May 2014: Madam Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

From the 1996 Dover Thrift Edition paperback:
Bored and unhappy in a lifeless marriage, Emma Bovary yearns to escape from the dull circumstances of provincial life. Married to a simple-minded but indulgent country doctor, she takes one lover, then another, hastens her husband's financial ruin with her extravagance...

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1888) was brought to trial by the French government on the grounds of the novel's alleged immorality, but unlike his less fortunate contemporary, Baudelaire, he narrowly escaped conviction.

Falubert's powerful and deeply moving examination of the moral degeneration of a middle-class Frenchwoman is universally regarded as one of the landmarks of 19th-century fiction. It is reproduced here, complete and unabridged, in the classic translation by Eleanor Marx-Aveling, daughter of Karl Marx.

Unabridged, slightly corrected Dover (1996) republication of the translation first published by Vizetelly and Company, London, 1886.

For those reading via Kindle, this free e-edition is listed as having the same translator as the paperback above available via the library: Click here. (Nook doesn't have a free e-edition and was unable to find one with the same translator as the paperback available at the library).  To see if you can borrow an e-edition via your e-reader device, go to Library On The Go via http://www.monmouthcountylib.org/.

We will meet to discuss Madam Bovary on Thursday, May 29, 2014, at 7pm at the Atlantic Highlands branch of the Monmouth County Library, located at 100 First Avenue in downtown Atlantic Highlands inside Borough hall.

April 2014: The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls + AHLEBC is 4 years old!

From the 2005 Scribner paperback edition:
"The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.

The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

The Glass Castle is truly astonishing--a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family."

For the author's official website, click here. For her facebook page, click here.

We will meet to discuss The Glass Castle on Thursday, April 24, 2014, at 7pm, at the Atlantic Highlands Branch of the Monmouth County Library, located at 100 First Avenue inside Borough Hall.

Lastly, a belated Happy 4th Anniversary to the Atlantic Highlands Library Evening Bookclub! (We turned 4 last month). Here's to many more years of great discussions! And a big Thank You to Elita and Lori for starting the AHLEBC!