The Bear Came Over The Mountain, by Alice Munro, Book Discussion (via ZOOM)

We use the Shared Inquiry Method to discuss interesting pieces of literature, including this short story by the incomparable Alice Munro. Whether you’re a first time book group attendee or a long time participant, you’ll always be surprised at the thoughtful, illuminating, and entertaining conversations we generate!

There are four guidelines for participating in a Great Books Discussion:

1. Read the work.
2. Use the text to support your ideas (no outside sources).
3. The leader is not an authority on the discussion. There are no right/wrong responses.
4. Further the discussion by listening to what others say and follow-up on the train of thought.

2025 Discussions:
June 24: The Bear Came Over the Mountain, by Alice Munro, 49 pages (1999). (Found in her collection: Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage.) Grant puts Fiona in a retirement home for Alzheimer's, where she strikes up an unusually close relationship with a fellow patient.
July 22: The Stranger, by Albert Camus, 142 pgs (1942). An ordinary man is unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach. Camus explores "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd."
Aug 26: Bartleby the Scrivener, by Herman Melville, 64 pgs (1853). Set in mid-1800s NYC's Wall Street: what if a young man caught in the rat race of commerce finally just said, "I would prefer not to?”
Sept 23:The Tempest, by Wm Shakespeare, ≈218 pgs (1611). Prospero uses illusion and manipulation to restore his daughter to her rightful place, honoring the glories of reconciliation and forgiveness.
Oct 28:We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson. 146 pgs (1962). Gothic tale of a peculiar girl named Merricat and her family’s dark secret.
Nov 25:The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, by Ursula K Le Guin, 32 pgs (1973). Some inhabitants of a peaceful kingdom cannot tolerate the act of cruelty that underlies the kingdom’s happiness.

NO discussion in December.

Thank you,
Cindy B
206-501-6621
bouldin@aol.com