Planning Our 5th Read of 2025

[Susan]

The group’s had a busy year of reading so far, starting in ancient Mesopotamia with Gilgamesh and going on to George Orwell’s prescient Animal Farm and 1984, then back to ancient Rome with Ovid’s Metamorphoses, to ancient India with the Bhagavad Gita, and now to nineteenth century Russia with Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground. And, now it’s time to decide what to read next.

The Random Book Generator (RBG) and moderators propose the following:

John Brown's Body by Stephen Vincent Benet
The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays AND The Stranger by Albert Camus
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The Mayor of Castorbridge by Thomas Hardy
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

What appeals most to you? Exploring existential thought with Albert Camus in philosophic essays paired with his most famous novel? Experiencing the American Civil War in the poetic epic of Stephen Vincent Benét? Or would you like to dive into what some consider Charles Dickens’ best novel as a young man comes of age in Victorian England? Or would you prefer Thomas Hardy’s story of a pillar of the community with a secret hidden in his past? Or maybe you would like to read and discuss Gustave Flaubert’s classic novel of literary realism as a young woman’s romantic beliefs collide with reality? Or would you like to go with one of Virginia Woolf’s best known novels as a well to do society hostess plans a party and a survivor of World War I looks for meaning?

This week’s thread is a chance to advocate for your favorites, share information, and ask any questions before the poll goes up for voting on October 8. The read will start November 5.

[Roger]

I've always enjoyed Hardy, moody and gloomy though he is, so I'll go for Mayor.