What a wide ranging yet cohesive discussion for Decline and Fall last night (even with a relatively large contingent)! I love the varied opinions and observations but also feel that enough of you have been attending for long enough now that we've developed a common foundation and set of references that truly enrich the conversation. Not sure we would have had the same meeting about this book in our early days! I can't thank you enough for your time, commitment, and enthusiastic support for the Book Group and consequentially, Wellesley Books, your locally owned independent bookstore. :)
Courtesy of Andrew Lowenstein I'm attaching a link to the YouTube video of Stephen Fry's autobiographical presentation at the Sydney Opera House where he references Evelyn Waugh and Decline and Fall extensively.
Andrew writes: Like most of Stephen Fry’s work, it's erudite and rambling but if you don’t want to watch the whole thing, here are some times he speaks about Waugh and Decline and Fall:
- 11:55 “Instead of television…”
- 13:15 “Waugh’s first novel Decline and Fall”
- 14:40 “I was sent away to a prep school"
- 20:05 “I wanted to emulate Paul Pennyfeather”
Our next meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 17th at 7pm. We will be reading Black Swan Green by David Mitchell. Mitchell is one of my absolute favorite authors but, contrary to popular belief, we've never actually read one of his books for the Group. Seems like Cloud Atlas or The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet comes up at nearly every meeting, but are too long to tackle for our purposes. Black Swan Green is a better length and its structure should provide an interesting comparison to selections like A Visit from the Goon Squad or The Tsar of Love and Techno.
Lastly,
as promised, here are some photos from my recent sojourn to Taipei and
the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Bookstore reconnaissance mission.
Orwell/1984 is a global phenomenon!
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| The local best-seller. |
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| Chiang Kai-shek |
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| Looking toward the Freedom Gate |
