Book Discussion - March 6th, 6pm Montrose Library-DOWNSTAIRS conf room, OTHELLO by Shakespeare
A Aman
Our next discussion is coming up soon, next Thursday March 6th at 6pm
at Freed-Montrose Library. We will be discussing OTHELLO by
Shakespeare. The discussion will be in the downstairs conference
room, to the right of the downstairs circulation desk. I will be
leading the discussion and will need all the help I can get so please
bring lots of questions.
A group of us will be attending the OTHELLO performance at the Alley
at 2:30pm on March 30th. The final deadline for getting your payment
to me is this Monday, March 3rd. More info at
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/Othello.
And I am happy to report that Betty is alive and well. I'm hoping if
we buy her a beer at the Black Lab, she might share with us some
insight she has gained as a result.of a very difficult ordeal she
experienced last month which prevented her from attending our
discussion.
Don't forget that it is time to submit suggestions for our April
ballot. Anyone who has attended at least two meetings may submit one
or two suggestions to me via email (in advance of the meeting,
please). Only two suggestions so far at:
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/Montrose/ballots/apr3-2008.html
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/Othello (March 30th event)
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/Montrose
http://groups.google.com/group/MontroseGreatBooks
http://www.houstongreatbooks.net/groups/Montrose.html
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/GreatBooksGuide.htm
UPCOMING SELECTIONS
=======================
Mar 6, 2008 OTHELLO by Shakespeare approx 100 pages) written around 1603
A tragic play about deception, manipulation, and revenge. The
devotion seems ideal between Othello and Desdemona until they become
victims of Iago's exploitation. Play will be performed live at the
Alley Theatre here in Houston. A theatre group gathering is planned
for March 30th. See http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/Othello for more
info. Text available for downloading online from:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext00/0ws3210.txt
---Alice will lead discussion
Apr 3, 2008 MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett (217 pages) publ 1930
A crime noir classic. A greedy and ruthless trio of characters bent on
finding the statuette meet their match in Sam Spade. The plot,
characters, and dialogue in The Maltese Falcon are perfectly
controlled by Hammett, incorporating a vigor and style that became the
paradigm for hard-boiled crime fiction. Possible discussion questions
at http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_M/maltese_falcon1.asp
---Christopher will lead discussion
Note: Election of new titles will be held at end of the April
discussion. Please submit titles in advance of the meeting.
May 1, 2008 Readings by Mark Twain:
* THE NOTORIOUS JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY (9 pages) publ 1867
http://members.cox.net/deleyd/religion/solarmyth/frog.html
* WAR PRAYER (2 pages) publ 1905
http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/making/warprayer.html
* NO. 44, MYSTERIOUS STRANGER (200 pages) publ 1982, not 1916 -
Please read version publ by Univ of California Press 1982.
(Other versions such as one published posthumously in 1916 reputedly
not written by Twain). MYSTERIOUS STRANGER is the story of a devil
wreaking subversive havoc on a socially repressive culture by playing
on their hypocritical terms. One example of where it can be purchased
is
http://www.amazon.com/Mysterious-Stranger-Twain-Mark-Library/dp/05202...
or http://tinyurl.com/yo89av in case the URL for Amazon above gets truncated.
---Anne will lead discussion
Jun 5, 2008 THE STRANGER by Camus (123 pages) publ 1946
Author was 1957 Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature The new English
translation by Matthew Ward published in 1989 is the preferred
translation. Book is one of the best-known examples of absurdist
fiction. Some classify it as Existential. The setting is Algiers. The
stranger of the story is a young man who commits an unpremeditated
crime in a moment of aberration and then is slowly and methodically
condemned to death.
. ---Wendy will lead discussion