Houston Montrose Great Books
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Houston Montrose Great Books - book candidates - ballot for June 3, 2010
Six titles will be selected which means anyone attending will each have 6 votes to choose from this list. Voters can use all 6 of their votes on one title or one vote on each one of six titles or some combination as long as the voter doesn't use more than 6 votes.
Suggested by Jo
- THE CYBERIAD by Stanislaw Lem (publ 1965) 312 pages
Author is winner of many prestigious awards both in Poland and abroad.
A collection of stories where main characters are constructor robots who try to out-invent each other. They travel to the far corners of the cosmos to take on freelance problem-solving jobs, with dire consequences for their employers. From a review at Amazon.com, Lem's style is "the futuristic fable, mixing intellectual slapstick, brilliant wordplay, and deep philosophy."
(note: if this wins, Joanna will select one or two short stories from the collection for us to discuss though reading of the entire book is encouraged and may be used as background for the discussion.)
- PERSEPOLIS: THE STORY OF A CHILDHOOD by Marjane Satrapi (publ 2004) 160 pages
A graphic novel selected by the Houston Public Library system as its choice for this years annual community-wide effort known as Books on the Bayou designed to encourage reading of the same book at the same time. More publicity of the event will occur in the months ahead. But in the meantime, we have the option to participate if we choose this book as one for our upcoming schedule.
In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, the author tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah's regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq.
More information and excerpts from the book at: www.randomhouse.com
Jo and Wendy will co-lead if this book wins a slot on our schedule.
Suggested by Wendy
- THE CRYING OF LOT 49 by Thomas Pynchon (publ 1966) 183 pages
Included in TIME's list of 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.
Author seems to be making a point about human beings' need for certainty, and their need to invent conspiracy theories to fill the vacuum in places where there is no certainty. Mixes obscure historical fact and fiction. Protagonist learns about a series of secret societies and strange groups of people involved in a sort of renegade postal system. She is not sure whether she is the victim of an elaborate conspiracy or prank. Some say that it includes delightfully controlled chaos.
Suggested by Will
- LAUGHTER IN THE DARK by Vladimir Nabokov (publ 1932) 308 pages
Story of a rich, respectable, happy middle-aged man who lives in Berlin with his wife and daughter, but abandons them for a very young woman, whom he loves but is not loved in return. Reviews about this book are varied with many thinking it great and others not so great but all agree that Nabokov's writing is perfect.
- THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO by Horace Walpole. (publ 1764) 176 pages
A simple story with an underlying plot set in a medieval context with ghosts, knights, damsels in distress, a questionable hierarchy, and a battle for the love of a woman. Considered the first gothic novel in the English language; its supernatural happenings and mysterious ambiance were widely emulated in the genre.
Available online at: http://castleofotranto.blogspot.com/
Suggested by Brian
- A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS by Robert Bolt (first performed in 1960) 163 pages
Play based on the true story of Saint Sir Thomas More, the 16th-century Chancellor of England, who refuses to endorse King Henry VIII's wish to divorce his aging wife Catherine of Aragon, who could not bear him a son, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, the sister of his former mistress. The play portrays More as a man of principle, envied by rivals such as Thomas Cromwell and loved by the common people and by his family.
Suggested by Carol
- A SEVERED HEAD by Iris Murdoch (publ 1961) 208 pages
Despite the serious themes of marriage, adultery, power struggles and incest within a group of civilized, middle-class and educated people, A SEVERED HEAD is regarded by many readers as the most entertaining of Murdoch's novels. As British novelist William Sutcliffe put it, "Of all the lots-of-people-screwing-lots-of-other-people novels this is probably the best, and certainly the weirdest."
- MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdie (publ 1981) 446 pages
Marking the 40th anniversary of the Booker Prize literary award, this title was awarded the best Booker Prize winner of all time.
A book of magical realism about India's transition from British colonialism to independence. The story is expressed through various characters and is contexted by actual historical events as with historical fiction. [Because this is relatively long, if chosen, discussion for month before discussion of this book will be a short story.]
Suggested by Claudia
- RICHARD III by Shakespeare (written 1591) 100 pages
A history play depicting the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England...widely considered to be one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. Malicious, power-hungry, and bitter about his physical deformity, Richard aspires secretly to the throne and decides to kill anyone he has to in order to become king.
- LUCKY JIM by Kingsley Amis (251 pages) publ 1954
Modern British classic and academic satire. The title character, Jim Dixon is a history lecturer at one of the provincial universities in the early fifties, who is frustrated by the banality of his job, and trapped in a suffocating relationship with a woman he is completely uninterested in. Though that summary would suggest otherwise, reviews indicate that this is a very funny book. The author continually plays upon the contrast between Jim's need to present a respectable and polite front, and the loathing and contempt he seems to feel for just about everyone around him.
Included in Time's Best 100 novels since 1923
Suggested by Alice
- ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Charles Dodgson (pseudonym Lewis Carroll) (Publ 1865) 96 pages
story of a girl who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar and anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic in ways that have given the story lasting popularity with adults as well as children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the "literary nonsense" genre, and its narrative course and structure have been enormously influential, especially in the fantasy genre.
Suggested by David
- THE MASTER AND MARGARITA by Mikhail Bulgakov (publ 1967-1970) 432 pages
A Penguin Classic -- woven around the premise of a visit by the Devil to the fervently atheistic Soviet Union. Many critics consider the book to be one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, as well as one of the foremost Soviet satires, directed against a suffocatingly bureaucratic social order.
Great Books discussion guide at www.greatbooks.org
- THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE by Muriel Spark (publ 1961) 160 pages
The bizarre, unforgettable character of Miss Jean Brodie brought Spark international fame and boosted her into the first rank of contemporary Scottish literature. Time Magazine included the novel in its list of Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.
In 1930s Edinburgh, six ten year old girls are assigned Miss Jean Brodie who as their teacher is "genuinely intent on opening up her girls' lives, on heightening their awareness of themselves and their world, and on breaking free of restrictive, conventional ways of thinking, feeling, and being."
Suggested by Steve S.
- THE MISANTHROPE and TARTUFFE by Moliere (his two most famous plays) approx 160 pages combined
- THE MISANTHROPE (first performed 1666) 75 pages - demonstrates Moliere's twisting of the traditional farce or satire, which typically used flat stereotypes to make a broad comment on social or political issues - story about a man who tells the harshest truth to everyone but himself. Someone in an Amazon revew compares him to Dr. House (yes, the one in the popular TV show.)
- TARTUFFE (first performed 1664) 79 pages - Fast-paced and often hilarious according to several reviews on Amazon -- believed to be not so much a satire on religion as a satire on religious hypocrisy. A social comedy that was perennially banned. Moliere had to use his influence with King Louis IV to get permission for the 17th-century French play to be performed in public.
- FAUST: Part I by Goethe (publ ) 240 pages
Classic German legend, epic poem. considered to be one of the greatest masterpieces of Western Literature. Story is about a highly successful scholar, Faust who is unsatisfied, and makes a deal with the Devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures.
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