Book Discussion Group

[Dean Reed]

I wondered if there might sufficient interest in having a book discussion group?

I would be willing to lead a discussion of any of the three described below. If interested in the idea, please indicate that you are in a response, and which book you would prefer. All three are very worthy of your time... and a dialogue! All three are unforgettable.

The book descriptions are an amalgam of material from the dust jacket, wikipedia, and my own thoughts. The italicized final sentence or two in each is my own personal comment.

As to discussion dates, I was looking at Thursday, January 31st, during the day. But I'm definitely flexible. I don't have a place in mind yet, and am open to suggestions.

Let me know!

Dean

Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory is set in 1930’s Mexico when the government was attempting to wipe out the Catholic Church because of its long history of abuse of its power and wealth, giving rise to the Cristero War, so named for Catholic combatants' slogan Viva Cristo Rey.

As the novel opens, priests have been systematically hunted down and killed, and now the last priest is on the run—our main character. The ‘whiskey priest’ is self-destructive and cowardly, yet desperate for dignity and holiness. Meanwhile, the novel’s other principal character is a committed socialist police lieutenant who despises the church and relentlessly hunts the priest down.

Widely viewed as Greene’s finest work, TPATG won Britain’s 1941 Hawthornden Prize, and was listed by TIME magazine on its 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. From Dean: Eighty pages into the book I was tempted to quit, but it turned out to be an all-time favorite. Masterful.

* * *
Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead tells the story of John Ames, a Congregationalist pastor in the town of Gilead, Iowa. Knowing he will soon die, Ames writes a long letter to his young son to give him an account of his own life and experiences, as well as those of his family.

It is an intimate tale in which the bonds of three generations are tested, as is his relationship with his namesake, John Ames Boughton, his best friend's wayward son. Ames gives voice to a collective life that is both strange and wondrous, as history lives through generations, pervasively present from generation to generation. In the words of Kirkus, Gilead is a novel "as big as a nation, as quiet as thought, and moving as prayer. Matchless and towering."

Gilead won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Awards in 2004. From Dean: This is an amazing novel filled with powerful moments and images. A real pleasure to read.

* * *
Carlos Fuentes’ The Death of Artemio Cruz is regarded as a seminal work of modern Spanish American literature. Similar to Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, the novel begins with the protagonist on his deathbed. The story of Cruz's life is then revealed through a series of flashbacks.

The powerful newspaper magnate and land baron recalls pivotal episodes of his life: involvement in the Mexican Revolution; the formation of PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party); his deceptive seizure of control over his future father-in-law, his estate, as well as his daughter; corrupt dealings with foreign speculators; strained and broken relationships; and his uneasy death.

Fuentes is a passionate guide to the ironies of Mexican history, the burden of its past, and the anguish of its present. From Dean: This book is an inventive rendering one writer's view of the Mexican ethos, and pulls no punches. Powerful and incisive.