Runaway, by Alice Munro (2004)

Just as a swimmer, who with his last breath
flounders ashore from perilous seas, might turn
to memorize the wide water of his death --
so did I turn, my soul still fugitive
from death's surviving image, to stare down
that pass that none had ever left alive.
from Dante's Inferno

I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, where are you going
And this he told me
I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm
I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band
I'm going to camp out on the land
I'm going to try an' get my soul free
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden
from Woodstock, by Joni Mitchell


Howdy All,

As we prepare for the last two titles in this reading year, RUNAWAY, by Alice Munro (Paul) and THE TIME IT NEVER RAINED, by Elmer Kelton (Gem), I would like to take this opportunity to urge each of you to begin considering your pick for next year's list. That is, assuming you haven't already nailed that down! As in the past, I would prefer to have the list and its accompanying schedule completed by November first. Does this mean that the annual harassment of members for titles is upon us? But of course!

Please bear in mind the yearly categories of short fiction, banned book, poetry, Nat'l Black History Month, and sub-cultural/international title. Also, attention should be paid to insuring a solid representation of female writers. Beyond these areas, the sky's the limit! I would also send a special appeal to anyone who has not led a discussion for a while, as well as anyone who has yet to choose a book. Please, share with us your insight and your interests. In this way we'll continue to give voice to the diversity and depth of the best book club in all East Texas. So. My pen/cursor is poised to note your suggestions for 2015. I know that we'll all be challenged and delighted by your suggestions.

Also, this might be a good time to start considering where we might like to have our annual holiday party. Ideas on this would be appreciated. For instance we might consider whether we want to hold the party in one of our homes, or at a restaurant or other public venue. Thoughts?

Paul Cronemeyer presides on Tuesday night. See you there.

All My Sons, by Arthur Miller (1947)

All My Sons -- Discussion Questions


1. Many have pointed out that reading a book is a much more interactive process that watching a movie or a play, because the reader creates her own mental version of the characters, the setting, the action, etc. from the writer's descriptions while the watcher simply has to accept the version provided. Reading a play can require even more imagination, because the descriptions given of the characters, setting and action are often much more sparse. Many book authors describe settings in extreme detail and novelists often give us direct insight into the thoughts and motivations of characters. In a play the detail of setting is often left to the imagination of the set designer and conveying the emotions and motivations of the characters is often largely left to the craft of the actors and director. Does having to supply so much information yourself work for you as a play-reader? In other words, does the experience seem richer, weaker, more difficult, more challenging, etc. when compared to reading a novel?


2. I understand James "beat me to it" by selecting the first and only other play for FHBC consumption -- The Merchant of Venice. How did your experience reading a Shakespeare classic differ from reading what many consider a modern classic? What do you gain or lose moving from Shakespeare's use of language compared to the more straight-forward language of Miller's characters? Although different in language and structure, do you see any parallels between Shakespeare and Miller?


3. a) I chose Miller because he is considered a modern master and because his works have been banned --- it is Banned Book Month, after all. In 1970, Miller's works were banned in the Soviet Union after he campaigned for the freedom of dissident writers. Any comments on the irony of the Soviet Union banning Miller?


b) I chose All My Sons because it is much less well known than Death of a Salesman or The Crucible which many of us read for school or have seen portrayed on stage or screen. All My Sons was Miller's first real success. It was written and produced for the Broadway stage in the late 1940s. What are the themes of the play and do they still resonate today?


4. Were any scenes or characters particularly impactful or memorable to you? Why? Did any development in the story surprise you?


5. (SPOILER ALERT!) Why does Joe Keller kill himself?


6. Did you like the play?

The BBC Book List of Top 100 Books

The BBC posted that most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up? Comments anyone?

Copy, edit and paste into a note of your own.

What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, by Nicholas Carr

"Between the intellectual guardrails set by our genetic code, the road is wide, and we hold the steering wheel. Through what we do and how we do it--moment by moment, day by day, consciously or unconsciously--we alter the chemical flows in our synapses and change our brains."~Nicholas Carr

"We must always be on the lookout for perverse dynamic processes which carry even good things to excess. It is precisely these excesses which become the most evil things...The devil, after all, is a fallen angel."~Kenneth E. Boulding

"We become what we behold. We shape our tools, and thereafter, our tools shape us."~Marshall McLuhan

"IT'S ALIVE, IT'S ALIVE!"~ Victor Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)

Hello Book Mavens,

This month's selection has been a real eye-opener for this reader, and I suspect that it will have made quite an impression on most, if not all of you as well. Nothing could be of more import to those as deeply invested in the benefits and pleasures of reading as we are. So, when I chanced upon the original article in the Atlantic that gave rise to the expanded book that I chose for this month, I greedily devoured it. Carr's book, at least for me, has filled out a chilling picture that may bode ill for the future prospects of book culture.

As I read, fascinated with the cultural shifts described by the author, and the startling results of many scientific experiments backing up his claims, I felt the same concern that I experienced many years ago when the first e-readers were coming onto the scene. Now, having been given an e-reader as a gift a few years back (I doubt I would ever have bought one for myself), I sense the same foreboding described by Carr as sitting on the cusp of a tectonic paradigm shift in culture. As the author described it near the beginning of his book, "My life, like the lives of most Baby Boomers and Generation X'ers, has unfolded like a two-act play. It opened with Analogue Youth and then, after a quick but thorough shuffling of props, it entered Digital Adulthood."

I have a feeling that our discussion on Tuesday night August 26, at the home of Jay and Jessica Noble, will be as lively a conversation as we've had all year. In case you haven't gotten the e-mails about the meeting re-location, the Nobles live at 229 Bridgers Hill Rd, Longview. We look forward to seeing you all there.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz.

Discussion led by James Harold.

Book Mavens

This month’s selection is Dominican-New Jersey- American writer JunotDiaz’s Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize, and Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winning novel, “The BriefWondrous Life of Oscar Wao”.

I’m using quotes to Introduce the questions, but they are by no means meant to bias or direct your thoughts or answers.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

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