Book Discussion - May 2nd is correct date for Thursday next week - Montrose Library 6pm

[Alice Aman]

Correction for anyone who might be confused.  I put the correct date for our discussion of A HIGH WIND IN JAMAICA  in the subject which is May 2nd next week.  But in the text of the message, I put April 27th (tomorrow) as the date - wrong - that is for the Fire Museum tour.  Apologies for confusion.

  

Hope to see you on May 2nd!

 --Alice

=========UPCOMING DISCUSSIONS=======

April 27 - Saturday -  Fire Museum Tour - Probably a bit late to RSVP but never hurts to try if you are interested. See http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=ce3b1803d8&id=90dbf855b4&e=5e35813259

May 2 - Thurs - A HIGH WIND IN JAMAICA by Richard Hughes (publ 1929) 279 pages

Included as number 71 in the Modern Library's 100 Best English-language novels of the 20th century.

Story is a reckoning with the secret reasons and otherworldly realities of childhood. Action begins among the decayed plantation houses of late nineteenth-century Jamaica, before moving out onto the high seas, as Hughes tells the story of a group of children thrown upon the mercy of a crew of down-at-the-heel pirates

  --Will leading discussion

Jun 6 BELOVED by Toni Morrison - [publ 1987] 352 pages

Author is winner of Nobel Prize in literature in 1993. Pulitzer Prize winner in 1988 for BELOVED which was also selected as single best work of American fiction in past 25 years as determined by a New York Times poll of 200 prominent writers, critics and editors.

 Book examines both the mental and physical trauma caused by brutal effects of slavery. Sethe struggles to survive in the aftermath of slavery, haunted by her dead daughter. The author has said "Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another."

  --Nicole leading discussion

Jul 4 Our group will not meet on this holiday. (Conveniently providing more time to read next month's selection). Alternative recommendation is for everyone to attend the 11th Annual Independence Day discussion being organized by the Houston Great Books Council. Usually an excerpt of the U.S. Constitution is discussed but details are not available yet to confirm so please stay tuned.

Aug 1 THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner (publ 1929) 350 pages

Notoriously "difficult," this novel is actually one of Faulkner's more accessible works once you get past the abrupt, unannounced time shifts--and certainly the most powerful emotionally according to some reviews.

 This story of the fall of the Compson family, an aristocratic Southern family, mirrors the fall of the Old South after the Civil War.

  --David leading discussion

Sep 5 THE TRIAL by Franz Kafka (publ 1925) 300 pages

Breon Mitchell translation recommended and available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Trial-Translation-Based-Restored-Text/dp/0805209999/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359660505&sr=1-2

  The terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, Kafka's nightmare has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.

  --Will leading discussion