Some announcements before the meeting:
1. Aug. 25th we will attend the movie of The Help, at Cinemark 14, Round Rock (near Ikea). Afterwards, we will meet for discussion at Steak & Shake.
2. Sept. 19th we will discuss The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.
3. Oct. 15th we will discuss Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Also nominated by Pam, but not selected, First They Killed My Father, by Loung Ung, and Escape, by Carolyn Jessop.
4. The Texas Book Festival is Oct. 22-23.
5. We will not meet in November.
6. Our December meeting will be the Christmas party, at a place to be determined.
7. Our meeting on Jan. 16th will include a presentation by Jim Hornfischer, the author of The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors, Ship of Ghosts, and Neptune's Inferno.
There was a lively discussion of The Lacuna. The members who read it all seemed to like the book, which had two separate story lines, united by the central character of Harrison Shepherd (a name Frida Kahlo considered unpronounceable). One story about Mexico, with Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Leon Trotsky, and the other story in the U.S., about the perception of the Communist Menace in this country. We discussed the various impacts on Harrison's life, including his mother, viewing the Bonus Army in D.C., life with the painters, the death of Trotsky, living in North Carolina during the war, and the Communist hearings. We had a good talk on the role of journalism and the media, both in the 50's and today. The general feeling was that the book was thought-provoking and captivating. Brief mentions at the end about some other books by Kingsolver.
1 comment:
Thanks, Dennis! Looks like not only were main themes of the book covered, but there was a discussion about the media, which I would have enjoyed. I like your idea of putting the date of the meeting in the post. My cutesy titles and arbitrarily dated postings have left the discussion date out. I'll think about how to incorporate it next time.
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