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CHOOSE BOOK This poll is closed. |
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| The Battle Cry of Freedom |
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1 | 11.11% |
| Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas |
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3 | 33.33% |
| Disgrace |
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4 | 44.44% |
| The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks |
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1 | 11.11% |
| King Leopold's Ghost |
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0 | 0% |
| Total: | 8 votes | ||
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Ok, here are the poll options for next month's book of the month. Vote early, vote often! You can vote for more than one book if you want. You can vote for a book you've already read if you want. As always, though, please only vote if you plan on actually participating in the discussion. Doesn't have to be a witty or brilliant comment or anything, "this book was too loving long" or whatever is fine, just please if you vote for a book think of it as making some minimal commitment to actually participate in next month's thread if that book is selected. Thanks! 1) Battle Cry of Freedom This is on the list because the confederate flag is back in the news. quote:Published in 1988 to universal acclaim, this single-volume treatment of the Civil War quickly became recognized as the new standard in its field. James M. McPherson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for this book, impressively combines a brisk writing style with an admirable thoroughness. He covers the military aspects of the war in all of the necessary detail, and also provides a helpful framework describing the complex economic, political, and social forces behind the conflict. Perhaps more than any other book, this one belongs on the bookshelf of every Civil War buff. http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Cry-Freedom-The-Civil/dp/0195038630 2) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas This is on the list as the "fun" choice. quote:Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream is a novel by Hunter S. Thompson, illustrated by Ralph Steadman. The book is a roman à clef, rooted in autobiographical incidents. The story follows its protagonist, Raoul Duke, and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, as they descend on Las Vegas to chase the American Dream through a drug-induced haze, all the while ruminating on the failure of the 1960s countercultural movement. The work is Thompson's most famous, and is noted for its lurid descriptions of illegal drug use, its early retrospective on the culture of the 1960s, and its popularization of Thompson's highly-subjective blend of fact and fiction that has become known as gonzo journalism. The novel first appeared as a two-part series in Rolling Stone magazine in 1971, was published as a book in 1972, and was later adapted into a film of the same name in 1998 by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro who portrayed Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, respectively. 3) Disgrace by Coetzee This is on the list as the "literary" choice quote:Disgrace is a novel by J. M. Coetzee, published in 1999. It won the Booker Prize. The writer was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature four years after its publication. quote:J.M Coetzee’s “Disgrace” is about a lot of things, but at its heart it is an anatomy of racial hierarchy change in contemporary South Africa. A very quiet side note to this is its analysis of man’s disgraceful treatment of animals. “Disgrace” is a pitiless and errorless book about the condition of the human experience at the end of the twentieth century; while not altogether without hope, the book and its title is a condemnation of the basic state of modern humanity. bookcritics.org/blog/archive/In_Retrospect_Disgrace_Coetzees_Masterpiece 4) Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks This is the science and ethics choice quote:Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta's cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can't afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew. http://www.amazon.com/The-Immortal-Life-Henrietta-Lacks/dp/1400052181 5) King Leopold's Ghost This one kinda speaks for itself quote:King Leopold's Ghost (1998) is a best-selling popular history book by Adam Hochschild that explores the exploitation of the Congo Free State by King Leopold II of Belgium between 1885 and 1908, as well as the atrocities that were committed during that period.[1] In doing so, the book aimed to increase public awareness of these Belgian colonial crimes,[citation needed] successfully as it turned out.[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Leopold's_Ghost Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 05:37 on Jun 30, 2015 |
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Jun 28, 2015 04:53
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ok I'm pretty sure we have more than four people here who read books
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Jun 29, 2015 18:10
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Its a split between already read and don't wanna read for me 
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Jun 29, 2015 18:50
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Mel Mudkiper posted:Its a split between already read and don't wanna read for me If you read something and want to discuss it, you should vote for it.
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Jun 29, 2015 23:33
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Yes! If you've already read something you can vote for it so long as you're willing to post about it.
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Jun 30, 2015 01:44
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Arg, sorry for being slack and not getting a thread up, but nothing got even five votes, so I think I'm going to declare a one-month hiatus in the formal BotM due to lack of interest. If people want to do something informally that's fine, or if anyone wants to suggest options for next month that might get a little more readership, that's good too.
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Jul 7, 2015 04:03
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On mobile so can't vote but The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a fantastic read. It combines the history of racism in medicine with a deeply personal family history, and Henrietta is getting the last laugh with her HeLa cells even now.
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Jul 7, 2015 13:37
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Its the middle of summer so everyone is at the beach reading Kafka on the shore.
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Jul 7, 2015 15:31
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