2017 Schedule

The Schedule for 2017

January 20, 2017— Silence by Shusaku Endo

          *(the above is the 3rd Friday, not the usual last Friday of the month)

February 24, 2017— Native Son, by Richard Wright 

March 31, 2017 — A Good Man is Hard to Find, by Flannery O’Connor

April 28, 2017—Selected song lyrics by Bob Dylan

May 26, 2017— Cymbeline, by Shakespeare

June 30, 2017— Palace Walk (Cairo Triology) by Naguib Mahfouz

July 28, 2017— Palace of Desire (Cairo Triology) by Naguib Mahfouz

August 25, 2017— Sugar Street (Cairo Triology) by Naguib Mahfouz

September 29, 2017— The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children , Susanna ,   and  Bel and the Dragon 

October 27, 2017— Fear and Trembling, by Soren Kierkegaard

December 1, 2017— Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius

Note:

          * The last Friday of January wasn't available because the library is closed for RFID conversion.
         

December 2, 2016—Poems by Sappho

Next meeting is December 2, 2016. We will discuss poems by Sappho. The recommended translation is If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho by Anne Carson. However, if you are unable to obtain a copy we make the following link to translations of select poems. 

The link below is to select poems by Sappho:
http://greatpoemskc.blogspot.com/2016/11/poems-by-sappho.html

We will also select the books for our reading schedule for 2017. Bring your nominations and be prepared to explain why you selected them. Send you nominations to the following email address and I'll add them to a printed list to be distributed at the meeting.

greatbookskc@gmail.com
LINK TO LIST OF NOMINATIONS FOR 2017 SCHEDULE

The following are some links regarding our book selections:

Categories of Books to be selected

 History of previous books

Meeting Information:
Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: December 2, 2016
Time: 7:00 pm

Sappho was a Greek lyric poet from the island of Lesbos. She was born sometime between 630 and 612 BCE, and it is said that she died around 570 BCE, but little is known for certain about her life. Sappho's poetry was well-known and greatly admired through much of antiquity, and she was considered one of the canon of nine lyric poets. However, most of her poetry is now lost, and survives only in fragmentary form.

October 28, 2016—Dream of the Red Chamber

Next meeting is October 28, 2016. We will discuss Dream of the Red Chamber (also titled Hónglóu Mèng (紅樓夢)) by Cao Xueqin. It is considered to be one of China's four great classical novels. The following is a link to the Wikipedia article about Dream of the Red Chamber.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Red_Chamber

Meeting Information:

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

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

Date: October 28, 2016

Time: 7:00 pm

The recommended translation is published as part of the Penguin Classics:

The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Volume 1: The Golden Days
Paperback: 540 pages, Chapter 1 to 26 — David Hawkes, translator 

Please note that the above book is Volume 1 of a five volume series. You're welcome to read the whole series if you want to be that ambitious (total of 2,572 pages). But our discussion will focus on Volume 1: The Golden Days.

September 30, 2016—"The Vicar of Wakefield" by Oliver Goldsmith

Next meeting is September 30, 2016. We will discuss The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith. This is a book that was widely read in the nineteenth century. THIS LINK is to the Wikipedia Article about the book.

Meeting Information:

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

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

Date: September 30, 2016

Time: 7:00 PM

August 26, 2016 — “The Cross” by Sigrid Undset

Next meeting is August 26, 2016. We will discuss The Cross by Sigrid Undset. This is the third book of the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy. The book is published both alone or as the complete trilogy under the title of Kristin Lavransdatter.

Meeting Information:

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

Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO

Date: August 26, 2016

Time: 7:00 PM

July 29, 2016 -- "The Wife" by Sigrid Undset

Next meeting is July 29, 2016. We will discuss The Wife by Sigrid Undset. This is the second book of the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy. The book is published both alone or as the complete trilogy under the title of Kristin Lavransdatter.

Meeting Information:
Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: July 29, 2016
Time: 7:00 PM

June 24, 2016 -- The Wreath

Next meeting is June 24, 2016. We will discuss The Wreath (a.k.a. The Bridal Wreath) by Sigrid Undset. This is the first book of the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy. The book is published both alone or as the complete trilogy under the title of Kristin Lavransdatter.

Meeting Information:
Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: June 24, 2016
Time: 7:00 PM

From Wikipedia:
Kristin Lavransdatter is a trilogy of historical novels written by Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset. The individual novels are Kransen (The Wreath), first published in 1920, Husfrue (The Wife), published in 1921, and Korset (The Cross), published in 1922. Kristin Lavransdatter was originally translated into English by Charles Archer and J.S. Scott in the 1920s. A new and complete translation by Tiina Nunnally was released by Penguin Classics in 2005, and is considered by many critics to be the superior of the two, particularly for its clarity, reflective of Undset's "straightforward, almost plain style." For her translation of the third book, Korset (The Cross), Nunnally was awarded the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize in 2001.

This work formed the basis of Undset receiving the 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded to her "principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages". Her work is much admired for its historical and ethnological accuracy.

May 27, 2016 -- The Book of Ruth from the Bible

Next meeting is May 27, 2016. We will discuss “The Book of Ruth from the Bible.” 
Meeting Information:
Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: May 27, 2016
Time: 7:00 PM

Description from Wikipedia:

The Book of Ruth is a book of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. In the Jewish canon it is included in the third division, or the Writings (Ketuvim); in the Christian canon it is treated as a history book and placed between Judges and 1 Samuel. It is named after its central figure, Ruth the Moabitess, the great-grandmother of David.

The book tells of Ruth's accepting the God of the Israelites as her God and the Israelite people as her own. In Ruth 1:16 and 17 Ruth tells Naomi, her Israelite mother in law, "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me." The book is held in esteem by Jews who fall under the category of Jews-by-choice, as is evidenced by the considerable presence of Boaz in rabbinic literature. The "Book of Ruth" also functions liturgically, as it is read during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot ("Weeks").

The book is traditionally ascribed to the prophet Samuel, but does not name its author. A date during the monarchy is suggested by the book's interest in the ancestry of David, but Ruth's identity as a non-Israelite and the stress on the need for an inclusive attitude towards foreigners suggests an origin in the fifth century BCE, when intermarriage had become controversial (as seen in Ezra 9:1 and Nehemiah 13:1).

April 29, 2016 -- “Look Homeward, Angel” by Thomas Wolfe

Next meeting is April 29, 2016. We will discuss “Look Homeward, Angel” by Thomas Wolfe.
Meeting Information:
Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: April 29, 2016
Time: 7:00 PM

Description from Wikipedia:
Look Homeward, Angel: A Story of the Buried Life is a 1929 novel by Thomas Wolfe. It is Wolfe's first novel, and is considered a highly autobiographical American Bildungsroman. The character of Eugene Gant is generally believed to be a depiction of Wolfe himself. The novel covers the span of time from Eugene's birth to the age of 19. The setting is the fictional town and state of Altamont, Catawba, a fictionalization of his home town, Asheville, North Carolina.

March 25, 2016 -- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Next meeting is Friday, March 25, 2016. We will discuss “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath.
Meeting Information:
Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: March 25, 2016
Time: 7:00 PM
Descriptions from Wikipedia:
The Bell Jar is the only novel written by the American writer and poet Sylvia Plath. Originally published under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas" in 1963, the novel is semi-autobiographical, with the names of places and people changed. The book is often regarded as a roman à clef since the protagonist's descent into mental illness parallels Plath's own experiences with what may have been clinical depression. Plath died by suicide a month after its first UK publication. The novel was published under Plath's name for the first time in 1967 and was not published in the United States until 1971, in accordance with the wishes of both Plath's husband, Ted Hughes, and her mother. The novel has been translated into nearly a dozen languages. The novel, though dark, is often read in high school English classes.

February 26, 2016 -- Selected Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks

Next meeting is Friday, February 26, 2016. We will discuss Selected Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks.

Meeting Information:
Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: February 26, 2016
Time: 7:00 PM

Descriptions from Wikipedia:
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an American poet and teacher. She was the first black person (the term she preferred over African-American) to win a Pulitzer prize when she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950 for her second collection, Annie Allen.

January 29, 2016 -- Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2

Next meeting is Friday, January 29, 2016. We will discuss the plays, "Henry IV Parts 1 and 2," by William Shakespeare.

Meeting Information:
Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: January 29, 2016
Time: 7:00 PM

Descriptions from Wikipedia:
Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the second play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV (two plays, including Henry IV, Part 2), and Henry V. Henry IV, Part 1 depicts a span of history that begins with Hotspur's battle at Homildon in Northumberland against the Douglas late in 1402, and ends with the defeat of the rebels at Shrewsbury in the middle of 1403. From the start it has been an extremely popular play both with the public and critics.

Henry IV, Part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed written between 1596 and 1599. It is the third part of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1 and succeeded by Henry V.The play is often seen as an extension of aspects of Henry IV, Part 1, rather than a straightforward continuation of the historical narrative, placing more emphasis on the highly popular character of Falstaff and introducing other comic figures as part of his entourage, including Ancient Pistol, Doll Tearsheet and Justice Robert Shallow. Several scenes specifically parallel episodes in Part 1.