Book Discussion
2:00-3:45 PM  Room:  West 115

Join five LLI members as they lead lively discussions of contemporary titles and old classics. Harriet Malbin, LLI’s I Love to Read facilitator, has been coordinating LLI book discussions for many years.  She is an avid reader who enjoys all kinds of books.

January 23 – Michael Mugnolo – Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Is this simply a story of boys behaving badly when marooned on a small Island?  Or is Golding raising disturbing questions about the nature of humanity?  Is it the impulse of society to govern itself civilly and act lawfully or to descend into savagery where the strong brutalize the weak?

January 30 – Celia Maddox – Stoner by John Williams
Despite the title, Stoner is not about the Grateful Dead, although its author, who is dead, has left behind a long – overlooked masterpiece.  Stoner is a Missouri farm boy who falls in love with learning and eventually becomes a professor.  He does not flourish at the University, or in marriage over the next forty years.

February 6 – Nancy Gluck – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…” After years of suffering from injustice, the mob dances in the streets of Paris and sends innocent people to their deaths.  Charles Dickens spins a romantic story of two families caught up in the French Revolution.

February 13 – John Sutton – Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
A powerful, lyrical novel about the tragedy of South African racism prior to the implementation of apartheid.  The focus is on Stephen Kumalo, a Zulu pastor who travels from his rural town to seek his son in Johannesburg.  A shining faith which is the essence of the novel.

February 20 – Presidents’ Day – no class.

February 27 – Richard Auwarter – Rabbit at Rest by John Updike
Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom is our aging hero and downward sliding individual in crisis.  He has acquired heart trouble, a Florida condo,   irritating son, and a second grandchild.  Family personalities and relationships are deeply poignant…but often tickling in humor.