August 30—Mask of Apollo, by Mary Renault

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be August 30, 2019. 

We'll be discussing The Mask of Apollo by Mary Renault.

Meeting Information:
Location: Plaza Branch Kansas City Public Library
Small Meeting Room
Date: August 30, 2019
Time: 7:00 pm
Address: 4801 Main Street
Kansas City, MO

Information about the book:
The Mask of Apollo is set in the ancient Greek world during the 4th century BC. The novel is written as the first-person narrative of a fictional character, Nikeratos (or 'Niko'), an actor. Throughout his professional life and his work in Syracuse and Athens, Nikeratos meets several historical characters and becomes a witness (and sometimes a marginal participant) in the political conflicts of Syracuse.

July 26, 2019 — "The Bull from the Sea," by Mary Renault

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be July 26, 2019. 

We'll be discussing The Bull from the Sea, by Mary Renault.

Meeting Information:
Location: Plaza Branch Kansas City Public Library
Small Meeting Room
Date: July 26, 2019
Time: 7:00 pm
Address: 4801 Main Street
Kansas City, MO

Information about the book:
The story is a retelling of the life of mythological hero Theseus after his return from the Minoan palace of Knossos. The novel follows his later quests, his friendship with Pirithoos, and his liaison with Hippolyta and marriage to Phaedra.

June 28, 2019 — "The King Must Die," by Mary Renault

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be June 28, 2019. 

We'll be discussing  The King Must Die, by Mary Renault.

Meeting Information:
Location: Plaza Branch Kansas City Public Library
Small Meeting Room
Date: June 28, 2019
Time: 7:00 pm
Address: 4801 Main Street
Kansas City, MO

Information about the book:

The King Must Die is a 1958 bildungsroman and historical novel by Mary Renault that traces the early life and adventures of Theseus, a hero in Greek mythology. Naturally, it is set in Ancient Greece: Troizen, Corinth, Eleusis, Athens, Knossos in Crete, and Naxos. Rather than retelling the myth, Renault constructs an archaeologically and anthropologically plausible story that might have developed into the myth. She captures the essentials while removing the more fantastical elements, such as monsters and the appearances of gods. 

May 31, 2019 —A House for Mr. Biswas

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be May 31, 2019. We'll be discussing A House for Mr. Biswas, by V.S. Naipaul.  

Meeting Information:

Location: Plaza Branch Kansas City Public Library
Small Meeting Room
Date: May 31, 2019
Time: 7:00 pm
Address: 4801 Main Street
Kansas City, MO

Information about the book:
A House for Mr Biswas is the story of Mohun Biswas, an Indo-Trinidadian who continually strives for success and mostly fails, who marries into the Tulsi family only to find himself dominated by it, and who finally sets the goal of owning his own house. The book is a sharply drawn look at life that uses postcolonial perspectives to view a vanished colonial world.

In 1998, the Modern Library ranked A House for Mr Biswas number 72 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Time magazine included the novel in its "TIME 100 Best English language Novels from 1923 to 2005".

April 26, 2019—The Tin Drum by Günter Grass

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be April 26, 2019. We'll be discussing The Tin Drum by Günter Grass.  

Meeting Information:

Location: Plaza Branch Kansas City Public Library
Small Meeting Room
Date: April 26, 2019
Time: 7:00 pm
Address: 4801 Main Street
Kansas City, MO

Information about the book:
The Tin Drum is a 1959 by Günter Grass, a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. Critical reception has generally accepted it as a classic of post-World War II literature. The novel is strongly political in nature, although it goes beyond a political novel in the writing's stylistic plurality. There are elements of allegory, myth and legend, placing it in the genre of magic realism. The Tin Drum has religious overtones, both Jewish and Christian. The main character holds conversations with both Jesus and Satan throughout the book. His gang members call him "Jesus", then he refers to himself as "Satan" later in the book.

March 29, 2019 — Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be March 29, 2019. We'll be discussing Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

Meeting Information:

Location: Plaza Branch Kansas City Public Library
Small Meeting Room
Date: March 29, 2019
Time: 7:00 pm
Address: 4801 Main Street
Kansas City, MO

Description of Book (play):

The Merchant of Venice is a 16th-century play written by William Shakespeare in which a merchant in Venice (Antonio) must default on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. It is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and it is best known for Shylock and the famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech on humanity. Also notable is Portia's speech about "the quality of mercy".

February 22, 2019—Acts of the Apostles

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be February 22, 2019. We'll be discussing Acts of the Apostles from the Bible. 

Meeting Information:
Location: Plaza Branch Kansas City Public Library
Small Meeting Room
Date: February 22, 2019
Time: 7:00 pm
Address: 4801 Main Street
Kansas City, MO

Description of Book:
Acts of the Apostles tells the story of Christianity in the 1st century. It was written around 80-90 AD by the same anonymous author that wrote the Gospel of Luke. Acts is the 5th book in the Christian New Testament and, as with other parts of the Bible, has contributed to and influenced subsequent Western literature in many ways.

January 25, 2019 — The Golden Notebook, by Doris Lessing

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be January 25, 2019. We'll be discussing The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing, winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for literature. 

The Golden Notebook is a 1962 novel by Doris Lessing that explores mental and societal breakdown. It contains powerful anti-war and anti-Stalinist messages, an extended analysis of communism and the Communist Party in England from the 1930s to the 1950s, and an examination of the budding sexual and women's liberation movements.

In 2005, TIME magazine called The Golden Notebook one of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923. 

Meeting Information:
Location: Plaza Branch Kansas City Public Library
Small Meeting Room
Date: January 25, 2019
Time: 7:00 pm
Address: 4801 Main Street
Kansas City, MO

2019 Schedule of Books and Meeting Dates

January 25, 2019 — The Golden Notebook, Doris Lessing

February 22, 2019 — Acts of the Apostles

March 29, 2019 — Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare

April 26, 2019 — Tin Drum, by Günter Grass

May 31, 2019 — A House for Mr. Biswas, by V.S. Naipaul

June 28, 2019 — The King Must Die, by Mary Renault

July 26, 2019 — Bull From the Sea, by Mary Renault

August 30, 2019 — Mask of Apollo by Mary Renault

September 27, 2019 — The Histories, by Herodotus

October 25, 2019 — Turn of The Screw, by Henry James

December 6, 2019 — The Ink Dark Moon, by Onono Komachi & Izumi Shikibu,

December 7, 2018 — Songs from the Slums, by Kagawa Toyohiko

The next meeting of Great Books KC group will be December 7, 2018. We'll be discussing Songs from the Slums, by Kagawa Toyohiko
We will also be creating the schedule of books for 2019. Suggestions of books may be sent to .
Please note the following links to assist in plans for preparing the 2019 schedule:
G.B. KC Categories of Books
G.B. KC What Makes a Great Book
G.B. KC History of Previous Books

Meeting Information:
Location: Plaza Branch Kansas City Public Library
Small Meeting Room
Date: December 7, 2018
Time: 7:00 pm
Address: 4801 Main Street
Kansas City, MO

About the Author:Kagawa Toyohiko, author of Songs from the Slums, (1888—1960) was a Japanese Christian pacifist, Christian reformer, and labour activist. Kagawa wrote, spoke, and worked at length on ways to emply Christian principles in the ordering of society and in cooperative. His vocation to help the poor led him to live among them. He established schools, hospitals, and churches.


The text of Songs from the Slums is available at this link:
https://greatpoemskc.blogspot.com/2018/10/songs-from-slums-by-kagawa.html