Monday, February 26, 2024

March 29, 2024

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be March 29, 2024.         We will discuss The Black Prince, by Iris Murdoch.  

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: March 29, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm

 Zoom On-Line Meeting:
— an email with link to join will be sent prior to meeting.
— the link is sent to a limited mailing list of frequent attenders.
— request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.

About the Book:
The Black Prince is Iris Murdoch's 15th novel, first published in 1973. The name of the novel alludes mainly to Hamlet. The Black Prince is remarkable for the structure of its narrative, consisting of a central story bookended by forewords and post-scripts by characters within it. It largely consists of the description of a period in the later life of the main character.

Saturday, January 27, 2024

The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be February 23, 2024.          We will discuss Chapters 1 through 17 of The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu.  

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: February 23, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm

 Zoom On-Line Meeting:
— an email with link to join will be sent prior to meeting.
— the link is sent to a limited mailing list of frequent attenders.
— request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.

About the Book:
The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written in the early 11th century by the noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu. The work is a unique depiction of the lifestyles of high courtiers during the Heian period. The work recounts the life of Hikaru Genji who is the son of an ancient Japanese emperor (known to readers as Emperor Kiritsubo) and a low-ranking concubine called Kiritsubo Consort. For political reasons, the emperor removes Genji from the line of succession, demoting him to a commoner by giving him the surname Minamoto, and he pursues a career as an imperial officer. The tale concentrates on Genji's romantic life and describes the customs of the aristocratic society of the time. It may be Japan's first novel, the first psychological novel, and the first novel still to be considered a classic particularly in the context of Japanese literature.

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

January 26, 2024—Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be January 26, 2024.          We will discuss the Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot.

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: January 26, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm

 Zoom On-Line Meeting:
— an email with link to join will be sent prior to meeting.
— the link is sent to a limited mailing list of frequent attenders.
— request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.

About the Epic:
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot was first published in eight parts (books) February to September 1876. It was the last novel she completed and the only one set in the Victorian society of her day. The work's mixture of social satire and moral searching, along with its sympathetic rendering of Jewish proto-Zionistideas, has made it the controversial final statement of one of the most renowned Victorian novelists.

Saturday, December 9, 2023

Schedule of Books for 2024

 Schedule of Books for 2024

January 26, 2024
Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot
February 23, 2024
The Tale of Genji, by Lady Murasaki
(Chapters 1 through 17)
March 29, 2024
Black Prince, by Iris Murdoch
April 26, 2024
May 31, 2024
Julius Caesar, by Shakespeare
June 28, 2024
Three selections from Essays, by Michel de Montaigne
July 26, 2024
Democracy in America, by A. de Toqueville
(first half) 
August 30, 2024
Democracy in America, by A. de Toqueville 
(second half)
September 27, 2024
The Clouds, by Aristophanes
October 25, 2024
The Mabinogion  Anonymous
December 6, 2024
Book of Revelation, by John of Patmos (from New Testament)
December 13, 2024
Select books for 2025

Monday, November 6, 2023

December 1 & 8, 2023—Book of Job from the Bible

Great Books KC will meet two times yet this year: December 1, 2023 & December 8, 2023. You are invited to send your suggestions for next year's book schedule to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com. Please note link below for categories to be filled.

Meeting Content, Dec. 1, 2023: — 7 PM
We will discuss the Book of Job from the Bible

Meeting Content, Dec. 8, 2023: — 7 PM
We will create the schedule of books for 2024. 
Suggestions of books may be sent to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.
Please note the following links to assist in plans for preparing the 2023 schedule:
G.B. KC Categories of Books 
G.B. KC What Makes a Great Book 
G.B. KC History of Previous Books 

Meeting Dates & Time:
Dates: December 1, 2023 & December 8, 2023
Time: 7:00 pm
Zoom on-line meeting
    —an email with link to join will be sent prior to meeting.
    — the link is sent to a limited mailing list of frequent attenders.    
    —requests to be added to email list to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com. 

Description of Discussion Topic:
The Book of Job is a book found in the "Writings" section of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Scholars generally agree that it was written between the 7th and 4th centuries BCE. It addresses theodicy (why God permits evil in the world) through the experiences of the eponymous protagonist. Job is a wealthy and God-fearing man with a comfortable life and a large family. God asks Satan for his opinion of Job's piety. When Satan states that Job would turn away from God if he were rendered penniless, without his family, and materially uncomfortable, God allows him to do so to prove Satan wrong.

Thursday, October 5, 2023

October 27, 2023—Epic of Gilgamesh

 The next meeting of Great Books KC will be October 27, 2023.          We will discuss the Epic of Gilgamesh

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: October 27, 2023
Time: 7:00 pm

 Zoom On-Line Meeting:
— an email with link to join will be sent prior to meeting.
— the link is sent to a limited mailing list of frequent attenders.
— request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.


About the Epic:
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia. The epic is regarded as foundational work in religion and the tradition of heroic sagas, with Gilgamesh forming the prototype for later heroes like Heracles (Hercules), and the epic itself serving as an influence for Homeric epics.

Saturday, August 26, 2023

September 29, 2023— Antigone, by Sophocles

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be September 29, 2023.             We will discuss the play, Antigone, by Sophocles.

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: September 29, 2023
Time: 7:00 pm

 Zoom On-Line Meeting:
— an email with link to join will be sent prior to meeting.
— the link is sent to a limited mailing list of frequent attenders.
— request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.


About the Play:
Antigone is an Athenian tragedy written by Sophocles in (or before) 441 BC and first performed at the Festival of Dionysus of the same year. It is thought to be the second oldest surviving play of Sophocles, preceded by Ajax, which was written around the same period. The play is one of a triad of tragedies known as the three Theban plays, following Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus. Even though the events in Antigone occur last in the order of events depicted in the plays, Sophocles wrote Antigone first. The story expands on the Theban legend that predates it, and it picks up where Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes ends. The play is named after the main protagonist Antigone.

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

August 25, 2023—Captain Brasbound's Conversion, by George Bernard Shaw

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be August 25, 2023.        We will discuss the play, Captain Brasbound's Conversion, by George Bernard Shaw

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: August 25, 2023
Time: 7:00 pm

 Zoom On-Line Meeting:
— an email with link to join will be sent prior to meeting.
— the link is sent to a limited mailing list of frequent attenders.
— request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.

About the Play:
Captain Brasbound's Conversion was first published in Shaw's 1901 collection Three Plays for Puritans (together with Caesar and Cleopatra and The Devil's Disciple). The first American production of the play starred Ellen Terry in 1907. The play explores the relationship between the law, justice, revenge and forgiveness. 

Saturday, July 1, 2023

July 28, 2023—Caesar and Cleopatra, by George Bernard Shaw

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be July 28, 2023. 
We will discuss the play, Caesar and Cleopatra, by George Bernard Shaw

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: July 28, 2023
Time: 7:00 pm

 Zoom On-Line Meeting:
— an email with link to join will be sent prior to meeting.
— the link is sent to a limited mailing list of frequent attenders.
— request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.


About the Play:
Caesar and Cleopatra is a play written in 1898 by George Bernard Shawthat depicts a fictionalized account of the relationship between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. It was first published in 1901 in a collection of three plays with the title Three Plays for Puritans with the two other plays being Captain Brassbound's Conversion and The Devil's Disciple. It was first performed in a single staged reading at Newcastle upon Tyne on March 15, 1899, to secure the copyright. The play was produced in New York in 1906 and in London at the Savoy Theatre in 1907. 

Friday, June 2, 2023

June 30, 2023—The Devil's Disciple, by George Bernard Shaw

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be June 30, 2023. We will discuss the play, The Devil's Disciple, by George Bernard Shaw

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: June 30, 2023
Time: 7:00 pm

 Zoom On-Line Meeting:
— an email with link to join will be sent prior to meeting.
— the link is sent to a limited mailing list of frequent attenders.
— request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.

About the Play:
The Devil's Disciple is an 1897 play written by Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw. The play is Shaw's eighth, and after Richard Mansfield's original 1897 American production it was his first financial success, which helped to affirm his career as a playwright.