Here are some questions to consider as you begin our April selection, Wild Swans.
Does the book succeed in being primarily a memoir rather than a historical document?
How does the book convey the horror of Communist China?
What is your abiding memory of the book″
How do you view the relationship between Chang′s parents; What do you admire/dislike about the family′s attitude to their problems?
Questions are from harpercollins.com.au.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Savannah Grey Presentation
Fourteen attendees listened to Jim Jordan tell us about the 4 years of research and writing that went into his book, Savannah Grey. He found a professional editor to help him cut the book into readable size, but never found a publisher. His book is self-published, although available in many area bookstores. He has marketed it primarily through public speaking engagements.
On the topic of the plot, Mr. Jordan pointed out that he wanted to draw attention to the role of free "persons of color" in the antebellum south. Not all these people were black. He also explained why a certain pivotal character in the book had to die.
We all look forward to Mr. Jordan's next book, a work of nonfiction on one of the historical characters in Savannah Grey. Beyond that, we were told to look forward to the sequel to Savannah Grey.
Our next meeting is on April 16 when we will discuss Wild Swans: Three Daughter of China by Jung Chang.
On the topic of the plot, Mr. Jordan pointed out that he wanted to draw attention to the role of free "persons of color" in the antebellum south. Not all these people were black. He also explained why a certain pivotal character in the book had to die.
We all look forward to Mr. Jordan's next book, a work of nonfiction on one of the historical characters in Savannah Grey. Beyond that, we were told to look forward to the sequel to Savannah Grey.
Our next meeting is on April 16 when we will discuss Wild Swans: Three Daughter of China by Jung Chang.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Savannah Grey by Jim Jordan
I hope you are all reading our selection for this month. Please join us for Mr. Jordan's discussion of his book next Thursday, March 26, at 5:30 in the Children's Program Room.
Our February discussion of Tombee: Portrait of a Cotton Planter, lead by Librarian Grace Cordial was a lively one attended by 28 people. Grace gave us a lot of background on Beaufort and St. Helena Island in the period just before the Civil War. She even brought along an original map of the town that the Federal government planned, but never built, on St. Helena. I think most of us decided that we would love the opportunity to talk to Tom B. Chaplin about his life as a plantation owner, but we would not want him for a friend. He borrowed too much from those around him, and whined a lot!
I have discovered that I did not comment on Stuart's presentation of Suite Francaise in January. We were treated to a discussion of the Nazi occupation of France from the point of view of of a citizen of Britain. (Stuart is a Scotsman.) It was a unique perspective for most of us. Stuart had really done his homework on the period and on Irene Nemirovsky! We were all amazed that her orphaned children proteacted the manuscript of her work for so many years through so many relocations. We were glad that this fictionalized first-person account of life in a French village was preserved for us.
Our February discussion of Tombee: Portrait of a Cotton Planter, lead by Librarian Grace Cordial was a lively one attended by 28 people. Grace gave us a lot of background on Beaufort and St. Helena Island in the period just before the Civil War. She even brought along an original map of the town that the Federal government planned, but never built, on St. Helena. I think most of us decided that we would love the opportunity to talk to Tom B. Chaplin about his life as a plantation owner, but we would not want him for a friend. He borrowed too much from those around him, and whined a lot!
I have discovered that I did not comment on Stuart's presentation of Suite Francaise in January. We were treated to a discussion of the Nazi occupation of France from the point of view of of a citizen of Britain. (Stuart is a Scotsman.) It was a unique perspective for most of us. Stuart had really done his homework on the period and on Irene Nemirovsky! We were all amazed that her orphaned children proteacted the manuscript of her work for so many years through so many relocations. We were glad that this fictionalized first-person account of life in a French village was preserved for us.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Questions for Discussion from Grace Cordial
Tombee: Portrait of a Cotton Planter
While you are reading our selection for February 19, Rosengarten’s Tombee, please consider these questions:
Would you choose Thomas B. Chaplin as a friend? Why or why not?
What is your evaluation of the extended introduction that Rosengarten provides before Chaplin’s edited diary?
What do you think of his scholarship and conclusions? How did you arrive at your decision?
See you at 5:30 on Thursday, February 19th!
4:55 PM
While you are reading our selection for February 19, Rosengarten’s Tombee, please consider these questions:
Would you choose Thomas B. Chaplin as a friend? Why or why not?
What is your evaluation of the extended introduction that Rosengarten provides before Chaplin’s edited diary?
What do you think of his scholarship and conclusions? How did you arrive at your decision?
See you at 5:30 on Thursday, February 19th!
4:55 PM
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Suite Francaise-Questions from Book Browse
This guide is designed to enliven your group’s discussion of Suite Française, Irène Némirovsky's masterpiece—a unique work of fiction about the chaotic exodus from Paris in June, 1940, as the invading German army approaches, and the complex life of an occupied village a year later.
The novelist, who herself fled Paris on the eve of the Nazi invasion, wrote the book virtually while the occupation was happening, most likely making Suite Française the first work of fiction about World War II.
How do you think she managed to write while she herself was in jeopardy?
Do you think it was easier for her to capture the day-to-day realities of life under occupation?
In what ways might the book have been different if she had survived and been able to write Suite Française years after the war?
Suite Française is a unique pair of novels. Which of the two parts of Suite Française do you prefer?
Which structural organization did you find more effective: the short chapters and multiple focus of Storm in June, or the more restricted approach of Dolce?
What is the significance of the title Dolce?
How does Suite Française undermine the long-held view of French resistance to the German occupation?
Discuss Irène Némirovsky’s approach to class in Suite Française.
How do the rich, poor, and the middle classes view one another?
How do they help or hinder one another?
Do the characters identify themselves by class or nationality?(You might consider the aristocratic Mme de Montmort’s thought in Dolce: “What separates or unites people is not their language, their laws, their customs, but the way they hold their knife and fork.”)
In Dolce, we enter the increasingly complex life of a German-occupied provincial village. Coexisting uneasily with the soldiers billeted among them, the villagers—from aristocrats to shopkeepers to peasants—cope as best they can. Some choose resistance, others collaboration. Each relationship is distorted by the allegiances of war.
What happens when someone—who might have been your friend—is now declared your enemy during a war?
The lovers in the second novel question whether the needs of the individual or the community should take priority. Lucille imagines that “in five, or ten, or twenty years” this problem will have been replaced by others. To what extent, if at all, has this proved the case?
Has Western society conclusively decided to privilege the individual over the group?
How does Suite Française compare to other World War Two novels you have read? How would you compare it to the great personal documents of the war (for example, those written by Anne Frank and Victor Klemperer), or to fiction?
“Important events—whether serious, happy or unfortunate—do not change a man’s soul, they merely bring it into relief, just as a strong gust of wind reveals the true shape of a tree when it blows of all its leaves.” —Storm in June, p.203. Do you agree?
Consider Irène Némirovsky’s plan for the next part of Suite Française (in the appendix). What else do you think could happen to the characters?
The novelist, who herself fled Paris on the eve of the Nazi invasion, wrote the book virtually while the occupation was happening, most likely making Suite Française the first work of fiction about World War II.
How do you think she managed to write while she herself was in jeopardy?
Do you think it was easier for her to capture the day-to-day realities of life under occupation?
In what ways might the book have been different if she had survived and been able to write Suite Française years after the war?
Suite Française is a unique pair of novels. Which of the two parts of Suite Française do you prefer?
Which structural organization did you find more effective: the short chapters and multiple focus of Storm in June, or the more restricted approach of Dolce?
What is the significance of the title Dolce?
How does Suite Française undermine the long-held view of French resistance to the German occupation?
Discuss Irène Némirovsky’s approach to class in Suite Française.
How do the rich, poor, and the middle classes view one another?
How do they help or hinder one another?
Do the characters identify themselves by class or nationality?(You might consider the aristocratic Mme de Montmort’s thought in Dolce: “What separates or unites people is not their language, their laws, their customs, but the way they hold their knife and fork.”)
In Dolce, we enter the increasingly complex life of a German-occupied provincial village. Coexisting uneasily with the soldiers billeted among them, the villagers—from aristocrats to shopkeepers to peasants—cope as best they can. Some choose resistance, others collaboration. Each relationship is distorted by the allegiances of war.
What happens when someone—who might have been your friend—is now declared your enemy during a war?
The lovers in the second novel question whether the needs of the individual or the community should take priority. Lucille imagines that “in five, or ten, or twenty years” this problem will have been replaced by others. To what extent, if at all, has this proved the case?
Has Western society conclusively decided to privilege the individual over the group?
How does Suite Française compare to other World War Two novels you have read? How would you compare it to the great personal documents of the war (for example, those written by Anne Frank and Victor Klemperer), or to fiction?
“Important events—whether serious, happy or unfortunate—do not change a man’s soul, they merely bring it into relief, just as a strong gust of wind reveals the true shape of a tree when it blows of all its leaves.” —Storm in June, p.203. Do you agree?
Consider Irène Némirovsky’s plan for the next part of Suite Française (in the appendix). What else do you think could happen to the characters?
Friday, January 02, 2009
Date Change for March
Jim Jordan, author of Savannah Grey, was to present his book for us on March 19, but he has been invited to present at the Virginia Festival of the book. He is very excited, and we are excited for him. He is, however, free to speak to us on the following Thursday, March 26, so I took the liberty of changing our meeting date to the 4th Thursday for March only. We will, again, be using the Children's Program Room on the first floor. I hope to see lots and lots of book lovers at the March meeting, and at all of our meetings!
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Happy Holidays!
May all the joys of the holiday season, be it Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, come to you, and a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.
In the meanwhile, take time to relax and read. Don't forget to join us January 15, at 5:30, in the Children's Program Room for a discussion of Suite Francaise led by Stuart. Bring a friend along.
In the meanwhile, take time to relax and read. Don't forget to join us January 15, at 5:30, in the Children's Program Room for a discussion of Suite Francaise led by Stuart. Bring a friend along.
Favorite Book Read in 2008 by Brenda
My pick is Pat Conroy’s “Prince of Tides.” I’d seen the film many times, and it’s on my top 10 list, but just had never gotten around to the book. Fortunately, our book club read it recently. Conroy is quite a wordsmith. Some passages are so beautifully poetic they illicit tears. The book is filled with stories of hope, failure, anguish, injustice, and again hope, and tells how a family that has endured much pain and hurt (so that they inflict it upon each other) can maintain love and respect for that same family and help heal the scars of darker times. The book has so many more stories than does the film, for obvious reasons (or the film would be 8 hours long!). There is always comic relief amidst the heavy themes of life among the Wingo family. If you’ve not taken the time to read the book, it’s never too late. It reads like it was written yesterday, and will give you a feeling of pride and appreciation for life in the Lowcountry. There is a new place in my heart for Pat Conroy.
~ Brendagael
Brendagael Beasley~Forrest, MA, MSLS
~ Brendagael
Brendagael Beasley~Forrest, MA, MSLS
Friday, November 21, 2008
Schedule Change
Please note that we are now reading Tombee for February 19 and Savannah Grey for March 19. As noted at left, Grace Cordial, our library system's Historical Resources Librarian for the Beaufort District Collection will present Tombee and give us historical (insider) information about the Chaplin family and the book.
March 19, we will have the author of Savannah Grey, Jim Jordan, as our guest speaker! He will, no doubt, answer questions for us.
If you missed the discussion of Prince of Tides, I'm sorry to tell you that you missed a number of insights into the book from those present. We had an interesting time delving into the family dynamics of the Wingos and trying to figure out if the three Wingo children could have avoided the psychological damage that became evident later in life. (Probably not.)
We read some reviews of the book written at the time of publication: one favorable and one a scathing denunciation of the plot and of Pat Conroy's writing style. We agreed with the favorable review!
The group could have spent 2 sessions on this book, but that is not to be. December 18 will be our dinner out to socialize. In January, Stuart will lead us in a discussion of Suite Francaise.
Please join us!
March 19, we will have the author of Savannah Grey, Jim Jordan, as our guest speaker! He will, no doubt, answer questions for us.
If you missed the discussion of Prince of Tides, I'm sorry to tell you that you missed a number of insights into the book from those present. We had an interesting time delving into the family dynamics of the Wingos and trying to figure out if the three Wingo children could have avoided the psychological damage that became evident later in life. (Probably not.)
We read some reviews of the book written at the time of publication: one favorable and one a scathing denunciation of the plot and of Pat Conroy's writing style. We agreed with the favorable review!
The group could have spent 2 sessions on this book, but that is not to be. December 18 will be our dinner out to socialize. In January, Stuart will lead us in a discussion of Suite Francaise.
Please join us!
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
The Prince of Tides
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