It's time for a classic! We'll be reading Thomas Hardy's fourth book Far From the Madding Crowd originally published in 1874. We'll also set a date and time to watch one of the three versions of the film - two were theatrical releases (1967 and 2015) and one was a 1998 television film adaptation.
Copies of the book are available to check out at the library. The meeting will be Wednesday March 23rd at 1pm by the fireplace.
Far from the Madding Crowd is perhaps the most pastoral of Hardy's
Wessex novels. It tells the story of the young farmer Gabriel Oak and
his love for and pursuit of the elusive Bathsheba Everdene, whose
wayward nature leads her to both tragedy and true love. It tells of the
dashing Sergeant Troy whose rakish philosophy of life was '...the past
was yesterday; never, the day after'. And lastly, of the introverted and
reclusive gentleman farmer, Mr Boldwood, whose love fills him with
'...a fearful sense of exposure', when he first sets eyes on Bathsheba. The background of this tale is the Wessex countryside in all its moods. ...Amazon.com
For February we'll indulge in a bit of sweetness with the 1999 confection Chocolat by Joanne Harris. Copies are available to borrow at the library. We'll discuss the book on Wednesday February 17th at 1pm. We will also be showing the movie (with Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench and Johnny Depp) on Friday March 4th at 1pm.
Even before it was adapted into the Oscar-nominated film starring
Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, Joanne Harris' New York Times
bestselling novel, Chocolat entranced readers with its mix of hedonism,
whimsy, and, of course, chocolate. In tiny Lansquenet, where nothing
much has changed in a hundred years, beautiful newcomer Vianne Rocher
and her exquisite chocolate shop arrive and instantly begin to play
havoc with Lenten vows. Each box of luscious bonbons comes with a free
gift: Vianne's uncanny perception of its buyer's private discontents and
a clever, caring cure for them. Is she a witch? Soon the parish no
longer cares, as it abandons itself to temptation, happiness, and a
dramatic face-off between Easter solemnity and the pagan gaiety of a
chocolate festival. Chocolat 's every page offers a description of
chocolate to melt in the mouths of chocoholics, francophiles, armchair
gourmets, cookbook readers, and lovers of passion everywhere.
