Awesome meeting today @ the Pub, AKA the restaurant with the world's scariest bathroom.
The good news is our agenda has basically turned into 3 items: discussion, nomination & angry fistfights.
Notes from todays' discussion about 100 Years of Solitude by Gabrial Garcia Marquez:
General discussion:
confusion of aurelianos & arcadios – at once makes for difficult reading but is intentional to reflect the cyclic aspect of human nature.
Supernatural reality – the mundane as fantastic and the fantastic is mundane.
Fatalism, pessimistic view of human nature. Non-family members living in the house without exception submit & are overwhelmed by the will of the Buendia.
City planning at first is very simple & easy. As more of modern civilization is introduced to the town, the worse conditions get. This is corollated more strongly when introduced by a Buendia family member. Religion, technology, politics, war.
Narration of the banana workers' massacre recited as an excellent example of the narrative poetry of the novel as a whole.
I'll make a new post when I find a location for our next meeting. Our book for next month is "The Boy Detective Fails" by Joe Meno.
Any objections to making it a May Day cookout/drunk fest @ my place? I have a frisbee, cornhole, & will have a fucking bitching kite by then. Plus grillin' drinkin' philosophizin' etc. etc.
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Also, as was confirmed after I turned off my laptop:
ReplyDeleteAmaranta is a fucking bitch.
No objection to cookout from me.
ReplyDeleteIf Amaranta is a bitch does that mean meliquides is the source of her bitchiness?
We also did not mention the encyclopedia in the book. Spark notes says it is a symbol for something. I'm thinking something along the lines of how history booksare only as good as those who interpret them. What if the last arcadio (or whoever it was that finally translated it at the end) was wrong? I mean what if the experiences he had in his life and the stories he heard affected the way he read the sanskrit? Eventually they just strted making up stories based on the pictures in the encyclopedia because they couldn't read.
Another question that we didn't discuss:
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell is wrong with solitude anyway?
http://zenhabits.net/2010/04/solitude/
I like this blog.
Andy- I think the may day grill out sounds like a lot of fun. Should we invite others to come two hours after we begin or should we just keep it as a bookclub day. I'm perfectly happy with either one.
ReplyDeletemikebdot- Interesting! I hadn't thought about the encyclopedia thing but I love the observations you make. It makes sense that it would stand for that bc/ as we all know from other points in the book - the history books don't necessarily tell the true history of the times...example: the banana company massacre being left out and saying the workers voluntarily just left. Also there is the scene where they think Col. Buendia is in one of the pics in the encyclopedia, but it's actually someone else they don't know...does it matter? It's part of their history and they learn something anyway. Also, the points on solitude are interesting. Are they saying solitude is bad? I don't know. I think perhaps the self-inflicted solitude of not knowing how to navigate life and being self obsessed with personal sorrow was portrayed as bad, but not necessarily all solitude. I think the Col. finally found peace in his solitude with the gold fishes...or do you think it was selfish moping?, and Ursula's blindness left her to solitude and that is where she finally made peace with the things around her....maybe? Oh, and I love the idea that the Sanskrit could have simply been saying what was happening and not the fated future. It's all magical, so why not? The only thing is, though, the reason he realizes that he has broken the code is bc/ he see's the baby being eaten by ants and realizes he has read that before in the writings. But, I still like the idea bc/ it opens up the text to the idea that perhaps all their choices really did mean something...their lives, loves, and passions weren't predestined and simply the mechanics of the universe...that instead it was a personal choice and really meant something. Perhaps the beginning and end were always going to happen,but what happens in the middle is up to you...and you make of it what you can. Very interesting thinking points. Thanks...I shall go ponder them some more :)
ah! Or perhaps you were saying that the writings were like a horoscope...you read in it what you want to?
ReplyDeletei'm probably off base, but personally I found the Colonel's solution far more absurd & tragic than Ursula's. That may be an extension of the absurdity I found in his character relative to the grounded nature of Ursula. His fishes seem so empty. Her blindness, profound.
ReplyDeleteRe: May Day party, how about we start book club @ 1 pm orso & make it a full on party, all friend inclusive, starting around 3 pm?
Stealing Glen's joke without shame, I will show up and participate on one single condition: You do not attempt to force us to watch any of the "Step Up" movies.
ReplyDeleteI would almost be willing to splurge and buy a keg if you agreed to that one stipulation.
For shame, Michael, for shame!
ReplyDeleteBut I obviously preemptively agree. Yes on 1, Yes on 3, No on "The Streets".
I just finished. Read about half the book tonight in about 2 hours. I want to thank Gary for his selection as I would have probably not picked up this author without his choice. Now all I have to do is transcribe all the word on the bottom of the pages and break that like cryptograph. Glee! Mike, I will hand you my copy tomorrow.
ReplyDelete*all the words on- dammit
ReplyDelete*break that little cryptograph - dammit again.