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Book is Choice This poll is closed. |
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| Kwaidan (怪談): Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio Hearn |
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11 | 50.00% |
| The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson |
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3 | 13.64% |
| King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild |
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4 | 18.18% |
| In a Glass Darkly by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu |
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4 | 18.18% |
| Total: | 22 votes | ||
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Help us pick the next BOTM! This is for October, so that means horror. The below candidates offer a few different versions of that. This month I think I forgot to click the "vote for more than one option" button, so if you'd like to pick two, just post. Also post if you think there's another book people should consider instead. As always, if you vote for a book, please join us for discussion if that book is selected. Choices: 1.Kwaidan (怪談): Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio Hearn quote:Hearn declares in his introduction to the first edition of the book, which he wrote on January 20, 1904, shortly before his death, that most of these stories were translated from old Japanese texts. He also states that one of the stories – Yuki-onna – was told to him by a farmer in Musashi Province, and his was apparently the first record of it, both by his own account and according to the research of modern folklorists. Riki-Baka is based on a personal experience of Hearn's. While he does not declare it in his introduction, Hi-Mawari – among the final narratives in the volume – seems to be a recollection of an experience in his childhood (it is, setting itself apart from almost all the others, written in the first person and set in rural Wales). quote:In the late 19th century, Japan was still largely unknown and exotic to Westerners. However, with the introduction of Japanese aesthetics, particularly at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900, Japanese styles became fashionable in Western countries. Consequently, Hearn became known to the world by his writings concerning Japan. In later years, some critics would accuse Hearn of exoticizing Japan, but because he offered the West some of its first descriptions of pre-industrial and Meiji Era Japan, his work is generally regarded as having historical value.[21][22][23] (from wikipedia) 2. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson Winner of a Pulitzer Prize and was on Barack Obama's reading list. quote:Set in the recent past, when the country’s eccentric strongman Kim Jong-il (who died in December) still ruled with an iron whim, the novel conjures an Orwellian world in which the government’s myths about the country — its success, its benevolence, its virtues in taking on the evils perpetrated by the United States, South Korea and Japan — are not only tirelessly drilled into the citizenry through propaganda broadcasts but have also become an overarching narrative framing everyone’s lives. As Jun Do learns, people’s identities are subordinate to the roles the state expects them to fulfill, and even words or acts that inadvertently cast doubt on the greatness and goodness of the government can lead to death or prison or torture. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/books/the-orphan-masters-son-by-adam-johnson-review.html 3. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild quote:King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa (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 large-scale atrocities committed during that period.[1] The book, also a general biography of the private life of Leopold, succeeded in increasing public awareness of these crimes in recent decades.[2] quote:Listen to the yell of Leopold's ghost, 4. In a Glass Darkly by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu A collection of five stories by the 19th-century horror writer LeFanu, this collection includes Carmilla: quote:Carmilla is an 1872 Gothic novella by Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) by 26 years. First published as a serial in The Dark Blue (1871–72),[1][2] the story is narrated by a young woman preyed upon by a female vampire named Carmilla, later revealed to be Mircalla, Countess Karnstein (Carmilla is an anagram of Mircalla). The character is a prototypical example of the lesbian vampire, expressing romantic desires toward the protagonist. The novella notably never acknowledges homosexuality as an antagonistic trait, leaving it subtle and relatively unmentioned. The story is often anthologized and has been adapted many times in film and other media. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Sep 27, 2020 |
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Sep 27, 2020 17:04
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Woah, great set of options this month, I could go for any of these. LeFanu obviously maxing out the thirstiness meter.
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Sep 27, 2020 17:29
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I voted orphan masters son because it’s so good I want to reread it
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Sep 27, 2020 19:26
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id go for either kwaiden or king leopold.
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Sep 27, 2020 19:43
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Incredible list, these all look great. I’m partial to The Orphan Master’s Son since people keep telling me it’s great, but A Glass Darkly sounds cool too (and spoooooky).
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Sep 27, 2020 21:15
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I can’t vote on the app and I can’t log on the website could a kindly mod add a vote for Kwaidan please.
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Sep 28, 2020 18:07
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It'll be Kwaidan. I'll get a thread up tomorrow unless Safety Biscuits beats me to it. you can get started here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1210 Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 04:41 on Oct 1, 2020 |
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Oct 1, 2020 04:37
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