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Post by Songbird on Jun 20, 2016 19:29:50 GMT -5
Sorry friends, life has turned into an episode of House. Please see the first post for voting round 3.
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Post by lorelai on Jun 21, 2016 19:03:25 GMT -5
Hope all is well.
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Post by Songbird on Jun 21, 2016 20:56:21 GMT -5
Thanks Lorelai! I'm working on it, but we will see soon. Had some tests today.
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Post by Songbird on Jun 26, 2016 9:36:46 GMT -5
Hi all, book has been chosen!
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Post by Teleram on Jun 26, 2016 22:42:18 GMT -5
Doc Sportello is gravely disappointed.
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Post by Songbird on Jun 28, 2016 18:59:05 GMT -5
Teleram, if it makes you feel better, it won second place. If you remember, The Magicians was nominated a few years ago and didn't win, so you can nominate it again next year.
Please look at the first post for the schedule! If you need more time, let me know.
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Post by Songbird on Jul 12, 2016 16:13:46 GMT -5
Hi everyone! Is everyone ready to start discussing?
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Post by Songbird on Jul 14, 2016 5:33:55 GMT -5
Okay so....
What did you guys think of the first chapter where we first meet Quentin?
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Post by Sora on Jul 14, 2016 13:39:47 GMT -5
I'm not a fan of Quentin in the slightest. This is partly the point: Quentin is clearly designed to be the worst kind of 'chosen one', someone who is not particularly intelligent, particularly good natured, or even particularly talented at that of which is chosen to protect. Quentin is the Anne Hathaway of fantasy fiction: Quentin is us. Quentin is the guy who wants to be the one chasing after centaurs and standing up to Voldemort, but in reality he is more likely to hide behind a couch and watch other, better magicians handle the task. In Syfy's adaptation, Quentin's mopey disposition is put down to clinical depression, brought on largely by a lack of purpose. Quentin is a little older in the TV adaptation (he's 22, where he is almost 18 in the book) but his depression in adulthood is resonant of the discomfort he has in his teenage book emanation: as a teen about to enter college, it is easy to still stay absorbed in the fantasy worlds of your favorite fandoms (heck, we do it here), but when you are supposed to have grown out of these fandoms and yet still feel like your 'real' world is not enough, it can be crushing. That Julia also loved Fillory and is now actively pushing Quentin to forget about what initially brought them together is like denying you were in the same middle school as someone for three years. I hate Quentin because instead of bringing me into a new fantasy world, he acts as a walking cautionary tale of what happens to those too dedicated to one particular fandom for too long.
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Post by Songbird on Jul 15, 2016 12:38:16 GMT -5
Well, we'r not up to the part that you described Sora. Please keep to page 106. We can compare to the tv show at the end as well, as I haven't watched it and I want to refrain from spoiling for those who are also reading the book for the first time. But I do agree with you, he does seem to be the average Joe. Someone we can relate to in one way or another. If you were given the same opportunity to study at Brakebills, would you? Would you have sat through all those exams?
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Post by Hermes on Jul 15, 2016 13:30:13 GMT -5
Hi Sora! So you think this is about how bad it is to be a Snicket fan? You may well be right.
I've just managed to find my copy, so I'll be joining you shortly.
One interesting thing about the book is the way it's inspired by two well-known children's series. (I don't think that's a spoiler, because it becomes obvious very quickly. Can I say what the series are, Songbird?) Grossman did a piece on John Scalzi's site when the book came out, saying it was about what it would be like if these series were real. You might think that is rather an odd question - you'd suppose that if the series were real, the things chronicled in the books would really happen. Some people read it as criticising the series for being unrealistic. But I don't think that is what he meant; it's more that he's asking what it would be like if they turned out to be real, if an ordinary person discovered that they were in a fantasy world, contrary to expectation.
One thing that I found puzzling at first is how the two elements fit together - Brakebills is one kind of fantasy, and Fillory is another, and they don't obviously fit into one world. That stays puzzling for a long time.
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Post by Songbird on Jul 16, 2016 7:42:16 GMT -5
Hermes, yes you can, that's not spoilery. I think they even mention it on amazon when you read the blurb about the book. Sorry, I just want to make sure we keep to the schedule, so if there are parts in other media that coincide with the sections we've covered so far you can discuss.
I feel like Brakebills kind of takes away the charm and excitement of that fantasy world. In Harry Potter you have all these fun paintings and characters roaming the grounds, and ghosts and stuff, but here you have a real no frills kind of college. It seems like an ordinary school, with a lot more studying than was needed at Hogwarts.
I'm more interested in Alice than I am in Quentin. What about you?
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Post by Songbird on Jul 24, 2016 19:26:38 GMT -5
So, not sure if anyone participating in the book club has watched the Netflix show "Stranger Things," but I automatically thought of the "Beast" chapter from the book. What do you think of that situation? And why would Quentin do something so reckless?
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Post by Songbird on Aug 10, 2016 21:23:16 GMT -5
So...is anyone else participating besides me?
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Post by Teleram on Aug 10, 2016 23:03:59 GMT -5
I'm not a fan of Quentin in the slightest. This is partly the point: Quentin is clearly designed to be the worst kind of 'chosen one', someone who is not particularly intelligent, particularly good natured, or even particularly talented at that of which is chosen to protect. Quentin is the Anne Hathaway of fantasy fiction: Quentin is us. Quentin is the guy who wants to be the one chasing after centaurs and standing up to Voldemort, but in reality he is more likely to hide behind a couch and watch other, better magicians handle the task. In Syfy's adaptation, Quentin's mopey disposition is put down to clinical depression, brought on largely by a lack of purpose. Quentin is a little older in the TV adaptation (he's 22, where he is almost 18 in the book) but his depression in adulthood is resonant of the discomfort he has in his teenage book emanation: as a teen about to enter college, it is easy to still stay absorbed in the fantasy worlds of your favorite fandoms (heck, we do it here), but when you are supposed to have grown out of these fandoms and yet still feel like your 'real' world is not enough, it can be crushing. That Julia also loved Fillory and is now actively pushing Quentin to forget about what initially brought them together is like denying you were in the same middle school as someone for three years. I hate Quentin because instead of bringing me into a new fantasy world, he acts as a walking cautionary tale of what happens to those too dedicated to one particular fandom for too long. This is actually a really brilliant and powerful analysis.
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