Book club 2007-08
|
|
|
|
Abarat
by Clive Barker |
The Historian by
Elizabeth Kostova |
Dune by Frank Herbert |
The UHS Book Club started in November
2004. Our group meets in the high school library and
is sponsored by Matthew Murrey, the librarian at UHS.
This year we will meet on the third Thursday or Friday
of the month in the library after school. Be sure to
visit our Book
Club Blog.
The Book Club will met in the library at 3:20 pm on
Thursday, Sept. 27h to discuss Abarat by Clive
Barker. The overall opinion of the book was very favorable.
We discussed the somewhat disorienting opening, the
amazing paintings that illustrate the book, and the
way the story ends (very unresolved and obviously ready
for a sequel).
The group picked our next two books. For October we
will read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova,
and for November we will read the sci-fi classic, Dune
by Frank Herbert.
We met on October 25th to talk about the very long
novel, The Historian. Several of us had not
quite finished it, but not because we didn't enjoy it.
There was general praise for Kostova's abundant historical
research and her amazing ability to convey setting and
atomosphere. Several readers commented on the great
variety of interntational setttings - Budapest, London,
Istanbul, etc. One reader was disappointed with the
supernatural elements that seemed a bit cartoonish to
him.
We read Dune which we discussed at our meeting
in November. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed the novel,
and many of us were impressed by how it has aged well
for science fiction written in the 1960s. Several of
us admitted to being a bit confused at the start of
the novel, but finding that once we were into it, it
started to make more sense, and the pace picked up.
We agreed that the undertone of the book was very disturbing
- themes of betrayal underly nearly all plot developments.
We met on Friday, December 21st - the last school day
of 2007 - to talk about Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere.
A great read was the concensus. We debated whether the
book is science fiction, fantasy, or some hybrid of
the two. Many of us commented on the strange way in
which Gaiman is able to portray very violent actions
without seeming gratuitious or horrifiying.
Our next book is a play, Doubt: a Parable
by John Shanley, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005.
We finally met to talk about Doubt. Discussion
was very interesting. Times have really changed since
the sixties, regarding sex abuse in schools. Students
were surprised at the Sister Aloysius' defeatist attitude
at the end of the play and her frustrations. We also
talked about the odd racial elements surrounding the
student who is abused and his mother's complicit attitude.
Our choice for February was Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy. This novel was a hit with
everyone. Most of us found it very funny and entertaining
- several people compared it to Monty Python. Comparisons
were also made with Terry Pratchett and Kurt Vonnegut.
Most of us liked its wacky surrealistic science fiction
that also involved a bit of pointed criticism of contemporary
society.
In March the group read Tracy Chevalier's Girl
with a Pearl Earring. Praise for the book was almost
unanimous. Readers commented on the accomplishment of
creating a novel that is carried almost wholly on the
strength of characterization. All admired the character
Griet, and found the character of Vermeer to be well
done, but maddening. There was a bit of debate about
whether the Pieter, the butcher's son was a good choice
(an inevitable choice?) for Griet or not.
On April 24th we met to discuss Tolstoy's short novel,
Death of Ivan Ilyich. Readers were impressed
with the power that Tolstoy was able to pack into such
a short work. There was a fair bit of discussion regarding
what characters were sympathetic/unsympathetic. All
of us were struck by the power of the ending.
Our final book of the year will be Peter Pan
by J.M. Barrie. We meet next on
Thursday, May 29th, after school
in the UHS library
(in the event of bad weather
we will meet the following day).
Hope to see you there.
|
|
|
| Neverwhere
by Neil Gaiman |
Doubt by John Patrick
Shanley |
Hitchhiker's Guide to
the Galaxy by Doug Adams |
|
|
|
Girl With a Pearl Earring
by Tracy Chevalier |
The Death of Ivan Ilyich
by Leo Tolstoy choice of the BIG
READ. |
Peter Pan by J.M.
Barrie |
See information from previous years of the UHS book
club by clicking on one the following: 2004-05,
2005-06, 2006-07.
|
