Western Classics Book Club Sydney

I (Dale) will be going along to the Constance Cox adaptation of the classic tale by Oscar Wilde, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime.

First published in 1887, the story introduces Lord Arthur Savile, who, after a palm reading, is told that he is destined to commit murder.

If he *must* murder someone, surely it is better for him to select someone now, rather than risk the well-being of people he loves. If he doesn't murder someone now, perhaps he will be at risk of murdering his future wife. Murdering someone now, perhaps, becomes the right thing to do.

I have bought a ticket for the matinee performance at the Genesian on Sunday June 1 at 4.30pm. If interested, please buy your own ticket online, and let me know you will be there, so we can meet up and chat about the play afterwards. There are several nice pubs nearby.

For the short story, go to https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/773

For the 1958 movie adaptation, go to https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lord%20arthur%20savile%27s%20crime%20movie

To buy tickets for the play at the Genesian, go to http://www.genesiantheatre.com.au/index.php?mode=view&s=2025&i=3

CHANGE OF VENUE!

PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR THIS MEETING, WE WILL BE MEETING AT THE GLEBE HOTEL, GLEBE (details below).
Plays are meant to be watched, rather than read, so reading a play means extra effort.

King Lear is just under 3 hours to watch, but takes about double that time to read. So just like a novel. It requires extra effort, but is deeply satisfying.

King Lear is...a King. He is the ruler of all he sees. Except, when he is close to death, he has to divide his kingdom among three daughters. They all love him....they say they love him dearly....except for one. One of his daughters refuses to engage in a competition of shallow flattery. Rather than seeing her sincere love as an expression of honesty, he misunderstands her ('How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is - to have a thankless child!').

Like King Lear, we may be Royalty today – but soon we will be old, and fragile. And from that position of weakness, we will be grateful for the smallest kindness.

My (Dale's) favourite way of reading a Shakespeare play is to look at the original against a 'modern' translation. There is a series of 'No Fear Shakespeare' books that do exactly that.

Kindle, hard copy and 'No Fear Shakespeare' and annotated editions are on Amazon for less than $14. Or email me at dalemills (at) cantab.net for a free pdf of the 'No Fear: Shakespeare' edition. Pdfs can be converted to Kindle compatible files at freeconvert.com (contact me if you need assistance).

As can be imagined, there are multiple movies, summaries, etc of King Lear on youtube. This play requires a little effort, but is really worth it. I like to think of it as a complex carbohydrate, rather than a quick-fix sugar.

We will be meeting at The Glebe Hotel, 63 Bay Street, Glebe. This is because of a last-minute notice from The Shakespeare that they are closing for two weeks for renovations. Let's pray that they keep the original charm. The Glebe is less than 3 minutes walk from Broadway Shopping Centre (I timed it tonight). It will be a little off the beaten track for some, but that avoids the sports events, the trivia nights and the end-of-financial-year parties in the other hotels I checked. The upstairs of the hotel is the 'Nude Room', so-called because of the number of nudes it has on display. It is really more like a 19th century Parisian Salon, rather than a pub. The furniture is lovely.

We will be meeting at 7.00pm, at the usual place, upstairs at the Shakespeare Hotel, 200 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills, Sydney, on Thursday July 3. We will be discussing All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

This is a semi-autobiographical novel based on the author's experience of World War 1.

“I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow.”

This is quite a short, but powerful, book. It was banned by the Nazis.

The Shakespeare Hotel is a lively pub in Sydney’s inner west, but the semi-private rooms upstairs are conducive to conversation. We will be meeting upstairs in the Two Tables room (look for the sign or ask at the bar). Getting to the room requires walking up two small flights of stairs.

The Shakespeare is a 10 min walk from Central train station, almost opposite Surry Hills Light Rail and local parking is reasonable.

The format of the meeting is that we talk about the book for 50 mins in a fairly focused way. All books have been suggested by the group. After that, the meeting is formally closed. Almost everyone stays back to talk more about the book, or other books, or anything else! A $5 donation is requested to cover the horrendous fees charged by MeetUp. First-timers and those of limited means don't have to contribute. I am not keeping tabs.

We will be meeting at 7.00pm, at the usual place, upstairs at the Shakespeare Hotel, 200 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills, Sydney, on Thursday August 7. We will be discussing *Candide (*1759) by the famous Enlightenment French philosopher, Voltaire.

This is a very funny and philosophical story that follows a young man’s journey through a chaotic and often absurd world.

It explores optimism, human suffering and general silliness.

The Shakespeare Hotel is a lively pub in Sydney’s inner west, but the semi-private rooms upstairs are conducive to conversation. We will be meeting upstairs in the Two Tables room (look for the sign or ask at the bar). Getting to the room requires walking up two small flights of stairs.

The Shakespeare is a 10 min walk from Central train station, almost opposite Surry Hills Light Rail, and local parking is reasonable.

The format of the meeting is that we talk about the book for 50 mins in a fairly focused way. All books have been suggested by the group. After that, the meeting is formally closed. Almost everyone stays back to talk more about the book, or other books, or anything else! A $5 donation is requested to cover the horrendous fees charged by MeetUp. First-timers and those of limited means don't have to contribute. I am not keeping tabs.