Sylvie’s Comments (group member since Jun 29, 2019)

Sylvie’s comments from the Three Mugs Book Club group.

NPR's Juan Vidal sums up his reading of this collection, "Reading Lispector is like being handed a world on fire. Or rather, a number of blazing worlds that at any moment could explode and level everything around them. And yet they are worlds you choose to hold, because their melancholy holds a certain depth of meaning." 

some thoughts about Lispector's work, from reviews: Though there are recurring themes such as love, marriage, motherhood and domesticity, it is the intensity with which Lispector observes the inner life of her heroines that is most striking.

here is the Zoom link: LauraDenise White is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.



Topic: Three Mugs Book Group

Time: May 31, 2020 05:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)



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All, can you confirm if you can make it for an online meeting 5 pm Sunday May 31? Laura Denise will set up a Zoom meeting and i will post the link here.

So not only did I find a Project Gutenberg version of Beyond Lies the Wub, but Jim helped me download it to my Kindle reader and it acts just like a Kindle book! Then I found a YouTube audiobook of it produced by LibreVox recordings. If you want to listen instead of read (or do both) here it is - love the cover art! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac5oA...

Ok folks! ROLL......our selections are The Fifth Story by Clarice Lispector, and Beyond Lies the Wub by Philip K. Dick. We will be able to read both because of their short length.

We can also use the group discussion space in Facebook to discuss the other selections that were nominated. How does Sunday 5/31 sound, 5 pm? I’m flexible, suggest other dates/times if those work better.

PKD's "Beyond Lies the Wub" is available as a free Project Gutenberg read! Yay us! The Collected Stories of Phillip K Dick - Vol 1The Complete StoriesThe Complete Storieshttps://www.gutenberg.org/files/28554...

Clarice Lispector's Book, The Complete Stories, in which we can find our selection "The Fifth Story," is available on Amazon.com as an e-book or paper book. https://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-S...

Alrighty. Matt has the poll up (thanks Matt!) and we'll wait until May 10 to choose the winners. We had talked about reading either a pair of stories or a novella this time, so after the poll, we'll go with the top two winners, or if the top pick is a novella, we'll do that one. Happy voting! https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/9...

We were talking about reading a couple stories or a novella this time. Thanks for your suggestions. Help me narrow this list down by telling me which of these deserve to be in the poll.
Alice Munro, The Royal Beatings (The Beggar Maid, 1978): Her style has been described as raw and realistic.
(in Canada the collection was Who Do You Think You Are? ) is a series of stories that focus on the same characters, Rose and her stepmother Flo, who live on the wrong side of the small town of Hanratty. As Rose struggles to rise out of her humble origins, the question of whether or not she is truly “free” remains.

Brandon Sanderson, The Emperor's Soul (a novalla from Arcanum Unbounded, 2016): fantasy author
A heretic thief is the empires only hope in this fascinating tale that inhabits the same world as the popular novel, Elantris.

Andrzej Sapkowski, The Malady (The Malady & Other Stories): fantasy author best known for his series of stories and novels about Geralt, the Witcher

Amy Bonnaffons, Horse (The Wrong Heaven, 2018): Her style described as surreal, irreverent, at times humorous, a very original use of magical realism.
About a woman who cannot have children, and another who wants to become a horse, so she begins taking injections to become a horse. An abridged version of this story was performed on This American Life #631. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/631/...

Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, This is How You Lose the Time War (Novella, 2019): Bradley Horner's pick for us when I asked him. He is in love with this story.
One of NPR's Best Books of 2019 - Two time-traveling agents from warring futures, working their way through the past, begin to exchange letters—and fall in love

Ken Liu, The Paper Menagerie (The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, 2016)
About a little boy named Kan, whose Chinese mother is able to make origami paper animals and then breathe life into them using magic. About learning about your family and dealing with cross-cultural divides. (Story is read and transcribed on the Escape Pod podcast here - https://escapepod.org/2012/05/17/ep34...)

Philip K Dick, Beyond Lies the Wub (The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 1: Beyond Lies the Wub, 1999): Described as comical, surreal, even bizarre, some of his stories read like detective fiction (think Blade Runner).
What it says about civilization: none of it can stand up against an empty stomach, especially when the most immediate means of filling said stomach happens to be delicious.

Lesley Nneka Arimah, What Is a Volcano? (What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky, 2017): She is known for her humor and horror.
A fable about a feud between the goddess of rivers and the god of ants.

Karen Russell, Reeling for the Empire (Vampires in the Lemon Grove, 2013): The author is described as a fluently beautiful master of prose with heartfelt commentary in the form of storytelling.
The story is about a one-room factory in 19th-century Japan where girls spin exquisite silk. The catch is — and we learn this in the opening pages of the story — that the girls themselves have partly metamorphosed into silkworms.

Phil Klay, Money As A Weapons System (Redeployment, 2014): He's described as being able to carry us from the battlefield to the strip bar, from the funny to the harrowing to the heartbreaking.
In the blackly hilarious story, a provincial reconstruction official tries to rebuild the area near Tikrit only to have a fortune in American aid be lost to local corruption and an American millionaire's demented mission to teach the Iraqis baseball.

Frank Stockton, The Lady, or The Tiger? First published 1882.
Centers around a justice system in which the accused determine their own fate by choosing between two doors in an arena.

Clarice Lispector, The Attack (The Complete Stories, 2015): Brazilian author translated from Portuguese. Though there are recurring themes such as love, marriage, motherhood and domesticity, it is the intensity with which Lispector observes the inner life of her heroines that is most striking.
About a woman who discovers cockroaches in her home and must reconcile her desire not to harm them with her desire to get rid of them. More surreal than that, but my description is inadequate. :)

Edgar Keret, Kneller's Happy Campers (novella in The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God & Other Stories, 2001): Hip, daring, and provocative Israeli author.
A bitingly satirical yet wistful road trip set in the afterlife for suicides.

HELEN OYEYEMI, If a Book Is Locked There’s Probably a Good Reason for That Don't You Think (WHAT IS NOT YOURS IS NOT YOURS, 2016)
A key keeps a mystical diary locked (for good reason).
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (about the aftermath of a flu pandemic)

Foundation by Asimov

InterWorld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reeves

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Beginning Place by Ursula Le Guin

Here are some nominations I've bern thinking of:
The Bohr Maker by Linda Nagata (science fiction)
The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar (fiction)

Good morning! We selected Dan Simmons' Hyperion for our next book pick. We will meet on Sun, Jan. 19 at 5 pm and Tues, Feb. 4 at 8 pm at Three Mugs in Hillsboro. Feel free to choose the time that works for you.

Fun sci fi video and article you may like

Ted-ed: Why we should read Octavia Butler, an illustrated video.
https://youtu.be/X6YI8lsjJJA

Wired: The 20 Best Books of a Decade That Unmade Genre Fiction
https://www.wired.com/story/best-book...
Ursula K. Le Guin and Octavia Butler get nice acclamations.

Today is the day for your nominations! Reply to this post or send them to Matt via Messenger or text today! Thank you.

Nomination for consideration in January's book club - Hyperion by Dan Simmons, and Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The library has an ebook and 2 audiobook copies. Scribd.com has an audio version. The Kindle version is $7.99. Happy reading!

And our December book is A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. We will meet after the holidays on Tues, Jan. 7 at 8 pm, and the mid month meeting will be Sunday, Dec. 15 at 5 pm.