Friday, October 26, 2012

Hello Fellow Book Clubbers,
Here are some questions for contemplation before Book Club which will be on the second Tuesday (13th)  in November due to Cup Day.

James Joyce was born on February 2, 1882 in Dublin, Ireland to impoverished parents. As the son of a devout Roman Catholic mother and a tax collector,
his works are heavily resentful of male figures and the Catholic Church.
1. What is the story which you responded to most, emotionally?
2.How are the themes of paralysis and simony echoed in the short stories?
And in case anyone else didn't know what it means......
Simony: In Christianity  the practice, now usually regarded as a sin, of buying or selling spiritual or Church benefits such as pardons, relics, etc, or preferments
3. How is Charles Parnell an important figure throughout the book?
4. What are the connecting factors that allow this book to be grouped as a collection of short stories?
5. What sort of image does Joyce paint of England? How could his upbringing have influenced this?
6. What causes Joyce's epiphanies to occur? Why does he tend to end his stories with an epiphany
7.Is "Araby" a conventional love story?  At the end of "Araby," why does the narrator say his eyes "burned with anguish and anger" (p. 28)?
8.To what extent does one's birthplace determine one's identity or destiny?
9. Is individual freedom inevitably limited by the social customs of a particular place?

Hope to see you all soon.
Irene

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Hiya,
Would somebody please post the address for Book Club tonight?
Thanks,
Irene