Monday, June 29, 2015
Discussion of The Warden
We met June 18th to discuss Anthony Trollope's "The Warden"
Readership of the selection, and attendance to the meeting, reached a historic low on this selection. In attendance were:
Mary & Dave
Barbara & Darryl
Catherine
Alice
Of those attending, several had started the book but found it unappealing and did not complete it. Only one individual completed this reading.
The next meeting date is set for July 16th, with our previously selected "The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough.
Following The Wright Brothers, we will read Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys"
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Henrietta Lacks genome
Doing a little research on Henrietta Lacks, I came across this 2013 New York Times article that indicates the National Institutes of Health did come to an agreement with the family of Henrietta Lacks for the use of the HeLa cell line for medical research.
Her cervical cancer (which she died of) was caused by HPV infection, they have found its location in her genome. That's likely why her cells are so resilient as well, permitting their long term use as a research tool.
I note the agreement did not include financial compensation to the family. Instead a research review board has been established, and the Lacks family has two seats on the board.
One big concern with genomic research is privacy concerns for descendants. I look forward to that as a topic of discussion in this meeting.
There's a collection of supplemental materials including interviews with Rebecca Skloot and Deborah Lacks available here.
Hopefully everyone is somewhere close to page 100 of the current selection.
Her cervical cancer (which she died of) was caused by HPV infection, they have found its location in her genome. That's likely why her cells are so resilient as well, permitting their long term use as a research tool.
I note the agreement did not include financial compensation to the family. Instead a research review board has been established, and the Lacks family has two seats on the board.
One big concern with genomic research is privacy concerns for descendants. I look forward to that as a topic of discussion in this meeting.
There's a collection of supplemental materials including interviews with Rebecca Skloot and Deborah Lacks available here.
Hopefully everyone is somewhere close to page 100 of the current selection.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Discussion of Stranger in a Strange Land
We met on April 30th to discuss Stranger in a Strange Land. In attendance were:
Dave & Mary
Darryl & Barbara
Katherine
Alice
Kwame
Gayla
Barbara opened the discussion with observations about the statuary of Rodin referenced in the book. The statues are the Fallen Caryatid and the She who used to be beautiful Heaulimiere.
In the edition she read, the cover shows the Fallen Caryatid, but not the one Michael actually purchased for Jubal, the Heaulimiere! My copy does not show a statue on the cover, but we looked up the two statues on google images and discussed them at some length, including why the publisher may have chosen the one for the cover rather than the one Michael gave to Jubal. Barbara found a poem associated with the Heaulimiere, but it was too long to read for the group, so instead we read Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone by Shari Zollinger.
The discussion was very lively. I chose questions from LitLovers, but really they weren't necessary and didn't get used in the discussion. The discussion focused on religion, polyamory, and how to understand the Martians, including how Michael could have been raised by the martians given how they raised their own young, and how to think about the Old Ones.
Of those who had read the book, it seemed most folks enjoyed the book. It was a re-read for a few people, who noted the book didn't carry the same meaning as we remembered from when we read it as teenagers.
Our next read is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. We selected The Warden to follow Henrietta Lacks.
We did not identify anyone for the poem next time. If anyone would like to volunteer, you could comment here, or shoot me an email message.
Dave & Mary
Darryl & Barbara
Katherine
Alice
Kwame
Gayla
Barbara opened the discussion with observations about the statuary of Rodin referenced in the book. The statues are the Fallen Caryatid and the She who used to be beautiful Heaulimiere.
In the edition she read, the cover shows the Fallen Caryatid, but not the one Michael actually purchased for Jubal, the Heaulimiere! My copy does not show a statue on the cover, but we looked up the two statues on google images and discussed them at some length, including why the publisher may have chosen the one for the cover rather than the one Michael gave to Jubal. Barbara found a poem associated with the Heaulimiere, but it was too long to read for the group, so instead we read Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone by Shari Zollinger.
The discussion was very lively. I chose questions from LitLovers, but really they weren't necessary and didn't get used in the discussion. The discussion focused on religion, polyamory, and how to understand the Martians, including how Michael could have been raised by the martians given how they raised their own young, and how to think about the Old Ones.
Of those who had read the book, it seemed most folks enjoyed the book. It was a re-read for a few people, who noted the book didn't carry the same meaning as we remembered from when we read it as teenagers.
Our next read is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. We selected The Warden to follow Henrietta Lacks.
We did not identify anyone for the poem next time. If anyone would like to volunteer, you could comment here, or shoot me an email message.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Discussion of The Big Sleep
We met 23 January to discuss The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. In attendance were:
Dave & Mary
Jack and Shelia
Darryl and Barbara
Alice
Katherine
Kwame
Darryl kicked off the meeting with a reading from the novel, a passage exemplifying the author's descriptive writing of a scene.
Most folks seemed to feel the novel reads quickly, and didnt find the writing style difficult. Several expressed difficulty with the pacing of the novel, finding it slow and uninteresting.
Most in attendance did finish the novel. Some discussion centered on the several plot twists that occur throughout the book.
Most felt the characters of the two daughters were not well developed, particularly the younger sister. Marlow was seen as either a dark hero and moral, or as a pragmatist.
I used the mppl site for questions when necessary to advance the discussion, those questions can be found here: http://mppl.org/check-it-out/book-discussion-questions-the-big-sleep/
Our next read, selected in December, is Anthony Doerr "All the Light We Cannot See". At 550 pages, that novel is a 6-week read, so the date for that meeting is set for 5 March. For March we selected a short read, Jack Keroack "On The Road", taking us somewhat back into American canonical works. Keroack is one of the best known of the beat authors.
Our newest member Kwame agreed to select a poem for reading for the next meeting, and Alice said she would look for one as well.
Regarding future choices, a preference was indicated to move in the direction of more "punishing" works, and away from the lighter and shorter works of the last several months. An active side-discussion of David McCullough "John Adams" led to a suggestion we try either history or biography as a selection soon. I'll check the lists and suggestions sent previously (you can see those on the notes page of the blog) to see if anything previously suggested but not already on the list qualifies. The McCullough "John Adams" was on our choices list already.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Discussion of Guns Germs and Steel
We met August 28th to discuss Guns, Germs and Steel.
In attendance were:
Dave & Mary
Darryl & Barbara (and a guest)
Jack & Shelia
Susanna
Catherine
Alice
Jeremy (and a guest)
A warm welcome to the guests, I hope you consider joining the bookclub!
Our poem was selected by Dave, who shared a poem featured on NPR, "Again, A Solstice" by Jennifer Chang.
Guns, Germs and Steel is our first non-fiction selection. This one was selected for August back in June, and prior to starting this selection, about half the club indicated they were looking forward to this read, and about half the club indicated they were not looking forward to it but would try it. In the end only one member completed the book, several members read between several chapters and about half the book, and a few members chose to skip this one.
Due to scheduling issues, this read was given 7 weeks, which it turns out was a good thing. Of the members who started the book, most (perhaps all?) found it slow going. At least two members said they found the book very interesting and planned to continue on with it independently of the club. In conversations with members who didn't make the meeting, a similar sentiment was expressed, regarding finding the book interesting and intending to read it.
The discussion was animated, focusing in part on evaluating whether the author substantiated his ideas in the book well enough, and on the qualifications the author brings to the subject matter. Questions of author bias were discussed as well, particularly with regard to his apparent preference for groups and societies he had spent years living among.
A 3-part documentary film series was produced about this content as well, and a couple of members watched some or all of the documentaries. One comment expressed was that the personality (ego?) of the author seemed to heavily influence the content of both the book and the documentary.
We touched briefly on the list of questions picked up from the publisher, but didn't go into depth on the questions.
As discussed in the previous discussion post of Gone Girl, the club is vague on purpose, selection criteria, and selection method. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy was selected for October, in part because it seemed the most "Halloween-y", with its association with fairy tales, terror, evil, and children lost in the woods.
Two suggestions about club mechanics have been put forward that make good sense and we should consider adopting going forward. The first is to keep the source of suggestions anonymous, so that folks may feel more comfortable suggesting things that might not conform to what we collectively think the club "wants to read". I personally like that suggestion very much. The other is a "show of hands" regarding the process of selection, to confirm the group members individually feel the selection process was satisfactory, which I also like very much.
We had selected Til We Have Faces for the next read back in July. That meeting is scheduled for September 25th.
In attendance were:
Dave & Mary
Darryl & Barbara (and a guest)
Jack & Shelia
Susanna
Catherine
Alice
Jeremy (and a guest)
A warm welcome to the guests, I hope you consider joining the bookclub!
Our poem was selected by Dave, who shared a poem featured on NPR, "Again, A Solstice" by Jennifer Chang.
Guns, Germs and Steel is our first non-fiction selection. This one was selected for August back in June, and prior to starting this selection, about half the club indicated they were looking forward to this read, and about half the club indicated they were not looking forward to it but would try it. In the end only one member completed the book, several members read between several chapters and about half the book, and a few members chose to skip this one.
Due to scheduling issues, this read was given 7 weeks, which it turns out was a good thing. Of the members who started the book, most (perhaps all?) found it slow going. At least two members said they found the book very interesting and planned to continue on with it independently of the club. In conversations with members who didn't make the meeting, a similar sentiment was expressed, regarding finding the book interesting and intending to read it.
The discussion was animated, focusing in part on evaluating whether the author substantiated his ideas in the book well enough, and on the qualifications the author brings to the subject matter. Questions of author bias were discussed as well, particularly with regard to his apparent preference for groups and societies he had spent years living among.
A 3-part documentary film series was produced about this content as well, and a couple of members watched some or all of the documentaries. One comment expressed was that the personality (ego?) of the author seemed to heavily influence the content of both the book and the documentary.
We touched briefly on the list of questions picked up from the publisher, but didn't go into depth on the questions.
As discussed in the previous discussion post of Gone Girl, the club is vague on purpose, selection criteria, and selection method. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy was selected for October, in part because it seemed the most "Halloween-y", with its association with fairy tales, terror, evil, and children lost in the woods.
Two suggestions about club mechanics have been put forward that make good sense and we should consider adopting going forward. The first is to keep the source of suggestions anonymous, so that folks may feel more comfortable suggesting things that might not conform to what we collectively think the club "wants to read". I personally like that suggestion very much. The other is a "show of hands" regarding the process of selection, to confirm the group members individually feel the selection process was satisfactory, which I also like very much.
We had selected Til We Have Faces for the next read back in July. That meeting is scheduled for September 25th.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
What have you read from this list?
I really enjoy lists of "100 books you should read". I've added a page to our blog called Manliness, with an August Checklist of 100 books from the Art of Manliness blog. Head over and check off what you have already read! You can see the responses of those who precede you after you complete the survey.
My plan is to take the August Checklist page off the blog around 1 September or whenever everyone has had an opportunity to respond.
My plan is to take the August Checklist page off the blog around 1 September or whenever everyone has had an opportunity to respond.
Discussion of Gone Girl
I feel I have procrastinated this post way beyond reasonable, so here goes: If folks feel I missed important details here, please remind me I'll update the post for posterity!
We met July 10th to discuss Gone Girl.
In attendance were:
Dave & Mary
Darryl & Barbara
Jack & Shelia
Susanna
Catherine
Jeremy
Amy
Gayla
Our poem was selected by Barbara, who found two editions in translation of the same poem, with quite different tones.
At this point, I don't remember who finished Gone Girl and who didn't, but I think seven of us finished this one.
This was the easiest read so far for our club, and several folks expressed they were happy to have an easy read. The three men who finished rather disliked the book, the women enjoyed it more. I think the female members liked having a strong female character to read, and probably didn't mind reading the somewhat bumbling and clueless man. I said it before, but I personally rather identified with Nick in some respects, and other men indicated similar sentiments. No women admitted to identifying with Amy, though at least one expressed appreciation for Amy's execution of her revenge plan.
We discussed at some length the relationship between Nick and Amy, and we spent a bit of time talking about what a "good relationship" is. Some of us shared how much we identified (or didn't) with various characters in the book. One of us tried lifting an idea from the book that seems romantic on first evaluation, and reported his experience trying to implement it ran very similarly to how it went in the book.
We ran through the list of questions picked up from LitLovers, but nothing new really came out of the questions.
Our club is at a strange point, where we are not well defined in terms of the purpose of the club, and there is a certain tension when selecting what to read next. The vote approach shortened the discussion around what to read next, but I'm personally not really clear whether that is good or bad. From votes, we have selected C S Lewis' "Til We Have Faces" for the next read.
We had already selected Guns Germs and Steel, and for various reasons the next meeting is fairly far away from the Gone Girl meeting (about 7 weeks). That meeting will be August 28th (still 2 weeks remaining as I write this, a month late).
We met July 10th to discuss Gone Girl.
In attendance were:
Dave & Mary
Darryl & Barbara
Jack & Shelia
Susanna
Catherine
Jeremy
Amy
Gayla
Our poem was selected by Barbara, who found two editions in translation of the same poem, with quite different tones.
At this point, I don't remember who finished Gone Girl and who didn't, but I think seven of us finished this one.
This was the easiest read so far for our club, and several folks expressed they were happy to have an easy read. The three men who finished rather disliked the book, the women enjoyed it more. I think the female members liked having a strong female character to read, and probably didn't mind reading the somewhat bumbling and clueless man. I said it before, but I personally rather identified with Nick in some respects, and other men indicated similar sentiments. No women admitted to identifying with Amy, though at least one expressed appreciation for Amy's execution of her revenge plan.
We discussed at some length the relationship between Nick and Amy, and we spent a bit of time talking about what a "good relationship" is. Some of us shared how much we identified (or didn't) with various characters in the book. One of us tried lifting an idea from the book that seems romantic on first evaluation, and reported his experience trying to implement it ran very similarly to how it went in the book.
We ran through the list of questions picked up from LitLovers, but nothing new really came out of the questions.
Our club is at a strange point, where we are not well defined in terms of the purpose of the club, and there is a certain tension when selecting what to read next. The vote approach shortened the discussion around what to read next, but I'm personally not really clear whether that is good or bad. From votes, we have selected C S Lewis' "Til We Have Faces" for the next read.
We had already selected Guns Germs and Steel, and for various reasons the next meeting is fairly far away from the Gone Girl meeting (about 7 weeks). That meeting will be August 28th (still 2 weeks remaining as I write this, a month late).
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