Exciting news: we have a new URL for the book club!
http://2ndwednesdaybookclub.nashvillepubliclibrary.org/
If you are reading this after 10/13/09 click the link above to find out the latest book club happenings.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Some thoughts about the first part of Team of Rivals
- The author calls Lincoln a "political genius." How do you define political genius? Does this mean simply achieving your political goals, or is it something more? Do any of Lincoln's actions strike you as "genius"?
- Goodwin goes out her way prove that Lincoln was NOT depressed and NOT homosexual. Why would she do this? What would the significance be if he was depressed and was homosexual?
- Would contemporary political campaigns be better if candidates did not actively make new speeches or take new policy positions?
- Lincoln and Jackson were very similar in that they were both Western lawyers and perceived as men of the people. If we take this comparison further does it begin to fall apart?
- Do Seward, Chase and Bates have any contemporary equivalents? Let the games begin!
We'll be discussing part one of Team of Rivals on October 14th. We meet in the Main Library in Conference Room 3 at noon. Feel free to bring a lunch.
- Goodwin goes out her way prove that Lincoln was NOT depressed and NOT homosexual. Why would she do this? What would the significance be if he was depressed and was homosexual?
- Would contemporary political campaigns be better if candidates did not actively make new speeches or take new policy positions?
- Lincoln and Jackson were very similar in that they were both Western lawyers and perceived as men of the people. If we take this comparison further does it begin to fall apart?
- Do Seward, Chase and Bates have any contemporary equivalents? Let the games begin!
We'll be discussing part one of Team of Rivals on October 14th. We meet in the Main Library in Conference Room 3 at noon. Feel free to bring a lunch.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Ballot for Books - Spring 2010
Below is the ballot for Spring books. Please choose four in order of preference and email me your choices, or vote in person during our October meeting. The city is celebrating the works of Mark Twain through May, so if we want, why not read some Twain.
War Dances - Sherman Alexie
Columbine - Dave Cullen
Valis - Philip K. Dick
Zeitoun - David Eggers
The Vagrants - Yiyun Li
1776 - David McCollough
Inherent Vice - Thomas Pynchon
Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock-n-Roll - Nick Tosches
Letters from the Earth - Mark Twain
Poor People - William T. Vollmann
Our current book is Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. We meet the 2nd Wednesday of every month in the Main Library in Conference Room 3 at noon. Feel free to bring a lunch.
War Dances - Sherman Alexie
Columbine - Dave Cullen
Valis - Philip K. Dick
Zeitoun - David Eggers
The Vagrants - Yiyun Li
1776 - David McCollough
Inherent Vice - Thomas Pynchon
Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock-n-Roll - Nick Tosches
Letters from the Earth - Mark Twain
Poor People - William T. Vollmann
Our current book is Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. We meet the 2nd Wednesday of every month in the Main Library in Conference Room 3 at noon. Feel free to bring a lunch.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Our next book is Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
That's right! Our next book is Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals. Goodwin gives us Lincoln like no one else before Her portrait of our sixteenth president's infighting cabinet won her unanimous praise. Later this fall the holds list on this book is going to explode, so come check out a copy now from the Main Library returns desk. Just ask for the 2nd Wednesday Book Club Book. It won't be due back until after our discussion in November.
Team of Rivals is a long one, but it is conveniently broken into two parts. We'll be discussing part one on October 14th and part two on November 11th.
We meet in the Main Library in Conference Room 3 at noon. Feel free to bring a lunch.
Team of Rivals is a long one, but it is conveniently broken into two parts. We'll be discussing part one on October 14th and part two on November 11th.
We meet in the Main Library in Conference Room 3 at noon. Feel free to bring a lunch.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Some thoughts about the second half of 2666...
- Now that we have finished, this question has more definitive answers. How do the different parts of the book relate to one another? Do you see any common themes? How does Bolano bring it all together?
- Gael brought up the issue of homophobia. Homophobia is a recurring theme. What role does it play in the book? What about women? How are women portrayed?
- Do you think Hans/Archimboldi killed his wife Ingeborg? There are a lot of murders in the book even without the girls in Santa Theresa. How is murder portrayed?
- Both Hans and Ingeborg are accused of insanity. Do you think either of them are insane? What about Klaus Haus? Even if not a murderer, he seems something of a sociopath. Why did he turn out that way? Bolano seems to paint his parents as excessively normal.
- The Frechman who rents Hans/Archimboldi his first typewriter says (pg. 786) "There's nothing inside the man who sits there writing. Nothing of himself, I mean. How much better off the poor man would be if he devoted himself to reading. Reading is pleasure and happiness to be alive or sadness to be alive and above all it's knowledge and questions. Writing, meanwhile, is almost always empty." Is this true? Is this true of Hans/Archimboldi?
We'll be meeting to discuss this on September 9th at the Main Library in Conference Rm 3 at noon. Feel free to bring a lunch.
- Gael brought up the issue of homophobia. Homophobia is a recurring theme. What role does it play in the book? What about women? How are women portrayed?
- Do you think Hans/Archimboldi killed his wife Ingeborg? There are a lot of murders in the book even without the girls in Santa Theresa. How is murder portrayed?
- Both Hans and Ingeborg are accused of insanity. Do you think either of them are insane? What about Klaus Haus? Even if not a murderer, he seems something of a sociopath. Why did he turn out that way? Bolano seems to paint his parents as excessively normal.
- The Frechman who rents Hans/Archimboldi his first typewriter says (pg. 786) "There's nothing inside the man who sits there writing. Nothing of himself, I mean. How much better off the poor man would be if he devoted himself to reading. Reading is pleasure and happiness to be alive or sadness to be alive and above all it's knowledge and questions. Writing, meanwhile, is almost always empty." Is this true? Is this true of Hans/Archimboldi?
We'll be meeting to discuss this on September 9th at the Main Library in Conference Rm 3 at noon. Feel free to bring a lunch.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Some thoughts about the first half of 2666...
- How do the different parts of the book relate to one another? Do you see any common themes? How might Bolano bring it all together?
- Were you surprised about how the love quadrangle between Espinoza, Morini, Norton and Pelletier played out? What role did Edwin Johns play in their relationship?
- Is Amalfitano losing his mind? What's up with geometry book on the clothesline?
- At the end of "The Part About Fate," I was very confused as to what was happening. I wasn't sure if Guadalupe Roncal, the journalist assigned investigate the murders, to had flown back to Mexico or stayed with Oscar and Rosa. Did anyone make sense of these passages?
- The city of Santa Teresa is a fictional version of real life city of Juarez which borders El Paso on the American side. The unsolved murders of hundreds of women there are also based on actual events. At least two books have been written about unsolved murders: The Daughters of Juarez by Teresa Rodriguez and The Killing Fields: Harvest of Women by Diana Valdez. Sadly, the attention paid the serial murder of female factory workers in Juarez has been overshadowed recently by the outbreak of violence between narcos and police.
We'll be meeting to discuss the first half (to approximately pg. 445) of this on August 12th at the Main Library in Conference Rm 3 at noon. Feel free to bring a lunch.
- Were you surprised about how the love quadrangle between Espinoza, Morini, Norton and Pelletier played out? What role did Edwin Johns play in their relationship?
- Is Amalfitano losing his mind? What's up with geometry book on the clothesline?
- At the end of "The Part About Fate," I was very confused as to what was happening. I wasn't sure if Guadalupe Roncal, the journalist assigned investigate the murders, to had flown back to Mexico or stayed with Oscar and Rosa. Did anyone make sense of these passages?
- The city of Santa Teresa is a fictional version of real life city of Juarez which borders El Paso on the American side. The unsolved murders of hundreds of women there are also based on actual events. At least two books have been written about unsolved murders: The Daughters of Juarez by Teresa Rodriguez and The Killing Fields: Harvest of Women by Diana Valdez. Sadly, the attention paid the serial murder of female factory workers in Juarez has been overshadowed recently by the outbreak of violence between narcos and police.
We'll be meeting to discuss the first half (to approximately pg. 445) of this on August 12th at the Main Library in Conference Rm 3 at noon. Feel free to bring a lunch.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
2nd Wed. Book Club Fall Reading Schedule 2009
Reading Schedule Fall 2009:
2666 by Roberto Bolaño - (first half) August 12th
2666 by Roberto Bolaño - (second half) September 9th
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin - (first half) October 14th
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin - (second half) November 11th
Home by Marilynne Robinson - December 9th
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