The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai gave us much to discuss and consider. She covered so much in her story of Chicago during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980's and it's effect decades later, that we could only touch the surface of the ideas she seamlessly wove into her narrative. Of course, her careful depiction and description of the streets and communities of our city stirred recollections we all had; her details of the impact of the illness itself on individuals and the wider community of lives and the arts; and her well realized variety of characters provided topics for our conversation. We admired her skill in bringing together so many threads, and her ability to highlight the importance of art as well as trauma in defining the effects of the disease. We decided that she had been able to draw together the push and pull of love and pain, without excluding humor, in this work.
Our next book will be The Library Book by Susan Orlean. You can read a review here. We meet Wednesday, April 1 in Richardson Library, Room 207. Please note that we no longer meet in Room 115, but will schedule in other rooms from now on. We gather at 11, with discussion from 11:30 to 12:30, so please bring your brown bag lunch! For further information contact Kathryn DeGraff or Helen Marlborough.
We continue to review the titles on our list for consideration for upcoming discussions. Please let Kathryn, Helen, or anyone else in the group, know if you have a favorite book you would like to share with your DES colleagues. As you can tell from the posts, we are interested in a wide range of fiction and non fiction. We enjoy our sessions thoroughly and always have room for more people and more insights.
