Great Book discussion groups are open-ended gatherings where people of all backgrounds come to talk about literature and the great ideas and issues that literature addresses. Groups read and discuss a short literary selection each month. Please join in at anytime. For more information call the Main Library at 270-781-4882.
Great Book discussions will take place each month on the first Tuesday and the following Thursday. As we move into our fourth year, we will be reading selections from Even Deadlier, the much-anticipated sequel to last year's popular The 7 Deadly Sins Sampler. We'll delve deeper into questions surrounding the seven deadly sins, discussing one selection each month and pulling focus questions from the ones that follow it in the text. There are 14 selections that all look intriguing and should spark some interesting discussions. The selections will be read in the order in which they appear in the book. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the Main
Library prior to the January meetings.
August Great Books Selection
Tuesday, August 3rd at 6:00 p.m.
Thursday, August 5th at 12:30 p.m.
The Custard Heart (pp. 176 - 187)
by Dorothy Parker
The focus question is: Why is Mrs. Lanier unable to face life? Why does eveyone want to shield her from pain?
2010 past topics
July
Babylon Revisited (p 148)
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Why does Charlie leave his brother-in-law's address for Duncan Schaeffer?
June
My First Two Women (p 128) by Nadine Gordimer
Why is the narrator's anger directed at Deb but not at his mother or father?
May
Torch Song (p 106)
by John Cheever
Why is Joan the only friend to come to Jack when he is sick? Why does she call him "darling"?
April
Weekend by Fay Weldon (p 84)
Why is it "quite a joke" between Martha and Martin that they have a "contract by which she went out to work," so that Martha must pay for specific comforts and necessities? If Martha has to pay for certain things, why doesn't Martin do his share around the house?
March
Krakatau by Jim Shepard
(p 63)
What does the narrator mean when he refers to Donnie's guilt as "the ultimate weapon"?
January
La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac (p 2)
Why does the narrator make a point of comparing the ways of Vendome, "where everyone is economical and a praiseworthy moderation is the rule," to the less restrained ways of the Parisians?
February
The Old Gentleman (p 26)
by Frances Hwang
What does it mean that Agnes "had not wanted to know of [her father's] happiness"? Why does she say, "My father is a foolish man"?
