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Arts and Letters

We are a group that meet to discuss books, arts, philosophy and everything in between!

Location: Changgchun
Members: 21
Latest Activity: Mar 8, 2014

Autumn/Winter Season

Our next book is Stanislaw Lem's Solaris. Please check out the discussion forum.

Discussion Forum

Shakespeare and his use of language

Started by Richard Roman Mar 8, 2014. 0 Replies

I just want to point out the huge number of words that Shakepeare introduced to the English language. Today, I will just start off with words beginning with Aabstemious (The Tempest -- a Latin word that meant "to abstain from alcoholic drink" was…Continue

Ernest Sabato

Started by Richard Roman Apr 25, 2013. 0 Replies

The book we will discuss in May is The TunnellAny views on the author, his background, stories, books etc. please post hereContinue

Famous detectives in literature

Started by Richard Roman. Last reply by Anabel García Ugrotte Mar 8, 2013. 1 Reply

Going to start off with GK Chesterton's Father BrownBut before that here is one quote which I love:“Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”Now, about Father Brown:Father Brown was the perfect vehicle for conveying Chesterton's…Continue

Stanislaw Lem

Started by Richard Roman. Last reply by Richard Roman Dec 12, 2012. 2 Replies

Solaris (1961), by Stanisław Lem (1921–2006), is a Polish science fiction novel about the ultimate inadequacy of communication between human and non-human species.In probing and examining the oceanic surface of the world named Solaris from a…Continue

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Comment by Richard Roman on October 22, 2011 at 0:42
Camus is now in the lead!
Comment by Marcella Caprario on October 22, 2011 at 0:28
It was so nice seeing/meeting everyone Tuesday night!  Looking forward to the next one.  I vote for Camus or Joyce, in that order.
Comment by Anabel García Ugrotte on October 20, 2011 at 10:11
Albert Camus, we were considering The Plague, and I vote for it.
Comment by Richard Roman on October 19, 2011 at 20:24

 

 

here are some ideas from our last meeting for the next Book meeting. Feel free to add your own ideas but whatever is chosen needs to be available (-either by purchase - unlikely) or via the internet

1. Eric Fromm

Fromm's best known work, Escape from Freedom, focuses on the human urge to seek a source of authority and control upon reaching a freedom that was thought to be an individual’s true desire. Fromm’s critique of the modern political order and capitalist system led him to seek insights from medieval feudalism. In Escape from Freedom, he found favor with the lack of individual freedom, rigid structure, and obligations required on the members of medieval society:

 

2. James Joyce wrote ‘‘The Dead’’ in 1907, three years after writing the fourteen other stories that were eventually published with it in his collection entitled Dubliners (1914). ‘‘The Dead’’ is the last story in the collection, and it unites the themes found in the earlier stories. In his book, Joyce wanted to give the history of Ireland. The prominent characteristic he saw in Ireland, and particularly in Dublin, was the spiritual paralysis of its people. The plot of ‘‘The Dead’’ presents the thoughts and actions of one man, Gabriel Conroy, on a night he and his wife attend a party given by his two aunts.

 

3. Albert Camus - not sure which book was being considered!

 

Paul galico - This is without doubt Paul Gallico's most well-known book. It is subtitled A Story of Dunkirk, and it is the story of a lonely hunchbacked artist who lives in an abandoned lighthouse in the marshlands of Essex, and his friendship with a young girl who brings him an injured Canada Snow Goose. It is only a short book - sixty four pages - but it is quite lovely.

 

and i thought I would throw this one is as we near christmas....

A Christmas Carol[1] is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim.

 

Views/ideas anyone?

Comment by Richard Roman on September 16, 2011 at 13:15

Here is a link to the ray Bradbury book:

 

This is the English version I have found on the web.

 

Comment by Richard Roman on September 16, 2011 at 13:12
This is the English version of fahrenheit  fahrenheithttp://kisi.deu.edu.tr/murat.goc/451.pdf
Comment by Richard Roman on July 24, 2011 at 22:38

here is a link to a ;oad of wodehouse stories kindly sent by Steve mellows

http://www.classicreader.com/browse/6/w/

Comment by Richard ridealgh on July 23, 2011 at 9:52
Life ain't exactly plain sailing, why you want to burden our tired weary souls with "life" issues inside a book...but ofcourse we should!
Comment by Richard Roman on July 23, 2011 at 9:45

I feel a P G Wodehouse evening coming on!

 

Heavy literature/ the meaning to life?

 

Just read some Wodehouse!

 

More info when I have collected my thoughts!

 
 
 

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