Preparing for 2013

Hello everyone,

We have entered the last quarter of 2012 and are quickly approaching November so it's time to start thinking about what we would like to see in 2013.

However, I must admit that I'm at a loss this year. Usually I'm trying to stay ahead of everyone by reading new authors that are worthy of being introduced but at this point I've pretty much exhausted my favorite authors and if I haven't, well, I can't just do another Japanese year. (Although tempting!)

I feel like I would love to have a French author in the mix (oh Hugo, Dumas, how I love you). Or we could follow a theme again. Something like a sub mystery/crime genre for the mini-authors where we'd have prominent authors from different countries. And then the main author would be a bit more "literary", whatever that means.

In any case, I welcome any suggestions and thoughts any of you would have. Whatever happens I'm sure we'll come up with a great program again.

I like the idea of having a year-long theme that ties together the various authors as we had this year. It provides not only a richer basis for discussion but allows us to bring more of our reading into the picture.

A French literature theme would suit me just fine, as I've already planned to read several of Émile Zola's novels in 2013. A mystery/crime theme would appeal to me as well, as that's a genre I haven't much explored.

I have been lurking in this group for about six months, but my reading this year didn't tie in with the theme, so I only followed the threads, which had some very good discussions.

If you take suggestions from about to be members, I love the idea of a French theme too. The mentions of Dumas, Hugo and Zola also made me think of a nineteenth century theme, with possibly quarterly regions, so that there could be authors like James (North America), Manzoni and the above mentioned French authors (Europe), any number of wonderful Russians and Eastern Europeans for a Slavic read. There are so many other authors who would fit into these categories. I realize there is no fourth quarter in the above and that I have left out huge parts of the world, particularly South America, but I am sure others can fill them in.

Perhaps this might be more suited to Reading Globally, but there it is.

I would love a French theme too. I've been reading a lot of Zola and plan to continue, but this seems to have led me to buy other works by French authors and to think about books that are languishing on my TBR. Of course, Zola also fits into the 19th century, as Sassy points out. If we did the 19th century, we wouldn't have to pick regions; we could pick authors and they wouldn't have to be distributed around the world. But I'm leaning more towards a French theme, although I certainly would love to hear what great ideas others have.

As for mystery/crime, I used to (in my teens, 20s, and 30s) read a lot of mysteries, and this year I fell in love with Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series, but (probably ignorantly) I wonder whether this could sustain a year long read.

I'll chime in to ask for a French theme, as well. I also love Hugo and Dumas, and have never tried Zola and have a whole lot of Balzac still in my future as well.

One idea the French theme did trigger, although I can't think of any examples, could be to include literature from former French colonies. French Moroccan literature, for example, or southeast Asian authors who write from a French influence. Caribbean authors? Unless these would count under the French theme? One of the things I really like about this group is the emphasis on literature from all around the world.

The idea of choosing an author who writes from a French influence is interesting, and the idea of Francophone literature would also make a great theme for the Reading Globally group. I'll be posting a thread there soon asking for ideas for our 2013 themes.

I had thoughts earlier about linking the themes of Author Theme Reads and Reading Globally. I think, though, that we would want to avoid having them overlapped so much that we'd be reading the same authors and books for both groups at the same time, as that can be confusing and dilute the discussion. Some of us are already cross posting reviews on three or four groups, and it can be hard to keep track of who said what where.

So if we did join forces for a Francophone theme, I think it would work best if we had a clear distinction such as European authors in ATR, non-European authors and settings in RG.

Personally I'm not sure the idea of combining the two groups for a theme read is a good one. I think the main reason why people are part of so many groups is that if one theme read doesn't fit their agenda, then they can easily go to another.

I'll look through some French authors and look to see who I might like to see presented.

I enjoyed the regional theme of Japanese authors, and learnt a lot from that, mainly just watching.

I think the old approach in previous years of four main authors would still work very well, e.g. one Nobel or Booker Prize winner, + a classical 19th C. author, + a regional author, + an author selected by some other criterion.

You asked for more thoughts. My main reading of French literature has been my current Zolathon, although decades ago when I studied French in high school we read a variety of classic and contemporary writers. All forgotten now! Over the years, I've also read miscellaneous mostly 19th and 20th French writers. So, speaking from a purely personal perspective, I would enjoy getting more an overview of French writing: maybe some pre-19th century writer, a 19th century writer, and two 20th century or contemporary writers. I did like having the year-long author too, so maybe that should be one of the prolific 19th century writers.

I've been participating in this group just for this year and watching it the year before. I'm therefore not that familiar with how the specific authors were chosen in the past, other than by suggesting and voting.

What I like most about the group is the focus on particular authors, so I hope there's no thought of shifting this group into something more like a theme. I like the year-long focus on one author, which leaves enough time to explore an author in depth, and I also like the quarterly mini-authors, since three months seems to have been long enough for me to get to one or more book by each of the featured authors and see others reactions to the same or different works.

The overall Japanese theme this year was very interesting (and I plan to continue with a Japanese authors category next year on my own since I've barely scratched the surface here), but it seems that in previous years there was not a similar overarching theme (or if there was, it wasn't as obvious). So I don't think we necessarily have to go with an overall French theme, even if there is interest in a particular French author or authors--this seems to me to be a possibility but not a necessity.

With that said, I personally love the idea of French authors and a French theme. I especially love the idea of 19th century French writers, since I feel underread in this area. Dumas, Hugo, Zola, Balzac, Stendhal, Flaubert... I also like Rebecca's idea of time periods. It would also be interesting to choose a Francophone author from somewhere else, as one of the mini-authors.

Edwin -
Yes, I also liked the more random years as well. Either way the one year long author and the 4 quarterly author format will stay the same.

Rebecca -
Thanks for the additional commentary. That's kind of what I was thinking to if we do the full French year.

Anne -
In general in terms of voting and whatnot I tend to ask for suggestions and recommendations but in the past I've had a general idea of what I've wanted to do so sometimes I'll "overrule" some options or just declare what I think could be fun. It's been successful so far. Unfortunately we're just reaching the point where I'm running out of authors to suggest without doing a repeat of the Japanese year.

The format of one year long author and 4 quarterly authors isn't going to change. It wouldn't be the Author Theme Read groups if that changed. The obvious theme last year only came to be because I decided I wanted to do a Japanese year. In the past there has been a minor theme but it was a bit of a game to figure out what was the connecting link between the authors.

French lit is definitely another domain of mine since I am French myself which is why I'd love to do another year devoted to one type of literature. And since we all seem to be agreeing I think we might just do that. But there is still time to deliberate. We could do an all French mini-authors and do another random full year author. I'll have to look through my stacks of books to see what is appealing.

In the meantime, I've heard people are really wanting to do Zola so we'll definitely throw him in the mix. And I'll come up with what other French authors we might like to see and think about ways to separate them out.

I've not joined in the theme reads very much this year, but would still like to add my support to the French idea, and specifically to Zola - I just bought Germinal on the strength of Rebecca's Zolathon...

I was a French major in college and love reading French literature. I would like to read Zola as well. Just to mix it up a bit I will throw in the name of this year's Nobel Prize winner for Literature.....Mo Yan.

I have a question. I was just roaming around on LT and found that the 75 Book Challenge group has been doing a Steinbeckathon this past year. It's basically the same thing as our main author for the year. The only difference is they've designated each month to a book of choice although it's still obviously okay to deviate from the list.

Would that be of interest to those here or do you guys prefer our method of reading what we want throughout the year as long as it is the author chosen? Or would having a guideline like this maybe help with discussion?

The 75 Books group has LOTS more members than we do. That probably makes it easier for them to have a critical mass for each "book of choice" than it would be for us. I'm not saying it couldn't work here, but I think it would be much more difficult to make it work.

That said, I think it would be interesting to have more discussion. What about designating one book per quarter by the year-long author as a "discussion read," or picking one book by each quarterly author as a "discussion book."
Of course, figuring out how to generate discussion is something I hear about in every group I frequent!

I like the idea of trying to coordinate reading to stimulate discussion. Our small size is a handicap as Rebecca says when it comes to critical mass, but it can be an advantage in terms of flexibility and informality. We are also not shy about following others' leads (for example, I am copying Rebecca's Zolathon), so what I would suggest is that for each author, annual or quarterly, we encourage those who are enthusiastic about that author to share their reading plan. Others can then choose to copy it, or, if they are only planning to read one or two of the books, they can at least opt to read them at the same time as someone else. The Patrick White Anniversary group did this sort of thing this year, as several of us opted to read certain books along with the group leader, and these evolved into group reads.

This approach can be blended with Rebecca's idea of designated "discussion reads." You could either start with the designated reads, then share ideas about scheduling other works, or you could start by sharing reading ideas, and then whenever it looks like two members will be reading the same book in the same quarter, designate it as a "discussion read" to draw others in.

I'm only a lurker but I picked up the first two Rougon-Macquart books after reading reviews from members of this group and, having finished the first and eagerly starting the second, I feel excited like I did as a kid when I found some fantasy author with a long series.

After hearing all the Zola love going on in the many groups due to Rebecca's inspiration, I'd be happy to make our year long author Zola here in this group. I've only read one Zola and considering I technically own the entire series in French -- books my parents have already read become automatically mine when I choose to read them -- it'd be a pleasure to have company to read alongside.

As for discussion I like both suggestions:
1) If two members or more happen to be reading the same book, make that the discussion read
2) Designate one goal target per quarter so at least one book is discussed

I think both can easily be done. Either way I know we'll be discussing Zola all over LT.

I also liked the 1Q84 group read we did at the beginning of the year as it was a longer tome, a newer work, and fit in with the theme.

I guess I better try to hold off on my remaining Zolas for next year -- or start seriously restudying French so I can try to read the ones that haven't been recently translated into English!

I agree that Steven's suggestions are good!

There are only two months till next year so feel free to keep reading!

Which ones are the ones available in English? I know I've seen you post a list of those somewhere.

Most of them are available in English, lilisin, but some are in their original translations, reputed to be heavily bowdlerized. I got the list of books in recent, reputable translation from Steven, so here it is.

The Fortune of the Rougons
The Kill
The Belly of Paris
The Sin of Father Mouret (had to order used copy)
L'assommoir
Nana
Pot-Bouille
The Ladies Paradise
Germinal
The Masterpiece
The Earth
La Reve
The Beast Within
The Debacle

This Wikipedia page gives a list of the Rougon-Macquart series in the order Zola wrote them and in his recommended reading order, as well as the list of recent English translations. Steven gave me that link too.

Just looked through my books....I have five by Zola, have only read one.....I guess I am all in for Zola!!

The Oxford World Classics/recent translations run about 6$ on ereaders. On the kindle there is no cover, which makes distinguishing which book is which impossible - unless you open the book. That's my only beef.

On the kindle there is no cover, which makes distinguishing which book is which impossible - unless you open the book.

I bought four of the Oxford Zola editions for my Kindle and don't have this problem. The titles show up like any other book. Maybe it's because we have different Kindle models. Mine is the "touch."

Fire. : (

I am in for the Zola year as well!

I am new to this group. I will be reading Zola with you for 2013. How about Mo Yan, the Chinese writer (and winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature), for a quarterly read? I am currently reading his novel, Big Breasts and Wide Hips. It is wonderful!

BALE

I'm planning on reading more Mo Yan over the next year whether he's one of our chosen authors or not. This does bring up the question, though, of how we are going to pick our four quarterly authors and is it a final decision that they are all to be French. Should we be making nominations or will lilisin start with recommendations?

You guys are welcome to make nominations for the mini-authors. They don't have to be all French. I'm currently looking into potential authors myself but have yet to come up with some concrete ideas.

I'd be happy to hear what other people are wanting to do.

And welcome Bale to the group!

Welcome Bale! Glad you found us!

So I went through through the remaining authors I'm familiar with and haven't been studied yet in this group but I don't have anything concrete.

In terms of French theme:
Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, and Balzac
- Here you are stuck with three very big authors who wrote many works, the first two having written significant tomes. I'm afraid we'd get stuck with everyone wanting to read Les Miserables or The Count of Monte Cristo. Or with an author like Balzac, with all the options, it might be hard to get people reading the same book. If any of these authors were chosen I feel like we'd have to regulate them a bit more. Also, they might just be better appropriate as year-long authors.

Duras, Maupassant
- These two are less read and I feel could be a good option. I just read a Maupassant to test his writing and it's excellent but in terms of content I think I'd choose Duras. Plus she wrote in a more recent time which could be interesting.

Sartre
- Could be interesting to go there. Read his three famous books at once.

Otherwise I'd have suggested Romain Gary and Patrick Modiano but they aren't available in English. Oh if I could have you guys read Gary that'd be amazing! Only one of his books is translated however and it's hard to find. Alas!

Non-France:
- Kundera is alwas a good option and we haven't studied him yet.
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez is there too but I feel too many have probably already read him.
- I was thinking of suggesting Herbjorg Wassmo but only her Dina's Book is translated and that's just a tome.
- Akira Yoshimura is an author I'm interested in reading more from but since we just had a Japanese theme, I can understand if we skipped him.
- People have suggested the Mo Yan and I'm fine with that if we want to do that.

So as you can see, I'm a little torn as to what to do this year. Any additional thoughts?

In Msg 10 rebeccanyc wrote: I would enjoy getting more an overview of French writing: maybe some pre-19th century writer, a 19th century writer, and two 20th century or contemporary writers.

That sounds like a good approach to me. Here are some names to consider. I'm including playwrights only in the pre-19th century category; the rest are all novelists. I've also excluded authors whose fiction output is limited to single prominent work (e.g. Choderlos de Laclos) as well as Le Clezio whom we've already done.

Pre-19th Century

Pierre Corneille
Moliere
Jean Racine
Voltaire
Denis Diderot

19th Century

Stendhal
Honore de Balzac
Alexandre Dumas
Victor Hugo
George Sand
Gustave Flaubert
Jules Verne
Emile Zola - yearlong
Anatole France
Joris-Karl Huysmans
Guy de Maupassant

20th Century

Andre Gide
Alfred Jarry
Colette
Francois Mauriac
Jean Cocteau
Louis-Ferdinand Celine
Andre Breton
Georges Bataille
Nathalie Sarraute
Andre Malraux
Raymond Queneau
Jean-Paul Sartre
Simone de Beauvoir
Jean Genet
Albert Camus
Claude Simon
Marguerite Duras
Alain Robbe-Grillet
Michel Tournier
Georges Perec
Pascal Quignard
Michel Houellebecq

I've copied these names from a reference work I have. They are in order of date of birth. It looks pretty comprehensive to me, but there may be some significant omissions or more obscure authors worth exploring, especially among more contemporary writers. This isn't to imply either that there has been a final decision on an all-French literature theme, but for those interested you have a list of ideas for starters with touchstones.

#32, 33

That's a great list, Steven, but looking at it the pre-19th century seems a little thin in that a lot of their works aren't available in English. Lilisin, I would be happy to read some less well known authors than Dumas/Hugo/Balzac, and I do like the idea of an all-French theme, as it will encourage me to read other French writers too.

As for non-French, if we do mix it up, I would be happy to read Kundera as it's decades since I read The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I'd be less interested in Garcia Marquez since I've read a lot of his work already, Akira Yoshimura even though I loved Shipwrecks and have another of his books on the TBR since we have just had a Japanese year, and Mo Yan even though I'm about to finish one of his books and will probably read more because we're doing a China and surrounding countries theme in Reading Globally right now. Never heard of Herbjorg Wassmo, but see that only one book has been translated into English as you said.

Going back to Steven's list, I'm particularly interested in reading Stendhal, but I can always do that on my own, and would enjoy being introduced to less familiar authors. Maybe since we're reading Zola as a year-long author we could have one other 19th century writer and three 20th/21st century ones. Or two and two.

I like Houellebecq, Duras, and Robbe-Grillet as choices for sub-authors.

#32:

I agree that the size of Hugo's and Dumas's novels is a major drawback. Most of us could manage only one in a quarter.

Of Balzac's huge oeuvre there aren't that many widely available in modern English translation--fewer than 10 novels probably--so having too wide a selection might not be such a problem.

I like Duras, and she would be a great choice (although not for me personally as I've read most of her novels already). And it should be noted that this group hasn't featured a female author since Virginia Woolf in 2009. She also represents the Nouveau Roman movement (though not as well as Robbe-Grillet who defined it).

I've never read Maupassant and would definitely like to, but wouldn't he be awfully similar to Zola whom we'd be reading at the same time?

I had been thinking we definitely aught to include either Sartre or Camus to represent the Existentialists. What are his "three famous books" you mention? Is this the trilogy beginning with The Age of Reason? This was very big in the 1960s when I was in college, but you don't hear much about it any more.

If we do a year-long focus on French writers then we can have a separate thread for French literature in general, including those authors like Romain Gary and whose works in translation are limited. (I have a copy of his Promise at Dawn, but I believe it's a memoir, not a novel.)

I like Kundera as a future choice, if not this year. (Actually he lives in France and has written his most recent novels in French, so he could be deemed a French author.)

#34:

Yes, the pre-19th century pickings are rather slim. Moliere has the widest selection in translation, but they are all plays. With Diderot and Voltaire you have a couple of well-known novels each, then the rest is mostly philosophical works and dialogues.

I fully agree with the rest of your comments about Kundera, etc. I've read both of Stendhal's major novels and highly recommend them.

#35:

Houellebecq is probably a good representative of contemporary French writing. However we'd need a caution for some American readers about the pervasive and uninhibited sex. (saying this tongue-in-cheek, of course)

As I noted earlier, both Duras and Robbe-Grillet represent the same school, so we might want to read one or the other but not both. If we don't do Duras then, to ensure that we have at least one female writer reseprented, I would suggest Colette. She represents an earlier period but, like Duras, she wrote a large number of short and readable novels that are widely available in translation.

Of the remaining authors on the list we haven't mentioned the one that interests me most would probably be Andre Gide.

I like the idea of an all-French year--as Stephen's post shows, there are certainly plenty of authors to choose from, including several Nobelists (Claude Simon, Francois Mauriac, Andre Gide, Anatole France, Sartre, Le Clezio, and also Roger Martin du Gard whose tome Lieutenant-Colonel de Maumort I intend to read next year). I'd also be interested in Balzac, de Maupassant and Celine.

Even though I didn't participate much this year, I did follow along, and I think reading several authors from one country added an extra dimension to each of the authors. Which is why I'd like to continue the concept of one country/several authors each year.

Just wanted to pop in and say that I'm interested in joining in for next year. I'm excited about Zola as a year long author and willing to try any of the others mentioned. I am particularly interested in the women authors mentioned, Duras and Colette, and would also be interested in Camus. I like the idea of a French theme, but will participate in whatever is picked. Interested to see what the final choices will be!

I probably won't participate in a year long Zola read, as I would prefer to make a dent in my ever growing pile of unread books rather than buy new ones for group reads. However, I do own a good number of books by French authors that I've been meaning to get to, especially the existentialists (Sartre, Camus, de Beauvoir) and J.M.G. Le Clézio.

I also own several unread books by Francophone authors, including Georges Simenon, Dany Laferrière, Patrick Chamoiseau, Assia Djebar, Boualem Sansal and others.

Hi, I love the idea of a year long Zola read, I've only read one book of his and that was a long time ago. It would be good to read French Literature and get to know some of the writer's I've somehow missed. I'd be really interested in de Maupassant, Colette, Camus, de Beauviour and Houellebecq.

André Schwarz-Bart might be another twentieth century French author to consider.

36 -
I was indeed thinking of the Age of Reason trilogy for Sartre.
And like we did for the Japanese theme read this year I would definitely include a general thread for all French authors outside of the ones chosen.

For the mini-authors, I'm liking the idea of:
Duras
Sartre
Colette
Celine

I think those would present an interesting mix. Any other author could be a good replacement if people aren't interested in one of those four.

In addition, would anybody be interested in doing a group read of one of Dumas or Hugo's books just like we did with 1Q84? That way we can get one of the big tomes read but not worry about reading only tomes all year. It'd be fun to do one of the less obvious works (as in, not Les Miserables or The Count of Monte-Cristo).

I was indeed thinking of the Age of Reason trilogy for Camus.

You meant Sartre, of course, as you said in your original post. And should the mini-author you are proposing be Sartre instead of Camus as well? (Either one is fine with me.)

For a Dumas/Hugo group read my preference would be Notre Dame de Paris (aka Hunchback), as it's the most prominent work by either man that I haven't already read. Did you have something else in mind?

Thanks for pointing out my mistake. I've edited my entry.

I was thinking even more unknown for Hugo. Two years ago I read his The Man Who Laughs and it is unlike any other Hugo I've read. It was dark and gloomy so I thought it'd be interesting for people to see that side of Hugo.

That or Toilers of the Sea or Ninety-three which I haven't read but are on my list.

For Dumas, I highly recommend Queen Margot which goes away from The Count or The Three Musketeers.

I'm coming in a bit late here, but if suggestions are still welcome, I'd like to second Sassy's recommendation of André Schwartz-Bart as a mini-author. He wrote just a few books of which only a handful are available in English, but our being limited to this number might facilitate a more intensive discussion. Also, a 20th century author I haven't seen mentioned is Marguerite Yourcenar -- I suggest her as a mini-author.

I'm coming in even later than deebee1! But would like to echo her endorsement of Sassy's recommendation for Andre Schwartz-Bart as one of the 'mini-authors'.

I was unfamiliar with Andre Schwartz-Bart, but it seems only two of his novels are available in English.

I'm a lurking, thinking of joining this group next year.
But what about Marcel Proust?

How about the french author, Georges Perec for a mini read? E.G., Life A User's Manual

I think it's getting to be that time to make final decisions since I'd like for people to know with plenty of advance what we are going to read for next year. That way members can start planning and creating wishlists.

Below is a poll with several questions. The first is a list of potential authors for the mini-authors category. Please only choose the 4 authors that you'd like to see. The following 3 questions are on whether or not we'd like to do one group read at the beginning of the year like we did with 1Q84.

http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/571011

This will be a good way to see what everyone wants. However, some authors are similar so depending on the results I reserve the right to make some switches at the end if I feel it's beneficial to the group. (I've done this in the past with success so hopefully there is still no dislike of me doing this.)

Deadline on the poll is simply when I feel like we've gotten a good response and that responses have slown down.

If there are any issues with the poll (these things usually have issues), let me know right away so I can fix them. Hopefully it works out though. Once again the link is:

http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/571011

The authors are neck and neck so I'm going to wait a little bit more to see if any more voters pop in. I'm going to try to have the final cut set for the beginning of December though. I'm sure we're all getting tired of all the nomination/voting sessions happening across our LT groups.

Hi Folks,

My own reading programme for next year will include Rabelais, Ronsard and Montaigne and so I will be lurking on this thread to catch what you are all reading.

I like to have a centenarian to read and next year celebrates the 100 year birthday of Albert Camus

I just voted; I was away from the computer what with traveling for the holiday here in the US.

Thanks for setting this all up, lilisin, again this year! I enjoy this group very much.

You're welcome. It's my pleasure to run this group.

We still have a month in 2012 though so don't forget to keep reading. We still have more Mishima and Endo to read if we can!

#52 I like to have a centenarian to read and next year celebrates the 100 year birthday of Albert Camus.

That's a great idea, and I'd like to join in. It also reminds me that we had talked elsewhere about doing something similar with Mo Yan. Where do we find a home for these discussions? Camus here in ATR and Mo in Reading Globally? Or do we set up separate new groups for each modeled on this year's Patrick White group? I think I prefer separate groups because it's handier to have a separate discussion thread for each major work.

#54 I am hoping to read more Endo in December; I have Scandal and When I Whistle waiting on the TBR. Probably no more Mishima for me, at least not this year.

#55 I like the idea of them being separate groups, because I think it's too complicated to add a non-theme reader to a theme-based group like this one or Reading Globally. Or we could do them in Club Read.

The only thing we could do in this group to fit in with the formatting would be to add a second year-long author. Although Mo Yan wouldn't fit in this year, Camus would, but I'm not sure about adding a second focus author.

And this group isn't always about themes. Who knows? Maybe 2014 will be all random people.

By the way, I just realized 2013 will be our fifth year of theme reads. Exciting!

I love the idea of reading Camus in 2013. I have several of his books that I haven't gotten to yet, so count me in for that.

Since the idea of a Mo Yan thread or group originated in Reading Globally, I've reported back to that group from ATR that the consensus here is to create a distinct group.

Voting is still happening at 18 people so I'm going to wait till this weekend before I start veering to making a final decision. For those just reporting in, the poll is at:

http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/571011

We're getting close! I'm excited.

Per our discussion above, I have now created a new group titled Read Mo Yan. There is no specific reading agenda or time frame at this point, just an open forum for discussion, but suggestions for group reads are welcome.

Barry, are you going to create an Albert Camus group? I had the impression you created the Patrick White group, but I see now that it was some else who isn't a member here. If you don't want to do it, I can now that I've cut my teeth on Mo. (ETA - As I was posting this, Barry was bringing up the same topic on his Club Read thread, so the discussion of a Camus group will take place over there.)

I'm calling the end of the voting session since we have now hit December. Time to start placing books on Christmas wishlists.

We had 19 voters and the highest tallies went to:
Stendhal - 7
Guy de Maupassant - 8
Simone de Beauvoir - 8
Honore de Balzac - 11

I think it's a good selection BUT! I'm going to replace Stendhal with Marguerite Duras (at 6 votes). (Feminine voice, frequent author of things outside of France, more contemporary time period) So our final selection will be:

Main Author:
Emile Zola (1840-1902)

Mini-Authors:
Honore de Balzac (1790-1840)
Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893)
Marguerite Duras (1914-1996)
Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)

In that order.

We also had 16 votes versus 3 who wanted to read a tome at the beginning of the year. Hugo was preferred, tied for tome versus obscure work.
I'm suggesting Toilers of the Sea or The Man Who Laughs. I love Les Miserables and recommend it to all but I'm thinking that's not the book to tackle at the beginning of this year. It's typical, expected.

Anyway, thoughts?
(The main/mini-author selection is final unless there is a lot of hoopla and protest.)

Sounds great! I was one of the Stendahl voters, but I've been inspired to read The Red and the Black which has been sitting on my shelves for decades anyway. So this sounds like fun!

ETA I vote for The Toilers of the Sea, as it seems to have a relatively modern English translation, unlike The Man Who Laughs.

Great! 2013 is shaping up to be agreat reading year! Thanks lilisin!

Toilers of the Sea gets my vote.

An excellent selection. I'm especially glad that Duras made the final list. I will vote for The Toilers of the Sea as well.

Good selection, I don't mind either of the Victor Hugo books

I will vote for Toilers as well, and I'm excited about all the mini-author selections (and the main author too). I voted for Stendahl too, but I can read him on the side.

Sounds great! I'm in!

Declaring Toilers of the Sea to be our group read starting January 1st!

Thinking ahead to the next quarter, what Marguerite Duras novels do you all recommend?

#70 - Of course The Lover is a must. I enjoyed two of her earlier novels, The Ravishing of Lol Stein and its semi-sequel The Vice-Consul, both of which are good examples of the nouveau roman style. I can also recommend the collection Four Novels. Of the four novellas in that volume, Moderato Cantabile was my favorite.

I've also read two of Duras' lesser works, Malady of Death and Destroy, She Said. The latter is an allegorical work with a very radical political message.

I was lucky to run into a large assortment of Duras' other works at a used book store a few months ago, so I'll be taking them in publication order starting with The Sea Wall.

Thanks, Steven! Very helpful!