This thread is a focused discussion group. Please see the first post below for the current topic and upcoming book discussions. While natter will inevitably happen, we encourage you to treat this like a virtual book club and try to keep your posts in that spirit.
By consensus, this thread is reopened specifically to discuss Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It will be closed again once that discussion has run its course.
***SPOILER ALERT***
- **Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows lie here. Read at your own risk***
No ice water is necessary, Wolfram!
:wink:
Drumroll...
My selection for the next book is:
The Red Tent,
by Anita Diamant.
From Library Journal:
Skillfully interweaving biblical tales with events and characters of her own invention, Diamant's (Living a Jewish Life, HarperCollins, 1991) sweeping first novel re-creates the life of Dinah, daughter of Leah and Jacob, from her birth and happy childhood in Mesopotamia through her years in Canaan and death in Egypt. When Dinah reaches puberty and enters the Red Tent (the place women visit to give birth or have their monthly periods), her mother and Jacob's three other wives initiate her into the religious and sexual practices of the tribe. Diamant sympathetically describes Dinah's doomed relationship with Shalem, son of a ruler of Shechem, and his brutal death at the hands of her brothers. Following the events in Canaan, a pregnant Dinah travels to Egypt, where she becomes a noted midwife. Diamant has written a thoroughly enjoyable and illuminating portrait of a fascinating woman and the life she might have lived. Recommended for all public libraries.
-Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
So, one thing that should be pretty apparent is that all the academic travel here is presented as parallel to the the Grail quest, and even includes a pure character based on Parsifal.
smacks forehead
I'm not sure I made the specific connection with the grail, but I got the quest aspect with all of its attendant adventures. Of course all quest stories have a grail aspect, so I probably should have just followed it through.
The structure of plots like this facinate me. The thousand little coincidences and meetings etc that have to be put together just so.
David, I'm sure you've read Confederacy of Dunces, but I'm now convinced that you must read LP&L.
I'm only about a third of the way through this month's book, and I can see that I should wait to read the discussion, because I'm totally lost. I will return.
So, one thing that should be pretty apparent is that all the academic travel here is presented as parallel to the the Grail quest, and even includes a pure character based on Parsifal.
Never occurred to me either. Of course if you asked this literary heathen what Medieval Romance novels are, I'd have said gothic bodice-rippers set in the middle-ages, so it's really no surpise.
I did finish the book, but I'm so swamped right now, I'll try and post some layman thoughts tomorrow.
And no bucket for libkitty.
Red Tent
looks fascinating.
Wolfram, it is fascinating. It is also just beautifully written and oh. I can't wait. Luckily, my life whizzes by so quickly, I hardly have to wait.
Wolfram, it is fascinating. It is also just beautifully written and oh. I can't wait. Luckily, my life whizzes by so quickly, I hardly have to wait.
I can't wait to finally get some spicy-Cindy-brain posts in our next discussion. (You've read it already haven't you?)
Yes, and more importantly, I have it. I don't have to wait to get the the library or the book store. I can start now as I finish Asher, and skip this new one entirely.