All things must come to an...

Looks like we're all headed off in different directions! Don't even know if anyone checks the blog anymore. But congratulations to Katie and her new husband. :) I've been accepted to the Washington Seminar, so I'm headed off to D.C. in January. Just wanted to invite members to share what's going on in their lives before the good times we had as the Wednesday Book Group are too far gone.
"I thought: pity the poor in spirit who know neither the enchantment nor the beauty of language."
Muriel Barbery in "Elegance of the Hedgehog"

What Britt has been reading...

I just have one word for you all: Shakespeare.
I'm here in London and I get to live and breathe Shakespeare (well, most of the time anyway). Besides seeing his plays and wandering around the site of the Globe, I have read Macbeth, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Antony and Cleopatra, and about to embark on The Tempest before delving into Romeo and Juliet. Makes me think that perhaps we may try reading one of Will's plays this next year... Just something to think about. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

what matt has read so far.

So guys.

I had to read Catching Fire. Which I suppose we could talk about, but mostly it's just kind of a fun thriller. But I read it and really enjoyed it. Now my dad just finished reading it and he thinks it's really good.

More interesting perhaps is the fact that I have begun listening to "A Pair of Blue Eyes" by Hardy at work, and I've also read the first few pages of "Jude the Obscure." Yes, I am starting my Thomas Hardy summer reading. Hopefully Moscow won't interfere too much with it, and hopefully Thomas Hardy won't interfere too much with my Russian. We'll just see what happens I guess.

Guys... what's next???

Seriously, everyone. I wanna see some comments. What summer reading are we looking at? Who's gonna read what?

Anybody doing anything special for Poetry Month?

Share.

come tomorrow

BOOK CLUB gathering at 8.15 pm on Wednesday the 31st. It will be splendid.

photographic documentation

Well. Here's the crew from last night's discussion of James Joyce's "The Dead." Wasn't it brilliant, guys? I came away with new insights and perspectives, especially on its role as a modern text and its examination of Irish identity. Book Club gatherings like this? Happiness.

Britt is exemplifying thoughtfully considering someone else's contribution. Amanda is exemplifying smirking. (Amanda, I love you. You know that, right? You win the coveted Best Photographed Expression Award.)

Parker, clearly modeling how to evidence textual specifics as support for a genius comment.

I wish we could retrace exactly what was being said. Can anyone provide a speech bubble here?

Yes, I seem to be fairly convinced that what I'm arguing is accurate, but (based on expression) I'm pretty sure that Matt thinks whatever I'm arguing is semi-ridiculous. Probable.

Way to wear green, all.

yes, I did just send out an email saying exactly this

(but I lack the creativity to rephrase it)

good evening, one and all,

Hope your Monday has been pleasant, that you had a fabulous fhe this evening, and are now sitting down to read a book club email (and then do something else far more exciting).
This is when we pretend that I planned to read an Irish author's short story for an Irish holiday [James Joyce, St Patrick's Day....both Irish]. And while the me-planning-the-Irish-

connections part of this is (in fact) a lie, we'll go with it. So. This Wednesday, come 'round at 8:15 for some book club cheer. It will be cheery.

We'll chit-chat about James Joyce's short story "The Dead." And if no one else feels like volunteering to make festive treats, we'll have Lucky Charms.

wear green or talk in limericks,
katie

remember, remember

No Book Club this week, but see you on the 17th for "The Dead."

Short Story Month!

March is (almost) here, and that means one month of short stories and general happiness in Book Group.

note. the month of march reminds me of umbrellas. I don't actually believe in using umbrellas, but I think they're cute.....and that adds to the reasons I like that March is almost here.

For this week? Read "The Dead" by James Joyce, then come 'round at 8:15 on Wednesday.

Like the email said, we'll be meeting on the 17th and 31st to chat about short stories as well. All three of these gatherings would be great ones to bring a friend to (since the reading will be fairly approachable). They'll also be great ones for other reasons too: excellent short stories, good chit-chat about those stories, usual book club joy and happiness.

See you Wednesday----

that's right, a POETRY reading

On Wednesday at 8:15, let's read some poetry. Love poetry.

Bring a favorite (or least favorite) love poem to read in an informal (could we seriously make it anything but informal?) reading.

(and.....we'll finish up To the Lighthouse the following week, Feb. 17)

the 27th

Let's meet at 8:15 to spend some time with Virginia Woolf.

See you on Wednesday----

Seriously...

I motion that we officially change the title of the blog from "The Wednesday Book Club" to "The Bloomsbury Group Reborn." We can even take on the personas of the original Bloomsbury group. I call not E.M. Forster.

yes or no: Should We Change our Name to the "Bloomsbury Group"?

Virginia Woolf. 1882-1941

Growing up with a father (who's a critic, biographer, scholar, and philosopher) in a large and talented family like Virginia Woolf's lends itself to learning Greek, meeting famous Victorians of the day, and naturally leaning toward intellectualism and writing. But a quick glimpse at any biography of Virginia Woolf (erm.....that's what this blog post is all about: me quick glimpsing) shows that her life wasn't ideal: her mother died in 1895, her half-sister died in childbirth in 1897, her father died of cancer, and her brother died of typhoid in 1906.

(This is not the time or place, but sometime we'll talk about how I prefer a happy, calm life to a writer's life. They might be incompatible....)

After this 11-year span of deaths in the family, Virginia Woolf settled in Bloomsbury--a district in London that would later be the namesake for an intellectual group frequented by some of the great thinkers of the early 20th century. That group--including artists, writers, and critics with names like EM Forster and John Maynard Keynes--quickly made its name for its sharp wit, its frankness, and its intellectual sparkle.

Virginia Woolf's own engaging writing exemplifies those qualities that Bloomsbury held highest. In her essays, Woolf proved a powerful proponent for women, arguing for androgynous appeal in writing. In her reviews, Woolf' showed her masterful sense of criticism. (Woolf published around 500 essays and reviews for contemporary periodicals). In her fiction, Woolf probed consciousness for the truth of human experience. Her style privileges playfulness, experimentation, and spontaneity. Yet her flair for wit and intellectualism in her writing are perhaps off-set by own life's exacting perfectionism and periods of severe depression.

And, if you think like me, the name Virginia Woolf welds itself to stream of consciousness. In her novels, Woolf abandoned the traditional linear narratives for her own style of interior monologues and stream of consciousness narration. One biographer describes Woolf's unique writing as"intensely psychological and interior" and also as "a carefully modulated flow that brought into prose fiction into something of the rhythms of and imagery of lyric poetry." Lovely.

Great reading experience coming our way.

end notes.
(1) we can't call ourselves anything associated with Bloomsbury--far too elitist.
(2) I drew my facts, some phrasing, and that quote from the Norton Anthology of English Literature.

new year, new book, new time

Wednesday (tomorrow). At Wellington II #33. At 8:15.

I can promise (a) a good time, (b) a book decision, (c) something palatable. Come if you can.

We'll also talk about when to meet on a regular basis. We have a few group conflicts with our normal time (thus the 8:15 randomness).