A while back, Rancid Uncle had the idea that we should all read the same book and then have a discussion about it, but it never came to fruition, so here's the deal for those who are interested.

This thread will serve as a place to suggest which books we should read, but to make this go more quickly and smoothly, here are the rules.

1. The book must be in the public domain and available for download on the internet.
2. When you suggest the book, you must post the link to the e-text
3. Suggestions must be made by Friday, January 31, 2004

At the close of the nominations, I will create a poll so that we can decide which book we will read.

Here are the public domain works that were suggested in the original thread:

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
1984 by George Orwell
Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Anthem by Ayn Rand
Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Since I haven't received any response on this, I can assume that everyone is satisfied with the book nominations in Rancid Uncle's original thread, they didn't actually see this thread, they don't know where to find public domain books, or they aren't interested in participating, so....

I'm extending the nomination deadline to February 7, 2003

A good place to begin looking for public domain works is at the website for Project Gutenberg.

Also, if you want to participate but you are satisfied with the nominations, it would be very helpful to me if you would post that information in this thread, so that I know whether or not I'm talking to myself.

Thank you for the hard work and thought you have put into this. Here are some thoughts on the nominees:

Brave New World and 1984 are, perhaps, a bit too familiar and have been discussed over and over. (They are both worthy of such attention, of course.)

The Jungle is an interesting choice. Could lead to some discussion of the ways in which food and drug quality have been regulated, although that is not at all the main point of the booK.

Anthem might be the most passionately discussed, as very few people are neutral on Ayn Rand. This particular book has the virtue of being short (as opposed to Rand's usual gigantic volumes) but it was obviously strongly influenced by the 1920's Russian novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (which seems to have influenced the first two books on this list as well.) (I can't find the text of We in public domain, so it may still be in copyright. Anybody know? If not, I'd nominate it. It's short, funny, and thoughtful.)

Up From Slavery is a fine book. I'm not sure how much discussion there would be beyond "slavery is bad" but there might be some. Was Washington's approach to the problem of civil rights (as opposed to, say, DuBois) the correct one?

The Wealth of Nations, although undeniably extremely important, is pretty dreary reading. (Hint: It's about economics.) I suppose one should nominate Capital by Marx to show the other side; they're both pretty heavy reading.

Which leaves me with Civil Disobedience, which I think is a fine choice. It's short enough to grasp as a whole; it's not as familiar as most of the other works on this list; and it's wide open for discussion. It gets my vote.

I think we should - to start out - attack a short book. That way we can see how it goes, and plan from there. What do you think?

I was thinking a good short book to read would be Animal Farm, only it isnt availiable on the site you recommended Cyan, which kinda suprised me..

Anyone been able to find an E-Book online for it - I havent...

Cyan, I am very satisfied with RU's suggestions. I agree that we should start with a very short one, so I'll be voting to read Civil Disobedience when you begin polling.

I was leaning towards Up From Slavery since I've not read it & February is black history month. However, like Victoria said, I don't know what we would debate. I like Civil Disobedience for its debate value and the fact that it is a short read and may serve as a good start for this kind of project.

Keep in mind this project must involve clear questions to debate about the book or we won't host it here at the AD forums. All house Rules will stand for this any AD projects. The chatroom is always open if we just want to 'discuss' the book(s) in a less formal way.

P.S. For fun, I tried reading The Jungle again around Christmas and found it much more boring than I remember.

I would vote for Civil Disobedience. I find it very fitting of the times. I think the debate would be of interest to see who agrees with each other but thought they were on opposite sides.



and now I feel bad cause my avatar remains the same

I found one: Animal Farm, Full Text

I find when I am looking for online books outside Gutenberg, in Google, I search on "Book Title in Quotes" and 'full text' (not in quotes). If the book's out there this will usually yield the results I want. Funny thing in this search was that I ended up finding it on Gutenberg afterall, just the Australian version via Google

Hi, Just wanted to let you folks know that In am very interested in participating. I agree that a smaller book would be a great place to start. I have no real preference as to the book, so I will sit back and see which one wins.

Have we reached the deadline yet? What time today is it?

Lets get this show on the Road!

The deadline is tomorrow, Paul.

I will be posting a poll to choose the book on Sunday the 8th

I'm thinking about Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. I think it could lead to a good debate about purpose of religion. I'm still looking for an Ebook.


Edited to remove reply to unconstructive (and now deleted) comment.

I don't think Cat's Cradle is in the public domain, Rev - and, much as I like the book, I think we're trying to steer more toward politics than religion...

Thanks for the tip which ends my 2 hour quest. Atleast I know where to find alot ebooks like:
Ebookdirectory.com
If only I could find out if a book was copyrighted.

"Power and Weakness" by Robert Kagan. Its not so much a novel but an essay, nonetheless its rather short and interesting to read.

http://www.policyreview.org/JUN02/kagan.html

I cast my vote for Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment.

Considering how much we argue about morality (relative vs. absolute), unilateral action , etc., I think it would be rather interesting.

Besides, it's one of my personal favorites.

Information about the public domain

"Thus Spoke Zarathusta"-Friedrich Nietzsche

http://www.gutenberg.net/browse/BIBREC/BR1998.HTM