Jerome K. Jerome - Three Men in a Boat, Aug 10, 2012

Priya reported that it was laughter all the way at the reading of Three Men in a Boat. These pictures will confirm the merriment that pervaded the reading room.

Sivaram often takes a Kindle e-book copy with him on his travels to keep himself in good humour.  

Sivaram reads as Zakia and Kavita listen.

The many digressions into sentimental philosophy enriched the reading, as Zakia noted. Talitha read the passage where Harris sings a comic song, and she beautifully mimicked the falsettos. It had the group in splits.  

Gopa, Priya, and Talitha

Priya had a fine time reading the passage about two men in their cups who go to bed and throw each other out. 

Here is the group displaying copies of the book they read at the end fo the session:

Kavita, Talitha, Priya, Zakia, Sivaram, Gopa, Sunil, and Mathew

To read a fuller account, click below.

Poetry Session on July 29, 2012 with the Philadelphia City Center Book Club

The City Center Book Club of Philadelphia (CCBC) is a group of women readers who interest themselves in non-fiction, plays, classical literature, and poetry. It was started in 2001. They meet once a month, mostly at the home of the convener, Rachel Munafo.

On July 29, 2012 Marie, host of Joe and KumKum Cleetus for a delicious weekend in Philadelphia, invited the CCBC members to her home and laid on a sumptuous feast, which these pictures will attest to.

 Marie checking the comestibles

The occasion was a Poetry session. As Marie put it: “Without any prearrangement we read from the poets of Japan, England, America, India, France, and Russia.......Not bad for a first sampling.”

KumKum, Nancy, Rachel, and Caroline select from the elaborate menu

Death poems in haiku formed the first reading by Rachel. She explained the significance and context for writing such poetry and gave an exquisite example of its practice by a haiku master, Yosa Buson.

Marie and Rachel help themselves

More Japanese poetry followed, describing the life of a famous courtesan of the 9th century, Oto No Komachi. A play on her life will be read in a longer session.

KumKum, Nancy, Marie, Caroline, Martha

The two poems with the title of Lullaby by W.H. Auden introduced readers to the fine choice of words to accompany the sentiment of lovers in bed.

KumKum and Nancy

Baudelaire figured in a wonderful interpretation by Nancy of his poem, Correspondances. The intense concentration of nasal sounds in the original French she read, gave an idea of the sensuality in which that poet's language is drenched.

Rachel, Taylor, KumKum, Nancy, and Caroline

Joe and KumKum expressed their gratitude to the members of the CCBC group for making them feel so welcome. In time KRG and CCBC may form more links and relationships.

Taylor, KumKum, Nancy, Caroline, Martha

For a full record of the session, click below.

Poetry Session on July 13, 2012

This was the first time KRG attempted to harness the Internet to see if a semblance of physical presence could be afforded by the Skype application to allow traveling members to attend. Although it is commonly used to connect people in a video session remotely, Skype did not work on the day because a reliable broadband connection could not be established. Joe and KumKum in Boston were keen to attend; the Internet failure was a disappointment for all.

 Talitha and Gopa

Kamala Das (Kamala Surayya, when she died) must now rank as number one in the frequency of choice by KRG members. 

 Sunil

A most unlikely poet to read was Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games. His verse which would have been rejected at a club poetry contest, nevertheless won an Olympic gold medal; talk of match fixing!

 Gopa and Bobby

As ever the discussions in the group were lively and led in many directions. Here are the readers pictured at the end of the session:

 Anna, Talitha, Priya, Bobby, Gopa, Sunil, Mathew

For a full account, click below.

Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities – June 14, 2012

We are celebrating the 200th birth anniversary of Charles Dickens. Gopa and Sivaram therefore selected this novel. It relies on Thomas Carlyle's account of the French Revolution and depicts the contrasting fortunes of citizens in the capitals of neighbouring countries, London and Paris. 

London was lawless and its common citizens were poor, lorded over by the nobility; the citizens of Paris were equally down-trodden, but are now caught in the throes of a violent revolt that will change the landscape of France forever, but not before a bloodthirsty period of head-chopping.

Mathew, Gopa, Kavita

As is true of Dickens' novels the characters are vivid. But there is little of Dickens' humour in this work, which came late in his life. Perhaps Dr Manette is the most striking person; he evolves from the mental trauma of solitary imprisonment to become heroic in stature. 

 KumKum

Madame Defarge symbolises the extreme violence and bloody vengeance the French Revolution heaped on the aristocracy, sweeping along many unwitting individuals implicated by false testimony.

 Kavita

The language is complex; Dickens seems to have revelled in long sentences and his style has the stolidity of the Victorians, but it has aged quickly. Lacking an editor, Dickens does not hesitate to pile detail on top of details; a judicious reader is forced to skip. 

 Priya

Google celebrated the Dickens anniversary with a doodle depicting a collage of his characters:

Here are the readers at the end:

Kavita, Priya, Zakia, Gopa, KumKum, Mathew, Sunil, Joe

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