December 6, 2013 Meeting

Photo taken at December 6, 2013 meeting. Four people who were present are not in photo -- They're off to left and right edges and behind camera.

January 31, 2014 -- Oedipus at Colonus, by Sophocles

Our Next Meeting:
Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: January 31, 2014
Time: 7:00 PM

We will meet to discuss the book, Oedipus at Colonus, by Sophocles.

The following link provides some thoughts and recommended translations from Bernard Norcott-Mahany (member of our group).
http://greatbookskcdiscussion.blogspot.com/2013/12/oedipus-at-colonus-by-sophocles.html

2014 Schedule of Books -- Great Books KC

January 31, 2014 -- Oedipus at Colonus, by Sophocles

February 28, 2014 -- Song of Solomon from the Bible

March 28, 2014 -- Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

April 25, 2014 -- The Song of the Lark, by Willa Cather

May 30, 2014 -- A Winter's Tale, by Shakespeare

June 27, 2014 -- Ulysses, by James Joyce

July 25, 2014 -- Ulysses, by James Joyce

August 29, 2014 -- Ulysses, by James Joyce

September 26, 2014 -- The Future of an Illusion, by Sigmund Freud

October 31, 2014 -- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

December 5, 2014 -- Snow Country, by Yasunari Kawabata

December 6, 2013 -- The Hound of Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Our Next Meeting:

Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: December 6, 2013

Time: 7:00 PM

We will meet to discuss the book, The Hound of Baskervilles.

Our group will also select the books for next year’s meeting schedule. You are welcome to share your suggestions by commenting below or emailing Clif Hostetler at cvhostetler@gmail.com. 

The following links can provide you guidance regarding our selection process:

Categories of Books to be Filled

What Makes a Great Book

List of Books Read in Previous Years

October 25 -- Medea by Euripides

Our Next Meeting:
Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Time: 7:00 PM

We will meet to discuss the play Medea by Euripides. Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy based upon the myth of Jason and Medea. The play was first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed her for another woman.

Schedule for Rest of Year

October 25 -- Medea by Euripides
December 6 -- The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
All our meetings are at the Plaza Library, Small Meeting Room, at 7:00 p.m.

September 27, 2013 -- On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

Our Next Meeting

Date: Friday, September 27, 2013

Time: 7:00 PM

Location: Kansas City Public Library/Plaza Branch

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

Our group will discuss the book, On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.  This book published in November 24, 1859 is both an example of classic literature and an important contributor to the advancement of science.  The book was written for non-specialist readers and today's readers will find it very accessible.

August 30, 2013 -- The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights (Volume 3)

Date: Friday, August 30, 2013

Time: 7:00 PM

Location: Kansas City Public Library/Plaza Branch

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

Our "long" read for the summer is "The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights."   Our discussion of the book has been spread over the three summer meetings of June 28 (past), July 26 (past) and will finish on August 30.  

For our next meeting we will focus on nights 719 to 1001 (per Lyons' translation).  The following are the suggested "must read" sections for our next meeting:

Jolnar of the Sea and Her Son Badr Basim, Nights 738 through 756.  

The Story of Aladdin, or the Magic Lamp (not part of 1001 stories)

The text from Jolnar of the Sea and Her Son Badr Basim can be read or downloaded from THIS LINK .

Text for The Story of Aladdin can be read or downloaded from THIS LINK .

July 26, 2013 -- The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights (Volume 2)

Date: Friday, July 26, 2013

Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Kansas City Public Library/Plaza Branch
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

"Must read" sections for the July 26 meeting

Our "long" read for the summer is "The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights." Our discussion of the book will be spread over the three summer meetings of June 28 (past), July 26 and August 30.  For our next meeting we will focus on nights 295 to 719 (per Lyons' translation).  The following are the suggested "must read" sections for our next meeting:

Sinbad the Sailor -- (Nights 536 to 566, pages 453-518 per Lyons' translation)

City of Brass -- (Nights 566 to 578, pages 518-546 per Lyons' translation)

Ajib and Gharib -- (Nights 624 to 680, pages 648-757 per Lyons' translation)

Links will be posted later to the text for those who don't have a book.

Photo of group that met June 28 to discuss 

Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights (Volume 1)

June 28, 2013 -- The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights (Volume 1)

Date: Friday, June 28, 2013

Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Kansas City Public Library/Plaza Branch

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO (edit map)

The following links may help you prepare for the June 28 meeting of Great Books KC if you haven't already been reading the "Arabian Nights."

Text to the first 8 nights of the Arabian Nights: (equiv. of 49 pages)

http://greatpoemskc.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-arabian-nights-tales-of-1001-nights.html

Text to Story of Ali Baba and Forty Thieves: (equiv. of 30 pages)

http://greatpoemskc.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-story-of-ali-baba-and-forty-thieves.html

Our "long" read for the summer is "The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights." Our discussion of the book will be spread over the three summer meetings of June 28, July 26 and August 30.

There are numerous English translations claiming to be "The Arabian Nights." However, the only unabridged English translation is the three volume set published by Penguin Classics (published 2010).

June 28 Meeting Book, Volume 1: Nights 1 to 294 (1008 pages)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Arabian-Nights-Classics-ebook/dp/B00390BE7Q/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

July 26 Meeting Book, Volume 2: Nights 295 to 719 (900 pages)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Arabian-Nights-Classics-ebook/dp/B00371V74C/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

August 30 Meeting Book, Volume 3: Nights 720 to 1001 (884 pages)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Arabian-Nights-Classics-ebook/dp/B00371V71K/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2

That's 2,784 pages, so it is suggested to get an early start on reading.

One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of West and South Asian storiesand folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the Arabian Nights, from the first English language edition (1706), which rendered the title as The Arabian Nights' Entertainment.

The work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West, Central, South Asia and North Africa. The tales themselves trace their roots back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Indian, Egyptian and Mesopotamian folklore and literature. In particular, many tales were originally folk stories from the Caliphate era, while others, especially the frame story, are most probably drawn from the Pahlavi Persian work Hazār Afsān which in turn relied partly on Indian elements.

What is common throughout all the editions of the Nights is the initial frame story of the ruler Shahryār and his wife Scheherazade and the framing device incorporated throughout the tales themselves. The stories proceed from this original tale; some are framed within other tales, while others begin and end of their own accord. Some editions contain only a few hundred nights, while others include 1,001 or more.

Some of the stories of The Nights, particularly "Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp", "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" and "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor", while almost certainly genuine Middle Eastern folk tales, were not part of The Nights in Arabic versions, but were added into the collection by Antoine Galland and other European translators. The innovative and rich poetry and poetic speeches, chants, songs, lamentations, hymns, beseeching, praising, pleading, riddles and annotations provided by Scheherazade or her story characters are unique to the Arabic version of the book. Some are as short as one line, while others go for tens of lines.

May 31, 2013 -- "As You Like It" by William Shakespeare

Meeting Information:
Date: Friday, May 31, 2013
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: KC Plaza Branch Library
Address: 4801 Main Street
We meet in the Small Meeting Room

Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English Language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.  Thus our group always selects one of his works each year for discussion. We selected "As You Like It" because it is being performed this summer in Kansas City's "Shakespeare In The Park" performances.

As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the First Folio, 1623.

Here is a good video review from PBS of "As You Like It" from minute 30 to the end (the first half is about Twelfth Night):

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/shakespeare-uncovered/video/the-comedies-with-joely-richardson/

April 26, 2013 -- Elizabeth Bishop's poetry

Meeting Information:

Date: Friday, April 26, 2013

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location:  Plaza Library, Small Meeting Room

Address: 4801 Main Street, KC, MO

April is poetry month.  So our group has decided to honor poetry month this year by meeting in April to discuss Elizabeth Bishop's poetry. Bishop won the 1956 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, for the collection Poems: North & South/A Cold Spring, which combined her first two books.

You are welcome to read any of her poems, and it's not necessary to limit your reading to only those found in North & South and A Cold Spring. Most libraries have books of her poems, and books containing her complete works can be purchase on line at low.  Most of her poems are available on the web (see links to some below).

In order to have some poems read by all participants at our next meeting, we suggest reading the following poems (links provided).

From NORTH & SOUTH
The Map by Elizabeth Bishop:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-map/
The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-fish/

From QUESTIONS OF TRAVEL
Sestina by Elizabeth Bishop:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sestina/
Sandpiper by Elizabeth Bishop:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sandpiper/

From GEOGRAPHY III
In the Waiting Room by Elizabeth Bishop:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/in-the-waiting-room/
The Moose by Elizabeth Bishop:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-moose/
One Art by Elizabeth Bishop:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/one-art/
Five flights Up by Elizabeth Bishop:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/five-flights-up/

March 29 -- Genesis from the Bible

Meeting Information:
Date: March 29, 2013
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Plaza Library, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

Biblical literature is one of the two major sources of the Western literary tradition. Our group therefore includes one book from the Bible each year to be reviewed and discussed from a literary perspective. This year we will be discussing the The Book of Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament.

We recommend watching Bill Moyer's "Genesis: A Living Conversation." It's on DVD and available at most libraries.  http://www.pbs.org/wnet/genesis/

A word about a recommended translation:   Stephen Mitchell has produced a new translation of the Bible's first book, Genesis: A New Translation of the Classic Bible Stories.  Mitchell's sensitivity to the original Hebrew language and the history of biblical scholarship is evident in his carefully written work.

February 22 -- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Meeting Information:

Date: Friday, February 22, 2013
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Plaza Branch Library, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, Mo

We will meet to discuss the book, Things Fall Apart, a novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe published in 1958. It is seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, and one of the first African novels written in English to receive global critical acclaim. It is a staple book in schools throughout Africa and widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. The title of the novel comes from William Butler Yeats' poem "The Second Coming".

The novel depicts the life of Okonkwo, a leader and local wrestling champion in Umuofia—one of a fictional group of nine villages in Nigeria, inhabited by the Igbo people (archaically, and in the novel, "Ibo"). It focuses on his family and personal history, the customs and society of the Igbo, and the influence of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on the Igbo community during the late nineteenth century.