Monday, February 19, 2007

Mandamus

We have made a start. I am a great believer in starts (so says Joey the Lips Fagan in The Commitments).

So the plan is to push forwards... no slacking (ha!). Despite having work and children and theses to write, I feel we should choose something none of us have read... and force ourselves to do it and discuss it. If I've got this wrong and you've read the suggestions, let me know...

What about Madame Bovary? I've read it, but I don't think I really got it at the time, and as the reviewer in the Observer said,
You could summarise this as a story of adultery in provincial France, and miss the point entirely.
For something which is such a strong portrayal of a woman's situation, how did I not get it? Dunno, really, but maybe we should try this?

Other suggestions:

If you've not done Les Liaisons Dangereuses I really think it's a truly wonderful book... Windup Bird and Stk, that appears to be missing from your lists...

Or, for something fun and a little less heavy, how about Three Men In A Boat?

Answers on a message post please...

2 comments:

wind-up-bird said...

Y'know, I'd go for Three Men in a Boat, too. I did a paper in college on what's turned out to be my favorite Stoppard play (The Invention of Love) and I'd always wanted to "get" that constant reference.

And the humor. Please god the humor.

pumpkin29 said...

Three men it appears it is. And then Stoppard, obviously...