Kell
18th June 2007, 05:49
I would have posted this last night, but I was taken with a sudden attack of migraine and forced to leave off and curl up in a ball with my head tucked down to my knees!
Anyway, here we go, the three choices for July's reading circle are as follows:
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence:
Constance Chatterley feels trapped in her sexless marriage to the invalid Sir Clifford. Unable to fulfill his wife emotionally or physically, Clifford encourages her to have a liaison with a man of their own class. But Connie is attracted instead to her husband's gamekeeper and embarks on a passionate affair that brings new life to her stifled existence. Can she find a true equality with Mellors, despite the vast gulf between their positions in society? One of the most controversial novels in English literature, Lady Chatterley's Lover is an erotically charged and psychologically powerful depiction of adult relationships.
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok:
A novel by about a Hasidic Jewish boy from Brooklyn, Asher Lev, who is a child artist prodigy. Lev struggles with his family and the people of his Hasidic sect for the right and freedom to use his great gifts as a drawing and painting artist, against the tendency of his people to view art as a waste of time, or worse--as a manifestation of the "sitra achra" (the "Other Side", the realm of the demonic). His father is an international worker for the spreading of orthodox Judaism among Jews and political advisor to the Rebbe, the spiritual leader of the sect; he travels the world in an effort to unite and bring hope to disparate Jewish communities around the world, including aiding Jews in Russia suffering under the persecution of Stalin. As a result of the vastly different paths he and his father take and of the effect his art has on his family and people, Asher is forced to confront the implications of his gifts as an artist.
The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy:
'If ever I forget your name let me forget home and heaven...But no, no, my love, I never can forget 'ee; for you was a good man, and did good things!' Love, and the erratic heart, are at the centre of Hardy's 'woodland story'. Set in the beautiful Blackmoor Vale, The Woodlanders concerns the fortunes of Giles Winterborne, whose love for the well-to-do Grace Melbury is challenged by the arrival of the dashing and dissolute doctor, Edred Fitzpiers. When the mysterious Felice Charmond further complicates the romantic entanglements, marital choice and class mobility become inextricably linked. Hardy's powerful novel depicts individuals in thrall to desire and the natural law that motivates them. This is the only critical edition of The Woodlanders based on a comprehensive study of the manuscript and incorporating later revisions.
Once again, it was very difficult to choose just three from the great nominations, but those three were seconded most often by members. The poll will close on the evening of Friday 22 June in order to give people time to get hold of the chosen book. I look forward to finding out which it is!
Happy voting!
Anyway, here we go, the three choices for July's reading circle are as follows:
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence:
Constance Chatterley feels trapped in her sexless marriage to the invalid Sir Clifford. Unable to fulfill his wife emotionally or physically, Clifford encourages her to have a liaison with a man of their own class. But Connie is attracted instead to her husband's gamekeeper and embarks on a passionate affair that brings new life to her stifled existence. Can she find a true equality with Mellors, despite the vast gulf between their positions in society? One of the most controversial novels in English literature, Lady Chatterley's Lover is an erotically charged and psychologically powerful depiction of adult relationships.
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok:
A novel by about a Hasidic Jewish boy from Brooklyn, Asher Lev, who is a child artist prodigy. Lev struggles with his family and the people of his Hasidic sect for the right and freedom to use his great gifts as a drawing and painting artist, against the tendency of his people to view art as a waste of time, or worse--as a manifestation of the "sitra achra" (the "Other Side", the realm of the demonic). His father is an international worker for the spreading of orthodox Judaism among Jews and political advisor to the Rebbe, the spiritual leader of the sect; he travels the world in an effort to unite and bring hope to disparate Jewish communities around the world, including aiding Jews in Russia suffering under the persecution of Stalin. As a result of the vastly different paths he and his father take and of the effect his art has on his family and people, Asher is forced to confront the implications of his gifts as an artist.
The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy:
'If ever I forget your name let me forget home and heaven...But no, no, my love, I never can forget 'ee; for you was a good man, and did good things!' Love, and the erratic heart, are at the centre of Hardy's 'woodland story'. Set in the beautiful Blackmoor Vale, The Woodlanders concerns the fortunes of Giles Winterborne, whose love for the well-to-do Grace Melbury is challenged by the arrival of the dashing and dissolute doctor, Edred Fitzpiers. When the mysterious Felice Charmond further complicates the romantic entanglements, marital choice and class mobility become inextricably linked. Hardy's powerful novel depicts individuals in thrall to desire and the natural law that motivates them. This is the only critical edition of The Woodlanders based on a comprehensive study of the manuscript and incorporating later revisions.
Once again, it was very difficult to choose just three from the great nominations, but those three were seconded most often by members. The poll will close on the evening of Friday 22 June in order to give people time to get hold of the chosen book. I look forward to finding out which it is!
Happy voting!