mind that we can discuss it in English?

Not a stupid question at all! And I agree with angel2write - it's always interesting to hear how a book comes across in different languages. In fact, when we get to The Alchemist, I am purposely planning not to read it in English...

 

[simplekindofgirl]

Thank you all for the support and responses to this. It has been on my mind and I had thought of just ordering and waiting for english copies, but that would be rather inconvenient and less desirable. I actually enjoy the difference in translations, english is a versatile language but not as direct or as deep in detail as other languages seem to be.

Thank you Sila. I almost did not ask, because of how I felt about it. But it only makes sense, I am in Germany, so it is much easier to find books in the German language. But I also prefer german since I am immersed in it.

I just did not want to assume that a group as a whole would be accepting of the fact that I was reading something of a different version, even if it is the same book.

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

The alchemist was originally written in Portuguese. :) , so I am sure reading it in whatever language you want is no problem. Sounds good to me, should be fun.

 

[Gamereign555]

Yeah a learning experience it is but I think the most important thing here is that even if you are way behind you can still post comments and your perspective long after the rest of us stop reading that title right?

 

[Loloma]

I have ordered 'The Tigers Wife' and 'The Alchemist' from Amazon UK as I'm living in Europe and you can't get it here. Won't get it until 16 February, wasn't to bad in UK pounds, the postage and VAT doubled the price. Still not too bad came in at about AUD24 for both books.