Scroll down past the organizational preliminaries to discuss Dickens’s novel. Warning! Probable spoilers starting around comment #50.
There’s an online version of the text at Bibliomania.
Reading schedule as of October 31 (may be revised later):
Tues. Nov 1st: chapters 1 and 2
Wed. Nov 2nd: chapters 3 and 4
Thurs. Nov 3rd: chapters 5 and 6
Frid. Nov 4th: chapters 7 and 8
Sat. Nov 5th: chapters 9 and 10
Sun. Nov 6th: chapters 11 and 12
Mon. Nov. 7th: chapters 13 and 14
Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! I’m about to hyperventilate, I’m so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t believe the MAP’s are really going to let us do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is so exciting!!!!!!!!
Okay, first step, picking the book. It needs to be something that we can all understand, all enjoy, andyet not be babyish. Does anyone object to Charles Dickens? I know he’s lone, but if we read 20 pages a day it will only take a little over a month, and we can handle that!!! If anyoen has any other ideas, post them!!!!
yeah!!!!!!! The thing is what book we are going to pick. I suggest we pick one of these books-
Charles Dickens (author)
Lois Duncan (author)- wrote I know what you did last summer
Moby Dick
The Sea of Trolls
The Lord of the Rings
The Prophecy of the Stones
Peter and the Starcatchers
The Call of the Wild
Eragon and Eldest
The Great Tree of Avalon
or… any other really long book! (over 300 pages)
Any one else?
has any body here read Warriors of the Way?(800 pages) it kinda doesnt make sense, but i liked it.
Isaac Asimov?
THE BELGARIAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t want to do The Call of the Wild. I’ve read it before and didn’t like it. I think most people have probably read LoTR, so I’m sticking with Charles Dickens as my choice.
Dickens works! what book are we doing first?
*coughTaleofTwoCitiescough*
i love that book.
omg kricket u read peter and the starcatchers? that makes exactly 3 people i know of who actually read that!
for later books MARK TWAIN people come on how can you forget him? he’s hilarious! (connecticut yankee in king arthur’s court!!!)
yeah kricket’s list is good. and dickens rocks. so what are we gonna do first?
How about the Wind Singer by William Nicholson? I think everyone would like it and it isn’t too young/old for anyone. What is our age range here anyways? are we about 11-16? this isn’t including adults by the way. Another idea is The Giver by Lois Lowry. It is a really great book.
I can’t do Tale of Two Cities, becausee my library doesn’t have it. I can do almost any other book of his, though. We just need to decide by tomorrow, so I can pick it up while I’m at my class and start reading it while I’m out of town. We also need to decide at what rate we’re going to read it. A chapter a day, unless the chapter’s under 10 pages seems appropriate to me.
let’s do the belgariad after the first one cuz my library is ordering it (yay!) but it’s not here yet.
ok so far
Wind Singer
the Giver
Charles Dickens
Isaac Asimov
Warriors of the Way
Lois Duncan
Moby Dick
The Sea of Trolls
The Lord of the Rings
The Prophecy of the Stones
Peter and the Starcatchers
The Call of the Wild
Eragon/Eldest
The Great Tree of Avalon
that’s a lot of books…maybe we should start like top 5 or something and then vote…
i vote dickens (any dickens), call of the wild, the giver, wind singer, or moby dick. i think we’ve mostly all read lotr and eragon, and i want to wait for the belgariad to come to the library. (plz! plz!)
i vote-
dickens *coughdavidcopperfieldcough*
Lois Duncan (any book preferably I know what you did last Summer.)
Moby Dick
The Prophecy of the Stones
Wind Singer
I don’t think my library has The Belgariad…
Ooh, did I hear Isaac Asimov? I vote for:
Isaac Asimov
Anything Dickens
Emily Dickinson? (Hey you can discuss poetry.)
Ray Bradbury
And pretty much anything else, except Eragon, because most of us have read that already.
This is a strange comment, but has anyone read Flowers for Algernon ? It was…strange. I liked it though.
Now I really want to read the Belgariad….
LOIS DUNCAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lawsuit against Eragon for plagerism:
Judge: Hear ye. the book Eragon, and, in extension, Christopher Paolini, the author, have been charged with plagerism against the Belgariad.
Attorney Phoenix: Your Honor, may I present my case?
Judge: let the testimony of the prosecution be heard.
Attorney Phoenix: thank you Your Honor. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, on April tenth, two-thousand-five, eight-forty-five in the evening, my client was reading the novel Eragon. she found many incredibly plageristic qualities therein. I call Tree Singing to the stand.
Judge: Do you solomnly swear to tell the whole truth, all the truth, and nothing but thew truth?
Tree Singing: I do.
Attorney Phoenix: Tree Singing, you found plageristic qualities in the aforementioned book, did you not?
Tree Singing: I did.
Attorney Phoenix: which, specifically, qualities and details did you find plageristic?
Tree Singing: Several. Many of the charecters resemble those in the Belgariad, as well as, but to a lesser degree, names.
Attorney Phoenix: would it be possible to reproduce these plageristic qualities without reading the Belgariad?
Tree Singing: no. maybe if one or two were used individualy, it could be mere coincidence, but used all together, as these were, it would be virtualy impossible.
Attorney Phoenix: such as?
Tree Singing: well, Eragon, the main charecter, has the same personality as Garion of the Belgariad. Also, he has the same white mark on his hand, from touching a similar object. He also has the same history. It is obvious plagerism!
Attorney Phoenix: thank you, Tree Singing. You may step down. I call Saphira to the stand!
Judge: do you solomnly swear to tell the whole truth, all the truth, and nothing but the truth?
Saphira: *nods*
Attorney Phoenix: Saphira, please describe the egg from which you hatched.
Saphira: well, it was big, round, and blue, with a shiny sheen. It looked like a stone, and it seemed to glow, or at least that’s what I’m told.
Attorney Phoenix: by whom were you told?
Saphira: well, by Eragon, and Arya, my guardian.
Attorney Phoenix: do you trust thier testimony on this?
Saphira: completely.
Attorney: thank you, Saphira. You may step down. I now call Arya the Elf to the stand!
Judge: do you solomnly swear to tell the whole truth, all the truth, and nothing but the truth?
Arya: I do.
Attorney Phoenix: do you agree with Saphira’s description of her egg?
Arya: I do.
Attorney Phoenix: Are you quite sure?
Arya: yes.
Attorney Phoenix: thank you. you may step down. I call Eragon to the stand!
Judge:do you solomnly swear to tell the whole truth, all the truth, and nothing but the truth?
Eragon: yes.
Attourney Phoenix: Eragon, do you agree with this description?
Eragon: I do.
Attourney Phoenix: Eragon, please hold up your right hand.
Eragon: *hold up hand, showing white mark*
Attourney Phoenix: Mr. Eragon, please tell the jury how you got this mark.
Eragon: I got it when I touched Saphira at her birth.
Attourney Phoenix: thank you. you may step down. I call Belgarion of Riva to the stand!
Judge: do you solomnly swear to tell the whole truth, all the truth, and nothing but the truth?
Garion: yes.
Attourney Phoenix: Mr. Belgarion, please hold up your right hand.
Garion: *holds up hand, showing white mark. Jury gasps*
Attourney Phoenix: Mr. Belgarion, how did you get this mark?
Garion: by touching the Orb of Aldur at birth.
Attourney Phoenix: I see. Will you please describe the appearance of the aforesaid Orb of Aldur?
Garion:it was big, round, and blue, with a shiny sheen. It looked like a stone, and it glowed a bit.
Attourney Phoenix: It looked oddly like Saphira’s egg, correct?
Garion: yes!
Attourney Phoenix: your witness.
Have to go! to be continiued!
All five of my votes are giong for Dickens. I’m fien reading anything of his, except David Copperfield and Great Expectations (I’ve already read those) and Talt of Two Cities, which I can’t get. Everything else by Dickens is fine. I think we should pick something we haven’t read before. My picks are: The Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby, and Hard Times. Anyone have a problem with that?
omg the pickwick papers is soo good!!
what about nicholas nickleby? i have that but i’ve never read it. i guess i vote that then.
Oliver Twist! yaaaaay!
ok wait are we all agreed on something dickens? say nay if you’ve got an issue cuz we have to figure this out somehow.
I’ve read OT. Let’s all do Nickolas Nickleby. If you don’t want to do that book, say something, because I’m kind of taking charge. How long should we give people to get the book? I think we should start reading it on Tuesday, going at a rate of two chapters a day, and discussing them as we go. If you don’t want to do this book you really need to say something soon, because I’m going to be in town tomorrow and if no one says anyhting I’ll pick it up then and start reading it while I’m gone. If anyone objects to any of this, let us know!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One of the Tamora Pierce books, “Wild Magic,” is very good and appropriate. It’s one of the less popular books by her.
Wild magic is ok, but I like Cold Fire and Shatterglass myself. Street Magic is also good.
Oh yeah… and Aly ROCKS! and a “lump” is a very accurate way to describe Kel.
MG can’t read magical fantasy. It sounds as if Dickens is the popular choice.
Axa (#12), I read Flowers for Algernon when I was 10 and thought it was the saddest story I’d read. The novel was based on a short story, which I think is better because it’s more concentrated. There’s also very good stage version, which my high school performed for the school play when I was a freshman, and a movie.
Does that mean you object to Charles Dickens, Phoebe? I think a lot of people want to do him, so we’ll probably do him, unless someone actually has a problem with him, which I’m hoping no one does. If I’m seeming kind of bossy, please tell me. I’m just trying to get this thing going, which I don’t think will happen unless someone starts taking the leadershi position. Tell me if you don’t like it.
No, I have no problem with Charles Dickens. I was just putting it out there, so don’t get testy with me. Charles Dickens did Secret Garden, didn’t he? Let’s just start with that, nice and easy to get your hands on.
ok peoples let’s do nicholas nickleby!! agreed?
Whats Nicholas Nickelby?! Gahhh!
You can even read it online if you like, at Bibliomania.
We’ll do Nicholas Nickleby. How about we give people until Tuesday to get a copy of it? We’ll start reading it then, reading chapters one and two on Tuesday, three and four on Wednesday, five and six on Thursday, and so on. We’ll got online after each day’s reading and talk about the book: what characters we like, what charaters we can not stand, what parts made us mad, what parts made us cheer, what we were screqaming at the characters, etc. Even if you can not get online to discuss the book, read the chapter for that day, so when you can get on you’ll be caught up with the rest of us. I repeat, if anyone has a problem with Dickens, speak now or forever hold your peace, because I’m ging to get it tomorrow, adn then I’m boing out of town to where there’s no internet, so I need to know if we’re not doing this book. If you don’t like the schedule I have set up, SAY SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!! Don’t suffer in silence, we want everyone to enjoy this!!!! If you thik I’m ordering everyone around too much, SAYSOMETHING!!!!!!!!!! I don’t have to be the leader!!!
P.S. No, Charles Dickens did not do The Secret Garden. Nicholas Nickleby is a really long book, so say something if you don’t want to commit to that long of a reading project.
But what is Nicholas Nickelby?!
I did read the short story version, of Flowers for Algernon, and I was really touched. People shouldn’t mess wiht how a person is.
I’m fine with whatever book we’re doing! Yay! Though I say we should do poetry next. Possibly.
Anyone who is curious about it may click here to find out more (warning! contains spoilers!).
It’s a book by Charles Dickens about, what else, some dude named Nicholas Nickleby and his family and life. Ask your librarian if you want to know more.
OoOoOog…. Poetry…so… corny in most books…
righty ho, cu all on tuesday!
a really good but depressing book: Ender’s Game. A really good but strange story: The Woman who Loved Pigs. A really good but majorly sad story: Penance. A very strange series, period: His Dark Materials.MontgomoryGurl, you don’t want to read this one. It was assigned reading by my school, by someone who had obviously never read it. It is sorta hard to understand, but in the end God dies. Not the sort of thing they usually assign in a yeshiva!
omg his dark materials….the first one rocked. totally. but then it went downhill from there. the last two are kind of interesting though. i dunno, i like reading strange ideas, even if i don’t agree with them (or sometimes because i don’t agree with them. something new y’know?) but yeah it was pretty weird.
hey why isn’t all this on the books+movies thing anyway??
I mean, actual poetry. I agree, the ryhming poems in books are annoying.
ok. so we’re doing Nicholas Nickelby? All this talk about other books is making me confused… what one are we actually doing?
We are doing Nicholas Nickleby. Apperently all the other MuseBloggers have forgotten that there is a “Books and Movies” thread *hinthint* I tihnk everyone should go to that thread to talk about random books tht we won’t be reading, yet. Try not to talk about books we can read after this one until the time comes.
I was just thinking, it will take us a month to finish this book, and by that time the thread will be at the bottom of the page. If we keep on doing it, we will eventually evd up on some “Previous Posts” page, which wouldn’t matter except that then no new people, or people who just decided to sit this round out, will join. Maybe at the end fo every book Robert could launch a seperate thread for the new one? We could all decide on it before hand, in the old thread, and the he could put the title of the book in the new thread’s name, and more people would check it out. Of course, this is pretty far in the future, so maybe I’ll mention it in a few weeks.
Oh, and Robert, you might should add a spoiler warning to the top of the page, because we will be talking about what goes on in the book. You might could wait until we get going, or it could be a “may eventually contain spoilers” warning. Just a thought.
Your wish is our command. It might be a good idea to post a preliminary schedule for starting the book and reading chapters so newcomers will be able to keep up to date. We can always revise it later. Dates, please?
I thinkwe sould start it tomorrow, and read at a rate of two chapters every day. If someone can’t start it tomorrow, we can begin later.
Tues. Nov 1st: chapters 1 and 2
Wed. Nov 2nd: chapters 3 and 4
Thurs Nov 3rd: chapters 5 and 6
Frid. Nov 4th: chapters 7 and 8
Sat. Nov 5th: chapters 9 and 10
Sun. Nov 6th: chapters 11 and 12
Mon. Nov. 7th: chapters 13 and 14
And so on. This isn’t set in stone, adn if you can’t start it tomorrow say something!!! We should probably take thanksgiving weekend off, or only read a chapter or two for the whole weekend. We’ll get a clearer idea as time goes on.
Arg, I’m dying over here!!!! I just got the book, adn it’s just sitting in my room, begging to be picked up!!!!!!!!!! I’ll read it early tomorrow and post what I thik before I leave for my speech conference. Try to give some specifics abouit what you liked, what you hated, what made you sream at the charaters, what you were sreaming, who you would strangle if they were a real person, etc. You probably shouldn’t check into this thread until you’ve read the part of the book for the day. See you all tomorrow, or, if I won’t see you you’ll see me. Have fun with the book!!!
wow they’re really short chapters aren’t they?
yeah i was sorta flipping through
oh vell.
i’ll probably read tonight because it’s lurking around and the temptation is…
temptation: MWAHAHA!!! just look at my strength!!! *smash* yes that was solid stone!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!
yeah anyhoo. i’ll be on during study hall tomarrow then if anybody can get on after lunch (around 1:15 ish…ohioan time whatever time zone we’re in…)
Wait!!!!! oh no never mind… I have to get it from the library tommorow… But I read fast so I’ll have the first two chapters done in no time! If I can’t get it tommorow I’ll let you people know!!
If you can’t get it right on time you can always read the first two chapters online by following the link Robert posted. I understand not wanting to read the whole thing that way, but his would just be two chapters.
or you could print it all out and get the book for free! heehee. my dad did that w/an out of print book. it was a present for my grandma…
I might not be on here every day for this cuz i might miss some days because of stuff going on so if i know i’m not going to get something read should i read ahead or wait and catch up? cuz reading ahead might be a problem w/the discussion…
anyhoo just wondering…
You should read the assigned reading for everyday, whether or not you can get on to discuss it. Don’t read ahead, just what you ahould for that day, and don’t worry about discussing it if you can’t. Just keep on reading what you should, and when you can get on, you’ll be in the right place in the book to discuss it with us.
no i mean if i can’t read…
Hmm, if you can’t read you should probably go back to first grade.
Seriously, you should probably read ahead, but just not talk about it untill we get to it. Maybe you should read the part for the day we’re on, post, and then go back and read the next days and talk about that the next day. However, I think you can almost always read those two chapters!!! You should only read ahead when absoutely necessary.
Awright I’m reading it online on the Bibliomania site.
I’ll try to get it today… toodles!!
I just read today’s chapters!!! In case you’re confused about it, the book opens with our hero’s grandfather and his wife. Their son Nicholas is our hero’s father, and their son Rlaph is our hero’s uncle, that our hero and his family have to go live with after his father dies. Just to clear that up. If you didn’t get what the scene with the muffins was all about, what was happening was that the owners of a muffin company were trying to make muffins seem wonderful, and act like the masses were deprived of them, adn that all the other muffin people were horrible, and they were planning on introducing a bill that would give them a monopoly on the muffin industry, and thereby their stock would soar. People actually do that kind of stuff, and Charles DIcknes was showing off how silly it was by placing it in the context of something so trivial as muffins.
Now, on to business. So far, the book has been pretty funny, in the Charles Dickens way. That sarcasm and way of not saying what he means, but beating around the bush, are hilarious. I loved Nickolas’ (our hero Nickolas) father. He was so stupid and kind, I was sad he died so early. Nickolas’ uncle Rlaph scares me. At first he was kind of funny, but when he was still money hungry after growing up, I think I hate him. I thik I will like Nicholas’ mother, she seems pretty silly and over the top. It will be fun to read about her, when I’m not furious at her for being so silly!!!!!!!!!
That’s all I have to say for now, as the book goes on there will be more to comment on. I probably won’t be able to check in for a while, but make sure you keep on talking about it. See you guys Saturday night!!!!
crumpets…muffins…brill dickens, brill *applause* this is gonna be good! still laughing about that…
what i’m wondering though is which nicholas the book is named after. I mean it’s called nicholas nickleyby but there’s 3 of them! it’s probably not the first one..the one that died. it’s probably the youngest one. but still…
Ralph is…interesting. kinda funny in a way…but yeah i’ll probably spend a lot of time shouting at the book about him…
seems like a great book though! can’t wait can’t wait can’t wait!
aaah! typo alert! typo alert!!!
yeah i meant nicholas nickleby not nickleyby.
ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! Must not read comments!!!!!!! I didn’t get it yet so I’ll read chapters 1-4 tommorow… ACK!! SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!
wow. that is a cool name. Wackford Squeer. gotta love that!
wackford squeer wackford squeer wackfordsqueer wackfordsqueerwackfordsqueerwackfordsqueerwackford
squeerwackfordsqueerwackfordsqueerwackfordsqueer
wackfordsqueerwackfordsqueerwackfordsqueerwackford
squeerwackfordsqueerwackfordsqueerwackfordsqueer
wackfordsqueerwackfordsqueerwackfordsqueerwackford
squeerwackfordsqueerwackfordsqueerwackfordsqueer
Didn’t read it.
Don’t know what it’s like.
Read two words.
Liked it.
Going to throw a fit.
Go it.
Read it.
Is intresting
Gotta love it.
Yay for the WAGEN MOORS AND THE LIDNUR JUMPSIDERS!!!
Whatever those are.
okay, admit it. David Copperfield is booooorrrrriiiiinnnnnnnngggg!
It is not!!!!!!!!! That is one of my all time favorite books!!!!!!! It had a ton of action in it, and there was humor galore!!!!!!!!!! I laughed so hard at it!!!!!!!!! If you thought it was boring, you probably missed all the sarcasm, irony, satire, and other funny stuff. It was hysterical and thrilling.
never read it. tale of 2 cities is my fav, then pickwick papers, and on and on….
we’re watching OT in history…
I haven’t kept up w/this reading stuff. gonna have to get reading tonight…
okay, so what page does all that “exciting” stuf happen on?
Hmm… You underestimate my reading skill. I haven’t read it, but the fact remains that I COULD. Oh well, I don’t feel like it. Do a Tamora Pierce book and I shall be happy. In fact, do any fantasy book (preferably involving magic, sword/knife/staff/bow/etc. fighting, dragons, or a combination of those three things) and I shall be happy.
But Nicholas Nickelby is not fantasy.
Which doesn’t mean that it’s bad. It just means that I am far less likely to enjoy it.
Which means that I’m putting this comment in and possibly joining in for real next time.
Yes. I know. I’m weird.
Tamora Pierce!!!!!!!! yeah!!!!!!!!! ya know there’s a new book out by her… I think Barnes and Noble has it… anyways she’s an excellent author!!!!!! The Circle of Magic books are really good!!! fantasy is my type of book. That’s why I think David Copperfield and NN is booooorrrriiiinnngggg!!!!!!!!!! fantasy books rock on!!!! We should have an online book club for fantasy and one for realistic fiction and all that. please!!!!!!!
hey I like fantasy and historical/realistic fiction. am i the only one? come on guys!! fantasy’s another version of sci-fi, and sci-fi sometimes turns real. so maybe magic isn’t real but maybe we can build technology that would have the same effect as the magic which would make it all realistic fiction anyway!!!
besides it’s all good. I haven’t read david copperfield and i haven’t finished nn but nobody can say that OT or two cities is boring! If they did I would tell them to go back and read it again cuz they definitely missed something.
and nn? you didn’t like the muffins? that was hilarious!! come on guys…fantasy isn’t the only good stuff out there…
btw we should be at chapter 28 right? i’m not even close. i have to catch up majorly big time absolutely.
i’m sorry! it’s not my fault! I have no life right now! you want proof? It’s 10:46 on a sunday. see me? here? right here? awake? yeah you think that’s bad i was up waaay earlier this morning. why am i up? I’M DOING MY HW!!! how sad is that?? I HAVE NO TIME!!!!!
*pantpant* ok sry for the rant people. i will catch up soon.