August 2017 Recap

Festive table with money!!! (see Diane below)

Dear Bookclub,
Lori treated us to marvelous Vietnamese fare as we gathered to discuss Viet Thanh Ngyuen's, "The Sympathizer". Our group had not all read the challenging award winning novel, but those that had the dip into Ngyuen's world of the spy-sympathizer, agreed his crafting was a mind-boggling feat. Ngyuen, himself, born in Vietnam but raised in the USA, coming here as a refugee with his family at the age of four, has been steeped in dual identity, a mighty theme in the book. I urge you to read this book if you haven't; the racial/cultural stereotyping, the history, the betrayals, and of course the language, i.e. the writing, are all remarkable.
Well-attended, the meeting did not linger on the heaviness of the book for long!

Our Star-hostess Lori

Diane discovers her money!

Rare appearance of Kim.....

and Jan!

A little discussion ensued about the Pulitzer Prize and its requirements. I learned that it is given to an American writer, for work preferably dealing with American life (Anthony Doerr's "All the Light We Cannot See" was honored in 2015 and not American life but so beautiful!) Please check out everything you wanted to know about the Pulitzer Prize from wikipedia:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize

Also a link to the announcement that a Vietnamese immigrant won the prize (note the vocabulary at the bottom; site is for English learners- interesting!)

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/vietnamese-immigrant-first-book-wins-pulitzer-prize/3292920.html

More about the winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature:

http://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/219

Which led me to find this great piece about what really happened in 2012 when no award was given:

http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/letter-from-the-pulitzer-fiction-jury-what-really-happened-this-year


Lori's suggestions for an upcoming selection:

"the book that matters most" by Ann Hood *chosen
"Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi
"The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin


Up next:

Happy reading!
LK

August 2017 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,
Looking for that last easy-breezy summer read? This is not it! Viet Thanh Nguyen's "The Sympathizer" thoughtfully written, takes thought to appreciate. Dive in and take the journey- it will be unlike any other book you've read this summer, this year or even beyond. I do recommend a bit of research to help comprehension:

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/books/review/the-sympathizer-by-viet-thanh-nguyen.html

Wow:
Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Winner of the 2016 Edgar Award for Best First Novel
Winner of the 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
Winner of the 2016 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction
Winner of the 2015 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
Winner of the 2015-2016 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (Adult Fiction)
Winner of the 2016 California Book Award for First Fiction
Winner of the 2017 Association for Asian American Studies Award for Best Book in Creative Writing (Prose)
Finalist for the 2016 PEN/Faulkner Award
Finalist for the 2016 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction
Finalist for the 2016 Medici Book Club Prize
Finalist for the 2015 Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Mystery/Thriller)
Finalist for the 2016 ABA Indies Choice/E.B. White Read-Aloud Award (Book of the Year, Adult Fiction)
Shortlisted for the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award
Named a Best Book of the Year on more than twenty lists, including the New York Times Book Review, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post

Studiously reading,
LK