Reader’s Den

This is the last week of our book discussion of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. In my first post, I mentioned that it is a post-9/11 novel, published in 2005, but during the past month of discussion, I haven't focused on that aspect of the work. The book talks about Oskar's reaction to the 9/11 tragedy and his father's death at the World Trade Center as well as the reactions of his mother, the people Oskar interviews while trying to find the lock for his key, and various other characters. Foer's intent is to describe the aftermath of 9/11, rather than the event itself, although he uses some details of the event in his story.

It’s hard to believe that 2012 is almost over. As we look forward to the new year, I am proud to present our upcoming Reader’s Den online book discussion titles for 2013. With an eclectic mix of book discussion leaders hailing from Jefferson Market, Columbus, Mulberry Street, Battery Park, Spuyten Duyvil, and the Mid-Manhattan Library, this is sure to be our best year yet!

Now that you have read more of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (if not all of it), you may have noticed some of its quirky phrases (such as “heavy boots” and “feeling like a hundred dollars”). Part of my interest in reading new (for me) authors is noticing how they use language: what kind of sentence structure — long or short, simple or complex; what kind of words — familiar or out of the ordinary or a combination; lots of descriptive language or spare simplicity; how the individual characters express themselves and what that reveals about them; lots of dialogue between characters or lots of interior monologues.

Now that you have had a chance to meet Oskar, what do you think of him? Many readers have compared him to Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. Others think he’s far too precocious for a nine-year-old and have suggested the author used his own inner child as the narrator.

Oskar Schell, a precocious nine-year-old who lives in New York City, is the protagonist In Jonathan Safran Foer’s popular post-9/11 novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Oskar's active mind keeps endlessly creating new inventions, most of them somehow related to saving lives and making connections with other people. In other words, he's trying to find a way to prevent “the worst day” from ever happening and thus regain the human connection he lost when his father was killed in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. As Oskar says, he is "wearing heavy boots." 

The Night Circus, as we've discussed, has a nearly obsessive focus on time; its passing, linearity and infinite nature. This is exemplified in the workings of its magnificent clock and its mechanical operation.

However, within the clockworks resides a nearly infinite number of possibilities to enthrall attendees. For example splashes of color are found throughout the strict black-and-white scheme. The twins' red scarves and the fires lit on the circus's opening night come to mind.

Last year around this time, author Michael Scott Moore read from his book Sweetness and Blood at the Columbus branch. I wanted to share it with everyone who couldn't attend. Sweetness and Blood focuses on the history of surfing and was also an NYPL Reader's Den pick. I was reminded of it when recent weather advisories discouraged (rightfully so) surfers from taking advantage of favorable storm wave conditions. 

Previous Sweetness and Blood Reader's Den posts: Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Last week we discussed the passage of time and the clockwork nature of The Night Circus. Time's flow tends to bring a stream of bounty and loss simultaneously.

The Night Circus is crafted in lyrical and elaborate prose. Sometimes it even borders on the ornamental. The language and descriptions are fitting, however, considering the overriding theme of time's passage in the book.

Welcome back to Week 4 of the Reader’s Den for the book Ready Player One. I would like to thank our NYPL readers for waiting for this last installment of the October Readers Den due to Hurricane Sandy and hope that everyone enjoyed this book as much as I did. For November, the book will be the Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not." Erin Morgenstern's literary debut, The Night Circus, begins with this intoxicating passage before ushering readers inside the tent flaps of Le Circque des Rêves, the Circus of Dreams.

Welcome back to Week 3 of the Reader’s Den for the book Ready Player One. Here are a few questions you may have thought about while reading this book. If you think of something I haven’t, please post a comment. See you next week for the wrap-up of this book.

If you haven't heard of Ernest Cline, you may have seen his 2009 movie Fanboys. Fanboys is about four Star Wars-obsessed friends who travel cross-country with their dying friend to sneak into Skywalker Ranch to see the movie Episode I: Phantom Menace before its official release. If you liked that movie you will love this book about '80s pop culture, but even if you haven't (see it! It's cute) you will still love this book.

Welcome to October’s Reader's Den! This month’s selection will be Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

Welcome back to the Reader's Den for the final post in our discussion of The Eyre Affair by Japer Fforde. Did you enjoy this literary silliness? As mentioned in the earlier posts, this is the first novel in the Thursday Next series.

"The murders are tragic, obviously," I replied, "but Jane Eyre is the thing here... Jane Eyre is bigger than me and bigger than you."

“Governments and fashions come and go but Jane Eyre is for all time.”

“Take no heed of her.... She reads a lot of books.” 

Welcome back to the Reader's Den. We've just finished reading The Maltese Falcon. This is the final post and finally — spoiler alert — the identities of the murderers will be revealed!

Imagine a world where the military-industrial complex wants to control everything you do, where the media outlets seem to be competing to win an award for most inane or banal programming, where violent gangs battle over who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays, where you could find yourself trapped inside a poem, and a character from your favorite book just might save your life...