Discussion Night for The Lord of the Flies

 It was - 4 degrees the evening we enjoyed our book group discussion of The Lord of the Flies. Thankfully, the home of our book group host was toasty warm. Our numbers few, four! Our group like many things effected by the virus this last year has been hesitant to resume our meetings as often. There are always other reasons too, we are 'Busy Gals' as we call ourselves. We are literally busy in our lives even with the pandemic. We miss the members who can't make it but with four it still made an enjoyable conversation.

The Lord of the Flies takes place on a tropical island. A group of school boys with no adult supervision try to survive on an island. Some hoping for a speedy rescue while others seem exhilarated by the savage need for the hunt for meat. Another element is the boy's active imaginations of a beast on the island.  

We found the book to be more violent than any of us had remembered.

During this time of national unrest we found a political connection referring to the way the boys governed themselves. 

After enjoying a good discussion we watched the 1963 version of the movie.

Our next book selection will be Island of the Blue Dolphins. 

Maybe we should read "Lord of the Flies"! Here is a true story of some young boys who were shipwrecked on an island for more than a year, but they worked together to survive!

The photo is of the boys after they had grown up & were working for the captain who rescued them. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/09/the-real-lord-of-the-flies-what-happened-when-six-boys-were-shipwrecked-for-15-months?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0T9NzPTAuWFWcC4SPmI9FJ21X7ESYviHR_4uFV1GJiAXf5IAPTPsVk0Ak#Echobox=1589017302

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Discussion

Last night's book discussion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was one of the best discussions we have had in a long time. It seems that everyone was able to participate in some way to the discussion and there was so much to talk about that we could have gone into more detail about the book and the nuances of Lewis' writing and technique that might even make for more of a discussion. As well as having a few more book group members than our usual.

Stefanie came well prepared to lead the discussion and her pick of our reading selection was brilliant. Plus, the delicious lasagna created by her fine husband made a tasty meal.

For me along with reading the book, I found a clever podcast that enhanced my experience.  It is called "The Lamp-post Listener: Chronicles of Narnia". It is a well spoken podcast by two young men (by the sound of their voices), one a 4th grade teacher who seems excited about teaching and reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with his students each year. I like hearing his stories about his student's understanding and reactions to parts of the book. His friend, "Phil", is also a novice as they both call themselves. They partners on the podcast along with an occasional guest to enlighten the listeners as they discuss one chapter per podcast. They are quite thorough and go in great depth almost analysing each sentence and paragraph like one might study the scriptures. Though their analysis didn't seem to heavily delve into the religious allegorical meaning of the book as our discussion. They do discuss that too. I just thought I would throw that out to any of you who enjoy podcasts.

Thanks for Lorraine for hosting, we always enjoy the reward of watching the movies in her special room.

If you are still getting these posts and have anything to add either after our discussion or pre-discussion of our next book please feel free to share.

Our next selection is The Secret Garden by  Frances Hodgson Burnett. Please don't forget that you can get the book at the library or inter-library loan it free when you tell them you are in our book group. It appears to be free on Kindle and roughly 150 pages too.