Welcome to BEYOND THE PAGES
Over the past 50 years I have been reading, writing and thinking about books, sometimes alone but now more often in the company of others who share my fascination for the Art of Fiction. In the last 10 years I have been traveling through 3 counties in South Florida meeting readers and making friends in over 20 reading groups. This website is an opportunity to reach out to all of you, to exchange news, perhaps to exchange books, to give each of you the wonderful feeling of reading together.
The best description I've found of the joy of reading is by Jorge Luis Borges the Argentinian master reprinted in the Jan. 9, 2014 issue of the The New York Review of Books. Borges "seeks pleasure in books, and beyond that, a form of happiness". He advises his students to leave a book if it bores them: " that book was not written for you", no matter its reputation or fame..."One falls in love with a line, then with a page, then with an author....It is a beautiful process". So that will be the way we proceed: on a personal journey through the world of books to find what speaks to us.
I had an old Russian Grandmother who grew up in the horse-and-buggy days and lived to thrill at men walking on the moon. I feel a little like that: the solitary pleasures of reading the classics are giving way to the modern technology that allows us to carry around a device that makes 1000 books instantly available. Instead of just seeing you daily in groups of 20 or 50, I can look forward also to the chance to connect with 1000 people with the click of a mouse. Drop by every once in a while -- see what's new--let me know what you think. We're off on a great adventure.
AS YOU TURN THE PAGES, JUST CLICK ON THE HEADLINE OF EACH ITEM TO SEE THE FULL ENTRY.
Fruit of the Drunken Tree Ingrid Rojas Contreras
The Immortalists Chloe Benjamin
There,There Tommy Orange
A Shout in the Ruins Kevin Powers
Gone So Long Andre Dubos...
Here are some additional recommended titles that I am considering for future groups: If you'd like to be my eyes and ears, read some of these titles and let me know what you think.
The Chalk Artist Allegra Goodman
Judas Amos Oz
Lawn Boy Jonathan Evison
A Horse Walked Into A Bar David...
Two books that hardly attracted my attention when I was planning this year's reading list have proven to be quite stunning and exceptional . Reading Edna O'Brien"s THE LITTLE RED CHAIRS which touches on the nature of evil in today's world of nationalism and aggression and the effects of this on random people set adrift and seeking haven is an emotional and unsettling experience that has turned out to be memorable. The other surprise is Stewart O'Nan's CITY OF SECRETS, set in...
Although I search for new and interesting reading suggestions 24/7, I am always open to your recommendations. Please get in touch whenever you find a book that would be good for discussion. Don't be shy. I need your input.
I want to alert you to a Reader's Riff in the New York Times Magazine of May 11, 2014 on the subject of a book we read a couple of years ago, "Stoner" by John Williams. Some of us reacted to this book with great...
