Walking to Martha's Vineyard – February 23th 2015

Last month, Book Lovers Among Students met to discuss Franz Wright’s celebrated book of poems Walking to Martha’s Vineyard (2003). Hauntingly beautiful, minimalistic, but also brutally honest and seasoned with a great deal of sense of humor, these poems explore the themes of depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, as well as recovery, Catholic faith, human mortality, spirituality and gratitude. Wright claimed in one of his interviews that a lot of poems published in Walking to Martha’s Vineyard were “written either walking to, during, or walking home from mass. I would get home and just type them out, and often I wouldn't revise them.” While the second part of that statement was generally received with some deal of skepticism (considering the formal mastery demonstrated by the author in these poems), the remark about the importance of Catholic faith inspired us to discuss the status of religious poetry in Academia and beyond. Although religious poetry might be regarded as “a song of the past”, at least by the contemporary reader influenced by modernism, post-modernism and avant-garde writings in general, there exists a powerful trend in American poetry, which dates back to Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and confessional poetry, that embraces spirituality as its main theme. Wright is both a continuator of that tradition and a reformer in the field, stating that honesty of the experience (of both writing and reading) is his key objective. In an interview with Lawrence F. Laban (Poetry Center, The University of Arizona), Wright argues that “[a]nyone can write obscure poetry filled with mysterious but ultimately shallow and pointless non sequitur-like gibberish. Language like this is extremely dangerous (...) (It is also, incidentally, the best way to conceal a lack of talent for writing, or a lack of experience, of anything important to say.) (...) Great poetry that can be read by any person with a 6th grade reading ability, writing that is not infected with the weird malaise of irony, that is writing of primal sincerity and devotion to the experiences of real human beings in all times and places, has a chance of surviving.” The cynical reader will discredit Wright’s power; the honest reader will embrace him in all his beauty.

by Małgorzata Olsza

The Crucible - December 15th 2014

“Great plays can change their meaning with the passing of time and shifts in attitudes.”

Charles Spencer

Last month, Book Lovers Among Students met to discuss Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible (1953) written in response to the mass hysteria of the 1950s in the USA as well as the betrayal of his friend. The play explores the universal mechanisms of terror and mass hatred fueled by fears of the unknown. It is based on true people and events. Although dialogues are fictional, when writing, Miller resorted to the available Court documents from that time. During our discussion, we tried to answer the following questions: What led to these trials? What does the title mean? How can this play be interpreted these days? Finally, we also devoted a great deal of time to the analysis of the protagonists and adaptations of the Crucible, including the famous film from 1996 staring Winona Ryder and Daniel Day Lewis (who is Miller’s son-in-law).   

by Marta Makoś

The Song of Ice and Fire - November 17th 2014

from: http://storiesbywilliams.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/house-a-song-of-ice-and-fire-29965891-1920-1080.jpg

You probably wonder why it took so long to write a simple, short note about one meeting. It’s all because of King Joffrey. After he had killed Ned Stark, and learned that I did not speak highly of him during our meeting he abruptly decided to defend his “honor” and has been trying to kill me ever since. Don’t worry though, I am still alive (Mister Martin has no power over me!).

As you have probably already guessed, our first meeting was devoted to The Song of Ice and Fire. On November 17th we gathered to discuss such matters as medievalism in The Game of Thrones, values represented by some of the characters, and the brutality of the reality in Martin’s book. At the end of the meeting the debate still raged - is George R.R. Martin and his fantasy series a phenomenon or not? In order to answer this question we analyzed his narration, as well as the style and the theme of the book. We also tried to figure out what was popular first, his book or the TV series. While the former question has been more or less answered, the latter one has proven to be ‘the chicken or the egg ‘causality dilemma.

I would really like to write something more, but, you see, Joffrey has not finished haunting me yet. Let’s hope that the Witches of Salem won’t be as vengeful as he is or by the end of the year we will be short of several BLASt members! 

by Michał Kasperowicz

[2014-06-04] Fucking A

This Wednesday, we met to discuss a controversial play Fucking A (2000) by Suzan-Lori Parks who decided to claim Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel: “I’m going to write a play, a riff on The Scarlet Letter, and I’m going to call it Fucking A! Ha, ha, ha!” * At that time, Parks was joking, as she hadn’t read the novel. Nevertheless, this idea was preying on her mind for a very long time and, finally, the play saw the light of day.

[07-05-2014] HOME

This Wednesday we met to discuss Home (2012) – Toni Morrison’s latest novel or, rather, a longer novella since some of us complained that it was too short. On barely 145 pages, the author includes concisely such themes as race, masculinity, color(blindness), love, politics, property, violence, dysfunctional family and history/memory. Although we were all enchanted by the narrative and language, some critics find fault with our beloved (!) writer.

[2014-03-19] Cosmopolis

This Wednesday we met to discuss Cosmopolis (2003) – a novel by Don DeLillo. Our discussion revolved around the following questions: how to approach this piece of literature? What is the message for its reader? The novel undoubtedly escapes any rigid classification.

[27-02-2014] Passage

This Wednesday we met to discuss Passage (2001) – a novel written by one of the most read American writers of science fiction. In spite of the fact that the work received The Locus Award in 2002 (the winners are selected by the readers of Locus: The magazine of the science fiction & fantasy field, hence the name) BLAST had some second thoughts about it.

[2014-01-22] RABBIT RUN

This Wednesday, we met to discuss Rabbit, Run (1960) by JohnUpdike. At first glance, the storyline appears simple: a 26 year-old former high school basketball player - Harry ‘Rabbit’ Armstrong - is trapped in a troubled, boring marriage and a job without prospects. He experiences a personal turmoil and decides to run away in order to change his life. Nevertheless, Rabbit, Run turns out to be an existential novel about meaninglessness of life and lack of spiritual fulfillment. 

[2013-12-18] Jimmy Corrigan

This Wednesday we met to discuss Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth (2000), a graphic novel by Chris Ware. The proper discussion was preceded by two short interviews with the author in which he expatiates over the laborious and demanding process of comic creation. Then, we devoted some time to Ware’s exceptional style as well as to his sources of inspiration. If you are willing to plunge deeper into Ware’s literary output, we recommend that you read The Building Stories (2012), which is even more innovative in its form.

[2013-12-11] Sylvia

        
       This Wednesday, we met to watch and discuss Sylvia (2003) – a film dedicated to an acknowledged American poet Sylvia Plath. After a lively discussion, we arrived at a conclusion that, unfortunately, those who are acquainted a bit with Plath’s biography might feel greatly disappointed. Why? 

[2013-11-27] The Bell Jar

Last Wednesday, we met to discuss The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel written by Sylvia Plath. The presentation started with a brief peek into Plath’s life and a fragment of an interview with the poetess carried out in 1962. Looking back and recalling our impressions of reading the book for the first time, many of us admitted that Esther Greenwood used to be a role model and although mysterious, dark and troubled, still remains a fascinating and truly complex figure. We’ve also noticed some interesting notions and pondered on motifs, themes, and symbols found on the pages of The Bell Jar. We wondered how we shape our reality through language and how language shapes the reality we live in. What would happen if female writers were given stylos as attributes instead of paper roses? We tried to FIGure out what paths could women follow in America of the 1950s and more importantly, whether the plural form [paths] was righteously used in their case?

[2013-23-10] Portnoy's Complaint

We met to discuss the second chapter of Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth. After a brief intro about the author, we opened a discussion, starting with my personal favorite quote: “We would have manufactured all this mustard”. 

WELCOME BACK!

Dear Book Lovers,

Welcome all of you at the beginning of our new academic year. You can find our reading list for 2013/2014 below. We hope you will enjoy what we have planned for you this year!

[2013-04-19] M. Butterfly

Our April meeting was devoted to “M. Butterfly”, a play by an Asian American playwright David Henry Hwang.  During the introductory presentation club members looked at various theatrical traditions Hwang was inspired by to write his masterpiece play. 

[2013-03-22] LIFE ON MARS

This month, BLASt's meeting was devoted to Tracy K. Smith's book of poems entitled Life on Mars. Published in 2011, the collection was awarded The Pulitzer Prize in the following year. Our discussion focused on the treatment of science, science-fiction and the notion of the universe both in poetry and in prose, as well as the differences between the two modes. We also investigated Smith's formal approach towards poetry writing and her re-working of the elegy genre, the poet's use of pop-references (incl. David Bowie and Charlton Heston) and the affinity of her works with confessional poetry.

[2013-02-23] The Corrections

BLASt’s last meeting was devoted to Jonathan Franzen’s novel, The Corrections. We engaged in some trivia concerning Franzen: his infamous quarrel with Oprah Winfrey, the cover of Time Magazine featuring the author, and Franzen’s meeting with Barack Obama. 

[2013-01-10] Naked Lunch

During the first meeting of the New Year (10th of January 2013), club members discussed William Burroughs’ most notorious novel: “Naked Lunch”. 

[2012-12-13] The Virgin Suicides

This month, club’s members gathered on December 13, 2012 to discuss Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel The Virgin Suicides (1993) and watch its film adaptation directed by Sofia Coppola (1999). 

[2012-11-16] GERTRUDE STEIN’S IDA

Our second meeting during this semester was devoted to Gertrude Stein’s short novel Ida. Published in 1941, the book touches on the notion of publicity and continues to puzzle readers and critics alike. 

[2012-10-26] AMERICAN DRAMA

BLASt’s first session this semester took place on October 26, 2012. During the meeting we discussed David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross (1984) and its film adaptation by the same title (1992).