January 31, 2025— The Radetzky March, by Joseph Roth

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be January 31, 2025.    

We will discuss The Radetzky March, by Joseph Roth.

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: January 31, 2025 
Time: 7:00 pm

Hybrid Zoom & In-Person Meeting:
— In-person meeting, Little Conference Room, Plaza Branch Library 
— Zoom attendance, link sent to mailing list.
— Request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com

About the Book:

The Radetzky March is a 1932 family saga novel by Joseph Roth chronicling the decline and fall of Austria-Hungary via the story of the Trotta family. Radetzkymarsch is an early example of a story that features the recurring participation of a historical figure, in this case the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (1830–1916). English translations by Geoffrey Dunlop in 1933, Joachim Neugroschelin 1995 and Michael Hofmann in 2003.

Note:

A previous version of this post indicated the meeting was by Zoom only. As it turns out we do have access to the meeting room, thus it will meet by both Zoom and in-person.

2025 Schedule of Books

 The following are the books we plan to read and the dates we will meet to discuss them.

Jan. 31, 2025— The Radetzky March, Joseph Roth
Feb. 28, 2025— Tale of Sinuhe (Ancient Egyptian)
Mar. 28, 2025—  The Optimist’s Daughter, by Eudora Welty
Apr. 25, 2025—  Spoon River Anthology, by Edgar Lee Masters
May. 30, 2025— Love's Labour Lost, by Shakespeare 
Jun. 27, 2025— Fifth Business (The Deptford Trilogy, by R. Davies)
Jul. 25, 2025— The Manticore (The Deptford Trilogy, by R. Davies)
Aug. 29, 2025— World of Wonders (The Deptford Trilogy, by R. Davies)
Sep. 26, 2025— The Stranger, by Camus
Oct. 31, 2025— The Twelve Caesars, by Suetonius
Dec. 5, 2025— Book of Proverbs (from Bible)
Dec. 12, 2025— Prepare Schedule for 2026

December 13, 2024—Selection of Books for Next Year

We will meet on December 13, 2024 to select books for next year's schedule. You are invited to send your nominations for next year's book schedule to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com. Please note link below for categories to be filled. 

Meeting Dates & Time:

Dates: December 13, 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.

Rules & Categories for Book Nominations
    G.B. KC Categories of Books 
    G.B. KC What Makes a Great Book 
    G.B. KC History of Previous Books 

December 6, 2024—Revelation, by John of Patmos

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be December 6, 2024.    

We will discuss The Book of Revelation, by John of Patmos.

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: December 6, 2024 
Time: 7:00 pm

Hybrid Zoom & In-Person Meeting:
— In-person meeting, Little Conference Room, Plaza Branch Library 
— Zoom attendance, link sent to mailing list.
— Request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com

About the Book:

The Book of Revelation or Book of the Apocalypse is the final book of the New Testament (and therefore the final book of the Christian Bible). Written in Koine Greek, its title is derived from the first word of the text: apokalypsis, meaning 'unveiling' or 'revelation'. The Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament canon. It occupies a central place in Christian eschatology.

October 25, 2024—The Mabinogion, by Anonymous

 The next meeting of Great Books KC will be October 25, 2024.    

We will discuss The Mabinogion, by Anonymous

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: October 25, 2024 
Time: 7:00 pm

Zoom/Meeting:
— No in-person option available for this meeting (room not available).
— Zoom attendance, link sent to mailing list.
— Request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com

About the Book:
The Mabinogion are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created c. 1350–1410, as well as a few earlier fragments. The title covers a collection of eleven prose stories of widely different types, offering drama, philosophy, romance, tragedy, fantasy and humour, and created by various narrators over time. There is a classic hero quest, "Culhwch and Olwen"; a historic legend in "Lludd and Llefelys", complete with glimpses of a far off age; and other tales portray a very different King Arthur from the later popular versions. The highly sophisticated complexity of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi defies categorisation. The stories are so diverse that it has been argued that they are not even a true collection.

Sep. 27, 2024 — The Clouds, by Aristophanes

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be September 27, 2024.  We will discuss The Clouds, by Aristophanes

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: September 27, 2024 
Time: 7:00 pm

Hybrid Zoom/In-Person Meeting:
— Attendance in person Plaza Branch Lib., Small Meeting Room.
— Zoom attendance, link sent to mailing list.
— Request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com

About the Book:
The Clouds is a 423 BC Greek comedy play written by the playwright Aristophanes. It is a lampooning of intellectual fashions in classical Athens. The Clouds can be considered the world's first extant "comedy of ideas" and is considered by literary critics to be among the finest examples of the genre. The play also, however, remains notorious for its caricature of Socrates, and is cited by Plato in the Apology as a contributing factor to the philosopher's trial and execution.

August 30, 2024—Democracy in America, Volume 2, by A. de Tocqueville

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be August 30, 2024.  We will discuss the second volume of Democracy in America, by A. de Tocqueville.  

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: August 30, 2024 
Time: 7:00 pm

Hybrid Zoom/In-Person Meeting:

— Attendance in person Plaza Branch Lib., Small Meeting Room.
— Zoom attendance, link sent to mailing list.
— Request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com

About the Book:

Refer to the blog posting for last month's meeting for a description of the book.

July 26, 2024—Democracy in America, by A. de Tocqueville

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be July 26, 2024.  We will discuss the first volume of Democracy in America, by A. de Tocqueville.  

 
Meeting Date & Time:

Date: July 26, 2024 (this coming Friday)

Time: 7:00 pm

 On-Line Meeting by Zoom:

— No in-person attendance due to Library closing early.

— Zoom attendance, link sent to mailing list.

— Request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com

About Democracy in America:

In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont were sent by the French government to study the American prison system. In his later letters, Tocqueville indicates that he and Beaumont used their official business as a pretext to study American society instead. They arrived in New York City in May of that year and spent nine months traveling the United States, studying the prisons and collecting information on American society, including its religious, political, and economic character. 
De la démocratie en Amérique was published in two volumes, the first in 1835 and the second in 1840. 

On Line Sources for Democracy in America:

• Democracy in America, the full book text 

• Democracy in America, Volume 1 at Project Gutenberg

• Democracy in America, Volume 2 at Project Gutenberg

•  Democracy in America public domain audiobook at LibriVox

June 28, 2024—Essays, by Michel de Montaigne

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be June 28, 2024.  We will discuss three selections from Essays, by Michel de Montaigne — "Of Cannibals," "Of Friendship," and "Of The Education of Children".  

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: Jume 28, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm

 Hybrid Zoom/In-Person Meeting:
— Attendance in person Plaza Branch Lib., Small Meeting Room.
— Zoom attendance, link sent to mailing list.
— Request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com

About Montaigne's Essays:

The Essays of Michel de Montaigne contained in three books and 107 chapters of varying length. They were originally written in Middle French and published in the Kingdom of France. Montaigne's stated design in writing, publishing and revising the Essays over the period from approximately 1570 to 1592 was to record "some traits of my character and of my humours." The Essays were first published in 1580 and cover a wide range of topics. They have exercised an important influence in thought and style on both French and English literature.

May 24, 2024—Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be May 24, 2024.  We will discuss Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare.  

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: May 24, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm

 Hybrid Zoom/In-Person Meeting:
— Attendance in person Plaza Branch Lib., Small Meeting Room.
— Zoom attendance, link sent to mailing list.

About the Book:
Julius Caesar, is a history play and tragedy by William Shakespeare first performed in 1599. In the play, Brutus joins a conspiracy led by Cassius to assassinate Julius Caesar, to prevent him from becoming a tyrant. Caesar's right-hand man Antony stirs up hostility against the conspirators and Rome becomes embroiled in a dramatic civil war.

April 26, 2024—Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be April 26, 2024.         

We will discuss Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, by Anonymous.  

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

 Hybrid Zoom/In-Person Meeting:
— Attendance in person Plaza Branch Lib., Small Meeting Room.
— Zoom attendance, link sent to mailing list.
— Request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com

About the Book:

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English alliterative verse. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot combining two types of folk motifs: the beheading game, and the exchange of winnings. Written in stanzas of alliterative verse, each of which ends in a rhyming bob and wheel, it draws on Welsh, Irish, and English stories, as well as the French chivalric tradition. It is an important example of a chivalric romance, which typically involves a hero who goes on a quest which tests his prowess.

Translations (Recommendations by Bernard Norcott-Mahany):

Simon Armitage, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Marie Boroff.  

There are audiobooks of the Armitage translation and of the Tolkien (read by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame).  The Armitage audiobook also has the Middle English text as well, so you can get a better sense of how the work might have sounded.  

The Black Prince—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

 Hybrid Zoom/In-Person Meeting:
— Attendance in person Plaza Branch Lib., Small Meeting Room.
— Zoom attendance, link sent Friday morning to mailing list.

— 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.

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.

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.