2015 Schedule

The books for the 2015 schedule are the following:
Jan 30 -- Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King
Feb 27 -- Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Mar 27 -- Book of Esther from the Bible
Apr 24 -- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
May 29 -- King Lear by Shakespeare
Jun 26 -- The Hamlet, Vol. 1 of Snopes Trilogy, by William Faulkner
Jul 31 -- The Town, Vol. 2 of Snopes Trilogy, by William Faulkner
Aug 28 -- The Mansion, Vol. 3 of Snopes Triology, by William Faulkner
Sep 25 -- The Nature of Things by Lucretius
Oct 30 -- Bhagavad Gita
Dec 4 -- Njáls Saga (part of Sagas of Icelanders)

Book Suggestions for 2015

New list of book nominations for the 2015 reading schedule arranged by category are at this link:
http://greatbookskcdiscussion.blogspot.com/2014/12/suggested-books-for-2015.html

Suggestions for books for our group's 2015 reading schedule can be seen at the following link:
http://greatbookskcdiscussion.blogspot.com/2014/12/book-suggestions-for-2015.html

I will add additional suggestions as they are received.

Tim Thurman's List

Here is a LINK to Tim Thurman's list of favorite books.  Those of you who attended the October 31 meeting expressed interest in seeing the list.  The link opens to "Chapter 1: Prefatory Comments."  You can proceed to Chapters 2 and 3 by clicking on the appropriate links.

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

Our next meeting is December 5, 2014.  We will be discussing the book Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata. 

Meeting Information:
Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: December 5, 2014
Time: 7:00 PM

Snow Country is one of the three novels cited by the Nobel Committee is awarding Yasunari Kawabata the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968. The novel established Kawabata as one of Japan's foreemost authors and is considered a classic work of Japanese literature.

LINK to Wikipedia Article about "Snow Country."

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 greatbookskc@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 31, 2014 -- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Our next meeting is October 31, 2014.  We will be discussing the book Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. 

Meeting Information:

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

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

Date: October 31, 2014

Time: 7:00 PM

The following description of the book is from Wikipedia:

Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, written in English and published in 1955 in Paris, in 1958 in New York, and in 1959 in London. It was later translated by its Russian-native author into Russian. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a 37-to-38-year-old literature professor called Humbert Humbert, is obsessed with the 12-year-old Dolores Haze, with whom he becomes sexually involved after he becomes her stepfather. "Lolita" is his private nickname for Dolores.

After its publication, Lolita attained a classic status, becoming one of the best-known and most controversial examples of 20th century literature. The name "Lolita" has entered pop culture to describe a sexually precocious girl. The novel was adapted to film by Stanley Kubrick in 1962, and again in 1997 by Adrian Lyne. It has also been adapted several times for stage and has been the subject of two operas, two ballets, and an acclaimed but failed Broadway musical.

Lolita is included on Time's List of the 100 Best Novels in the English language from 1923 to 2005. It is fourth on the Modern Library's 1998 list of the 100 Best Novels of the 20th century. It was also included in the 100 Best Books of All Time, compiled in 2002 by the Norwegian Book Club.

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

Our next meeting is September 26, 2014.  We will be discussing the book The Future of an Illusion by Sigmund Freud. This is a book published in 1927 and describes Freud’s interpretation of religion’s origins, development, psychoanalysis and its future.

There aren’t very many copies available in the libraries.

Text is available at this web address:

http://www.adolphus.nl/xcrpts/xcfreudill.html

There’re two Kindle versions; the cheapest is 99 cents.

There are many used copies on-line.

Check with used book stores. I hear that students often sell the book after finishing a class that required reading it.

Meeting Information:

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

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

Date: September 26, 2014

Time: 7:00 PM

August 29, 2014 -- Ulysses by James Joyce (3rd meeting)

Our next meeting is August 29, 2014. 

We will continue our discussion of Ulysses by James Joyce.

Chapters 13 through 18 are the designated reading but we will essentially be discussing the entire book.  However, Chapters 13 to 18  represents 56% of the book's length, so you'd better get started.

Meeting Information:

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

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

Date: August 29, 2014

Time: 7:00 PM

The following links may be of assistance in understanding what's going on while reading Ulysses:

Description of Chapters

LINK TO DESCRIPTION OF CHAPTERS

Chapter Outlines

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE, PART ONE
CHAPTER NINE, PART TWO
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE, PART ONE
CHAPTER TWELVE, PART TWO
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN, PART ONE
CHAPTER FIFTEEN, PART TWO
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN, PART ONE
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN, PART TWO
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 
CONCLUSION--JOYCE AND THE MODERN NOVEL

Homer and Joyce: Comparative Outlines 
HOMER AND JOYCE: COMPARATIVE OUTLINES

Gilbert Schema For Ulysses 
GILBERT SCHEMA FOR ULYSSES

July 25, 2014 -- Ulysses by James Joyce (2nd meeting)

Our next meeting is July 25, 2014. 

We will continue our discussion of Ulysses by James Joyce.

We plan to cover chapters 6 through 12.  However, Chapter 12 represents 44% completion, so it's wise to read ahead unless you have plenty of reading time available in August when we plan to complete the book (18 chapters are in the book).

Meeting Information:

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

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

Date: July 25, 2014

Time: 7:00 PM

June 27,2014 -- Ulysses by James Joyce (1st meeting)

We will discuss the first eight six chapters of "Ulysses" by James Joyce at our next meeting. We plan to discuss the rest of the book at our next two meetings in July and August.

Meeting Information:

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

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

Date: June 27, 2014

Time: 7:00 PM

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

We will discuss "A Winter's Tale" by Shakespeare at our next meeting.

Meeting Information:

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

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

Date: May 30, 2014

Time: 7:00 PM

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

We will discuss The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather at our next meeting.

Meeting Information:

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

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

Date: April 25, 2014

Time: 7:00 PM

This is photo of March 29, 2014 meeting to discuss Robinson Crusoe. The little black object on table was the virtual presence via teleconference of Kip Wiedel, one of the three charter members who met together for the first meeting of Great Books KC ten years ago.

March 28, 2014 -- Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

We will discuss Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe at our next meeting.
Meeting Information:
Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: March 28, 2014
Time: 7:00 PM

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

Our Next Meeting:

Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: February 28, 2014
Time: 7:00 PM
Book for Discussion:
We will meet to discuss the book Song of Solomon from the Bible. It is also called Song of Songs.

Other news of Interest:

Join Library staff member Bernard Norcott-Mahany (member of our group) as he recounts "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (the movie Mitty is not the real Mitty) and other stories and cartoons by James Thurber. 

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Time: 2:00 p.m.

Waldo Branch Library, 201 E. 75th St.

RSVP: kclibrary.org -- 816 701 3407