The FORMER A Language Learner's Forum Book Club

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Mohave
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Re: A Language Learner's Forum Book Club 2018

Postby Mohave » Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:40 pm

Thanks to all for all of the thoughtful suggestion on books for the August Selection. We currently have ~ 10 recommendations. If everyone is in agreement, I plan to try to post a poll tomorrow with the all the recommendations provided above. I plan to leave the poll open for two-three days to allow everyone a chance to vote. We may have a second poll with the top choices if there is not a clear winner. Please let me know if you have suggestions, thoughts or recommend a different approach.

Please wrap up further recommendations by tomorrow morning.

Edit: Looking at the Poll Creation function, we are allowed 10 items or less for voting.
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Mohave
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Re: A Language Learner's Forum Book Club 2018

Postby Mohave » Thu Jul 12, 2018 3:18 am

The Poll is Up and running for the August 2018 LLF Book Club Selection. Thanks again to everyone who provided reading recommendations. All of these will be going on my to-read list!

https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8616. Here is the link:
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Re: A Language Learner's Forum Book Club 2018

Postby lavengro » Sun Jul 15, 2018 1:10 am

The Three-Body Problem - I have continued with the novel, which I am still enjoying. The thought I had at the end of chapter 7 of how the novel might unfold was, predictably, not even close. Of minor note, up to this point (Chapter 15) there has been exactly one more pope than I had anticipated.

With the combination of a certain amount of specialized technical jargon and some relatively uncommon science references on the one hand, and (in "Three Body") some occasional obscure historical references on the other hand, my sense is that this would be a tough go for someone of less than advanced ability to read in a second language, and may have the prospect of diminishing returns concerning the new vocabulary use a learner might acquire from working through it (if I were for example to try working through this in Italian and learn the Italian word for "maser", my guess is that I would be unlikely to have occasion in the future to trot that out).

Quick question for anyone who might know: Wang Miao is occasionally addressed as "Xiao Wang" - could anyone explain what that might mean?
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Re: A Language Learner's Forum Book Club 2018

Postby Xmmm » Sun Jul 15, 2018 2:03 am

a_ciascuno_il_suo.jpg


A ciascuno il suo by Leonardo Sciascia.

An amateur sleuth investigates two murders in Sicily. But this is not a conventional detective novel. I'll say no more, but I really enjoyed it. Leonardo Sciascia is one of the easier big name Italian authors. Suitable for B2 or above. Also available as a great film on youtube.
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Re: A Language Learner's Forum Book Club 2018

Postby BalancingAct » Sun Jul 15, 2018 2:39 am

lavengro wrote:Quick question for anyone who might know: Wang Miao is occasionally addressed as "Xiao Wang" - could anyone explain what that might mean?


Xiao Wang means Little Wang or Young Wang. It is a way to avoid calling the full name or just the first name of someone (calling just the first name could sound too intimate in Chinese culture). As years gone by, Young Wang would also become Lao Wang (Old Wang; Wang doesn't have to be really old, just to show respect). Wang is the family name. If you and Wang are of the same generation, you could call him/her either Xiao Wang or Lao Wang; usually between girls Xiao would tend to be used, because women usually don't want to hear the word "old"(Lao); but guys choose either Xiao or Lao for their buddies.
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lavengro
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Re: A Language Learner's Forum Book Club 2018

Postby lavengro » Sun Jul 15, 2018 2:58 am

BalancingAct wrote:
lavengro wrote:Quick question for anyone who might know: Wang Miao is occasionally addressed as "Xiao Wang" - could anyone explain what that might mean?


Xiao Wang means Little Wang or Young Wang. It is a way to avoid calling the full name or just the first name of someone (calling just the first name could sound too intimate in Chinese culture). As years gone by, Young Wang would also become Lao Wang (Old Wang; Wang doesn't have to be really old, just to show respect). Wang is the family name. If you and Wang are of the same generation, you could call him/her either Xiao Wang or Lao Wang; usually between girls Xiao would tend to be used, because women usually don't want to hear the word "old"(Lao); but guys choose either Xiao or Lao for their buddies.

Thanks BalancingAct, much appreciated. I believe it is consistently a more elderly character who uses "Xiao" concerning Wang Miao.
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Re: A Language Learner's Forum Book Club 2018

Postby kanewai » Sun Jul 15, 2018 12:29 pm

lavengro wrote:The Three-Body Problem - I have continued with the novel, which I am still enjoying. The thought I had at the end of chapter 7 of how the novel might unfold was, predictably, not even close.


No joke! The novel was more or less linear for 100 pages, and then took an insane turn! I had to slow down and check the dictionary a lot, just to make sure I was clear on what was happening.

My job took me to the Maunakea Obseravatories this past Friday, and it was all I could do to not ask the technicians if they’d observed any strange fluctuations in the background radiation of the universe ... I was trying to act professional on the outside, but on the inside I was at the secretive Costa Roja station.
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Mohave
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Re: A Language Learner's Forum Book Club 2018

Postby Mohave » Mon Jul 16, 2018 4:17 pm

We currently have six nominations for the September and October LLF Book Club Book. I plan to start a new poll tomorrow. Any further recommendations?

Un barrage contre le pacifique - Marguerite Duras
My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk
Vingt Mille Lieues Sous Les Mers - Jules Vernes
La Neige était Sale - Georges Simenon
Les Rois Maudits 1 - Le Roí de Fer by Druon
The Melancholy of Resistance

Thanks for the great input and recommendations!
Last edited by Mohave on Thu Jul 19, 2018 12:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Spanish Motivation: Dec 2018 - Costa Rica
Spanish Pimsleur 3: 6 / 30 Assimil: 56 / 100
Spanish Super Challenge Books: 2 / 50 Movies: 0 / 100
French Super Challenge Books: 24 / 100 Movies: 22 / 100

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Mohave
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Re: A Language Learner's Forum Book Club 2018

Postby Mohave » Mon Jul 16, 2018 5:34 pm

Here's a recommendation for the September/October nominations: Les Rois Maudits 1 - Le Roí de Fer by Druon. George RR Martin is quoted in this BBC article that "Les Rois Maudits" series served as inspiration for the Games of Thrones series.

Quoted from the article: "Martin says one of his main inspirations was not fantasy, but a series of novels set in medieval France, little known or read in the English language. Les Rois Maudits (The Accursed Kings) was written by Maurice Druon between the mid-1950s and the 1970s. It's a seven-volume saga chronicling the dynastic fight for the French throne in the early part of the 14th Century, culminating in the Hundred Years War. "The Accursed Kings has it all," writes Martin, in an introduction to a recently reissued translation. "Believe me, the Starks and the Lannisters have nothing on the Capets and Plantagenets. It is the original game of thrones."
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Spanish Motivation: Dec 2018 - Costa Rica
Spanish Pimsleur 3: 6 / 30 Assimil: 56 / 100
Spanish Super Challenge Books: 2 / 50 Movies: 0 / 100
French Super Challenge Books: 24 / 100 Movies: 22 / 100

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Re: A Language Learner's Forum Book Club 2018

Postby zatris » Tue Jul 17, 2018 12:11 am

I'd like to suggest The Melancholy of Resistance, by Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai. The story takes place in an unnamed town visited by a circus which exhibits the carcass of a giant whale - and nothing else. The event disturbs the little village, bringing about ever-mounting tension and a sense of impending doom.

This synopsis does not make the novel justice; it is really a unique work, absolutely strange and unlike any other, but riveting nonetheless - and I mean riveting as in literally staying up late to read more, a tough accomplishment for a novel so complex and at first sight unfriendly as this one.

Those who like movies may have watched Werckmeister Harmonies, Béla Tarr's adaptation of the book.
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