Sunday, December 06, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The Festival of Trees -- A RRVWP book club service project
Our book club participated in the LISTEN Center's Annual Festival of Trees this year. The trees, lights, and tree skirts are donated and all we had to provide was a theme, decorations and decorators. We decided that our tree might look cute covered in books and then the "decorations" would be dual-purposed, proving a family a wide range of books for kids of all ages and even some for the adults.
Book club members donated books and decorations and Andrea, Kristine and Carmyn got in the holiday spirit by decorating on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The trees were on display for a short time after that at the Columbia Mall and then they were distributed to local families in need.
Our theme was "Seasons G-READings" :) (Pam is always on hand for a good pun or two!)
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
For July: The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
The Diamond Age Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal StephensonCarmyn, Pam, Judy, Brian and Larry met at Pam's to discuss The Diamond Age over a bucket of chicken from the Venerable and Inscrutable Colonel Sanders.
Friday, June 26, 2009
For June: Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Carmyn, Pam, Brian, Andrea, Larry, and Kristine met at Pam's on June 25th for our discussion on Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Each year we usually try to read at least one of those books that many consider to be part of our literary consciousness--a classic. There are so many, and even as an English teacher, I've not read them all. It turned out THIS was a title many of us hadn't read.
The general response was mixed. I actually liked the book, though it was a bit "messed up" and demanded discussion. With the internet so handily available I immediately googled the book and read the Wikipedia page, some of the Spark Notes, and several articles about the book, including some biography pages of Kurt Vonnegut.
This was not my first exposure to Vonnegut, however. In college I read Cat's Cradle, a book which also inspired a "what the heck" as I read it. Both books have an irreverence for Christianity that might be part of why his work is so frequently getting "challenged" in schools and libraries. I, also, use the short story "Harrison Bergeron" with students.
One question that was posed at book club was "Why? Why is this book considered such a classic?"
We speculated and here are a few ideas that emerged. Slaughterhouse Five is a story within a story. It's a great example of post-modern writing. Part of the lesson that Billy Pilgrim learns from the Tralfamadorians (the aliens who abduct him and put him on display in a zoo on their planet) is demonstrated in the time travel. The structure of the novel seems to be doing something unusual and while that alone might be noteworthy, the subject matter is. We didn't completely solve this question.
It's an anti-war story told at a time when the world was rather fed up with the Vietnam War. It's a story about the bombing of Dresden and one man's response to that event. Vonnegut, himself, actually survived the bombing of Dresden and perhaps this is his way of dealing with that event.
This novel reminded me of Hemingway's short story "A Soldier's Home" which is in our American Literature textbook. In that story, Harold Krebs returns home from war and is clearly suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder. Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse Five is much the same. His apathy, "so it goes," to everything in his life from his wife, to his kids, to his job, is indicative of the sort of man he's become post-war. He only seems to get excited by Kilgore Trout, an unknown, unusual author whose work he's introduced to in the mental institution following the war. Kilgore Trout is a terrific character, the alien bit was great fun. And the war segments which actually do seem to appear in a chronological order were intriguing. Those bits made me want to know more about what happened in Dresden. They reminded me that I've read another version of that event in Jonathan Safron Foer's book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Slaughterhouse Five was worth the read, I'd recommend it even though some book club members would not. We had a rousing discussion, so there's always that!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
For May: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
We met on May 26th at Judy's to discuss The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
Though we didn't really intend it to be this way, our May title is another YA book and another book on WW II. We all seemed to enjoy the book. Even though the story includes a hidden Jew, it is an entirely different perspective on the WW II experience.
The Book Thief is a childhood tale, a story of family and friends and reading and books in the midst of this horrific setting--a small town on the outskirts of Munich in Germany during WW II. It's sweet and funny and tender and loving but every action is shadowed by the world in which they live. It reminded me that people grew up like this. That entire childhoods were sprouted and spent under the shadow of Hitler, with fear lurking dark all around.
The story's narrator is Death and I liked that aspect, but because of that the whole construct of the point of view, of that narrative device, the book is a bit wobbly. I found his voice and fascination with color and use of synesthesia to be poetic and lovely, but some have found Zusak's writing style to be suspect.
One twitter friend admits that while she loved it, most in her book club found it just too depressing, though I 'm not sure anyone in OUR book club felt this way. I guess I found it uplifting. I felt that Hans and Rosa Hubermann were great heroes and wonderful parents and people. I loved so many small details in this book and the big ideas too. I'd highly recommend this one.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
For April -- A Revolutionary War Theme
On Tuesday April 28th, we met to discuss two books at Pam's place over crock pot lasagne and all sorts of delectable items.
We read Octavian Nothing along side the George Washington: Spymaster book and I felt the two were complementary texts. This one is a young adult novel which has a rather elevated vocabulary and explores some difficult issues. There was some discussion in our group as to whether or not we'd even call this a "YA book." It's meant to be written in the Gothic style and I think it's a very successful effort in that regard. It's quite neat, actually.
Much of the story is set in Pre-revolutionary war Boston at the home of Mr. Gitney or 03-01 as he prefers to be called (in his numerical system he's devised). There, young Octavian lives with his mother and it's not too long before we discover things are a bit unusual at the Novanglian College of Lucidity which is the official name for Gitney's "operation" in Boston. He has a team of researchers in science and all sorts of philosophical pursuits who come and go and are apparently studying Octavian as well.
The story explores the science and beliefs of the era, racial tensions, mounting tensions between the British and the Patriots, and personal freedoms and responsibilities. Most of the story is told through Octavian's eyes, but there is one section which I rather liked in which a young soldier named Evidence writes letters to his sister Fruition and we learn the events of the story that way.
A great scene in the story, which occurs just before all hell breaks loose, is the Pox Party which lends its name to the title of the book. In this scene Gitney rounds up friends and family and they infect themselves with a low dose of the small pox in an effort to become immune. One book club member commented that the scene reminded them of The Masque of the Red Death.
While not everyone in the group was finished with this book, I understood others to find it as engaging as I did.
George Washington, Spymaster:
How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War by Thomas B. Allen
While this book had a cool premise and lots of great resources I felt it was dry, too brief, and confusing as a result. I am all about the spy world and so learning about a founding father through that lens was neat.
The book is aimed at young readers and maybe if they were already studying the Revolutionary War this would make sense to them. However, I felt like there were so many names thrown at me with little sense of who they were or how they connected. It was a lot to keep track of and it just seemed like the author could have have delved a little deeper with each one to bring the reader into the personality and character of the various players in the story.
The notes at the end of the book that corresponded with the chapters were particularly fun. I also can see how some might get a real kick out of trying to write things in Tallmadge's code which is provided in the back of the book. The author includes a lot of websites where one can view other primary source materials and I thought that was a real bonus.
Another revolutionary book that was recommended by both Larry and Brian was Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fisher.
We read Octavian Nothing along side the George Washington: Spymaster book and I felt the two were complementary texts. This one is a young adult novel which has a rather elevated vocabulary and explores some difficult issues. There was some discussion in our group as to whether or not we'd even call this a "YA book." It's meant to be written in the Gothic style and I think it's a very successful effort in that regard. It's quite neat, actually.
Much of the story is set in Pre-revolutionary war Boston at the home of Mr. Gitney or 03-01 as he prefers to be called (in his numerical system he's devised). There, young Octavian lives with his mother and it's not too long before we discover things are a bit unusual at the Novanglian College of Lucidity which is the official name for Gitney's "operation" in Boston. He has a team of researchers in science and all sorts of philosophical pursuits who come and go and are apparently studying Octavian as well.
The story explores the science and beliefs of the era, racial tensions, mounting tensions between the British and the Patriots, and personal freedoms and responsibilities. Most of the story is told through Octavian's eyes, but there is one section which I rather liked in which a young soldier named Evidence writes letters to his sister Fruition and we learn the events of the story that way.
A great scene in the story, which occurs just before all hell breaks loose, is the Pox Party which lends its name to the title of the book. In this scene Gitney rounds up friends and family and they infect themselves with a low dose of the small pox in an effort to become immune. One book club member commented that the scene reminded them of The Masque of the Red Death.
While not everyone in the group was finished with this book, I understood others to find it as engaging as I did.
George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War by Thomas B. Allen
While this book had a cool premise and lots of great resources I felt it was dry, too brief, and confusing as a result. I am all about the spy world and so learning about a founding father through that lens was neat.
The book is aimed at young readers and maybe if they were already studying the Revolutionary War this would make sense to them. However, I felt like there were so many names thrown at me with little sense of who they were or how they connected. It was a lot to keep track of and it just seemed like the author could have have delved a little deeper with each one to bring the reader into the personality and character of the various players in the story.
The notes at the end of the book that corresponded with the chapters were particularly fun. I also can see how some might get a real kick out of trying to write things in Tallmadge's code which is provided in the back of the book. The author includes a lot of websites where one can view other primary source materials and I thought that was a real bonus.
Another revolutionary book that was recommended by both Larry and Brian was Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fisher.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
For March: The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
For our March meeting we met at Carmyn's apt. on April 8th to discuss The Reader.
When I saw the film version of The Reader I instantly wanted to discuss it with someone. The ending was mystifying to me. I wanted to know how the two characters truly "felt" toward one another. Was it actually love? Was it love for both of them? I was struck by the story and immediately added the book to my "to read" list with hopes that a written version might add in a bit more explanation or narrative element complete with a bigger glimpse into the characters thoughts as if that would help me to understand better than the intense looks and implied emotions through action in the film.
What I discovered is that I actually knew LESS at times while reading the book. It seemed like there were some extra bits in the middle of the book. For some reason I don't recall him visiting with his father about the situation with Hanna at the trial... I think in the film he sees his professor. The ending was rather spot on.
Overall, I think the film was VERY well done and Kate Winslet was a terrific Hanna. I liked the book and it provided a very good book club discussion. I liked that the focus on the Holocaust was only minimal and while that colored and shaped much of what was going on in the book there was so much more. It was about personal responsibility, choices, and guilt.
To read this book in isolation would have been less satisfying for me than reading it and then discussing it with me book group.
When I saw the film version of The Reader I instantly wanted to discuss it with someone. The ending was mystifying to me. I wanted to know how the two characters truly "felt" toward one another. Was it actually love? Was it love for both of them? I was struck by the story and immediately added the book to my "to read" list with hopes that a written version might add in a bit more explanation or narrative element complete with a bigger glimpse into the characters thoughts as if that would help me to understand better than the intense looks and implied emotions through action in the film.
What I discovered is that I actually knew LESS at times while reading the book. It seemed like there were some extra bits in the middle of the book. For some reason I don't recall him visiting with his father about the situation with Hanna at the trial... I think in the film he sees his professor. The ending was rather spot on.
Overall, I think the film was VERY well done and Kate Winslet was a terrific Hanna. I liked the book and it provided a very good book club discussion. I liked that the focus on the Holocaust was only minimal and while that colored and shaped much of what was going on in the book there was so much more. It was about personal responsibility, choices, and guilt.
To read this book in isolation would have been less satisfying for me than reading it and then discussing it with me book group.
Friday, April 03, 2009
UND Writers Conference
RRVWP fellows with poet Greg Williamson
at The Toasted Frog Wed. April 1, 2009
at The Toasted Frog Wed. April 1, 2009
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
For Feb. -- Writers Conference Book
On March 4th we met at Judy's to discuss the various Writers Conference books we each chose to read.
Each year many of us take advantage of the opportunity to meet with an author from the conference and this year the RRVWP arranged for Greg Williamson, a poet, to be our guest author and provided copies of Errors in the Script for us to read. Still this year, we decided to each read our own picks and get together and discuss.
The 40th Annual UND Writers Conference will be held March 31-April 4, 2009, at UND.
Andrea read Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman and had mixed reviews but she's also read everything else he's written and enjoyed it all... She's also part done with St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell, a short story collection.
Marci finished the whole short story collection by Russell and enjoyed the book, though she wasn't able to attend the meeting.
Judy is reading Steve Almond's Candyfreak but isn't too "sweet" on it... She also remembered she'd read Feast of Love by Charles Baxter some time ago.
Carmyn has all of these on her "to read" list and is hoping to read a few more once she is done with Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman. She's really enjoying the essays in the Klosterman book and would happily read another. Carmyn's not read Baxter's Feast of Love, but she has seen the movie. Does that count?
UPDATE:
Following the conference I posted on my other blog about the event. For a closer look at the actual events, feel free to check out those posts on Greg Williamson Karen Russell and Steve Almond and Chuck Klosterman and Charles Baxter.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
For January-- The Ghost in Love by Jonathan Carroll
We met to discuss this book on Wed. February 4th at 5:30 pm at Carmyn's place.
I served a creamy tomato soup and Pam brought a yummy pecan dessert, Judy brought some homemade bread and we had all sorts of other delectables as usual! I am getting hungry just thinking about it. Too bad we couldn't figure out a way to serve, Ofi, but I am getting ahead of myself here.
What can I say? This book is surely one of the strangest books I've ever read. The book is filled with the absurd: talking dogs, the angel of death, lesbian ghosts, white earless dogs covered in faint blue tattoos, telepathic connections to strangers, traveling to memories, meeting one's fractured self.
It's a book about fate and love (less about love than I thought it would be). It's about controlling our own destinies. The book seemed to have something to say about God. There was a lot of philosophy rolling around. A lot of ideas introduced in rapid succession which added to the profoundly bizarre nature of the tale. I don't usually say this, but I think this book could have benefited from about 150 more pages just to flesh out some of those ideas, to develop the characters. This seemed to be the consensus at book club.
I had some favorite moments. One with Danielle meeting herself at all different ages sitting on picnic benches having a feast with her favorite foods. Another moment I loved was when the dog and the ghost first reveal themselves to Ben. I love that the delicious food that Ling prepares for Ben is "Ofi." And when he asks what that is she replies: "It's love and magic; it's a kid's imagination made real." She explains that his childhood love, Gina, made up that word to describe the pretend food she made him. "Nothing is more delicious than childhood love."
Pilot, the dog, was probably the best character. I just don't think it was necessary that he be the reincarnation of Ben's Italian love who was tragically killed. That sort of spoiled things for me. I mean, what are the odds... and unless that somehow matters more, WHY even have that be part of the story.
This book was an interesting read, but not an essential one. Yet, it was fun to discuss as a group.
--review by Carmyn
I served a creamy tomato soup and Pam brought a yummy pecan dessert, Judy brought some homemade bread and we had all sorts of other delectables as usual! I am getting hungry just thinking about it. Too bad we couldn't figure out a way to serve, Ofi, but I am getting ahead of myself here.
What can I say? This book is surely one of the strangest books I've ever read. The book is filled with the absurd: talking dogs, the angel of death, lesbian ghosts, white earless dogs covered in faint blue tattoos, telepathic connections to strangers, traveling to memories, meeting one's fractured self.
It's a book about fate and love (less about love than I thought it would be). It's about controlling our own destinies. The book seemed to have something to say about God. There was a lot of philosophy rolling around. A lot of ideas introduced in rapid succession which added to the profoundly bizarre nature of the tale. I don't usually say this, but I think this book could have benefited from about 150 more pages just to flesh out some of those ideas, to develop the characters. This seemed to be the consensus at book club.
I had some favorite moments. One with Danielle meeting herself at all different ages sitting on picnic benches having a feast with her favorite foods. Another moment I loved was when the dog and the ghost first reveal themselves to Ben. I love that the delicious food that Ling prepares for Ben is "Ofi." And when he asks what that is she replies: "It's love and magic; it's a kid's imagination made real." She explains that his childhood love, Gina, made up that word to describe the pretend food she made him. "Nothing is more delicious than childhood love."
Pilot, the dog, was probably the best character. I just don't think it was necessary that he be the reincarnation of Ben's Italian love who was tragically killed. That sort of spoiled things for me. I mean, what are the odds... and unless that somehow matters more, WHY even have that be part of the story.
This book was an interesting read, but not an essential one. Yet, it was fun to discuss as a group.
--review by Carmyn
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