May 26, 2023—MacBeth, by William Shakespeare

 The next meeting of Great Books KC will be May 26, 2023.  We will discuss MacBeth, by William Shakespeare.  

Meeting Date & Time:

Date: May 26, 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.

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

About the Play:

Macbeth is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power. Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James I, Macbeth most clearly reflects his relationship with King James, patron of Shakespeare's acting company. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy.

April 28, 2023—Sunday Morning and other poems, by Wallace Stevens

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be April 28, 2023.  We will discuss Sunday Morning and other poems, by Wallace Stevens. 

Poems to Read:

A PDF file with twelve poems by Wallace Stevens will be sent by email if requested to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.

Listen to Poems by Wallace Stevens:

The following link is to a YouTube video where Bernard Norcott will read one poem per day by Wallace Stevens during the month of April.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY_zQyI9Te6JZjIRcKi7nAi_NhKbwWIC-

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: April 28, 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.
 — request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.

About the Author and Poem:

Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. The poem titled "Sunday Morning" was included with other poems first published in 1923 in a book titled Harmonium. 

March 31, 2023—To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf

 The next meeting of Great Books KC will be March 31, 2023.  We will discuss To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf.

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: March 31, 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.
 — request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.

Description of Book:

To the Lighthouse is a 1927 novel by Virginia Woolf. The novel centres on the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920.

Following and extending the tradition of modernist novelists like Marcel Proust and James Joyce, the plot of To the Lighthouse is secondary to its philosophical introspection. Cited as a key example of the literary technique of multiple focalization, the novel includes little dialogue and almost no direct action; most of it is written as thoughts and observations. To the Lighthouse is made up of three powerfully charged visions into the life of the Ramsay family, living in a summer house off the rocky coast of Scotland. There's maternal Mrs. Ramsay, the highbrow Mr. Ramsay, their eight children, and assorted holiday guests. From Mr. Ramsay's seemingly trivial postponement of a visit to a nearby lighthouse, Virginia Woolf examines tensions and allegiances and shows that the small joys and quiet tragedies of everyday life could go on forever. The novel recalls childhood emotions and highlights adult relationships. Among the book's many tropes and themes are those of loss, subjectivity, the nature of art and the problem of perception.

Feb. 24, 2023— Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be February 24, 2023.  We will discuss Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad.

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: February 24, 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.
 — request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.

Description of Book:
Hear of Darkness is (1899) is a novella by Polish-Englishnovelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgian company in the African interior. The novel is widely regarded as a critique of European colonial rule in Africa, whilst also examining the themes of power dynamics and morality. Although Conrad does not name the river on which most of the narrative takes place, at the time of writing the Congo Free State, the location of the large and economically important Congo River, was a private colony of Belgium's King Leopold II. Marlow is given a text by Kurtz, an ivory trader working on a trading station far up the river, who has "gone native" and is the object of Marlow's expedition.

Jan. 27, 2023—Journey to the End of the Night, by Louis-Ferdinand Céline

 The next meeting of Great Books KC will be January 27, 2023.  We will discuss Journey to the End of the Night, by Louis-Ferdinand Céline.

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: January 27, 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.
 — request mailing list addition, send to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.

Description of Book:

Journey to the End of the Night is the first novel by Louis-Ferdinand Céline. This semi-autobiographical work follows the adventures of Ferdinand Bardamu in the World War I, colonial Africa, the United States and the poor suburbs of Paris where he works as a doctor.

The novel won the Prix Renaudot in 1932 but divided critics due to the author's pessimistic depiction of the human condition and his innovative writing style based on working class speech, slang and neologisms. It is now widely considered to be one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.

Schedule for 2023

 The planned schedule for our book discussions is as follows:

Jan. 27, 2023— Journey to the End of the Night, 

                           by Louis-Ferdinand Céline

Feb. 24, 2023— Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad
Mar. 31, 2023— To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf 
Apr. 28, 2023— Sunday Morning and other poems,

                           by Wallace Stevens

May. 26, 2023— MacBeth, by William Shakespeare 
Jun. 30, 2023— The Devil's Disciple, by George Bernard Shaw

Jul. 28, 2023— Caesar and Cleopatra, by George Bernard Shaw
Aug. 25, 2023— Captain Brasbounds Conversion, 

                           by George Bernard Shaw 
Sep. 29, 2023— Antigone, by Sophocles  
Oct. 27, 2023— Gilgamesh (2nd millennium BC epic)
Dec. 1, 2023— Book of Job (from the Bible)
Dec. 8, 2023— Prepare Schedule for 2024

December 2 & 9, 2022—Ezra and Nehemiah, from the Bible

 Great Books KC will meet two times yet this year: December 2, 2022 & December 9, 2022

Meeting Content, Dec. 2, 2022: -- 7 PM
We will discuss Ezra and Nehemiah, from the Bible

Meeting Content, Dec. 9, 2022:
We will create the schedule of books for 2023. 
Suggestions of books may be sent to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.
Please note the following links to assist in plans for preparing the 2023 schedule:

G.B. KC Categories of Books 

G.B. KC What Makes a Great Book 

G.B. KC History of Previous Books 

Meeting Time and Place:

Dates: December 2, 2022 & December 9, 2022
Time: 7:00 pm

Zoom on-line meeting

—an email with link to join will be sent prior to meeting.

—requests to be added to email list to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com. 

Description of Discussion Topic:

The two books cover the period from the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE to the second half of the 5th century BCE, and tells of the successive missions to Jerusalem of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, and their efforts to restore the worship of the God of Israel and to create a purified Jewish community. The Masoretic tradition regarded the books of Ezra and Nehemiah as one book and referred to it as the Book of Ezra. 

October 28, 2022—Tao Te Ching, by Lao-Tau

 The next meeting of Great Books KC will be October 28, 2022.  We will discuss Tao Te Ching, by Lao-Tau.

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: October 28, 2022
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.

Description of Book:

The Tao Te Ching, along with the Zhuangzi, is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism. It also strongly influenced other schools of Chinese philosophy and religion, including Legalism, Confucianism, and Chinese Buddhism, which was largely interpreted through the use of Taoist words and concepts when it was originally introduced to China. Many artists, including poets, painters, calligraphers, and gardeners, have used the Tao Te Ching as a source of inspiration. Its influence has spread widely out and it is one of the most translated texts in world literature.

Tao Te Ching was written around 400 BC and traditionally credited to the sage Laozi. The text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated. The oldest excavated portion dates back to the late 4th century BC, but modern scholarship dates other parts of the text as having been written—or at least compiled—later than the earliest portions of the Zhuangzi.

September 30, 2022—Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, by James Agee and Walker Evans.

 The next meeting of Great Books KC will be September 30, 2022.  We will discuss Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, by James Agee and Walker Evans.

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: September 30, 2022
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, sent to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.

Description of Book:

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men is a book with text by American writer James Agee and photographs by American photographer Walker Evans, first published in 1941 in the United States. The work documents the lives of impoverished tenant farmers during the Great Depression. Although it is in keeping with Evans's work with the Farm Security Administration, the project was initiated not by the FSA, but by Fortune magazine. The title derives from a passage in the Wisdom of Sirach(44:1) that begins, "Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us".

August 26, 2022—The Guermantes Way, Vol. 3 of In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust

The next meeting of Great Books KC will be August 26, 2022.  We will discuss In the The Guermantes Way, Vol. 3 of In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust.

Meeting Date & Time:
Date: August 26, 2022
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, sent to GreatBooksKC@gmail.com.

Description of Book:

The Guermantes Way is the third volume of Proust’s masterpiece, À la recherche du temps perdu. "The Guermantes Way" refers to the path that runs past the château belonging to the Duc and Duchesse de Guermantes near Combray and also to the route the narrator takes to make his way into their Parisian salon. He encounters a world of nobles, officers, socialites, and assorted consorts–individuals like Robert de Saint Loup and his prostitute mistress Rachel, the Baron de Charlus, and the Prince de Borodino. The narrator becomes a party to the wit and manners of the Guermantes drawing room, an important playground for Parisian society interested in the latest theatrical triumph and the progress of the Dreyfus case.