2007's First Book Discussion Was Small
Yes, the first book discussion of the year was small and cozy. Only Teresa, myself and Amanda showed. We had a lovely meal at Moonshine and a lovely discussion about our latest book finds, New Year's resolutions and Christmas time tramas.
Amanda...remind me what the title of the two books were that you suggested... Sophie's Find..maybe..??
Teresa suggested Water for Elephants which I had thrown in the hat for the last round of book choosing but it did not get pulled. I suggested Night Fall by Nelson Demille. It is fanstastic. I have also just finished reading Eldest which is second behind Eragon, just out in the theatre. It is a wonderful book and I have had a hard time putting it down.
Both Amanda and Teresa agreed that our next round we should choose books that from folks that have not had a book read, yet. So, if you had a book read this last time- Amy, Sara, Ellen and Amanda don't worry bout coming up with a book. =)
However, myself, Sheri, Teresa and whomever else decides to join in on our merry little band of book clubbers should bring book ideas for future reading.
Our next book, which I have already taken up, is Kafka on the Shore. Amanda said she thinks we will have our get together sometime in March. She will let us know the exact date as the time approaches.
(about Kafka On The Shore from Wikipedia)
Kafka Tamura: Clearly named in honor of the Czech writer Franz Kafka, Kafka is a "cool, tall, fifteen-year-old boy lugging a backpack and a bunch of obsessions" and the son of the famous sculptor Koichi Tamura. His mother and sister left the family almost before he became conscious of them. He occasionally interacts with a hectoring, exhortative alter ego named Crow, which is approximately what "kafka" means in Czech (a closer translation is jackdaw). Kafka tells himself throughout the novel that he must be "the toughest fifteen-year-old in the world."
Satoru Nakata: A "mentally defective sexagenarian" as John Updike calls him, Nakata lost many of his mental faculties when, as one of sixteen fourth-graders out on a mushroom-gathering field-trip toward the end of World War II, a strange silver light was seen in the sky and the entire class fell into a deep sleep. Unlike the other children, who woke up in a few hours, Nakata remained unconscious for many weeks, and, upon finally awakening, found that his memory and his ability to read had disappeared, as well as his higher intellectual functions. In their place, Nakata found he was able to communicate with cats.
[edit] Plot
Comprising two distinct but interrelated plots, the narrative runs back and forth between the two, taking up each plotline in alternating chapters.
The odd chapters tell Kafka's story as he runs away from his father's house to escape an Oedipal curse and to embark upon a quest to find his mother and sister. After a series of adventures, he finds shelter in a quiet, private library in Takamatsu, run by the distant and aloof Miss Saeki and the androgynous Oshima. There he spends his days reading the unabridged edition of A Thousand and One Nights and the collected works of Natsume Soseki until the police begin inquiring after him in connection with a brutal murder.
The even chapters tell Nakata's story. Due to his uncanny abilities, he has found part-time work in his old age as a finder of lost cats (a clear reference to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle). The case of one particular lost cat puts him on a path that ultimately takes him far away from his home, ending up on the road for the first time in his life. He befriends a truck-driver named Hoshino. Hoshino takes him on as a passenger in his truck and soon becomes very attached to the old man.
Nakata and Kafka are on a collision course throughout the novel, but their convergence takes place as much on a metaphysical plane as it does in reality and, in fact, that can be said of the novel itself. Due to the Oedipal theme running through much of the novel, Kafka on the Shore has been called a modern Greek tragedy, though with Murakami, it is never just one thing, but many.
Take care and keep warm.
Amanda...remind me what the title of the two books were that you suggested... Sophie's Find..maybe..??
Teresa suggested Water for Elephants which I had thrown in the hat for the last round of book choosing but it did not get pulled. I suggested Night Fall by Nelson Demille. It is fanstastic. I have also just finished reading Eldest which is second behind Eragon, just out in the theatre. It is a wonderful book and I have had a hard time putting it down.
Both Amanda and Teresa agreed that our next round we should choose books that from folks that have not had a book read, yet. So, if you had a book read this last time- Amy, Sara, Ellen and Amanda don't worry bout coming up with a book. =)
However, myself, Sheri, Teresa and whomever else decides to join in on our merry little band of book clubbers should bring book ideas for future reading.
Our next book, which I have already taken up, is Kafka on the Shore. Amanda said she thinks we will have our get together sometime in March. She will let us know the exact date as the time approaches.
(about Kafka On The Shore from Wikipedia)
Kafka Tamura: Clearly named in honor of the Czech writer Franz Kafka, Kafka is a "cool, tall, fifteen-year-old boy lugging a backpack and a bunch of obsessions" and the son of the famous sculptor Koichi Tamura. His mother and sister left the family almost before he became conscious of them. He occasionally interacts with a hectoring, exhortative alter ego named Crow, which is approximately what "kafka" means in Czech (a closer translation is jackdaw). Kafka tells himself throughout the novel that he must be "the toughest fifteen-year-old in the world."
Satoru Nakata: A "mentally defective sexagenarian" as John Updike calls him, Nakata lost many of his mental faculties when, as one of sixteen fourth-graders out on a mushroom-gathering field-trip toward the end of World War II, a strange silver light was seen in the sky and the entire class fell into a deep sleep. Unlike the other children, who woke up in a few hours, Nakata remained unconscious for many weeks, and, upon finally awakening, found that his memory and his ability to read had disappeared, as well as his higher intellectual functions. In their place, Nakata found he was able to communicate with cats.
[edit] Plot
Comprising two distinct but interrelated plots, the narrative runs back and forth between the two, taking up each plotline in alternating chapters.
The odd chapters tell Kafka's story as he runs away from his father's house to escape an Oedipal curse and to embark upon a quest to find his mother and sister. After a series of adventures, he finds shelter in a quiet, private library in Takamatsu, run by the distant and aloof Miss Saeki and the androgynous Oshima. There he spends his days reading the unabridged edition of A Thousand and One Nights and the collected works of Natsume Soseki until the police begin inquiring after him in connection with a brutal murder.
The even chapters tell Nakata's story. Due to his uncanny abilities, he has found part-time work in his old age as a finder of lost cats (a clear reference to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle). The case of one particular lost cat puts him on a path that ultimately takes him far away from his home, ending up on the road for the first time in his life. He befriends a truck-driver named Hoshino. Hoshino takes him on as a passenger in his truck and soon becomes very attached to the old man.
Nakata and Kafka are on a collision course throughout the novel, but their convergence takes place as much on a metaphysical plane as it does in reality and, in fact, that can be said of the novel itself. Due to the Oedipal theme running through much of the novel, Kafka on the Shore has been called a modern Greek tragedy, though with Murakami, it is never just one thing, but many.
Take care and keep warm.