Movie night at Book Club

The book club had a great time viewing "The Importance of Being Earnest." We watched the new version with Colin Firth, Rupert Everet, Reese Witherspoon, and Judi Dench. When it first came out the reviews were not very good, but we all enjoyed it immensely. We laughed out loud many times. Having just read the play the day before, I was able to follow the dialogue easily and much of it was word for word from the play.

In the critical overview from www.bookrags.com they talked about two major issues. "First, while audiences from the play's opening have received it warmly, Wilde's contemporaries questioned its seeming amorality. George Bernard Shaw described Wilde's repartee as "hateful" and "sinister." (Oscar Wilde: a Collection of Critical Essays). A second and related concern arises about Earnest's dramatic structure, which exhibits elements of farce, comedy of manners, and parody. Critics often disagree as how the play should be categorized."

"On the play's morality, critical opinion remains divided. In his book, Oscar Wilde, Edouard Roditi, for example believed that Wilde's comedy never rises above 'the incomplete or the trivial.'"

So much for critics. We just enjoyed the repartee and the complications all of the deception created.

In December we will meet on the 11th to discuss A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg. I have a DVD "At Home with Fannie Flagg" that we will view before we discuss the book.

Current reads

Currently I am reading Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez.

"Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a humanitarian aid group. Surrounded by people whose skills--as doctors, nurses, and therapists--seemed eminently more practical than her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother from Michigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she found she had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her profession became known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate for a good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proud tradition of running their own beauty salons.
Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a humanitarian aid group. Surrounded by people whose skills--as doctors, nurses, and therapists--seemed eminently more practical than her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother from Michigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she found she had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her profession became known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate for a good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proud tradition of running their own beauty salons." HCPL online catalog.

A sad, yet uplifting story. These women go through so much and still thrive.

There is also a docudrama DVD titled Beauty Academy in Kabul which is the story of the beauty school from a different perspective than the book listed above. Here is the synopsis:
"A quirky gaggle of Western hairstylists armed with blow dryers and designer scissors improbably open a school to teach eager Afghan women the high art of fixing hair. The women of Kabul embrace the beauty lessons with unbridled hope." HCPL Online Catalog.

More on "The Importance of Being Earnest"

"Importance of Being Earnest" discussion and information:

http://tinyurl.com/3dd749

http://www.bibliomania.com/1/7/57/1147/frameset.html

Internet Movie Database:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278500/

More resources for our discussion on November's book club meeting on the 13th.

Oscar Wilde's Birthday

In November the book club will view "The Importance of Being Earnest" based on the play by Oscar Wilde. Here is some information from The Writer's Almanac for 10/16/07 by Garrison Keillor.

"It's the birthday of Oscar Wilde, born in Dublin (1854), who was already a successful playwright when he fell into a love affair with the young aristocrat Lord Alfred Douglas. Wilde was married with two children at the time, and the affair ruined his reputation in society. He later wrote, "I curse myself night and day for my folly in allowing him to dominate my life." But it was the most creative period of his life. He wrote three plays in two years about people leading double lives, including A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895), and his masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), about two men who use an imaginary person named Earnest to get themselves out of all kinds of situations, until their invented stories and identities get so complicated that everything is revealed.

The actor who played Algernon Moncrieff later said, "In my fifty-three years of acting, I never remember a greater triumph than the first night of The Importance of Being Earnest." But that same year, Wilde was accused of sodomy by the father of his lover. Wilde might have let the accusation pass, but he chose to sue his accuser for libel, because he thought he could win the case by his eloquence alone. Private detectives had dug up so much damning evidence on Wilde that he was convicted of sodomy and sentenced to two years of hard labor. His plays continued to be produced on the stage, but his name was removed from all the programs. He was released from prison in 1897 and died three years later in a cheap Paris hotel.

Oscar Wilde, who said, "All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling." And, "An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.""

October Book Club meeting

The October book: "Caramelo" by Sandra Cisneros had enough interesting characters, family drama, and history to make for a fun discussion. It was a great choice for Hispanic Heritage Month. The story took place in Chicago, Mexico City and San Antonio and was narrated by the youngest character, Celaya. "Lala" told the story of her grandmother and then of her own parents, as well as expressing her feelings of being an outsider wherever they lived. Thanks to the members who were able to come.

On November 13 we will view "The Importance of Being Earnest" based on the play by Oscar Wilde. The movie is only 93 minutes long so we will start at our usual time - 7:00 pm - in the Earl Elliott meeting room off the lobby."Comes as close to perfection as any comedy I can think of." - DailyTelegraph.

"Oscar Wilde's "trivial play for serious people" is a sparkling comedy of manners. this hilariously absurd satire pits sincerity against style, barbed witticisms against ostentatious elegance. Wilde's brilliantly constructed plot and famous dialogue enrich the appeal of his celebrated characters, as he turns accepted ideas inside out and situations upsidedown in this, his masterpiece." (HCPL online catalog).

Evening Book Club Fall and Winter Selections

Here are the titles we will be reading for the rest of the year and early in 2008:

2007

November 13 - view movie based on Oscar Wilde play starring Rupert Evert and Colin Firth

December 11 - Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg

2008

January 8 - The Outside World by Tova Mirvis

February 12 - When Did You Stop Loving Me by Veronica Chambers
OR
Getting Mother's Body by Suzan Lori Parks

March 11 - Charming Billy by Alice McDermott

April 8 - Away by Amy Bloom

May 13 - The Space Between Us by Thirty Umriger
Or
Curse of the Golden Flower (Movie)
Or
Brothers by Da Chen

Summer books yet to be determined

September 9 - Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer

We can make changes to these selections as needed or desired.

Discussion questions for "Caramelo" by Sandra Cisneros

Here are some discussion questions for the book Caramelo.
The Evening Book Club meets on Tuesday Oct. 9 at 7:00 in the WCR conference room on the 2nd floor.

So far I am enjoying this book. The narrator - Celaya - is a hoot. The family dynamics keep you reading. You just have to see what will happen next.

See you then.
http://www.book-club.co.nz/bookclubs/discuss/caramelo.htm
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/caramelo1.asp

9/11 books discussion

Hi
Last night the book club met to discuss the fiction 9/11 books that we read. There were 9 people at the meeting and we discussed several books including: The Good Life by Jay McInerney, The Good Priest's Son by Reynolds Price, A Disorder Peculiar to the Country by Kevin Kalfus, Extremely Loud and Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, and Falling Man: a novel by Don Delillo. A book that was mentioned but not talked about, other than to say it was good, was The Writing on the Wall by Lynne S. Schwartz. It was a stimulating discussion fraught with memories and thoughts not always welcome, but needing to be talked about. The members came prepared to talk about the book or books that they read and we also did some readings from the books - passages that struck a chord or especially well-phrased sentences or thoughts.

Book club 2007

This year the Evening Book/Movie club at the library has read a variety of books and disliked many of them. However, this makes for great discussion. It is much more fun to talk about why people hated a book, than to have everyone agree that it was wonderful and then have nothing to talk about. Here is what we've read or plan to read in 2007 :

January - Someone Not Really her Mother by Harriet Scott Chessman
February – An Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg (movie)
March – Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian
April – Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston
May – The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (movie)
June – The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh
July – When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin
August – Cheat and Charmer by Elizabeth Frank
September – Choice of fiction about aftermath of 9/11
October – Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
November – (movie) The Importance of Being Earnest
December – Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg

Tonight we are discussing the various fiction books we've read about 9/11 for this month's meeting. I read The Good Priest's Son by Reynolds Price and The Good Life by Jay McInerney. The Good Life was much better and more what I was looking for in a "9/11" book. Two couples (Luke and Sasha, and Russell and Corrine) whose lives become intertwined when Luke and Corrine meet as they volunteer for the night shift to help feed the ground zero workers. Both couples are having problems with their marriages and Luke and Corrine have an affair and comtemplate moving on with life together. The best parts of the book were Luke's description of trying to find his friend after the towers collapsed and Russell's Thanksgiving dinner speech.

I was disappointed in The Good Priest's Son. The tragedy wasn't essential to the story and there seemed to be a subtext to all of the conversations that I wasn't picking up on. I haven't read any other books by Price and so don't know if this is a common style for him.

Val - 9/11/-07

Future book club title

All is Vanity by Christina Schwarz (2002)
"I was a promising child." This first line foreshadows the events to come. Now in her 30's, Margaret is starting to wonder where that promise went? Her best friend, Letty, is having similar questions about her life. Should she have accomplished more by now?

I really liked this book. It was written with a lot of humor and has a lot to say about our consumer-driven economy and the peer pressure to look successful. As Margaret and Letty make changes in their lives in NY and CA, they keep up with each other through e-mail. That the e-mails become something more is the heart of the story and causes the relationship between Margaret and Letty to change.

Another title

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (2002)

After her "stand-in mother," a bold black woman named Rosaleen, insults the three biggest racists in town, Lily Owens takes a journey to Tiburon, SC, where she and Rosaleen are taken in by three black, bee-keeping sisters.

The book club loved this one. We had a great 90 minute discussion about religion, racism, and the 60's in the South.

Books read by my book club

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
The discovery of a dead baby in Aaron Fisher's barn sets off a scandal in Amish country and an investigation that implicates his 18 year old daughter.

Intriguing look at the "plain" life with an unexpected twist at the end. Family and courtroom drama and conflict.

Favorite Books read in 2005

One of the best books I read in 2005 was The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. "Lou, and autistic man, has to choose whether or not to try an experimental treatment to cure his condition. He has a good job, good friends, he fences, in other words, a good life. Will the "new" Lou remember the "old" Lou? Well written, great look into the life of an autistic person." Elizabeth Moon is the mother of an autistic son.