tfilm (02/11/83)
RE: Books, anyone? Is there any interest in book related discussions? As a library director,I am interested in most types of literature, and it seems to me that with the proliferation of news nets and with what I perceive as something around a 20% valuable, 80% questionable content ratio for all of the net items, there may be interest in a news group 'net.books'. To begin such a discussion, I would be quite interested in what sort of people enjoyed the book 'Sophie's Choice', and why. I have, of course, my own opinion of the author's style and the story itself. Another area that interests me is that occasionally librarians blacklist a book on the grounds that it is 'truly' offensive to some group in our society (policemen, prudes, minorities). One such current book is 'Jake and Honeybell go to Heaven' by Margo Zemach. I just purchased the book for my children and would be interested if any one has any views on this book in particular, or on librarian 'censorship' of this or a similar sort.
neiman (02/14/83)
I'd be interested in a net.books primarily as a guide to what's worth reading. Kind of a net.movies for the literate. dann
gh (02/15/83)
net.books would be "kind of a net.movies for the literate"??!! What an insult to the serious (literate) student of cinema, especially at a time when best-selling books are such items as "Garfield Gains Weight", "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche", "101 Uses for a Dead Extra-Terrestrial", "Jane Fonda's Workout Book", "A Flatter Stomach in 30 Days", et cetera, ad nauseum. The point: The literate are a minority in all media; disparaging remarks about preferred media are of no value -- okay, dann? Graeme Hirst, Brown CS
cas (02/15/83)
Up to now discussions about books have been split up into seperate newsgroups. This makes it hard for people like me who don't want to follow the discussions in all the newsgroups, but who are interested in books on those subjects. So I would like to see a net.books also. Cliff Stevens ...!lime!houxe!cliff ...!lime!houxg!cas
mcewan (02/16/83)
#R:ihuxp:-36000:uiucdcs:10600062:000:290 uiucdcs!mcewan Feb 15 23:43:00 1983 I really don't think this was intended as an insult. My dictionary gives one of the definitions of literate as "familiar with literature; literary". I believe that this was the meaning intended. "The literate are a minority in all media"???? By *definition*, anyone who reads is literate!
jcz (02/20/83)
References: ittvax.620 Another vote for net.books. I read MUCH more than I go to movies, and it such a waste to get a book that turns out to be bad. A net.books as a forum for reviews (weel, I liked it . . .) is a good idea. (How about net.review.(movies, books, tv, etc.)? --jcz