A language learners’ forum

The new poll is up and running for 4 days.

https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =18&t=9242

Please go and vote!

How many people have started My Name is Red? I'm wondering if we didn't lose a lot of people by making the selection too early. It seemed like a good idea to pick books two months out, because it would give people time to order them, and to prep. Maybe it didn't work out that way?

I read the first chapter weeks ago and very much enjoyed it. I am on vacation now and with tremendous natural distraction and temptation all around me (hiking every day so far and running about in the snow), I doubt I will have the sitdown time to finish it this month. Instead, I am going to bail and go for TTS (text to speech) and will fire the audio engine back up either today or tomorrow to see what it is like to listen in that manner. Audiobook format is pretty much my primary reading avenue now and this will likely be my first book to try via computer voice. I suspect I will lose the plot somewhere along the way if don't pay attention.

kanewai wrote:How many people have started My Name is Red? I'm wondering if we didn't lose a lot of people by making the selection too early. It seemed like a good idea to pick books two months out, because it would give people time to order them, and to prep. Maybe it didn't work out that way?

I'm definitely more of an impulse reader myself

Ani wrote:I'm definitely more of an impulse reader myself

Same here. I always have a list of what I'm going to read next, or even the next two or three books I'm going to read next. I almost never actually follow it. Some books have been "next in the queue" for years.

Mista wrote:The new poll is up and running for 4 days.

https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =18&t=9242

Please go and vote!

The results are:

- Jane Austen: Emma

and

- Apuleius: Metamorphosis, or The Golden Ass.

These, then, will be the books for November and December.

As announced, I'll put up a new poll to decide which book to read when.

kanewai wrote:How many people have started My Name is Red? I'm wondering if we didn't lose a lot of people by making the selection too early. It seemed like a good idea to pick books two months out, because it would give people time to order them, and to prep. Maybe it didn't work out that way?

I started it four days in advance, read 150 pages before the 1st, and now I've read around 250. I normally don't look up words when I read French novels, but with this book, I feel I lose too much without it. That means slow progress, because it's inconvenient to read on the subway or in bed. Ironically, I got off to a good start because I was sick.

I'm a big fan of planning in advance myself, but it will be interesting to see what others have to say. I have been wondering how many people are reading the books, quite apart from the question of how we decide on them. The number of people posting about the books seems to have been quite small all along.

kanewai wrote:How many people have started My Name is Red? I'm wondering if we didn't lose a lot of people by making the selection too early. It seemed like a good idea to pick books two months out, because it would give people time to order them, and to prep. Maybe it didn't work out that way?

I listened to a substantial chunk of it today on a 6-hour hike and very much like the changing perspectives throughout the novel. I am well over 1/2 of the way through it at the moment and plan to read more tonight before bed at a [much] slower pace. The big picture plot was not too tough to follow but the deeper themes are something else entirely and deserve a great deal more study on my part. I may end up with about 80/20 listening/reading for this novel. Plenty of great quotes and I love the blend and usage of senses throughout.

Orhan wrote:“I hear the question upon your lips: What is it to be a colour?

I forgot to set a date on the last poll, but the result as of now is a massive support for reading Emma in November. Or in war fonts:

The November book will be "Emma" by Jane Austen

And the December book will then be Apuleius: Metamorphosis; or The Golden Ass.

Who will be reading Emma, and in which language?

I'll be reading it in English. I generally like to read books in the original language (in fact, it's one of the reasons I'm into language learning), and I'm not even halfway with last month's book, so I think this is the only way I can do both.

I won't be joining everyone for Emma in November. I've read it before, and am glad that it was November's choice - partly because it's a classic and I'm interested in hearing other's views, and partly because I don't have the time to start a new book.

I'll be back in December for Apuleius, in Italian. I'm looking forward to seeing how Latin books work when translated to Italian. It could open up a whole new world of literature for me.

I haven't entirely decided about Emma. I read it relatively recently (2years ago?) and while I could easily be persuaded to reread it, I'm not there yet! I am also currently reading Mansfield Park in Spanish. So I might do what I did with Le Roi de Fer and just read another book by the author. But looking forward to the discussion whatever happens!