DECEMBER BOOK

Our book for December is Cathedral (link), a short story collection by noted American writer Raymond Carver (wiki link).  Robert Altman's film Short Cuts is based on several of Carver's short stories.  We'll be going back to a ZOOM meeting format for Tuesday, December 1 with the usual 7pm starting time.  Please check the comments section for a ZOOM invite.  Newbies, family members and pets are all welcome to join the proceedings.  Note:  the entirety of Cathedral is included in Raymond Carver: The Collected Stories (The Library of America edition).  Stay safe everyone.

         

Raymond Carver's third collection of stories, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, including the canonical titular story about blindness and learning to enter the very different world of another.  These twelve stories mark a turning point in Carver's work and "overflow with the danger, excitement, mystery and possibility of life. . . . Carver is a writer of astonishing compassion and honesty. . . . his eye set only on describing and revealing the world as he sees it. His eye is so clear, it almost breaks your heart" (Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World).

NOVEMBER BOOK

ATTENTION:  We're trying another new spot this month, the Joey Shipyards location ( link) in North Vancouver (125 Victory Shipyard Way, just a short walk east of the Seabus terminal at Lonsdale Quay).  Join the gang on Tuesday, November 3 on the sprawling patio for an evening of fine food and literary fencing.  As usual, the festivities begin at 7pm and all and sundry are welcome.

Our book for November is Post-Truth (link) by American philosopher Lee McIntyre.

 

         

Are we living in a post-truth world, where "alternative facts" replace actual facts and feelings have more weight than evidence? How did we get here? In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Lee McIntyre traces the development of the post-truth phenomenon from science denial through the rise of "fake news," from our psychological blind spots to the public's retreat into "information silos."

OCTOBER BOOK

We tried something different for October and had a successful ZOOM meeting.  Our book was The Most Beautiful Book in the World (tough title to live up to) by French author Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt (link), another in the fine series of European writers in translation from Europa Editions.

          

A cast of extravagant and affecting characters lovingly portrayed by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt animates these eight contemporary fables about people in search of happiness. One of Europe's most popular and bestselling authors, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt captivates the reader with his spirited style and enchanting stories that move effortlessly from the everyday to the fantastical.
The eight stories in this collection, his first to be published in English, represent his best and most imaginative storylines: from the touching and surprising love story between Balthazar, a wealthy author, and Odette, a shop clerk, to the tale of a barefooted princess; from the moving title story about a group of female prisoners in a Soviet gulag to the entertaining portrait of a perennially disgruntled perfectionist. Behind each story lies a simple, if elusive, truth: though we may be frequently blind to it, happiness is often right in front of our eyes.

SEPTEMBER BOOK

Attention:  We're trying a different location for the September meeting :  Tap & Barrel Shipyards location in North Vancouver (https://www.tapandbarrel.com/locations/).  The address is Tap & Barrel Shipyards, 8 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver (i.e. the foot of Lonsdale Avenue, a short walk from the Seabus terminal).  They have a spacious outdoor patio area which is ideal for social distancing.  Come and join us for one last (?) al fresco summer evening on Tuesday, September 1 at our usual starting time of 7pm.  (And feel free to bring a friend or relative, or even your realtor or accountant.)

September's book is The Ascent of Money (https://www.amazon.com/Ascent-Money-Financial-History-World/dp/0143116177/ref=sr_1_1?crid=38UOWGLAJI95H&dchild=1&keywords=ascent+of+money+niall+ferguson&qid=1598932652&sprefix=ascent+of+money%2Caps%2C274&sr=8-1 ) by Scottish historian Niall Ferguson (wiki link ).

         

The 10th anniversary edition, with new chapters on the crash, Chimerica, and cryptocurrency

In this updated edition, Niall Ferguson brings his classic financial history of the world up to the present day, tackling the populist backlash that followed the 2008 crisis, the descent of "Chimerica" into a trade war, and the advent of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, with his signature clarity and expert lens.
 
The Ascent of Money reveals finance as the backbone of history, casting a new light on familiar events: the Renaissance enabled by Italian foreign exchange dealers, the French Revolution traced back to a stock market bubble, the 2008 crisis traced from America's bankruptcy capital, Memphis, to China's boomtown, Chongqing. We may resent the plutocrats of Wall Street but, as Ferguson argues, the evolution of finance has rivaled the importance of any technological innovation in the rise of civilization. Indeed, to study the ascent and descent of money is to study the rise and fall of Western power itself.

AUGUST BOOK

After a successful trial run on the patio of the Sylvia Hotel last week, we'll try the same for Tuesday, August 4.  Our book for August is The Tortilla Curtain ( https://www.amazon.com/Tortilla-Curtain-Penguin-Reading-Guides/dp/014023828X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=) by prolific U.S. novelist T. C. Boyle ( wiki link).  Join us at 7pm for an entrancing summer evening outside the Sylvia Hotel Lounge as we fend off the dogs days of August with our favorite libations and culinary delights.  As always, newcomers and curious passersby are welcome to join in.

         

T.C. Boyle's tragicomic, award-winning novel about assimilation, immigration, and the price of the American dream
 
"A masterpiece of contemporary social satire . . . Turning the collective face of Mexican immigration into one ordinary human being, and walking many bruising miles in Candido's cheap shoes, is Mr. Boyle's gift to our collective conscience. But what makes The Tortilla Curtain good reading for any political stripe is that the author neither romanticizes the newcomers nor demonizes those who would pull up the ladder behind them." —The Wall Street Journal

JULY MEETING IS ON!

... and we're back!  Hope this finds everyone in mint condition.  So we'll give it a go this Tuesday evening, July 7 and choose a book for August.  You may want to flip through The Remains of the Day (our last book of the Before Times) to refresh your memory, as we never got a chance to discuss it.  That's 7pm at the Sylvia Lounge for the novel experience (pun intended) of fine dining with favorite beverages, while discussing, dissecting and disputing Kazuo Ishiguro's famous tome.  Join us, as we toast the sunset over English Bay.

JUNE MEETING CANCELLED

Sorry for the late notice everyone, but tonight's June 2 meeting is officially cancelled.  We can tentatively set Tuesday, July 7 for our next attempt.  That's 7pm at the Sylvia Hotel Lounge, which re-opened for business on May 22.  We can check if a reservation might be necessary a few days beforehand.  As the weather heats up, let's hope it boils the virus away.  Hope everyone is keeping hale and hearty and getting a chance to enjoy the summer.

MAY MEETING CANCELLED

And the beat goes on.  The Tuesday May 5 meeting is officially cancelled.  As Kurt Vonnegut might say, "and so it goes."  Let's try again for Tuesday June 2.  That's the Sylvia Hotel Lounge at 7pm in case anyone's forgotten.  (We may require a reservation if they re-open with social distancing still in effect.)  Stay safe everyone.

APRIL MEETING CANCELLED

Well it's pretty clear the Covid-19 restrictions are going to be in force for a while longer, so consider tomorrow evening's meeting officially cancelled.  Let's try again for Tuesday, May 5 (although that looks rather optimistic at this point).  Feel free to suggest another tome as I'm sure we all have a lot more time for reading these days.  Hope everyone is keeping healthy and getting a chance to enjoy the suddenly improved weather.

APRIL BOOK

April's book will be the Booker Prize winning The Remains of the Day (https://www.amazon.com/Remains-Day-Kazuo-Ishiguro/dp/0679731725/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ZT6S9UMXA6TD&keywords=remains+of+the+day+book&qid=1584338471&sprefix=remains%2Caps%2C240&sr=8-1) by Kazuo Ishiguro (also a Nobel laureate).  The film adaptation (starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson) is well worth seeing.  Join us on the evening of Tuesday, April 7 for a relaxing evening of good food, book talk and a beverage or two, starting at 7pm at the Sylvia Hotel Lounge overlooking English Bay.  Note:  with the COVID-19 situation so fluid, check back here in case we need to move, postpone or cancel April's planned meeting.

         

     This is Kazuo Ishiguro's profoundly compelling portrait of Stevens, the perfect butler, and of his fading, insular world in post-World War II England. Stevens, at the end of three decades of service at Darlington Hall, spending a day on a country drive, embarks as well on a journey through the past in an effort to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving the "great gentleman," Lord Darlington. But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington's "greatness," and much graver doubts about the nature of his own life.

MARCH BOOK

Our March book will be Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (https://www.amazon.com/Altered-Carbon-Netflix-Takeshi-Kovacs/dp/1524798819/ref=tmm_pap_title_1?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1581298405&sr=8-1 ).  For all you Netflixers, the book has been serialized and was produced in Vancouver and environs, with many recognizable local landmarks.  (Beware:  there are significant alterations from the book.)  Join the gang at the Sylvia Hotel Lounge on the evening of Tuesday, March 3 for comfort food and beverages and a lively literary discussion, beginning at 7pm.  Newcomers always welcome.

         

In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person's consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or "sleeve") making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.

Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats "existence" as something that can be bought and sold.

FEBRUARY BOOK

Our book for February will be Dear Life by Alice Munro (https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Life-Stories-Vintage-International/dp/0307743721/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=dear+life+alice+munro&qid=1579503730&sr=8-1).  Join the gang at the Sylvia Hotel lounge on the evening of Tuesday February 4 for some choice morsels and beverages and a lively discussion of 2013 Canadian Nobelist Ms. Munro's short story collection.  As usual, kick-off is at 7 pm and all and sundry are welcome to join us.

         

In story after story in this brilliant new collection, Alice Munro pinpoints the moment a person is forever altered by a chance encounter, an action not taken, or a simple twist of fate. Her characters are flawed and fully human: a soldier returning from war and avoiding his fiancée, a wealthy woman deciding whether to confront a blackmailer, an adulterous mother and her neglected children, a guilt-ridden father, a young teacher jilted by her employer. Illumined by Munro's unflinching insight, these lives draw us in with their quiet depth and surprise us with unexpected turns. And while most are set in her signature territory around Lake Huron, some strike even closer to home: an astonishing suite of four autobiographical tales offers an unprecedented glimpse into Munro's own childhood. Exalted by her clarity of vision and her unparalleled gift for storytelling, Dear Life shows how strange, perilous, and extraordinary ordinary life can be.