Houston Montrose Great Books - Book Club - Archive Page
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Reading Selections for the Houston Montrose Great Books - Book Club
in Our Earlier Years
Readings for 2007
- Jan 4 THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING by Milan Kundera (314 pages) publ 1984
Author is a nominee for the Man Booker International Prize and has won the highest literary award in the CSSR (Czech Republic) and other international literary awards..
--book deals heavily with philosophical concepts--depicts life for artists and intellectuals in Czechoslovakia after the USSR invaded- story of a famous surgeon (and his family) who criticizes the Czech Communists and as a result loses his position.
Alice will be leading discussion.
- Feb 1 ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac (307 pages) first publ 1957
often considered the defining work of the postwar Beat Generation that was so affected by jazz, poetry, and drug experiences-- hundreds of references have real-world counterparts--thinly fictionalized autobiography, filled with a cast made of Kerouac's real life friends, lovers, and fellow travelers. the soul of the Beat movement and literature.
Sophia will be leading discussion.
- Mar 1 A SIMPLE HEART by Gustave Flaubert (approx 100 pages) written 1876
Deceptively simple story of a housemaid and her approach to a lifetime of servitude renders her mundane life with great beauty and psychological integrity,
Available online at: http://www.bibliomania.com/0/5/136/344/8571/frameset.html
Alice will be leading discussion.
- Apr 5 BLINDNESS by Jose Saramago (292 pages) Engl trans publ 1998
Saramago is the only Portuguese writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature which he won in 1988.
This book explores loss and disorientation in a modern city in which every person but one becomes blind.
Carol will be leading discussion.
Note: Election of readings for July thru Dec (excluding October) will occur during last 15 minutes of the meeting. Please send in your suggestions BEFORE the meeting to Alice. You must have attended two meetings in order to submit up to two suggestions. Ballot Here
- May 3 LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT by Eugene O'Neill (192 pages) written 1942
Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama in 1957.
Widely considered to be his masterwork. The action covers a fateful, heart-wrenching day in August of 1912 at a seaside Connecticut home - the autobiographical representations of O'Neill himself, his brother, and their parents.
Mary will be leading discussion.
- Jun 7 THE BOSTONIANS by Henry James (414 pages) publ 1886
Verena Tarrant arouses the passions of two very different people: Olive Chancellor, a Boston-bred suffragette, who wants to make Verena a campaigner for women's rights and Basil Ransom, a Mississippi-bred lawyer, who wants to make her his wife.
Carol will be leading discussion.
- Jul 5 BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley (288 pages) publ 1932
Huxley uses the setting (London in 2540) and characters from this futurist fantasy to express widely held opinions, particularly the fear of losing individual identity in the fast-paced world of the future. Warfare and poverty have been eliminated in the world it describes. And the society is hedonistic deriving pleasure from promiscuous sex and drug use, especially the use of soma.
Wendy will be leading discussion.
- Aug 2 SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut (186 pages) publ 1969
Combines science fiction elements with an analysis of the human condition from an uncommon perspective, using time travel as a plot device and the bombing of Dresden in World War II, the aftermath of which Vonnegut witnessed, as a starting point. On Time Magazine's list of 100 best English novels
Steve S. will be leading discussion.
- Sept 6 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES by Jhumpa Lahiri (excerpt listed is 93 pages) publ 1999
Won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award.
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A collection of short stories about the lives of immigrant Indians (from Asia) who are caught between the culture they have inherited and the "New World" they now find themselves in. A Reader's Guide here is available. Titles of short stories to be discussed are limited to those 4 listed below so we can do justice to this prize winning collection.
- Interpreter of Maladies
- A Real Durwan
- Sexy
- Mrs. Sen's
Laurie will be leading discussion.
- Oct 4 BLESS ME, ULTIMA by Rudolfo Anaya (publ 1972) 304 pages
A Houston Books On The Bayou event which is a city-wide reading initiative sponsored by the Houston Public Library
Winner of the Premio Quinto Sol national Chicano literary award. Bestseller.
A coming of age story in New Mexico in the 1940s of a boy who meets a curandera (or healer) who struggles to stop the witchcraft of the main villain. The boy, who is witness to several deaths, is forced to deal with religious and moral issues. Sample of some discussion questions available at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/bmurecommended.htm. FYI - This selection was also chosen by the Austin Public Library for their "Books on the Bayou"equivalent in Austin, TX in 2002 and also FYI - the book was banned in Colorado for reading by High School students (in case that piques your interest.more than this little summary description, LOL)
Text is usually widely available at any Houston Library.as well as in Houston retail book stores during the month of Sept.
Note: Election of readings for January thru June will occur during last 15 minutes of the Oct meeting. Please send in your suggestions BEFORE the meeting to Alice. You must have attended two meetings in order to submit up to two suggestions. Ballot Here
- Nov 1 ANTHEM by Ayn Rand (272 pages) publ 1938
Science fiction taking place at some future date when mankind has entered another dark age as a result of what the author saw as the weaknesses of socialistic thinking and economics. Technological advancement is now carefully planned (when it is allowed to occur at all) and the concept of individuality has been eliminated (for example, the word "I" has disappeared from the language.)
Included on the Reader's List of Modern Library's 100 Best Novels/. Also, Project Gutenberg e-text of ANTHEM available here
Wendy will be leading discussion.
- Dec 6 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (432 pages)
first publ in Spanish in 1967, in English in 1970
Author is Nobel Prize wininer for Literature in 1982
Novel awarded Venezuela's prestigious Rómulo Gallegos Prize for literature in 1972.
Considered to be author's masterpiece, metaphorically encompassing the history of Colombia. The novel chronicles a family's struggle, and the history of their fictional town, Macondo, for one hundred years. A reader's guide with discussion questions is available at readinggroupguides.com
Helen will be leading discussion.
Readings for 2006
- Jan 5 TAKE ME OUT by Richard Greenberg
(128 pages) published 2003
”The New York Empires locker room will never be the same after a charismatic young baseball star at the top of his game casually reveals a personal truth: he's gay. …A joyous tribute to baseball that celebrates the glory of the game, and the men who love—or learn to love—America's pastime. Winner of the 2003 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Play and a finalist for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.”
Sofia leading discussion
- Feb 2 THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
(209 pages) originally published 1945
“..arguably Fitzgerald’s finest work…Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's--and his country's--most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings.
Steve leading discussion
- Mar 2 HADJ MURAD by LeoTolstoy
(192 pages) written 1904
"..a great chieftain, Hadji Murád, broke with the Chechen and fled to the Russians for safety. Months later, while attempting to rescue his family from prison, Hadji Murád was pursued by those he had betrayed and, after fighting the most heroic battle of his life, was killed." Per an Amazon reviewer: "an action-packed, well-written, historically interesting story with compelling characters."
Alice leading discussion
Vote on new future reading selections to follow discussion. Ballot Here
- Apr 6 TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf
(209 pages) published 1942
“..explores the subjective reality of the everyday life of the Ramsay family of the British Hebrides islands. A 'feminine' book, filled with irony, sadness, and doubts about life.””
Steve leading discussion
- May 4 AGE OF IRON by John Coetzee
(208 pages) published 1998
Great Books Penguin Selection summary and questions available.
From Library Journal: "This is the South African novelist's most direct indictment of apartheid yet. It takes the form of a letter-diary from Mrs. Curren, a former classics professor dying of cancer, to her daughter in America. She details a series of strange events that turn her protected middle-class life upside down."
Author won Nobel Prize in 2003.
Alice leading discussion
- June 1 RAGTIME by E.L. Doctorow
(270 pages) publ in 1975
Received the first National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1976 as well as the Arts and Letters Award given by the American Academy and National Institute of Arts and Letters. Bestseller. Set in the decade prior to World War I, Ragtime "rags" an array of historical figures that include Houdini, William Howard Taft, J.P. Morgan, Sigmund Freud, and others. Historic and imaginative events are woven so skillfully that by the end of the novel the nature of historical truth is called into question.
Steve S. leading discussion.
- July 6 A BEND IN THE RIVER by V.S. Naipaul
(288 pages) published 1989
Author is a Nobel Prize Winner-
"A chronicle of the descent of a Central African nation (Zaire) from postColonial disruption to New African corruption to utter chaos & hooliganism as seen through the eyes of Salim, a Muslim Indian shopkeeper... "
Alice leading discussion.
- Aug 3 DINNER WITH FRIENDS by Donald Margulies
(112 pages) (a play) Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2000
...a funny yet bittersweet examination of the married lives of two couples who have been extremely close for dozens of years. Although it seems to be treading on familiar ground, Dinner keeps changing its perspective to show how one couple's breakup can have equally devastating effects on another's stability.
Hedwiga leading discussion.
- Sept 7 SONS AND LOVERS by D.H. Lawerence
(394 pages) publ in 1913
"first modern portrayal of the Oedipus complex". "Never was a son more indentured to his mother's love and full of hatred for his father than Paul Morel, D.H. Lawrence's young protagonist." Available online at: http://www.gutenberg.org
Steve S. leading discussion.
- Oct 5 RIDING THE BUS WITH MY SISTER by Rachel Simon (304 pages) publ 2003
A Houston Books on the Bayou selection by the Houston Library - book will be VERY widely available for checkout at any Houston library.
The author's sister Beth who has mental retardation, spends her days riding the buses.. The drivers are her mentors; her fellow passengers are her community This book is the chronicle of a remarkable time that was a result of Beth asking her sister to accompany her on the buses for an entire year.
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Leader of discussion is TBD.
Note: Election of new readings held at end of October discussion. Ballot can be viewed HERE.
- Nov 2 GILEAD by Marilynne Robinson (publ 2006) (256 pages)
Pulitzer Prize 2005- from Publisher's Weekly: "...a mesmerizing account of meditations on creation and existence fully illumined" by a preacher in the small Iowa town of Gilead —in the form of a letter to his young son, to whom he imagines reading it when he is grown.
Lisa leading discussion.
- Dec 7 LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel
(336 pages) publ 2002
Man Booker Prize Winner 2002. Bestseller. "This is a story of survival. A little kid shipwrecked tries to survive in the middle of the Pacific ocean...with a wild murderous tiger...alone in a boat."
Alice leading discussion.
Readings for 2005
- January 6, 2005 - Marquez:One Hundred Years of Solitude(464 pages)
- Alice leading the discussion
Author won Nobel prize in 1982.
- Feb 3, 2005 - Miller:The Crucible (95 pages)
- Alice leading discussion
Play being performed at the Houston Alley Theatre - Feb 25th thru March 20th.
- March 3, 2005 - Jones:The Known World (432 pages)
- Ann Leading discussion
Our March selection won the Pulitzer prize in 2004 as well as the National
Book Critics Circle Award.
- April 7, 2005 - Voltaire:Candide (112 pages)
- Alice Leading discussion
At the end of our April discussion - we will vote on new selections for July thru October. Be thinking about selections you can submit for the ballot HERE .
- May 5, 2005 - Barker:Regeneration (232 pages)
- Ann Leading discussion
- June 2, 2005 - Dostoevsky:Crocodile (22 or 82 pages depending on whether you print out online or get a text with a lot of introduction)
Online link http://eserver.org/fiction/the-crocodile.txt
- Alice Leading discussion
- July 7 - Kundera: FAREWELL WALTZ (288 pages)
published 1998
Note: This selection has an earlier translation titled THE
FAREWELL PARTY published in 1976 which is out of
print. Neither translation appears to be available thru the
Houston Public Library but the newer translation seems
easy to find online at Amazon and Barnes-Noble which
means you can order thru local retail book stores as well.
Karen leading discussion
- Aug 4 - Forster:A ROOM WITH A VIEW (224 pages)
published 1908
Steve leading discussion
- Sept 1- Tennessee Williams:A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
(142 pages)
published 1947
Alice leading discussion
Vote on new future reading selections to follow discussion. Ballot Here
- Oct 6 - Khaled Hosseini:THE KITE RUNNER (384 pages)
published 2004
Anne leading discussion
- Nov 3 - Evelyn Waugh:BRIDESHEAD REVISITED (251 pages)
published 1945
Steve leading discussion
- Dec 1 - Tolstoy:THE COSSACKS (224 pages)
written 1862
One of serveral online versions available at:
http://www.litfix.com/tolstoy/onlinetexts/cossacks/index.html
Alice leading discussion
Readings for 2004
- January: Embers, Sander Marai
- February: On Happiness, Aristotle*
- March: As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner
- April 1, 2004: The Plague, Albert Camus (Orig scheduled for May)
- May 6, 2004: The Apology, Plato* (orig scheduled for April)
- June 3, 2004: Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad*
* These selections are found in the First Series of Great Books Reading and Discussion Program
To order, call 1-800-222-5870 or go to www.greatbooks.org.
- July -- Durrell: Justine
- Aug -- Shakespeare: Taming of the Shrew
- Sept -- Cather: My Antonia
- Oct -- Martinez: Crossing Over - A Books on the Bayou selection. Click [HERE] for
info on Books on the Bayou, 200r
- Nov -- Fuentes: The Old Gringo
- Dec -- Penn Warren: All the Kings Men
Readings for Previous Year -- 2003
- January 2, 2003: The Tin Drum, Gunter Grass
- February 6, 2003: Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black and White Soldiers,
Joseph Glatthaar (depending on availability)
- March 6, 2003: The Double, Fydor Dostoyevsky
- April 3, 2003: Man¹s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl
- May 1, 2003: Death in Venice, Thomas Mann
- June 5, 2003: An Enemy of the People , Henrik Ibsen
- July 3, 2003: The Fire and The Sun: Why Plato Banished the Artists, Iris Murdoch
- August 7, 2003: Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
- September 4, 2003: Heaney: Beowulf: The Modern Translation
- October 2, 2003: Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451
- November: The Real Thing, Henry James
- December: Rothschild's Fiddle, Anton Chekhov*
Readings for Previous Year - 2002
- Jan 3,2002 Tolstoy: Family Happiness
Group will meet at Central Market
2nd floor community room
3815 Westheimer(at Weslayan)
from the collection: Great Short Works by Leo Tolstoy
ISBN: 0060830719 (repeat use)
- Feb 7,2002 O'Connor: A Good Man is Hard to Find
(on the web)
Meeting at Freed-Montrose Library
4100 Montrose
2nd Floor Coference Room
- Mar 7,2002 Adler:The Paideia Proposal:An Educational Manifesto
- Apr 4,2002 Edmunds: Wittgenstein's Poker: The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers
- May 2,2002 "Comfort," a short story by Alice Munro in the New Yorker 10/08/01 (and on the web) click here.
- June 6,2002 Measure for Measure (changed from The Merchant of Venice ), William Shakespeare
- July 4,2002 "The Declaration of Independence" Area-wide discussion at Central Market (HEB store) 3815 Westheimer - Time: 3pm Loc: 2nd floor community room
- August 1,2002 --Carson McCullers: The Ballad of the Sad Cafe
- September 5,2002-- Giuseppe de Lampedusa: The Leopard
- October 3, 2002-- Ernest Gaines: A Lesson Before Dying
- November 7, 2002-- Jhumpa Lahiri: Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
- December 5, 2002-- Mary Lavin: On Happiness
Readings for previous year - 2001:
- Jan 4,2001 Tolstoy:Kreutzer Sonata
from the collection: Great Short Works by Leo Tolstoy
ISBN: 0060830719
- Feb 1,2001 Shakespeare: Hamlet
ISBN: 067172262X
- Mar 1,2001 Stoppard: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
ISBN: 0802132758
- Apr 5,2001 Dostoevsky: The Gambler
ISBN: 0486290816 or on the web at
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Fyodor_Dostoevsky/The_Gambler/
- May 3,2001 O'Connor: Wise Blood
m the collection: Three by Flannery O'Connor
ISBN: 0451525140
- Jun 7,2001 - meeting cancelled due to flood
- Jul 5,2001 Tolstoy: The Death of Ivan Ilych
from the collection: Great Short Works by Leo Tolstoy
ISBN: 0060830719 (repeat use)
- Aug 2,2001 Fugard: Hello and Goodbye
from the collectin: Blood Knot and Other Plays
ISBN:1-55936-020-8
- Sep 6,2001 Eliot: Murder in the Cathedral
ISBN: 0156632772
- Oct 4,2001 O'Connor: The Violent Bear it Away
from the collection: Three by Flannery O'Connor
ISBN: 0451525140 (repeat use)
- Nov 1,2001 Fugard: Boesman and Lena
from the collection: Blood Knot and Other Plays
ISBN:1-55936-020-8 (repeat use)
- Dec 6,2001 Bring your own selection - group will meet at Cafe Express
on Kirby 3200 Kirby Drive.
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