ccbc Essex Book Club

Spring Books

2008-02-24T16:24:00.001-08:00

Hey Folks,

the Essex book club met last week and chose our three books for the semester. First up is Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Harper, ISBN 978-0060853976
We'll meet to discuss that one on Friday March 14.

Next up is Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieAnchor ISBN 978-1400095209

We'll meet on that on Friday April 18.

And finally will be Dog Fighter by Marc Bojanowski, Harper ISBN 978-0060597580. Friday May 2.

I'm going to get a few copies from Student Life, but if you can get Good Omens from the library, etc, go for it. We had a big crowd at the planning session and I think it's going to be a lively semester. If you're not already in the blog, look for an invite here in the next few days.
Peace,
Carr

the history of love and some k'vetching

2007-10-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

sorry to post late, but whose meshugeneh idea was it to meet the week of midterms? no matter, this krauss is a mentsh, what a wonderful book you all picked. and i see we're reading water for elephants? looking foward to that, heard good things.

the mother's struggle through the child's eyes, desire for connection to the lost father and some of the book's formatting reminded me of extremely loud and incredibly close. but i think leo gursky got to me the most. i have a few customers like that.

great pick guys, thanks!
-meaghan

_The Price of Privilege_

2007-09-25T04:45:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Since it looks like Carr already ordered all the books we're reading this semester, then I guess my persuading everyone to reconsider reading another book instead of _The Price of Privilege_ isn't kosher.

I picked up Levine's book because I am somewhat a product of the subject matter and was very interested in what the author had to say about the rise of mental illness in affluent teenagers. However, this book is part non-fiction about her theories as to why affluent kids are suffering from more mental illnes and part an educational self-help manual for these kids' affluent parents. Part II of the book goes in detail about how affluent parents can prevent their kids from becoming mentally ill. In my opinion, the self-help part is tedious and can be rather easily deduced from her theories, if you have some common sense background knowledge of child development.

Anyhow, I'm concern about whether you all feel it's appropiate and fun to discuss the finer points of Levine's applications of her theories to child development. I would rather shoot for another book to read, either fiction or nonfiction. However, since Carr already ordered the books, for practical reasons, I can see that reading _...Privilege_ may be the reality of what happens. Can we read two books for our second meeting after _The History of Love_? We don't have to discuss Part II of Levine's book because it's an application of her theories and just really boring, in my opinion. Maybe, we could discuss Part I of the book and then, read a shorter fiction book? Maybe, we can find some short fiction book which deals with affluent teenagers and mental illness. And, then we can see if Levine's theories apply to the fiction author's expressions.

So, let me know if my ideas have any practical basis. I can bring_...Privilege_ in next meeting to show you how the book is laid out.

Oh, just started _The History of Love_ and the first chapter is hilarious. I'm looking forward to enjoying the book and discussing it next meeting.

Kristen

Fall Books Part II

2007-09-24T13:54:00.001-07:00

Hi Book Club People,

We met last week to decide on our Fall books. As I mentioned earlier, we decided to go ahead and choose our three selections for the fall to expedite the process.. So, here they are -- along with the scheduled date for meeting:

Fri Oct 12 The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

Fri Nov 16 The Price of Privilege by Madeline Levine

Fri Dec 7 Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

All right. I also have a limited supply of copies for each book available for pick up now in my office. But I think we'll ask that you pick up only one book at a time. So for those of you still around at Essex, send me an email and we'll arrange a time for you to pick up a copy of The History of Love. (Wayne is also going to order some at the bookstore for sale).

Peace,
Carr

Fall Books

2007-09-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

So here are some suggestions from me for Fall reading (sorry for the long links, my browser isn't letting me link to the text):

The Keep by Jennifer Egan

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/books/review/30bell.html?ex=1189742400&en=4af2eebfe125ce86&ei=5070

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/books/29kaku.html?ex=1189742400&en=0bd156ede72daa2d&ei=5070

History of Love by Nicole Krauss

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/01/books/review/01MILLERL.html?ex=1189742400&en=e2ed0764f2ef1b1d&ei=5070

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/books/review/26egan.html?ex=1189742400&en=cf7e8c7525347360&ei=5070

All right. Those are a few that come to mind. There's also a new novel out by Denis Johnson that I want to read, but it's LONG.

Peace. CK

MIA

2007-07-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

I know I've been mia (missing in action) for a while; I was out of the country for the longest time and then trying to sort my life out when I got back. Anyway, I wondered what you guys were up to.. did you meet for the July meeting? How did it go and how was the book? Do we have any suggestions for the new reading? I'd love to catch up!!
Has anyone read A Thousand Splendid Suns (from the author of The Kite Runner) ? I've heard such great things about it, can't wait to read it! Also, is anyone interested in the Harry Potter mania? I just finished the seventh book and loved it!
Alright, that's it for now.
Maryam.

movie nights on federal hill

2007-07-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

hello everybody,
the visionary art museum is showing movies on federal hill every thursday at 9 this summer and the museum is open late and is FREE 5 to 9 before the film. july 26th is "edward scissorhands" and august 2nd is "the freshman" (matt broderick is freshman film student with marlon brando as his prof, comedy i think, looks good). so i was wondering if y'all would like to take a field trip to the museum one of those days and catch a movie? this summer's exhibit is "home and beast" (see website for de-tails). carr says there is a good thai place in the neigh-borhood so maybe we could get some grub too. mmm. tofu pad thai.
(i'll email everyone about this too.)

if we need a book connection- hanna was a film teacher? does that work?
-meaghan

Summer Reading

2007-06-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

At our last meeting we chose Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl for our mid-summer book. We're shooting to meet in mid-July some time -- we'll set the place and time as we approach (any suggestions are welcome). At that meeting we'll try to choose a book for early fall. But in the meantime, let us know what you're reading this summer. Have fun -- and remember that you can read outside!

Peace.

summer/fall books

2007-05-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

i liked melinda's suggestion for last vote, The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. maybe for summer? or special topics in calamity physics.

and i think i suggested a confederacy of dunces a while ago? i'm sure it's on my mental list of books to read. that seems like a good fall choice. something funny.

sorry i missed the meeting. glass castle was wonderful. read about 40 pages between classes and then finished it in one sitting. "couldn't put it down"
and duluth is ... strange. in a good way. sort of calvino meets vonnegut but i'm still at the beginning of the book so... who knows.

also, these are not suggestions just books you may want to check out. just for fun.
Lord of the Dead by Tom Holland- serious argument that Lord Byron was a vampire. no joke.
Shanta Ram- don't know the author. takes place in india, popular in india. suggested by a reliable source.

Suggestion

2007-05-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a suggestion:

The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring by Richard Preston

Book is on the New York Times Bestseller
Author has appeared on both Daily Show and Colbert Report
Also on the Diane Rehm
Looks comical and informative

Summer Fall line

2007-05-07T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks,

Here's another suggestion for the summer: 101 Reykjavik by an Icelandic guy,
Hallgrimur Helgason. I've heard some good things about it -- the narrator is a kind of slacker --but one of those funny ones with an attitude and insight (at least that's what I've heard. I haven't read it yet. One drawback is that it doesn't seem to be readily available.

I'm also gonna make a couple of suggestions for a fall book. Both books are abut New Orleans, which ties in to the Community Book Connection for next year. The frst is The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. The second is A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Both of these books are very humorous. CoD is of course a classic of literary comedy, while the MG is more subtle. Both are outstandng

OK. Those are just some thoughts. Bring your vote to the meetng Friday, May 11.

Summer Selections

2007-05-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Hola!

Here's a suggestion for the summer/fall book vote which will take place at the next meeting, Friday May 11.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. This is a first novel from a young writer that got very good reviews last year. I think it's about college(?) and sounds cool. Check it out.

Peace,
Carr

Is Duluth a Bust?

2007-04-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks,
I didn't hear back from too many of you about your status regarding Duluth. But I do have copies of Glass Castle here in my office. therfore I'm proposing that we read GC for Friday, May 4. It's not a particularly challenging or long read. So come on by my office and pick it up if you are so inclined. If you're reading/have read Duluth, then by all means let's compare the two.
All right. I know that in the spring time it's hard for a book panther to sit still long enough to read one of these, but I know that I would like to have another meeting before the semester ends. So Rrrroooowwww!!!!
See you.
CK

Next Meeting

2007-04-03T11:09:00.000-07:00

Hey folks,

So the book is Duluth by Gore Vidal. We are going to get our own copies. Maybe we should meet after the spring break, say Fri. 4/20? Let me know if that sounds agreeable.
Peace,
Carr

deluth

2007-03-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

i'm on board with deluth. when's the next meeting again?

I'm for Deluth

2007-03-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

Im all for obtaining my own copy of Deluth. If anyone can get multiple copies shipped to a barnes and noble let me know, I get a 30% discount and have no problem abusing it to get everyone money off.

umm k

2007-03-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

Duluth is fine with me.

I'm feeling bullheaded today

2007-03-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

I vote we order our own copies of _Duluth_.

Duluth

2007-03-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

I vote for ordering our own books. But anything's okay with me.

Book Bummer

2007-03-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks,

The CCBC bookstore can't get copies of Duluth. It's apparently out of print. So we have two options. 1. Order our own through various sites like amazon (where there are both new copies ($15) and various used ones (starting at $1.61).
Or, plan B would be to go with the second choice, Glass Castle.

Let's put it to a vote -- say by Thursday.

So Vote Again! Yay!

Duluth

2007-03-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Looks like Duluth is the winner (6 votes). Glass Castle was second (4 votes). We can certainly read that next month if y'all aree still interested. So I'll put the order in at the bookstore ASAP and I'll let you know when they come in. I think we'll probably meet after spring break -- maybe that first week. Sound good? Cool.

Book vote

2007-03-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

Glass Castle sounds good to me. Jo-Ann

voooteeee

2007-03-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

The reviews look promising for Glass Castle so, I'm gonna go with it.

Vote er.. votes

2007-03-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

I would either like to read "The Memory Keeper's Daughter", "The Thirteenth Tale", "Glass Castle" or "Duluth"-- but not really picky as to which one, because they all interest me!

2007-03-05T12:26:00.000-08:00

The Marriage Game

Fern Micheals

I really would like to read this book.

Simply Love

Mary Balough

procrastinating

2007-03-03T14:48:00.000-08:00

i should be writing a paper so i'm checking the blog. that's what i do.

i can't believe NOBODY wants to read botany of desire. and i misspelled duluth. how imbearasssing. i did go to public school, can you tell?

Vote for Book

2007-03-03T10:24:00.000-08:00

I apologize for failing to vote earlier. I'd like to read Vidal...

Vote?

2007-03-02T13:03:00.000-08:00

All right. So now we've got several people who've voted for both Inheritance and Duluth, or just Duluth. Anybody else want to vote? I'd like to get the order in to the bookstore by Monday. So take a stand over the weekend. Ok.
Peace out!

my vote

2007-03-01T17:16:00.000-08:00

I'm voting for deluth, I wanted to read that as oppose to Music For Torchingat the last book club vote.

vote

2007-03-01T12:56:00.000-08:00

inheritance of loss looks really good! thanks for the suggestion melinda! i vote for either inheritance of loss or deluth. (like brenda said, i can always read these on the side, all the suggestions look good.)

Suggestion

2007-03-01T09:09:00.000-08:00

Melinda is suggesting The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. Check it out.

Vote

2007-03-01T04:32:00.000-08:00

I'll go with glass castle. I want to read deluth also, but I can read that on the side. I like everything. I'll just let you guys decide. It was a good meeting. Looking forward to the next.
Enjoy this weather and have a nice weekend.

Peace

suggestions

2007-02-28T18:36:00.000-08:00

1. amy mentioned a gore vidal book, deluth, at the winter break meeting. i'd really like to read that.

2. another one on my list is the botany of desire by michael pollan (i'm not making this up, his name is really pollan) which explores the coevolution of humans and plants (specifcally cannabis, tulips, apples, and potatoes). seems to touch on a lot of issues... like guns germs and steel but only 300 pages and with pot( or as some of you may call it "grass"). seems like a winner to me.

Book Vote!

2007-02-28T10:00:00.001-08:00

Hey Book Club folks,

Tovah posted some suggestions for the next book on the blog. We'd like to choose ASAP, so please vote by Friday 3/2 for the next selection. If you'd like to suggest some different titles, go for it. OK. Peace Out!

CK

Book Recommendations

2007-02-26T09:18:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would throw around some ideas:
I put the links of the books (on Barnes and Noble site) with the title of the book.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (people said that the book made them have a new perspective on life)
Wickett's Remedy by Myla Goldberg (same author as Bee Season)
Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Okay.....

2007-02-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

I thought the book was okay. I felt confused, especially at the end, I felt like I was missing something. I did like the use of her mother… “Mom will fix it”, this showed immaturity on Elaine’s part, though the mom was immature herself (is immaturity a family trait—can it be inherited?). The book, I felt, never seemed to complete itself and you were stuck wondering what it was you just read. It was almost as if the characters were stuck together as an afterthought. The author had a bunch of stories—Pat, the Montgomery’s, the children, Mrs. Hansen, etc. etc., with no real ending to any of them. I liked where most of the stories were going, it would have been nice if they were finished. What was with the hole in the ceiling and the thing about Elaine being a fountain when Paul smoked crack? These stories in the book seemed added to fill space. With that being said, the book wasn’t the worst thing I have read, but certainly not the best.

I loathe this book...

2007-02-06T19:50:00.000-08:00

I hope I dont give anything away, I'll try not to. The characters although well flawed and disgusting human beings (which I enjoy in most fiction) are shallow but worse repetitious. The characters, especially Paul and Elaine feel too hollow, stereotypes and cliches I have seen before. I think the most important aspects of suburban life were left unexplored. Everything was easy to put together, so much so that I read on briskly to see if the characters would become more derranged, more pathetic than they were. I'll stop there. The most interesting characters, the children of the story, Sammy, Daniel, Nate, Willy, Jennifer and the 'Montgomery' kids were barely developed, used more as inanimate antagonists than real characters. I never felt overly depressed or empathetic with the books characters, Paul and Elaine annoyed me to no end, when characters like Pat and the old man offered a much more interesting story line that is briefly mentioned and then bypassed. Pats story would have been a great novel or at least novella in itself, but all we get is a brief physical and emotional release that goes unfulfilled. And what about Pats husband? He was interesting as well, he married Pat (which may seem irrelevant if you are early in the book) and had an odd relationship with the old man. I may have enjoyed this book better if I hadn't seen Alan Ball's American Beauty first. His characters were flawed in a far more empathetic manner than those in Music for Torching. I may be comepletely wrong of course, I have no point of reference, I am unmarried, unstuck and find no solace in suburbia's landscape.

Pat's house

2007-02-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

I want to be a guest at Pat's house. Where's the lighter fluid? Does my shirt look a little wrinkled?

New Logo?

2007-02-02T15:34:00.000-08:00

RRRRRROOOWWWW!!!!

new club name

2007-02-02T12:10:00.000-08:00

i nominate "The Book Panthers, Rrrrrow!" but only on the condition that rrrrrow is included in the name.

just stopped by to say i'm not 20 pages in to music for torching and i want to stick my head in an oven. which i think is what homes intended? good?

also it's interesting that she goes by A. M. Homes, a genderless abbreviation. is this purposeful?
"i just assumed that nobody would be interested in a woman's point of view. besides, i didn't want to risk being called all the things women writers (even good women writers) are called: 'clever, witty, bright, touching, but lacks scope'. i wanted to write about the whole world. i wanted to write War and Peace or nothing. no 'lady writer' subjects for me." --Erica Jong

February Book

2007-02-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

Hey Folks. We met in January to discuss EL Doctorow's The Book of Daniel. Those who read the book agreed that it was a fine piece of writing -- the author's use of perspective to signal the varying shades of Daniel's chaacter and mood was masterful. Seriously, though, we liked it.

So we also decided there on a new book for February: AM Homes' Music for Torching. I've ordered copies from the bookstore, but they are currently on backorder. So if you can find one at the lbrary, go for it -- or you can look for a cheap copy online (here's the amazon link $1.52: http://www.amazon.com/Music-Torching-M-Homes/dp/068817762X/sr=8-1/qid=1170441905/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-7153584-5467341?ie=UTF8&s=books )

Our next meeting is scheduled for Friday, Feb 23 in the Honors semnar room (were we always meet).
All right. We're also considering whether or not we should get a new name. Something with a little more flair. Something like, "The Book Panthers". Rrrrowww! So brng your ideas (or nominate mine -- Yeah you right!)

All right.
Peace out!
Carr

Jan Plan

2006-12-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

Hey Fellow Book clubbers (or is Bookies better -- place your bets!),

I just wanted to give you a heads up on the Jan. meeting. Amy and I haven't nailed down the exact date yet, but it'll probably be wed. jan17, or thereabouts. So just plan on having The Book of Daniel finished by then. I'll let you know as soon as I do when exactly it will be and where exactly, too. If any of you have a hot tub (Brenda?) maybe we should have it at your house.
All right. Take care and I'll talk to you later. Merry New Year!

Peace,
Carr

writing/poetry nights at the paper moon

2006-12-14T09:21:00.000-08:00

Some folks from Carr's 210/211 class are starting a monthly meeting at the Paper Moon Diner for writing sessions and poetry/short fiction reading. The first meeting has been proposed at 6:00 on Saturday, January 6th. (If the date/time changes I'll let you know.)
Anyone interested is welcome to swing by and check it out or, for more information, write me at iseenjohanna@aol.com
You'll need to bring food money, something to write with and any writing you want to share (it doesn't have to be your own).
Hope to see you there,
Meaghan

Book of Daniel

2006-12-13T20:21:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

at our last meeting we decided to read The Book of Daniel by E.L. Doctorow. This will be a little more informal, as we're gonna try and get together at Carr's or Amy's house sometime mid-January for some eating and discussing the book. So read the book over the holidays here and keep checking the blog for updates. Take care and
Peace,
Carr

Want to Find Cacciato?

2006-11-30T15:56:00.000-08:00

Hey, just reminder that our meeting is tomorrow, Fri. Dec 1 at 12:20 sharp in J-130 (or thereabouts).
If you're interested to know what happened to old Cacciato, come on by and Brenda will tell you.
All right. We'll see y'all tomorrow!
Peace out!

Meeting

2006-11-28T19:36:00.000-08:00

Is the meeting this Friday?

Easy Reader

2006-11-21T14:55:00.000-08:00

Yup, this book is a piece of cake compared to the last one. I'm nearly done and I didn't even break a sweat. It holds my interest. Anyone else start it yet?

Cacciato In

2006-11-17T10:09:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

Goign After Cacciato has arrived, and is waiting in Carr's office, E331. Send me an email with a time you want to come by and we'll make arrangements. All right. Talk to you later. Happy reading and have a great T-giving.

Free the Juice!

2006-11-17T05:33:00.000-08:00

Anyone heard about O. J.'s new book? I think it's called If I Did It, Here's How It Happened.

Link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061238287?ie=UTF8&tag=ifidiit-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061238287

What do y'all think?

Cacciato on Order

2006-11-10T14:28:00.000-08:00

Hey Folks,

Cacciato looked like the favorite, so I made the call to order that one from the bookstore. I'll let you know when it gets in -- hopefully next week some time. We may have to crank it out over the T-giving break, but if it reads anything like The Things they Carried, that won't be a big problem (of course I'm not taking into consideration all those research papers and lab reports and math finals you've got. that's why I'm an English teacher. I just chill out all semster, making movies, reading books, going down to DC to visit the Mall on beautiful sunny Fridays. And I have all summer off. I'm telling you, you nursing students and engineers and whatnot, I think you're deluded. Sure, you might be helping humanity, but so am I, right? Think of all those people I'm helping to learn how to write. So they can write their congresspeople and tell them how we live in a democracy and not a fascist police state, or their literary heroes and tell them how much they admire their work, or their grandmothers to remind them how much they meant to us as little kids. where would we be if we couldn't write?). OK. Enough diatribe.

Anybody want to summarize the last meeting? Some of the folks who weren't able to attend are curious about what we said (and I told them that we actually talked about the book, so I think we should come up with something fast).

Peace,
Carr

ccbc Essex Book Club

2006-11-09T11:43:00.000-08:00

I would like to vote for If I Die in a Combat Zone : Box Me Up and Ship Me Home. My second choice would be Going After Cacciato .

My vote

2006-11-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

I was just talking about the theatre of the absurd to someone. Going after Cacciato is my pick, too.

Book Club Vote

2006-11-08T05:13:00.000-08:00

Absurd and surreal. Perfect. My vote: Going after Cacciato. Second choice would be Northern Lights.

July, July

2006-11-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

This is my pick:
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
As he did with In the Lake of the Woods, National Book Award winner Tim O'Brien strikes at the emotional nerve center of our lives with this ambitious, compassionate, and terrifically compelling new novel that tells the remarkable story of the generation molded and defined by the 1960s.
At the thirtieth anniversary of Minnesota's Darton Hall College class of 1969, ten old friends reassemble for a July weekend of dancing, drinking, flirting, reminiscing, and regretting. The three decades since their graduation have seen marriage and divorce, children and careers, dreams deferred and disappointed — many memories and many ghosts. Together their individual stories create a portrait of a generation launched into adulthood at the moment when their country, too, lost its innocence. Imbued with his signature themes of passion, memory, and yearning, July, July is Tim O'Brien's most fully realized work yet.

Thoughts on "Traveler"

2006-11-05T18:25:00.000-08:00

Like Derek, I love and loathe this book so far. "...they teach us to read as children, and for the rest of our lives we remain slaves..." (p49) So, I will keep chugging along as the steam from my head clouds the pages. As I am reading, I feel as though the author is in my own head and writing exactly what I think: how things get so complicated, " But every moment of my life brings with it an accumulation of new facts," as if construction = meaning. And then simplified,"The true nature of things revealed only in disintegration." As if deconstruction=meaning. There is one line, so far, that makes me think I am being spied on, "... it is my life, consisting of things never concluded and half erased." Bastard! Show yourself!
Anyway, each chapter ends with a cliffhanger and leads the reader on. I am curious to find out more about Lotaria-Spanish for lottery or raffle according to my Espanol-Ingles Diccionario.
Here is another thought: from the first few pages the reader is invited to,"relax, get comfortable, prepare for this experience by settling in with ones cigarettes and drink," and then, as the reader succumbs to the rhythm of the prose,BAM! Coitus interuptus!This mirrors the relationship of the narrative to the reader and the pas de deux between Ludmilla and "I."

vote

2006-11-04T19:08:00.000-08:00

i very much want to read the book of daniel after the tim o'brein book. checked the pratt website to find that doctorow's award ceremony is invitation only- grr.

as for o'brein, i'd like to read going after cacciato. the m&m thing got me.

The Book of Daniel

2006-11-03T13:07:00.000-08:00

Amy and others in the meeting today expressed interest in reading The Book of Daniel by E. L. Doctorow over winter break to discuss at the beginning of the spring semester. I am posting a book description for that, also.

Book Description:

The central figure of this novel is a young man whose parents were executed for conspiring to steal atomic secrets for Russia.His name is Daniel Isaacson, and as the story opens, his parents have been dead for many years. He has had a long time to adjust to their deaths. He has not adjusted. Out of the shambles of his childhood, he has constructed a new life—marriage to an adoring girl who gives him a son of his own, and a career in scholarship. It is a life that enrages him.In the silence of the library at Columbia University, where he is supposedly writing a Ph.D. dissertation, Daniel composes something quite different.It is a confession of his most intimate relationships—with his wife, his foster parents, and his kid sister Susan, whose own radicalism so reproaches him. It is a book of memories: riding a bus with his parents to the ill-fated Paul Robeson concert in Peekskill; watching the FBI take his father away; appearing with Susan at rallies protesting their parents’ innocence; visiting his mother and father in the Death House.It is a book of investigation: transcribing Daniel’s interviews with people who knew his parents, or who knew about them; and logging his strange researches and discoveries in the library stacks.It is a book of judgments of everyone involved in the case—lawyers, police, informers, friends, and the Isaacson family itself.It is a book rich in characters, from elderly grand- mothers of immigrant culture, to covert radicals of the McCarthy era, to hippie marchers on the Pen-tagon. It is a book that spans the quarter-century of American life since World War II. It is a book about the nature of Left politics in this country—its sacrificial rites, its peculiar cruelties, its humility, its bitterness. It is a book about some of the beautiful and terrible feelings of childhood. It is about the nature of guilt and innocence, and about the relations of people to nations. It is The Book of Daniel.

Tim O'Brien's novels

2006-11-03T12:31:00.000-08:00

Below are four novels by Tim O'Brien and their book descriptions/reviews. In case you were not at the book club meeting today, we decided to read a novel by Tim O'Brien other than The Things They Carried (many are reading that one for a class). He is coming to campus on Nov. 29th to speak, so we thought this would be a nice way to thank him by reading one of his other novels.

I think Carr said we need to vote as soon a possible, so he can order the books. The next book club meeting is tentatively scheduled for Dec 1st. It depends on whether we can get the Honor's room or not that day. Should I check into this with Pat? Or can someone else check, since I'm not on campus?

Also, if anyone has any other comments to discuss about Calvino, let me know. I have some more to say about him, I think. I'm reading his literary criticism book called The Uses of Literature or at least I've got that one on my list. :-)

Northern Lights

2006-11-03T12:28:00.000-08:00

Northern Lights -368 pages

Book Description

Originally published in 1975, Tim O'Brien's debut novel demonstrates the emotional complexity and enthralling narrative tension that later earned him the National Book Award. At its core is the relationship between two brothers: one who went to Vietnam and one who stayed at home. As the two brothers struggle against an unexpected blizzard in Minnesota's remote north woods, what they discover about themselves and each other will change both of them for ever.

In the Lake of the Woods

2006-11-03T12:23:00.000-08:00

In the Lake of the Woods - 320 pages

Amazon.com

Tim O'Brien has been writing about Vietnam in one way or another ever since he served there as an infantryman in the late 1960s. His earliest work on the subject, If I Die in a Combat Zone, was an intensely personal memoir of his own tour of duty; his books since then have featured many of the same elements of fear, boredom, and moral ambiguity but in a fictional setting. In 1994 O'Brien wrote In the Lake of the Woods, a novel that, while imbued with the troubled spirit of Vietnam, takes place entirely after the war and in the United States. The main character, John Wade, is a man in crisis: after spending years building a successful political career, he finds his future derailed during a bid for the U.S. Senate by revelations about his past as a soldier in Vietnam. The election lost by a landslide, John and his wife, Kathy, retreat to a small cabin on the shores of a Minnesota lake--from which Kathy mysteriously disappears.

Was she murdered? Did she run away? Instead of answering these questions, O'Brien raises even more as he slowly reveals past lives and long-hidden secrets. Included in this third-person narrative are "interviews" with the couple's friends and family as well as footnoted excerpts from a mix of fictionalized newspaper reports on the case and real reports pertaining to historical events--a mélange that lends the novel an eerie sense of verisimilitude. If Kathy's disappearance is at the heart of this work, then John's involvement in a My Lai-type massacre in Vietnam is its core, and O'Brien uses it to demonstrate how wars don't necessarily end when governments say they do. In the Lake of the Woods may not be true, but it feels true--and for Tim O'Brien, that's true enough. --Alix Wilber

If I Die in a Combat Zone : Box Me Up and Ship Me Home

2006-11-03T12:20:00.000-08:00

If I Die in a Combat Zone : Box Me Up and Ship Me Home - 224 pages

Amazon.com

Over time, Tim O'Brien has used both art and artifice to shape his fictional accounts of Vietnam. Award-winning novels such as Going After Cacciato and The Things They Carried offer up a surreal view of the war: a soldier who decides to walk to Paris, leaving only a trail of M&M's in his wake; a young man who imports his high-school girlfriend to his base camp high in the jungled mountains, only to lose her to a shadowy squad of Special Forces Green Berets and to "that mix of unnamed terror and unnamed pleasure" that was Vietnam. O'Brien's first account of the war, however, was written in the raw, unfiltered months following his return from Southeast Asia in 1969. If I Die in a Combat Zone has all of the eloquence and attention to language and detail that are a mark of the author's work; what is different about it is its straightforward, unembellished depiction of his personal experience of hell.

"When you are ordered to march through areas such as Pinkville--GI slang for Song My, parent village of My Lai ... you do some thinking. You hallucinate. You look ahead a few paces and wonder what your legs will resemble if there is more to the earth in that spot than silicates and nitrogen. Will the pain be unbearable? Will you scream or fall silent? Will you be afraid to look at your own body, afraid of the sight of your own red flesh and white bone? You wonder if the medic remembered his morphine."

O'Brien paints an unvarnished portrait of the infantry soldier's life that is at once mundane and terrifying--the endless days of patrolling punctuated by firefights that end as suddenly and inconclusively as they begin; the mind-numbing brutality of burned villages and trampled rice patties; the terror of tunnels, minefields, and the ever-present threat of death. Powerful as these scenes are, perhaps the most memorable chapter in the book concerns his decision to desert just a few weeks before he was sent to Vietnam. "The AWOL bag was ready to go, but I wasn't.... I burned the letters to my family. I read the others and burned them, too. It was over. I simply couldn't bring myself to flee. Family, the home town, friends, history, tradition, fear, confusion, exile: I could not run." Tim O'Brien went into the war opposing it and came out knowing exactly why. If I Die in a Combat Zone is more than just a memoir of a disastrous war; it is also a meditation on heroism and cowardice, on the mutability of truth and morality in a war zone and, most of all, on the simple, human capacity to endure the unendurable. --Alix Wilber

Going After Cacciato

2006-11-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

I'll post 4 different novel reviews:

1) Going After Cacciato -352 pages.

Amazon.com

"In October, near the end of the month, Cacciato left the war."

In Tim O'Brien's novel Going After Cacciato the theater of war becomes the theater of the absurd as a private deserts his post in Vietnam, intent on walking 8,000 miles to Paris for the peace talks. The remaining members of his squad are sent after him, but what happens then is anybody's guess: "The facts were simple: They went after Cacciato, they chased him into the mountains, they tried hard. They cornered him on a small grassy hill. They surrounded the hill. They waited through the night. And at dawn they shot the sky full of flares and then they moved in.... That was the end of it. The last known fact. What remained were possibilities."

It is these possibilities that make O'Brien's National Book Award-winning novel so extraordinary. Told from the perspective of squad member Paul Berlin, the search for Cacciato soon enters the realm of the surreal as the men find themselves following an elusive trail of chocolate M&M's through the jungles of Indochina, across India, Iran, Greece, and Yugoslavia to the streets of Paris. The details of this hallucinatory journey alternate with feverish memories of the war--men maimed by landmines, killed in tunnels, engaged in casual acts of brutality that would be unthinkable anywhere else. Reminiscent of Joseph Heller's Catch-22, Going After Cacciato dishes up a brilliant mix of ferocious comedy and bleak horror that serves to illuminate both the complex psychology of men in battle and the overarching insanity of war. --Alix Wilber

Chapter 4 (or 8)

2006-11-02T18:26:00.000-08:00

I'm through chapter 4, or maybe it's 8 depending on how you look at it, and I must say I'm drawn into the quasi story. Although I can't say for certain, I love the book and I loathe it at the same time. It's hard to explain, I like how the numbered chapters are told, you are reading a fictional story told to you about yourself (more so if your male), but the language that 'you' use as well as that of Ludmilla is completely un-natural, I would imagine even so if you were speaking Italian. And who says that abstract can't work? My personal favorite chapter so far is the title chapter 'If on a winter's night a traveler' because how the 'I' character is told from the point of view of the character, not the author pretending to be the character. Particularly I like how the 'I' character has his own consciousness completely separate from the author. So far (as best as I can figure) the 'story' is the numbered chapters and the titled chapters are short half-stories. With any luck I'll figure it all out by the end, and if not I'm not sure I would mind all that much.

I'm in love with Chapter 7

2006-11-02T17:43:00.000-08:00

Chapter 7 of Calvino did it for me. It woke me up from the fog I was getting into with this book prior to this chapter. It all seems to fall into place now. Okay, it's 20 minutes till 9. I got to finish the book! I hope you all will be there tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. (Sean, I know you're stretched for time. I'll miss you).

Hey, does anybody think reading a book over the winter break would be cool? Or maybe, we could be ambitious and read two books, and then discuss them both when the spring semester starts again?

Irritated

2006-10-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

I would have given up on this book already if it was just a pleasure read. My patience gets tested at work. My children test my patience at home. Now this book? Is this a conspiracy? I'm only on page 18 so I'll give it a chance, but so far it's not what I expected. I'll finish it either way. I'll even try to get in a better frame of mind next time I start on it.

Books Are IN

2006-10-18T07:16:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks, the books are in. You can pick them up in my office, E331.

2006-10-05T15:56:00.000-07:00

Results--

3 votes for: If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler
2 votes for: Memories of My Melancholy Whores
2 votes for: The Thirteenth Tale

(Second choices: 2 for Jesus’ Son; 1 for If On A Winter’s Night…, and 1 for The Moon..)

Chrissy, Alex, Meaghan, Sean, Erin, Joshua, and Maryam voted.

vote: The thirteenth tale

2006-10-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

After reading the reviews of all the books in question, "The Thirteenth Tale" sounds most appealing to me. I like mystery and intrigue more than any other genre, and the reviewer has made references to Jane Eyre and Rebecca which are two of my all time favorite classics.. so I'm with it definitely!

Vote

2006-10-05T07:51:00.000-07:00

My top book would be the thirteenth tale: a novel, by Diane Setterfield.

Vote

2006-10-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

My first choice is Memories of My Melancholy Whores, but I wouldn't mind reading If on a winter's night a traveler.

Vote

2006-10-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

I would like to read If on a Winter's Night a Traveler or Jesus' Son.
ccbc Essex Book Club

vote

2006-10-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

Either If on a winter's night a traveler or The Moon and Sixpence. Couldn't pick just one. So many good suggestions.

The Moon and Sixpence

2006-10-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a review from Amazon for Maugham's "The Moon and Sixpence". Think of it as a school sponsored trip to France and Tahiti. I know you all loved The Razor's Edge? Okay, I'm done.

Reviewer: "elljay" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
It has been noted many times that artists are usually not the most pleasant human beings to be around; Maugham's novel is, among other things, a compelling examination of why this is so. The obsessed artist who dominates this book, Charles Strickland (based on the notorious Paul Gauguin), walks away from his cushy middle-class existence in England to pursue his dream to paint, amid frightful poverty, in France. Strickland is an unforgettable character, an inarticulate, brutishly sensual creature, callously indifferent to his fellow man and even his own health, who lives only to record his private visions on canvas.
It would be a mistake to read this novel as an inspiring tale of the triumph of the spirit. Strickland is an appalling human being--but the world itself, Maugham seems to say, is a cruel, forbidding place. The author toys with the (strongly Nietzschean) idea that men like Charles Strickland may somehow be closer to the mad pulse of life, and cannot therefore be dismissed as mere egotists. The moralists among us, the book suggests, are simply shrinking violets if not outright hypocrites. It is not a very cheery conception of humanity (and arguably not an accurate one), but the questions Maugham raises are fascinating. Aside from that, he's a wonderful storyteller. This book is a real page turner.

WebCT...

2006-10-03T04:24:00.000-07:00

Hey yaw!

Erin - you can send it to everyone or post it on the discussion board. I think that the blog is a better way, however.

Just one more.

2006-10-02T22:53:00.000-07:00

While I am leaning toward Meaghan's suggestion of Memories of My Melancholy Whores, I thought I would throw out one more suggestion.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower -- However, it may be a little too much of a "high school read."

Sidenote: I made my way into WebCT and I am receiving the emails, but I don't know who I'm supposed to be sending my emails to in regards to book suggestions and such. That is why I have opted to post in Blogger instead.

Book Suggstion

2006-09-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

I've heard that The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is a good read. Barnes & Noble gives it a good review and places it on its recommendation list. It suits October well with a remote Halloween theme.

I am obviously new to this, but I hope to participate more at the next meeting and share ideas. I love to hear alternate insights and different perspectives.

I look forward to the meetings this semester. :o)

September '06 Meeting -- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

2006-09-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

All right. So for this first meeting of the semester, we're planning to discuss Jonathan Safran Foer's novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Of course I'm hoping for a lively discussion, since this book is so very cool. I am amazed at Foer's imagination, and I'm captivated by Oskar. I can se why all these people let him into their homes and sometimes bare their souls to him. This is definitely one of my favorite books this year. All right. I'll stop there since we're meeting tomorrow.

May 5 Meeting

2006-05-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

At our meeting last Friday, May 5, we decided to read a book for June -- Chris Abani's Graceland. We're going to try and meet on June 22nd to discuss that book at Carr's house. It will be an informal dinner party kind of thing.

For the fall we chose Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. We're going to try and meet early in the semester for that one, probably two or three weeks after the semester starts.

In both cases Carr has ordered books from the bookstore, and we'll keep you posted here as to when those will be available. All right. good reading!

Meeting Friday 5-5

2006-05-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

We'll have a meeting of the essex Book Club on Friday, May 5 (Cinco de Mayo) at 12:20 in J130. We're hoping to lay out a plan for the summer and fall. The questions seem to be: 1. are we going to meet over the summer? If so, what book should we read, and where and when will we meet? 2. If not, then what book are we going to read for the fall, and when are we going to meet?

There is a list of books for possible consideration on the WebCT discussion board.