Welcome to the Douglas Fir Reading Circle: 2 2006

In first term we will be discussing the books below. For each title you will find a brief summary of the plot. .

Your task is to create & respond to the questions posed using your Reading Response Journals as a guide. Below each title you will find several questions to guide you in your discussions. The questions have been selected to challenge you to create evaluative responses to the novel you are reading. Share these reactions with the group. Each student is required to post at least one insightful question for every book under discussion.

 

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale

 

"In the world of the near future, who will control women's bodies? Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are only valued if their ovaries are viable."'- Read an interview with Margaret Atwood

 

 

Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone

 

"Stolen from the forehead of a Hindu idol, the dazzling gem known as The Moonstone resurfaces at a birthday party in an English country home--with an enigmatic trio of watchful Brahmins hot on its trail. Laced with superstitions, suspicion, humor, and romance, this 1868 mystery draws readers into a compelling tale with twists and turns ranging from sleepwalking to experimentation with opium. The suspense and drama is heightened as the narrative passes from one colorful character to the next. Wilkie Collins' masterpiece is particularly distinguished by the appearance of Sergeant Cuff, a prototype of the English detective hero and the harbinger of a popular tradition of sleuthing."

 

 

 

Cornwell, Bernard. The Winter King

Check out Bernard Cornwell's website - http://www.bernardcornwell.net/index2.cfm?page=13&ImgId=10 - For historical & literary background check out the Thomas Green's Arthurian Resources from Oxford University http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/ and the Camelot Project at the University of Rochester http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/cphome.stm

 

 

Courtney, Bryce. The Power of One

 

"Set in a world torn apart, where man enslaves his fellow man and freedom remains elusive, THE POWER OF ONE is the moving story of one young man's search for the love that binds friends, the passion that binds lovers, and the realization that it takes only one to change the world. A weak and friendless boy growing up in South Africa during World War II, Peekay turns to two older men, one black and one white, to show him how to find the courage to dream, to succeed, to triumph over a world when all seems lost, and to inspire him to summon up the most irrersistible force of all: the Power of One."

 

 

Herbert, Frank. Dune

 

"This Hugo and Nebula Award winner tells the sweeping tale of a desert planet called Arrakis, the focus of an intricate power struggle in a byzantine interstellar empire. Arrakis is the sole source of Melange, the "spice of spices." Melange is necessary for interstellar travel and grants psychic powers and longevity, so whoever controls it wields great influence." 

 

 

 

Keyes, Daniel. Flowers for Algernon

 

Algernon is extra-clever thanks to an experimental brain operation so far tried only on animals. Charlie eagerly volunteers as the first human subject. After frustrating delays and agonies of concentration, the effects begin to show and the reports steadily improve: "Punctuation, is? fun!" But getting smarter brings cruel shocks, as Charlie realizes that his merry "friends" at the bakery where he sweeps the floor have all along been laughing at him, never with him. The IQ rise continues, taking him steadily past the human average to genius level and beyond, until he's as intellectually alone as the old, foolish Charlie ever was--and now painfully aware of it. Then, ominously, the smart mouse Algernon begins to deteriorate..." ‘A devastating, masterful and painfully honest story of a life crippled by an act of childhood cowardice and cruelty ... although

 

 

Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner

 

The Kite Runner is told with simplicity and poise, it is a novel of great hidden intricacy and wisdom, like a timeless Eastern tale. It speaks the most harrowing truth about the power of evil, personal and political, and intoxicates, like a high-flying kite, with the power of hope’ —Daily Telegraph

 

 

 

James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw

 

"James's novella is one of the great intellectual spook tales of all time. The plot: A neurotic governess, believing that the two children in her care are being haunted by malevolent ghosts, seeks to exorcize them."

 

 

 

Martel, Yann. Life of Pi

 

 

"Winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. The Life of Pi tells the story of Pi Patel, the son of a zookeeper, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior, a fervent love of stories, and practices not only his native Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes. The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger."

 

 

Moore, Brian. The Statement

 

"After Nazi Germany occupied France, many Frenchmen took a direct hand in the deportation of more than 80,000 Jews. Following the war, some -- Paul Touvier among them -- were convicted of treason, pardoned in the 1970s, and then rearrested and jailed. Brian Moore takes off from there with a thrilling fictional account of Pierre Brossard, who lives a shadowy life, flees from pursuers and confronts some of France's most vexing questions from an horrific time in its history."

 

 

 

Rand, Ayn. Anthem

 

"Ayn Rand's Anthem is a short dystopic novel about a man who escapes a society from which all individuality has been squeezed. The book was published in 1938, a decade before Orwell's 1984. Anthem provides a good introduction to Rand's philosophy of "objectivism," which is built on individuality, freedom, and reason.""This anecdotal record of a young man's encounter with the Chinese and their way of life offers unique insights to readers. Salzman had majored in Chinese literature at Yale, and his first job after graduation in 1982 was teaching English to students and teachers at Hunan Medical College in Changsha. He met this considerable challenge with sensitivity, humor, and imagination, and was quickly regarded with respect and affection.

 

 

Salzman, Mark. Iron and Silk

 

Salzman had studied martial arts since he was 13, and he continued his practice in Changsha, where one of China's foremost experts, Pan Qingfu, accepted him as a pupil. Readers will become aware of the many styles of the sport, and, incidentally, the real meaning of ``kung fu. Each fascinating episode illuminates the way to a deeper understanding of Chinese culture and character."

 

 

Sebold, Alice. The Lovely Bones

 

"The story is about Susie Salmon, a fourteen year old girl who was murdered in the 1970s. It shows how her mother Abigail, her father Jack, her sister Lindsey and her brother Buckley coped with Susie's death. The story reveals how Susie was killed, and then how the family had to cope with losing her. It follows the family through many years, watching as Susie's siblings grow up and fall in love, etc. It also shows you how Susie doesn't want to leave her family and friends behind."

 

Shute, Nevil. On the Beach

 

"They are the last generation, the innocent victims of an accidental war, living out their last days, making do with what they have, hoping for a miracle. As the deadly rain moves ever closer, the world as we know it winds toward an inevitable end.... "

 

 

 

 Source of cover art: http://www.amazon.com