January 18, 2016

The Children Act, Ian McEwan - January 25, 2016

We'll meet January 25 at Julie's house to discuss The Children Act.

Supplemental materials:

  • Katherine will have a lot of things for us because her dad teaches this text as part of a seminar
  • Publisher's discussion questions
  • Kalamazoo Public Library discussion questions
  • New York Times review
  • Washington Post review
  • The Guardian review
  • NPR review
  • Kirkus review
  • The Spectator review
  • Ian McEwan's web site - includes a video introduction by McEwan to The Children Act and video of a discussion between McEwan and Martin Amis
  • Transcript of an interview with McEwan about TCA on the Diane Rehm show (whoever she is)

January 2, 2016

The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton - January 4, 2015

We'll meet on January 4 at Kerry's house to discuss The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.

Supplemental materials:

  • Publisher's discussion questions posted at LitLovers
  • Segullah Book Club's discussion, including a couple of their own questions 
  • Mount Pleasant Public Library discussion questions
  • Julie Olin-Ammentorp's discussion questions
  • Teacher Vision's entry for The Age of Innocence, including some biographical material about Wharton
  • Novel Guide essay questions/answers
  • Masterwork study by Linda Wagner-Martin: The Age of Innocence: A Novel of Ironic Nostalgia (Thanks, Suzanne!)
  • New Yorker article from 2014 when Wharton's early letters were auctioned at Christie's. Article includes lots of biographical info about her.
  • Journal article, "Silencing Women in Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence," Clair Virginia Eby, Colby Quarterly, Vol. 28, 1992
  • Critical essay, "The Ironic Structure and Untold Stories in The Age of Innocence," Kathy Miller Hadley, Twentieth Century Literary Criticism, Vol. 53, 1991
  • Discussion amongst some readers on Goodreads about Newland Archer being a jerk
  • From Kathy, here are two poems that she found illuminating on the question of Newland Archer's character:  My Heart by Frank O'Hara, and I Dwell in Possibility by Emily Dickinson
As always, let me know if you come across useful materials/questions.

Steph's discussion topic: How does living amidst rigid social mores (pretend there's an accent on that e) affect a person's ability to make moral judgements? What purpose do mores serve?