Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters, by Mark Dunn

June's Selection

Ella Minnow Pea: A novel in letters, a progressively lipogrammatic epistolary fable, by Mark Dunn.

Discussion led by Linda Smith

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.  What was your reaction to Ella Minnow Pea?

2.  Letter Form

Mark Dunn: "I'm on a mission that every new novel I write is going to bend or tweak narrative as much as I can. I think writers need to be a little more daring. There are a lot of ways to tell stories and construct narratives that writers shy away from because they want to be either traditional or safe. I decided that's not going to be my mission."

Why has the author chosen to tell this story through letters rather than a more straightforward narrative?  How does the structure of the novel enhance Dunn’s purpose?

3. New words/expressions

All the inhabitants of Nollop are forced into linguistic contortions to avoid being prosecuted by the High Council, substituting words like "cephalus" for "head" and "sub-terra" for "underground" .  Sometimes hybrids

are made that combine the sounds and meanings of two different words,. Example: leapdash, vocabulazy.  Also Dunn invents a number of phrases to express an idea without the use of a banned letter.

Example spinal-defectives

What are some of the more amusing verbal acrobatics the people are forced to perform?

The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt

May's Selection -

The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt -

Discussion led Jay Noble

Audio Book:  https://m.soundcloud.com/slateradio/audio-book-club-the-goldfinch

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Heaven from Steam, by Carol Light

Able Muse Press

"Iambics march from short to long;--
With a leap and a bound the swift Anapaests throng."~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"A poet's mind ...is constantly amalgamating disparate experience; the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary. The latter falls in love, or reads Spinoza, and these two experiences have nothing to do with each other, or with the noise of the typewriter or the smell of cooking; in the mind of the poet these experiences are always forming new wholes."~T.S. Eliot

"The poet makes silk dresses out of worms."~Wallace Stevens

Hello Book Mavens,

We are thrilled at the prospect of having a living poet in our midst, and in the bargain, to reconnect with a family member whom we haven't seen in quite some time. For her part, Carol is excited as well to be coming to the Piney Woods of East Texas to share her poetry with fellow lovers of literature and with family. Heaven From Steam has attracted the notice of more than a few luminaries from the world of poetry, and I have to say, from the first of what will surely be many readings of the book, the praise is well deserved.

We believe that the reading/signing that Carol has generously agreed to do is a unique event for Longview. I can't recall another reading by a working poet in all the years I've lived here. As a club, I think congratulations are in order for bringing something new and exciting to the cultural landscape of the city and the region.

Thanks to all for your cooperation in moving our regularly scheduled meeting to accommodate the poet's schedule. I think after the reading on Friday evening, and the brunch with a very talented author at the Taylor's on Saturday, it will all have been worth it. Trudy has advised us that in accordance with their Home Owners Association's rules, the parking that will be available to us will be the Taylor's driveway, the street in front of their home, and the street in front of empty lots. This should easily accommodate four to six vehicles.

Below are a few more or less formal discussion questions, but I trust that each of you will have much to discuss and ask about during this time when we'll be fortunate enough to have the author all to ourselves. I can't think of a better way to celebrate and enjoy National Poetry Month.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Poetry Readings by Carol Light

The audio is Carol Light reading her poem, Odalisquie, Titian's Bacchanal, which was recorded during a reading at the Fredonia House Book Club event, Friday, April 25, 2014;  the accompanying music is a Mozart overture, Ascanio in Alba, K.111.

The Bacchanal of the Andrians is an oil painting by Titian. Tiziano Vecellio, known as Titian in English, was born in the small alpine village of Pieve di Cadore, which is located near the Austrian border.  The painting is dated to 1523–1526, and is now held at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, but it was commissioned by Alfonso I d'Este for his Camerini d'alabastro in Ferrara.


This video was taken during a reading at the Bushwick Book club event, November 30, 2012.

Twelve Years a Slave, Solomon Northup

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
Patrick Henry

“Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.”
Frederick Douglas

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”
Abraham Lincoln

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.”
William Wilberforce

“Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”
Abraham Lincoln

“Those who will not reason are bigots, those who cannot, are fools, and those who dare not, are slaves.”
George Gordon Byron

Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.”
Henry David Thoreau

Twelve Years a Slave, is about Solomon Northup, who was born in 1808, kidnapped in 1841, rescued in 1853. After he wrote the book, he became an abolitionist, and died in 1853 at the age of 55.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

I hope you all agree that this book is a great start to the New Year of FHBC!! If not, feel free to tell us all about it next Tuesday evening!!

Here are the questions! Don't be surprised if Durren sends out another letter with quotes, etc. I would've, but didn't have enough time!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

2014 Book Club List

Howdy,

Well, here it is, a good bit later than usual, but oh well! As no one came forward to claim the August slot, I took the opportunity to add another non-fiction title (a Pulitzer Prize finalist!) for which I'm happy to act as monitor.

Remember, the schedule is not quite written in stone! We only ask that changes be made as early as possible to allow our readers to make the adjustment in their own personal purchasing (and reading) schedules. Thanks everyone. Looks like an excellent year of reading ahead.

2014 Book Club List

January - The Book Thief - Markus Zusak - Jonna Anderson

February - (Nat'l Black History Month) - Twelve Years a Slave - Solomon Northup - Huey Mitchell

March - Mama Day - Gloria Naylor - Trudy Taylor

April - (Nat'l Poetry Month) Heaven From Steam - Carol Light - Durren Anderson

May - The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt - Jay Noble

June - Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters - Mark Dunn - Linda Smith

July - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz - James Harold

August - The Shallows: What The Internet is Doing to Our Brains - Nicholas Carr - Durren Anderson

September - (Nat'l Banned Books Month) - All My Sons, a play - Arthur Miller - Brad Echols

October - (Short Fiction) Runaway - Alice Munro - Paul Cronemeyer

November - The Time It Never Rained - Elmer Kelton - Gem Meacham

December - Holiday Party!