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.