Central Market Book Club
Affiliated
a Non-Profit Educational Organization
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Central Market Book Club candidates - Ballot for April 12, 2010
- Anyone attending will each have 6 votes to choose from this list whether they are new members or not.
- They can apply all votes on one candidate or split their votes up however they would like as long as it is no more than a total of 6 votes per each member.
- Only those members who have attended twice may submit titles for the ballot. (Don't have to be present at the meeting to submit titles for the ballot).
- All attendees can vote, even if this meeting on April 12th is their first meeting.
Suggested by Ruthie
- ANGLE OF REPOSE by Wallace Stegner (publ 1972) 592 pages
Pulitzer Prize winner.
Novel about a wheelchair-using historian who has lost connection with his son and living family and decides to write about his frontier-era grandparents. The author's use of Mary Hallock Foote's historical letters gives the novel's locations: Leadville, New Almaden, Idaho, and Mexico, an authentic feel; the letters also add vividness to the Wards' struggles with the environment, shady businessmen, and politicians. A "Who's Who" of American mining engineers and other western individuals of the late 1800s make their appearance.
- REMAINS OF THE DAY by Kazuo Ishiguro (publ 1989) 256 pages
Booker Prize winner, one of the most highly-regarded post-war British novels; author is British-Japanese; the story is of Stevens, an English butler who dedicates his life to the loyal service of Lord Darlington (mentioned in increasing detail in flashbacks); one aspect is the invitation to the reader to look beyond the public face presented by a character who's very essence is characterised by the presentation of a dignified facade.
Suggested by Mary
- THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE by Thomas Hardy (publ 1886) 352 pages
a tragic novel subtitled THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A MAN OF CHARACTER...set in a fictional English rustic town. Though the story cannot be considered to be cheerful or uplifting, it is in the minds of many thought to be compelling, disturbing, and thought-provoking and illustrates among other things the unpleasant reality that one's life is subject to forces beyond one's control. The character of the Mayor is ranked by some as a tragic character in line with Shakespeare's best work. The work was originally published in serial form apparently contributing to the fact that numerous reviewers on amazon.com label it as a "page turner" and a "great read".
Suggested by Alice
- BARN BURNING by William Faulkner (publ 1938) 25 pages
This short story is a prequel to the well known SNOPES TRILOGY by Faulkner. The story deals with class conflicts, the influence of fathers, and vengeance as viewed through the third-person perspective of a young, impressionable child.
Available on the web as well as included in numerous short story collections of Faulkner's work.
- SIDDHARTHA by Hermann Hesse (publ 1922 in German) 152 pages
Deals with the spiritual journey of a boy known as Siddhartha from the Indian Subcontinent during the time of the Buddha - written in a simple yet powerful and lyrical style. Published in the U.S. in 1951, it became influential during the 1960s. Discussion guide available on the Chicago Greatbooks web site at: http://www.greatbooks.org/library/guides/siddhartha.html
Suggested by Jackie
- THE PICKUP by Nadine Gordimer (publ 2002) 288 pages
Nobel Laureate for Literature 1991; numerous other awards include THE BOOKER in 1974 with THE PICKUP specifically being on the Booker Prize longlist in 2001.
Story begins in an unnamed country that is clearly South Africa where a young publicist from an affluent, prestigious white family, sets her sights on the dark-skinned foreigner who has repaired her car. From a seemingly simple scenario of girl meets boy, story evolves into an exploration of freedom, responsibility, love, and identity for the two central characters who seek to forge a life together and find a place that can accommodate their respective dreams.
Suggested by Catherine
- BELOVED by Toni Morrison (publ 1987) 352 pages
Winner of Nobel Prize in literature in 1993. Pulitzer Prize winner in 1988. 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."
- THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy (publ 2006) 256 pages
Pulitzer Prize winner in 2007.
A post-apocalyptic tale describing a journey taken by a father and his young son over a period of several months across a landscape blasted years before by an unnamed cataclysm that destroyed civilization and, seemingly, most life on earth. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearting, a cart of scavenged food — and each other.
Suggested by Scott
- THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand (publ 1943) 752 pages
A modern classic. Howard Roark, the protagonist is an individualistic young architect who chooses to struggle in obscurity rather than compromise his artistic and personal vision. The story follows his battle to practice what the public sees as modern architecture, which he believes to be superior, despite an establishment centered on tradition-worship. The complex relationships between Roark and the various kinds of individuals who assist or hinder his progress, or both, allow the novel to be at once a romantic drama and a philosophical work.
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