Freeper Reading Club?

Self | July 19, 2002 | PJ-Comix

[PJ-Comix]

Have you ever heard about reading clubs? This is where readers read a particular book at the same time. I think it would be fun to do something like that here. A book could be assigned and Freepers who wish to join in could read the book at the same time. Following the deadline date for completion, we could post our commentaries on the book.

Since it is < proprietary mode> my idea < /proprietary mode> I suggest that I be the one to make the book recommendations. Some folks have flamed me for supposedly looking down my nose at Sci-Fi books. However, this is not the case. I have read most of the books written by the major Sci-Fi writers such as Heinleain, Asimov, Vonnegut, etc.. However, I do feel way too much emphasis has been placed on Sci-Fi at the expense of other literature. Therefore I will tend to recommend books other than Sci-Fi (although I will sometimes recommend Sci-Fi books if it has socio-political implications).

Anyway, if you think my first recommendation will be From Here To Eternity, or Invisible Man (Ellison, not Wells) or Ann Coulter's current best seller, I am going to surprise you.

Here is my first book recommendation: Shane by Jack Shaefer. Although not about politics, this book has a lot to say about character. In fact, this country would be a lot better off if every schoolkid was REQUIRED to read it. Yes, the movie was very good, but the book is much better. I am leading off the Freeper Reading Club Book list with Shane because it is actually a long short story and is very easy to read. Most folks should finish it in under 4 hours of reading. However, I am setting August 12 as the due date for reading it and posting commentary. I read Shane years ago and was incredibly impressed with its message but I will be re-reading it again for this assignment. Shane is easily available at your local library or book store.

[cgk]

ping. I forgot to include your name in the post before this one. Sorry.

Mrs K

[Illbay]

Yeah, that'd be fun.

But in addition, may I suggest that we add a NEW FORUM to FR, called "FR READING CLUB"? That would allow us to quickly go in and see what authors or works that others are reading, and choose which of those threads to read/reply to. And we wouldn't have to wade through all the other threads on "General".

PJ, you have a lot of "stroke" on FR. Can you help this happen?

[sinclair]

Add me to the list, please.

[EllaMinnow]

I read it years ago and loved it, I'll be glad to read it again. Count me in!

[parsifal]

All right. I'll join. Shane? Hmmmm. Okay. Good idea. Eclectic choice. (Maybe for the next one we can all read "Edna the Whip Lady" by Anonymous?) parsy the adventurous.

[habs4ever]

I'd add several by Milan Kundera.He's a delight, both surreal and a cuting edge critic of socialist dogma.Try Life is Elsewhere and the Book of Laughter and Forgetting.The Joke is also highly recommended.

[bigjoesaddle]

Thank you for doing this, what a great idea, I was headed to the library to get "Starship Troopers" today anyway, so I'll get "Shane" while I'm there.

As far as Rand books is concerned, I find that people that read a lot of different books in their lives like "Fountainhead" better than "Atlas", because it is more well written. But let me tell you, from a person that does not read much, and since I read Atlas first, I found "The Fountainhead " boring as hell, at least compaired to "Atlas". I'll never waste time to read "Fountainhead" again, but I have re-read "Atlas" three times.

[My Favorite Headache]

Rush Drummer Breaks Silence About Family Tragedy In New Book

Neil Peart pens 'Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road,' which delves into his recovery after losing daughter, wife.

by Jon Wiederhorn

Neil Peart
Photo: Brooke Ismach/WireImage

Since 1997, Rush drummer Neil Peart has been tight-lipped about the tragic deaths of his 19-year-old daughter Selena and wife Jackie, both of whom passed away within a 10-month period. Now he's pouring out his heart about the pain and hopelessness he endured and the road he took to recovery in his new book, "Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road," which is being published by Canada's ECW Press.

The book features new prose, text from journal entries and letters to friends, providing a personal and emotional day-by-day account of the 14 dark months that followed his wife's death, and how the support and companionship of friends helped him through the bleakest of times.

At first, Peart was despondent and even contemplated taking his own life.

"In the days following Selena's death, I had learned for myself how a sunny day could actually seem dark, the sun totally wrong, and how the world around me, the busy lives of all those oblivious strangers, could seem so futile and unreal — as futile and unreal as what passed for my own life," he wrote.

A rational man who had asked a multitude of questions in his own lyrics and always came up with eloquent answers, Peart was crippled by his horrific misfortune. The guy who always exhibited empathy for his fellow man was suddenly wracked with agony every time he saw people unburdened by such tragedy.

"It was hard for me to accept that fate could be so unjust, that other people's lives should remain unscarred by the kind of evil that had been visited upon me," he wrote. "The big question, 'why?' was a ceaseless torment, as my brain struggled for meaning (Is this a punishment? A judgement? A curse?), and when I saw other people with their children or with their lovers and mates, or even just apparently enjoying life, it wasn't so much ill will that moved me, as it was jealousy, resentment and a sense of cruel injustice."

With the lack of answers to his aching questions, Peart, an avid motorcyclist, hopped on his BMW R1100GS motorcycle and rode 55,000 miles over the next 14 months in an effort to find some meaning in his life. He traveled from Quebec to Alaska, down the Canadian and American coasts, through the West to Mexico and Belize, and then back to Quebec. During his travels he wrote about the minutiae of his life, from the most mundane to the profound. He chronicled conversations with people he met along the way, places he visited and the multitude of feelings he experienced.

"Once I went speeding past an old couple, and smiled as I imagined their conversation: him grumbling about me, and her telling him not to be such an old grouch," he wrote. "Then, suddenly I was in tears, thinking, 'I'll never get to be a grumpy old grandpa!' "

As much as the endless driving cleared his mind, it was the compassion of others that proved most healing.

"I felt affection and gratitude not only for their help, but for their understanding, for simply knowing what I had endured, feeling for me, and demanding nothing more than I continue to live."

By the end of his journey, Peart discovered that, as another musician said many years before, "All you need is love."

"Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road" is Peart's second non-musical book. His first, "The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa" was released in Canada in 1999. He also co-authored "Drum Techniques of Rush" with Bill Wheeler and wrote "More Drum Techniques of Rush (More Drum Superstar Series)."

_________________________________________________________

I knew Neil had gone through some serious dark times. I know he checked himself into a hospital early on. This man went through hell. They started selling this book at the shows for their new Vapor Trails tour the shows after I went to in Charlotte and Va. Beach. Check them out and the new album. An audio guide basically to the book except he has the rest of Rush backing him up.

The one line that just choked me up was this one:

"Once I went speeding past an old couple, and smiled as I imagined their conversation: him grumbling about me, and her telling him not to be such an old grouch," he wrote. "Then, suddenly I was in tears, thinking, 'I'll never get to be a grumpy old grandpa!' ">>>>

That just got to me so much. Neil has always been very reclusive and protective of his personal and family life. God Bless this man for all he has gone through and has found the strength to record and tour again for not only himself...but us the fans.

[parsifal]

All right smart a**! You now owe me $43.62! I went to the corner used book store and got a $1.00 copy of Shane. Paperback. But, you know I am a bibliomaniac so you are responsible for all the other books that I bought while there.

These include:
Strange World by Frank Edwards ($1.00)
The Want Ad Killer by Ann Rule ($2.75)
Mankind by Mick Foley ($4.00)
Retribution by Mabry Turner ($7.00)
The Borderland by Edwin Shrake ($7.50)
Cradle and All by James Patterson ($4.00)
The Blair Witch Project, A Dossier by D.A. Stern ($4,50)
The World of the American Pit Bull Terrier by Richard Stratton ($10.00)

I figure I ought to pay for the Shane book, but the rest are your responsibilty. OBTW, even though you owe the money I get to keep the books. I'm a Democrat. We think that way. parsy the helplessly addicted welfare bibliomaniac .

[applemac_g4]

Hey, great idea! Count me in. With all the great minds (and the occasional libertarian) in here pontificating on the same book, the flow of ideas could put the Borg collective to shame.

[My Favorite Headache]

Midnight bump

[BradyLS]

I want in, too.

[ladyinred]

Count me in. This is a book I have always wanted to read and haven't!
Great idea I think to have this reading club!

[BradyLS]

Yes, I agree with you when it comes to Ayn Rand. I did like Atlas Shrugged but, a lot of characters were not really developed. Which is why I think The Fountainhead is a much better book. Good message, and great characters that are fully developed.

The one I always recommned to readers wanting to know what Rand was about is We The Living. Fantastic movie, too!

[johnnybobs]

Great idea! Count me in!

[BADROTOFINGER]

Yeah, I would lose my credibility if I assigned Atlas Shrugged. I don't care if I agree with the message. If it doesn't hold readers' interest, it doesn't get assigned. I have my credibility here to protect.

I seriously doubt you would have to assign Atlas Shrugged anyhow. But if the discussions of these books go well in their own threads, and other threads with other books become successful, there really wouldnt be any reason not to make an offical 'Free Republic Book Club' thread on Atlas. Enough FReepers have read it that it wouldnt have to be assigned, and no credibility would be lost.

And for the record, I read Atlas Shrugged and liked it very much. A few recommendations for this new club might be:

Fiction: The Haj, by Leon Uris or maybe The Grapes of Wrath, by...crud cant think of his name right now...:-(

Non-Fiction: D'Souza's Illiberal Education or The End of Racism (the latter is a much easier read), or perhaps the new Sowell book on basic economics (forgot its exact title) or...

Comic-Books: DK2 by Miller and Varney, or maybe the new Spider-Man rewrite...JFK

[MasonGal]

I've never participted in a Reading Club before; however, I am interested in joining this one.

Count me in!!

[ppaul]

Shane was required reading when I was in 7th grade.
Nowadays, they're probably not letting kids read it.
Guns and all, ya know.

[PJ-Comix]

I'll join. Who needs sleep anyway?

Not me. When I signed off this thread Friday night, I read (actually re-read) about a quarter of the Shane book, then caught a couple of hours sleep and got up at 3:00 AM to go down to the Keys Saturday morning. I just got back a little while ago. So, you see, reading Shane isn't something that will take a lot of time.

[PJ-Comix]

When you choose the next book - don't give reviews, opinions, details.

OK, I'll hold off. I only posted that review of Shane to overcome the concerns of non-Western fans.