- "The Big Sleep" by Raymond ChandlerLink visible for attendees
Let's read "The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler, published in 1939!
Los Angeles Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is working for the Sternwood family. The patriarch of the Sternwood family is being given the squeeze by a blackmailer and he wants Marlowe to make the problem go away. But with Sternwood's two wild, devil-may-care daughters prowling LA's backstreets, Marlowe's got his work cut out for him - and that's before he stumbles over the first corpse . . . 3.95/5.00 on Goodreads. 231 pages. *Credit to Goodreads for this summary.
Best-known as the creator of the original private eye Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler was born in Chicago in 1888 and died in 1959. Many of Chandler's books have been adapted for the screen, and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of detective fiction. His books include The Big Sleep, The Little Sister, Farewell, My Lovely, The Long Good-bye, The Lady in the Lake, Playback, Killer in the Rain, The High Window and Trouble is My Business.
You can buy the book in Kindle and paperback form here, or try to borrow it from your local library.
We hope you can join us! We use a paid version of Google Meet that is free for our members, and you do not need a Google account to join the video conference.
Let Sheena know if you have any questions or issues by sending a message through Meetup.
- "Crime & Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Parts 1-3)Link visible for attendees
Let's read "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky over the course of 2 Meetups in May and June!
Reading Schedule:
May 20th – Parts 1-3 (<-- note that this isn't the last Monday of May)
June 24th – Parts 4-6 & EpilogueRaskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders through the slums of St. Petersburg and commits a random murder without remorse or regret. He imagines himself to be a great man, a Napoleon acting for a higher purpose beyond conventional moral law. But as he embarks on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator, Raskolnikov is pursued by the growing voice of his conscience and finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck. First published in 1866. 4.26/5.00 on Goodreads, 671 pages. *Credit to Goodreads for this summary.
I suggest reading the Penguin Classics 2002 publication translated by David McDuff and available here. I have also heard good things about the Norton Critical Edition 1989 publication translated by Jessie Coulson and available here. That said, any English translation you can find online, at the book store, or at your library is perfectly fine.
We hope you can join us! We use a paid version of Google Meet that is free for our members, and you do not need a Google account to join the video conference.
Let Sheena know if you have any questions or issues by sending a message through Meetup.
- "Crime & Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Parts 4-6 & Epilogue)Link visible for attendees
Let's read "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky over the course of 2 Meetups in May and June!
Reading Schedule:
May 20th – Parts 1-3 (<-- note that this isn't the last Monday of May)
June 24th – Parts 4-6 & EpilogueRaskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders through the slums of St. Petersburg and commits a random murder without remorse or regret. He imagines himself to be a great man, a Napoleon acting for a higher purpose beyond conventional moral law. But as he embarks on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator, Raskolnikov is pursued by the growing voice of his conscience and finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck. First published in 1866. 4.26/5.00 on Goodreads, 671 pages. *Credit to Goodreads for this summary.
I suggest reading the Penguin Classics 2002 publication translated by David McDuff and available here. I have also heard good things about the Norton Critical Edition 1989 publication translated by Jessie Coulson and available here. That said, any English translation you can find online, at the book store, or at your library is perfectly fine.
We hope you can join us! We use a paid version of Google Meet that is free for our members, and you do not need a Google account to join the video conference.
Let Sheena know if you have any questions or issues by sending a message through Meetup.