COMMUNITY ROOM for Moby Dick

[Choisya]

Here, as Laurel said elsewhere, we can 'Sip and Chat', and post any off-topic stuff which happens to arise during the more serious discussion threads.

[Choisya]

Even though Bob Fanuzzir has gone to a great deal of trouble to put up Moby Dick for us (not a B&N scheduled book) and to offer some structured chapter headings, only 3 people have posted so far. Where are they? Why! On other boards suggesting and discussing books for the future and deciding who will become Moderators, whilst ignoring the work of the good Moderators they have! This is not fair folks and it is as I forecast - too much choice on these boards is not a good thing, doing our own thing is not a good thing - much as it might be 'the American way'. We have come from BN U where our books were chosen by B&N people and we stuck with those throughout the four week period offered, just as if we were in a classroom reading books chosen by our lecturers or the college. I thought it was this university/studious aspect of BNU that we appreciated and that we did not want a free-for-all school playground environment? I find this very disappointing and very unfair to Fanuzzir I hope everyone comes in from the playground soon and gets down to some serious reading instead of continually 'flicking channels'!

[leakybucket]

Give me chance! It is early Sunday morning here and I just got the book and started reading last night. I did read the first sentence and put up a post on that!

I am a first-time reader and I like the book better than I thought I would. I'm finding it most interesting and very easy reading. I also got B&N's SparkNotes. Figured I need all the help I could get! It is available free online but I bought the actual book. I'm old fashioned and like a book in hand rather than reading on the Internet. For those of you more flexible, you can read them at:

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mobydick/

They have some interesting discussion points. I also got the B&N official Edition and I want to read the Introduction. It looks like that has some interesting discussion points as well. Anyone else have that Edition?

Great having a Community Room again so that we don't clutter up the discussion area with trivia. It would be nice if it were on the bottom of the headers but, hey, we can't have everything! Maybe our moderator can move it.

Bucky

[Choisya]

Welcome leakybucket and sorry for the rant I look forward to your comments on MD.

---

leakybucket wrote:
Give me chance! It is early Sunday morning here and I just got the book and started reading last night. I did read the first sentence and put up a post on that!

I am a first-time reader and I like the book better than I thought I would. I'm finding it most interesting and very easy reading. I also got B&N's SparkNotes. Figured I need all the help I could get! It is available free online but I bought the actual book. I'm old fashioned and like a book in hand rather than reading on the Internet. For those of you more flexible, you can read them at:

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mobydick/

They have some interesting discussion points. I also got the B&N official Edition and I want to read the Introduction. It looks like that has some interesting discussion points as well. Anyone else have that Edition?

Great having a Community Room again so that we don't clutter up the discussion area with trivia. It would be nice if it were on the bottom of the headers but, hey, we can't have everything! Maybe our moderator can move it.

Bucky

---

Message Edited by Choisya on 12-10-200611:44 AM

[leakybucket]

I really don't fully understand these boards (and that is an understatement!) but they apparently can "appear" differently to other people depending on the way they are set up. It took a couple of days for Laurel to discover this board was here!

For me it suddenly was there at the top of the Classics Board. I was totally unprepared for its appearance. We might go slowly to begin with, and give others a chance to "discover" the board, get the book, and start reading. I know I hate to be left behind in a discussion. Maybe we should stay with the first 27 chapters for the first week. That way newcomers can catch up without rushing the book and join in the discussions before we move on.

Bucky

[pmath]

Bob posted a response to my query last month on the American Classics board.

---

fanuzzir wrote (message linked here):
Here's the deal: Moby Dick will be incredibly structured, with a beginning, a middle and an end. People have been crying out for structure. That I can do. The discussion will begin 12/26, the day after the narrative of the novel is supposed to begin.

---

pmath wrote (message linked here):
Could you create and post a schedule of the chapters we'll be covering each week in advance?

---

---

Message Edited by pmath on 12-11-200605:17 AM

[leakybucket]

fanuzzir wrote
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/bn/board/message?board.id=AmericanClassics&;message.id=481">message linked here:
Here's the deal: Moby Dick will be incredibly structured, with a beginning, a middle and an end. People have been crying out for structure. That I can do. The discussion will begin 12/26, the day after the narrative of the novel is supposed to begin.
-------------------------------


A start date is most helpful. 15th or 26th is fine with me. Gives me time to do some reading and some background research. The official start date should be posted prominently so people know if they have time to join, the discussion is halfway through or whatever. An official start date I think would bring in a lot more readers who won't feel like they have to rush out an get the book and read it in 24 hours. That discourages people. But if they can plan and know when it is going to start then they might be inclined to join in.

Bob, when you sign in can you set up something official?

Bucky

[Choisya]

---

leakybucket wrote:
I really don't fully understand these boards (and that is an understatement!) but they apparently can "appear" differently to other people depending on the way they are set up. It took a couple of days for Laurel to discover this board was here!

For me it suddenly was there at the top of the Classics Board. I was totally unprepared for its appearance. We might go slowly to begin with, and give others a chance to "discover" the board, get the book, and start reading. I know I hate to be left behind in a discussion. Maybe we should stay with the first 27 chapters for the first week. That way newcomers can catch up without rushing the book and join in the discussions before we move on.

Bucky

---

Yes, I think one of the problems is whether you 'subscribe' to the Linear model or the other one. I found it much easier to go Linear and tick the 'Email me if someone replies to this message' box. Look at my post in the Help & Information section to find out how to set up a Linear board and Email messages. This way you at least get an an Email notification in your Inbox to tell you when your post has been replied to although you still have to check on other threads.

[Choisya]

My mistake everyone - I misread Bob's date as the 12th Bucky - you know that we Brits put the day-date first (I ignored the 26) !!! SORRY FOLKS!! See you on Boxing Day and Merry Christmas everyone!

I agree that B&N should find a better way of notifying us that new books are about to start, as they did under the BNU set-up. Missing the start of a book is extremely annoying and if you are a busy person it becomes difficult to catch up.



A start date is most helpful. 15th or 26th is fine with me. Gives me time to do some reading and some background research. The official start date should be posted prominently so people know if they have time to join, the discussion is halfway through or whatever. An official start date I think would bring in a lot more readers who won't feel like they have to rush out an get the book and read it in 24 hours. That discourages people. But if they can plan and know when it is going to start then they might be inclined to join in.

Bob, when you sign in can you set up something official?

Bucky

---

fanuzzir wrote
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/bn/board/message?board.id=AmericanClassics&;message.id=481">message linked here:
Here's the deal: Moby Dick will be incredibly structured, with a beginning, a middle and an end. People have been crying out for structure. That I can do. The discussion will begin 12/26, the day after the narrative of the novel is supposed to begin.
-------------------------------

Message Edited by Choisya on 12-10-200602:33 PM

Message Edited by Choisya on 12-10-200602:33 PM

[Everyman]

I think we officially started on the 12th Bucky.

I don't know how things got from the 26th, which was the originally posted start date, to the 12th, which I haven't seen posted anywhere, before many people had a chance to get the book and start reading.

In BNU, the schedule for discussions was posted at least a month and usually at least six weeks before their official start date. That was a nice time frame.

I had planned, as had at least one other poster, to start on the 26th. But if the discussion is already half way through by then, I'll just skip it rather than try to play catch-up and be responding to first-chapter posts which may be two weeks or more old by then.

[leakybucket]

---

Everyman wrote:
I think we officially started on the 12th Bucky.

I don't know how things got from the 26th, which was the originally posted start date, to the 12th, which I haven't seen posted anywhere, before many people had a chance to get the book and start reading.

In BNU, the schedule for discussions was posted at least a month and usually at least six weeks before their official start date. That was a nice time frame.

I had planned, as had at least one other poster, to start on the 26th. But if the discussion is already half way through by then, I'll just skip it rather than try to play catch-up and be responding to first-chapter posts which may be two weeks or more old by then.

---

I think that is the problem with many of us. We really would just as soon skip the discussion rather than coming in late. I'm for waiting until the 26th. Maybe the moderator could lock the discussion threads until the start date or something. If I were a potential participant just signing on a week from now I would think Moby Dick was underway and fizzled (like many other discussions) and wouldn't bother joining either. So lets wait and take the time to read and do our own research with a good start after Christmas. But first we have to hear from Bob. B&N may just take this down as an inactive board.

Bucky

[Choisya]

As I have explained elsewhere, it is my fault Everyman : I mistook the date by reading 12/26 as 12th because Brits put the day-date first. SORRY

---

Everyman wrote:
I think we officially started on the 12th Bucky.

I don't know how things got from the 26th, which was the originally posted start date, to the 12th, which I haven't seen posted anywhere, before many people had a chance to get the book and start reading.

In BNU, the schedule for discussions was posted at least a month and usually at least six weeks before their official start date. That was a nice time frame.

I had planned, as had at least one other poster, to start on the 26th. But if the discussion is already half way through by then, I'll just skip it rather than try to play catch-up and be responding to first-chapter posts which may be two weeks or more old by then.

---

Message Edited by Choisya on 12-10-200603:08 PM

[ziki]

This is most confusing. I also remember 26th December. I wouldn't mind the free discussions if it would generate some interesting exchange but it can't. It's like if you go to the theater: something happens at certain time, there's a concentration of effort both in the audience and among the actors. Because of that 'agreement' something interesting can happen.

The comparison is not that far fetched. We were used to quality discussions, not just some loose chit chat. Why tht style should be abandonned I have no idea. What we have instead is hard to use in some constructive way. Not that I am against changes but they should hopefully improve things.

BN is now asking for time, well CU in two years or what should I say?

Moderators tell us they can handle just a few books at a time. No wonder; as a reader I can handle one book at a time. But you give us double messages.

If I would follow the American and British classics as they started off I'd be schizzo in a lunatic asylum by now. And most likely am not the only one. I can't live up to that theoretical ambition BN had about the free eternaly expanding ongoing alive book discussions.

Now we have many books and fewer participants while we had many participants and fewer books. I don't know anymore to be honest.

ziki

[Choisya]

As I have explained elsewhere, it is my fault Everyman : I mistook the date by reading 12/26 as the 12th because Brits put the day-date first. SORRY - Many Mea Culpas! (Moby Dick was put forward by Bob Fanuzzir as the next American Classic read some time ago and I have had the book for about 3 weeks.)

---

Everyman wrote:
I think we officially started on the 12th Bucky.

I don't know how things got from the 26th, which was the originally posted start date, to the 12th, which I haven't seen posted anywhere, before many people had a chance to get the book and start reading.

In BNU, the schedule for discussions was posted at least a month and usually at least six weeks before their official start date. That was a nice time frame.

I had planned, as had at least one other poster, to start on the 26th. But if the discussion is already half way through by then, I'll just skip it rather than try to play catch-up and be responding to first-chapter posts which may be two weeks or more old by then.

---

[ziki]

Don't blame yourself" Choisya.
It's just very unclear and we are like mice in a lab trying something out here.

If the board is up, it's up. What if a newcomer registers he/she would think it's open.
One can have questions also prior to reading...what do I know.

ziki

[Choisya]

This is a clear case of us needing to be able to delete our own posts! I would delete my posts to Moby Dick if I could but I can't! I don't think Bob needs to delete the board on which he has done so much work. He put those threads up to enable us to do some research in advance of the reading because the book is long and demanding.

---

leakybucket wrote:

---

Everyman wrote:
I think we officially started on the 12th Bucky.

I don't know how things got from the 26th, which was the originally posted start date, to the 12th, which I haven't seen posted anywhere, before many people had a chance to get the book and start reading.

In BNU, the schedule for discussions was posted at least a month and usually at least six weeks before their official start date. That was a nice time frame.

I had planned, as had at least one other poster, to start on the 26th. But if the discussion is already half way through by then, I'll just skip it rather than try to play catch-up and be responding to first-chapter posts which may be two weeks or more old by then.

---

I think that is the problem with many of us. We really would just as soon skip the discussion rather than coming in late. I'm for waiting until the 26th. Maybe the moderator could lock the discussion threads until the start date or something. If I were a potential participant just signing on a week from now I would think Moby Dick was underway and fizzled (like many other discussions) and wouldn't bother joining either. So lets wait and take the time to read and do our own research with a good start after Christmas. But first we have to hear from Bob. B&N may just take this down as an inactive board.

Bucky

---

[ziki]

This is not a book I want to read but I ordered it because I think I should read it and I think the discussion could help me to get through it (hark- oh my negative anticipations).

So presently I am waiting for the book to arrive in mail. Hopefully it'll be here before X-mas.

ziki

[Choisya]

That's true ziki - if a newcomer came along, unaware of previous discussions abaout dates, they would think that the board was up and running.

---

ziki wrote:
Don't blame yourself" Choisya.
It's just very unclear and we are like mice in a lab trying something out here.

If the board is up, it's up. What if a newcomer registers he/she would think it's open.
One can have questions also prior to reading...what do I know.

ziki

---

[ziki]

Moreover, this is just the community room; we are so disciplined, LOL.

ziki

[Laurel]

I think one of Agatha Christie's mysteries hangs partly on the two different ways to write dates numerically.

---

Choisya wrote:
My mistake everyone - I misread Bob's date as the 12th Bucky - you know that we Brits put the day-date first (I ignored the 26) !!! SORRY FOLKS!! See you on Boxing Day and Merry Christmas everyone!

I agree that B&N should find a better way of notifying us that new books are about to start, as they did under the BNU set-up. Missing the start of a book is extremely annoying and if you are a busy person it becomes difficult to catch up.



A start date is most helpful. 15th or 26th is fine with me. Gives me time to do some reading and some background research. The official start date should be posted prominently so people know if they have time to join, the discussion is halfway through or whatever. An official start date I think would bring in a lot more readers who won't feel like they have to rush out an get the book and read it in 24 hours. That discourages people. But if they can plan and know when it is going to start then they might be inclined to join in.

Bob, when you sign in can you set up something official?

Bucky

---

fanuzzir wrote
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/bn/board/message?board.id=AmericanClassics&;message.id=481">message linked here:
Here's the deal: Moby Dick will be incredibly structured, with a beginning, a middle and an end. People have been crying out for structure. That I can do. The discussion will begin 12/26, the day after the narrative of the novel is supposed to begin.
-------------------------------

Message Edited by Choisya on 12-10-200602:33 PM

Message Edited by Choisya on 12-10-200602:33 PM

---

Message Edited by Laurel on 12-10-200601:33 PM