Nerd of the Month: December 2015

Meet Anna; writer, poet, interpretive tambourine dancer, veteran Stanford camper, Taylor Swift’s biggest fan, and our final Nerd of the Month of 2015!

Name: Anna Rose Koppelman

Current life status: I live in New York City and I go to the Calhoun School. I am currently using these questions to procrastinate from homework while marathoning Scandal (I’m a real multitasker). I also write blog posts sometimes.

What kind of music do you listen to when you study?: Taylor Swift—always Taylor Swift.

Relationship to Great Books: I have been a camper for the last two years at Stanford. I plan on never leaving Great Books like even after I become a PA.

Nerdy fun fact: If you give me a topic I can do really bad free style slam poetry.

Nerdiest attribute: Sometimes after a joke I push up my chunky black glasses to make a point.

Anna with her friend Lilli at Great Books Stanford.

Favorite book: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I keep the quote: “There’s nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons,” above my bed surrounded by a bunch of pictures of Great Books people. No matter the mood I’m in I always seem to find a quote from the book that matches my feelings. There’s another quote in the book: “It’s strange because sometimes, I read a book, and I think I am the people in the book.” I am always able to find myself in the pages of Perks. I have read it over 10 times every time I read it I learn something new about myself.

Currently reading: I am currently on page 34 of Aziz Ansari’s Modern Romance.

Favorite word: Plethora. There is a plethora of words I could go with here (see what I did there) but I chose plethora because once I used the word on a date and the boy described me to his friends as “the kinda girl that uses the word plethora in a sentence.” I don’t know what kind of girl that is but I am very happy to be one.

Least favorite word: Caress— No exciting story here it just creeps me out to the highest extent.

First fictional crush: I used to have a pretty big things for George in Arthur, but then I was won over by Binky whose bad boy qualities got me very intrigued. Later I would settle for Buster’s kind personality. If I was part of the Arthur series there would definitely be a problem with me trying to date everyone in the friend group. (Side note: Am I the only Stanford person who thinks Noah Rosenblum is a little bit like Mr. Ratburn?)

Anna with her poetry idol, Sarah Kay, during a Guest Speaker talk at Stanford.

Which author would you want to write your story?: This is nearly and impossible question. Either Mindy Kaling or Stephen Chbosky…if Sarah Kay would like to write a book of poems on my life that would be ideal.

Hardcover or paperback?: It depends. I feel like people assume you are reading something with way more importance when it’s hard cover. However there is something to be said for the humble brag of reading Proust’s Search of Lost Time in paperback.

December Bookshelf: Books to Give and Get this Holiday Season

We at GBHQ know that books make the best gifts, because between the pages of each present is an entire world waiting to be unfurled.  Here are our top recommendations for all the readers on your holiday shopping list this year.

The Marvels by Brian Selznick
Brian Selznick’s newest novel perfects the form he popularized in The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  The Marvels tells two related stories back to back: the first, told entirely in Selznick’s beautiful drawings, chronicles generations of the Marvels, a family of Shakespearean actors living in London.  The second story, written in prose, tells the story of a young runaway, Joseph, his mysterious uncle Albert and the secrets of his London home.  As the secrets of the house begin to reveal themselves, Joseph learns “Aut visum aut non” (“You either see it or you don’t”) as the juxtaposed stories begin to converge.

This is an engaging story for readers of all ages, especially for Shakespeare enthusiasts, and the book’s gilt pages and quality illustrations make it a beautiful gift in and of itself.

The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood just released a new book in September, and fans of such Atwood classics as The Handmaid’s Tale are so excited.  This book is a great gift for fans of science fiction, particular speculative fiction, the form Atwood has perfected, in which she imagines a world just a little bit past our own, where dystopian inevitabilities have become realities.  This latest novel deals with a near future in which the prison industrial complex has become the primary economy, and where families may choose to voluntarily imprison themselves for half the year in a twisted suburban timeshare scenario.

Don Quixote: 400^th Anniversary Edition by Miguel de Cervantes
Give the classics lover in your life a new take on one of the most popular novels in literary history.  This new edition, by international publisher Restless Books, includes original artwork, a video teaching series, an exclusive online discussion forum, and a new introduction by Great Books co-founder and Academic Director Ilan Stavans.

Twain and Stanley Enter Paradise by Oscar Hijuoles
Pulitzer Prize winning author Oscar Hijuoles was fascinated by the friendship between Mark Twain and Sir Henry Morton Stanley (the journalist and explorer famous for the line “Doctor Livingstone, I presume?”).  Although Twain has endured far more in the contemporary American imagination, at the time he said of his friend Stanley, “When I contrast what I have achieved in my measurably brief life with what [Stanley] has achieved in his possibly briefer one, the effect is to sweep utterly away the ten-story edifice of my own self-appreciation and leave nothing behind but the cellar” (from an 1886 introductory speech).  Hijuoles was fascinated by the friendship of these two giants of American culture, and was working on the book right until his death in 2013—the novel was just published posthumously in November 2015.  Its epic, decades-spanning scope, as well as cameos from the era’s literary luminaries from Bram Stoker to Arthur Conan Doyle, makes Twain and Stanley Enter Paradise a great gift for historical novel buffs, especially those with a love of Victorian literary history and adventure stories.

Whitman Illuminated: Song of Myself by Walt Whitman and Allen Crawford
Sometimes, the best gift for a classics lover is one of their favorite books with a new twist.  We recommend Whitman Illuminated, which takes one of his most beloved poems and illustrates it across 234 pages—like monkish manuscripts, with a modern twist.

Each of the beautiful pages in this book is a gift in and of itself, and you can buy many of Crawford’s prints, if you’d prefer to hang one on your wall.

A Poem for the Holidays

As you gather with family and friends for this holiday weekend, consider reading and discussing this poem together. A GBSP favorite from us to you:

Those Winter Sundays

Robert Hayden, 1913 – 1980

Sundays too my father got up early 
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, 
then with cracked hands that ached 
from labor in the weekday weather made 
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. 

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. 
When the rooms were warm, he’d call, 
and slowly I would rise and dress, 
fearing the chronic angers of that house, 

Speaking indifferently to him, 
who had driven out the cold 
and polished my good shoes as well. 
What did I know, what did I know 
of love’s austere and lonely offices? 

Nerd of the Month: November Bonus

We are so thankful to all the amazing nerds that make our Great Books community wonderful. Thus, for American Thanksgiving, we are offering a special BONUS Nerd of the Month to thank all our nerds! Meet Rosy, community activist, veteran Stanford Program Assistant, sunscreen’s biggest fan, and November’s bonus Nerd of the Month!

Name: Rosy Capron

Current life status: I graduated from Wesleyan University in 2014 and am currently working at the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford. Recently, I committed to spending more of my time outside of work reading. I picked up some nasty habits in college, namely that of jumping to criticisms and comparisons, rather than just immersing myself in a narrative. So I’m learning to read, and I’ve started tutoring youngins at the Boys and Girls Club.

Relationship to Great Books: Stanford PA in 2014 and Lead PA in 2015! 

Nerdiest attribute: I suppose it’s my tendency to relate what I’m seeing and doing to concepts in social theory. How do open source and the “sharing economy” each affect the ownership of the means of production? What would John Stuart Mill have to say about affordable housing policy?  Applying knowledge to the world is basically the purpose of an education, but I’ll cite this as a “nerdy attribute,” since it makes for either fun or dreadful conversation, depending on the company.

Rosy and fellow PA Elle tell the Stanford Program (creepily, in unison) about dystopias.

Favorite book: The Martian Chronicles and The Bluest Eye have stuck with me for years, and I wished that The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay would never end.

Currently reading: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.

Favorite word: Spooky.

Least favorite: French words and phrases used in English. My clunky Midwestern mouth can’t handle it.

Which nerd in history would you most like to have a late brunch with?: A late brunch with the author and activist Jane Jacobs, preceded by coffee with the (in)famous urban planner Robert Moses. The political drama that unfurled between them was fascinating, but I’d really just want to hear some life lessons. Jacobs was an autodidact, community organizer, and mother. Moses was a visionary, relentless in his pursuit of power. They might have a lot to say about success and social change.

Which author would you want to write your story?: Someone who’s popular but not too well respected, like Dan Brown. The book would be widely read but never accepted into the Great Books canon, to be ravaged by the critical eyes of our young scholars. It could also be turned into a film where I’m portrayed by someone famous and handsome like Helen Mirren or Shia LaBeouf. Maybe I’d have a cameo as a cashier.

Rosy and her crew at Stanford.

Hardcover or paperback?: Paperback! Tucks into a purse more easily.

What’s the best point of view for narration?: Of course Piers Gelly asked this question. Omniscient narration makes it easy to appreciate difficult characters whose personality flaws might otherwise obscure their motives. But reading isn’t always supposed to be easy! First-person narration challenges us to crawl into other people’s heads. Haruki Murakami makes me uncomfortable because his characters are so cold and emotionally stunted and I want to run far, far away from them, not reside in their brains.

GBSP Bookshelf: National Book Award Nominees, 2015

Last year, I fell so in love with one of the National Book Award fiction nominees that I decided to read all five contenders, simply to prove that my favorite deserved the win. While this didn’t exactly work out in my favor, I’ve decided to make my November reading challenge a tradition. I’ll admit that because I wasn’t trying to prove a point this year, my reading wasn’t as enthusiastic or driven as it was in 2014. However, I do appreciate the opportunity to read some really excellent, contemporary literature every year, some of which would otherwise never cross my path. So, once again, since you probably don’t have time to read five books before the National Book Awards tonight, here are my reviews.

Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson
I always have difficulty reading collections of short fiction, so I was dismayed to see that there were two short story collections among the five fiction nominees this year. I have trouble keeping track of point of view shifts when I’m trying to read quickly, and this makes me try and find coherence among stories that are not necessarily connected. This was certainly my struggle with Fortune Smiles, which tells stories as diverse as: a Silicone Valley tech developer and his recently paralyzed wife; a UPS driver in Louisiana in the aftermath of two devastating hurricanes; a breast cancer patient and her author husband; a pedophile computer programmer and the children he cares for; a former Stasi prison guard who denies the injustices of his past; and a pair of North Korean defectors trying to adapt to life in Seoul.

It is absolutely refreshing to read a book that attempts to capture such very different voices and perspectives within its pages. I recommend taking more than a single night to read this book, as each stories stands alone, and deserves to (the exception being “Dark Meadow,” the story about the pedophile which we learn is the creation of the breast cancer patient’s husband in the story “Interesting Facts”).

My favorite story was the first in the collection, “Nirvana,” in which a man grapples both with his wife’s rare disease and the recent assassination of the American President by programming a digital holographic projection of the President. The main character, and ultimately, everyone he sees, uses the President as a vessel for their problems and solutions, and I could have read an entire novel that took place in this world.

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
This 736-page novel, also short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, is a daunting masterpiece. It follows four college roommates—JB the artist, Willem the actor, Malcolm the architect, and Jude the lawyer—as they grow, struggle, and become successful in their fields. At first, I despaired; I did not have the patience to read the struggle-until-you-make-it stories of four privileged men in New York City for more than 700 pages. Thankfully, the focus of this novel shifts primarily to Jude, the friend whose mysterious past separates him from the others, and which they sometimes resent. Over the course of the novel, we follow Jude into the secrets of his past while watching their ramifications unfold in his present.

This novel was beautiful, and intimate, and I am still thinking about the characters. It should be noted that its realistic, honest portrayals venture into realms of trauma that are painful, and at times might be triggering to readers. I don’t know how the Man Booker nomination will affect the decisions of the National Book judges, but this novel is my pick based purely on the immersive reading experience.

The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
This novel tells the story of the Turner family, their thirteen children, and their house in Detroit. It jumps back and forth in time, between the Turners’ initial migration from Arkansas to Detroit in the 1940s, and their children’s present-day personal struggles. Most compelling among these is the eldest son, Cha-Cha’s, haunting by a “haint” as he tries to keep his family together through a period of change. The changes within the family are clearly mirrored by the changes to their neighborhood in Detroit.

Mostly, I wish this novel were longer. With the exception of those brief glimpses into the past, the matriarch and patriarch’s characters are developed through the eyes of their thirteen children. While this is perhaps an accurate portrayal of family history and collective memory, I really wanted to hear more from Viola and Francis Turner—especially Viola—as they transitioned to their new lives in Detroit. I also wanted to understand more about Cha-Cha, and formerly his father’s, “haint.” It was easy to care about these characters, and I would have enjoyed learning much more about them.

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
This book is probably the most popular of the five nominees, so I was confused by how little I was enjoying the first half of the book. It tells the story of a young married couple, Mathilde and Lotto (short for Lancelot, of course) as they struggle to come into their own as artists and lovers. The first half of the book, “Fates,” is from Lotto’s perspective, and I did not enjoy reading about this vapid actor/playwright who barely acknowledges his wife within his narrative. As I have already mentioned, I have very little patience for the struggles of the artistic bourgeoisie.

I understood the book’s hype by the second half of the novel, “Furies,” which is told from Mathilde’s much darker and more interesting perspective. Here we see that where Lotto fondly remembers their bohemian poverty in their first New York apartment, Mathilde remembers skipping meals in order to pay the bills. Throughout, themes of Greek tragedy pervade, including interjections into the narrative by a sort of Greek chorus in parentheses. This device is clever, and serves to unify the two disparate narratives in a satisfying way.

Refund by Karen Bender    
This is another short story collection, which, again, I have difficulty reading even when I’m not rushing through self-imposed reading challenges. I therefore appreciated that this collection of short stories was unified around the theme of money; all of the characters are motivated by needing, wanting, getting, and having money. Karen Bender is excellent at rendering relationships between characters, whether the wealthy grandfather and his estranged granddaughter, the husband and wife in debt, or the woman grieving the sudden death of her friend. I also really enjoyed Bender’s writing style; it’s simple, but beautiful in that way that addresses universal concepts in ways you’ve never thought about before. I kept finding myself highlighting phrases and thinking, “huh, I’ve never thought about competition between siblings like that before, but you’re absolutely right.” While I did appreciate a unifying theme to tie the stories together, I felt that the characters portrayed were less diverse and uniquely interesting than those from Adam Johnson’s Fortune Smiles.

The verdict: A Little Life ought to win for its beautiful scope and intimacy with its characters. The Turner House will win for telling the story of a place as much as a family, especially because Detroit stands out among a pool of novels that take place in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area. Fortune Smiles will win for its creative diversity of perspectives. All are absolutely worth reading, no matter which one the judges pick tonight.

GBSP On the Road: Chicago to San Francisco

Remember the “Time Turner” Hermoine Granger used to get to all of her classes in the third book of Harry Potter? We are using one of those for our upcoming, whirlwind outreach trip to Chicago and the Bay Area. So many readers, so little time!

Check out our schedule and meet us for an informational session about the Great Books Summer Program! Enrollment is open, so schedule your info meeting with us soon!

2016 Info Session Schedule

November 14th

Chicago: Great Books Open House and Seminar 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM @ East Bank Club of Chicago, IL

November 16th

Sacramento, CA: Winston Churchill IB MYP Shared Inquiry Sessions

 Sacramento, CA: Winston Churchill Parents’ Session 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM

November 17th

Palo Alto, CA:  9:00 AM – 3:00 PM @ Calafia Cafe, Town & Country Village

Orinda, CA:  6:30PM – 8:00 PM @ Peet’s Coffee and Tea, 63 Moraga Way

November 18th

San Francisco: 8:30 AM – 10 AM @Jane’s on Fillmore, Lower Pac Heights

       San Francisco: 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM @ Starbucks, 2222 Fillmore St.

                         San Francisco: Home Event hosted by Pearson family – 4:30 PM – 6 PM

To attend, you must RSVP to Melody Kasulis, Director of Outreach

melodyk@greatbookssummer.com; 203-307-2217

Nerd of the Month: November 2015

Meet Jonathan Nathan, classics enthusiast, translator extraordinaire, veteran Program Assistant, and our Nerd of the Month for November!

Name: Jonathan Nathan

Relationship to Great Books: I was a Program Assistant at Stanford in 2014, and at Amherst in 2015.

What are you doing right now?: Planning my solo day trip tomorrow to the Normandy landing-beach, involving four buses, two trains, and shaky French. This interview might be the last contact I have before being stranded forever in the (albeit charming) countryside. Tell my parents the cheese is delicious.

Where are you going to school/where are you in the world?: I’m going to school at Cambridge University, getting a master’s in early modern history. I’m working on atheism in the seventeenth century, and loving it.

Nerdy fun fact: I spent last year in a tiny, all-male academy in Rome speaking only Latin.  Also, I don’t like any art produced in any medium after World War I.

Nerdiest attribute: I have a portrait of Ludwig Wittgenstein hanging over my bed.

Favorite book: Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Ilyich. Anything I could say about that book would be an indignity.

Currently reading: Horace’s Odes, which is like an excellent steak.

Languages spoken: Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. I can fake Aramaic and Anglo-Saxon. My twin brother speaks Indonesian, so when telemarketers call our landline, they have no idea what they’re in for.

Favorite word: weregild

Least favorite word: mealy

Which nerd in history would you most like to have a late brunch with?: G. K. Chesterton, but if he’s still asleep, George Eliot.

Who was your first fictional crush?: Ms. Frizzle.

Which author would you want to write your story?: Definitely Herman Melville. But that means I need to live a life that he would want to write about, which I’m iffy on.

Can the movie ever be better than the book?: Yes—if the movie is The Return of the King and the book is Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy.

Do you prefer hardcover books or paperback?: When I’m white-haired and ninety, sitting by the fire in an armchair, glass of scotch in hand, am I going to creak open a paperback copy of Homer?

What question would you like to ask future Nerds of the Month?: If you could live in any century/decade you wanted, what unspeakable moral depravity would you commit in exchange for being sent there?

GBSP Events: Poetry and Painting, Shared Inquiry in Chicago

Great Books Summer Program presents:

Exploring Poetry and Painting: Shared Inquiry with

Spring Greeney

Great Books will be having its second annual info event and Guest Speaker Talk on Saturday, November 14th at the East Bank Club, hosted by the Thomas family of Chicago.  We are excited to present a “Poem and a Painting” Shared Inquiry discussion, led by Great Books – Amherst Academic Director, Spring Greeney. Spring joins us to lead an exploration of Jack Gilbert’s poem, “Failing and Flying,” and Bruegel’s painting, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.”

We hope you will join us for a fun afternoon of discussion, literature, and art! Learn more about the Great Books Summer Program, an academic enrichment program for readers and thinkers. Meet and greet with program directors, program alumni, and summer staff!

When: Saturday, November 14th, 2:30 PM

Where: East Bank Club,  500 N Kingsbury St, Chicago, IL 60654

*Seats are limited. Please RSVP with Event Organizer, Melody Kasulis; (203)307-2217

Spring Greeney is a doctoral candidate in the History Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a 2009 graduate of Harvard College. A committed advocate of lifelong learning, she has taught adolescents and adults at UW-Madison, Harvard University, Oakhill Correctional Institution, Deerfield Academy Summer Arts Camp—and for four summers at Great Books Summer Program, of course. She is also a runner.

Learn more about the Great Books Summer Program here. Please note that spots at the Amherst College, Stanford University and University of Oxford fill on a rolling basis, and programs sell out. Enrollment for all programs is currently open.

Last Minute, Book Nerdy Halloween Costumes

Don’t have your Halloween costume yet? Halloween is only a few days away, but fear not: these last-minute costume ideas are sure to make you the bookish life of the party.

If You Give Mouse a Cookie: Wear mouse ears and overalls. Demand cookies, and reward your Halloween party host by cleaning their entire house, taking a nap, and never leaving. Moose/muffin, pig/pancake, dog/donut, cat/cupcake variations acceptable but less likely to be recognized.

Audiobook: Pick a book you don’t mind reading out loud all night. Dress either as a character from that book, or with a blazer and glasses to look professorly. Hang a giant cardboard cassette tape or CD or iPod around your neck (depending on the age of your party demographic) with the title of the book and a “play” button. Carry a copy of the book around, and be prepared to read from it whenever anyone hits play.

Ishmael: Get a “Hello my name is…” sticker. Write Ishmael on it. Seaworthy dress encouraged. (suggestion courtesy of longtime camper Hannah B.)

Giant Alice in Wonderland: Wear a blue dress and striped stockings. Decorate a small cardboard box to look like a cottage, and fit it over your head.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: Hang meatballs from an open umbrella with fishing wire. Try not to poke anyone in the eye.

We also suggest checking out these wonderful, literal literary costumes from Book Riot. Our favorite:

“The Grapes of Wrath –  Supplies: clothes of your choice, but preferably green. 10 or more balloons, either all green or all purple. A marker. Directions: Blow up the balloons. Draw angry faces on them. Secure them to your clothes.” Read more here!

Nerd of the Month: October 2015

Meet Mercedes, Amherst College tour guide, music enthusiast, fairy-winged Program Assistant, and our Nerd of the Month for October!

Name: Mercedes MacAlpine 

Relationship to Great Books: I was a Program Assistant at Amherst College for the first time this past summer!

Where are you going to school?:  I’m currently a senior at Amherst College—time flies! My favorite classes right now are art history and black studies; I love looking at work and allowing all the background and analysis to create a larger picture, and I love how black studies fuses all sorts of disciplines to make sense of identities and society.

What are you doing right now?: Aside from cheerleading (which I love!) I’m really involved in committees and councils which is my way of giving back and helping make the community I’m a part of a better place. I’m currently planning a pep rally for my school’s Homecoming that I’m really excited about; it’s a lot of work, but it’s looking like a good time.

Nerdy fun fact: Every year I marathon the Lord of the Rings trilogy and read through an anthology I have, tracing the multiple journeys on maps of Middle Earth, translating some phrases here and there, and surmising why Peter Jackson’s vision differs from J.R.R. Tolkein’s.

Nerdiest attribute: I would have to say that I write essays, critical ones, for the fun of it, as well as doing research. I’ve analyzed all sorts of things from parties to lyrics in a Drake song.

Favorite book: It changes all the time; right now it’s The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin.

Currently reading: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

Which nerd in history would you most like to have a late brunch with?: I would love to hang out with Alexander Hamilton; he just seems like such a brilliant mind.

Which author would you want to write your story?: I want to say Toni Morrison, but I don’t think I’m profound enough to have merited that honor…yet.

Who would win in a fight? Dumbledore’s Army vs. the Avengers: The Avengers. Magic is great, but it’s so much easier to have superpowers. Without a wand you’re really up a creek with no paddle.

Do you prefer hardcover books or paperback, and why?: Paperback! The wear and tear is less catastrophic, besides, it’s easier to tuck away for a long trip.

What question would you like to ask the next Nerd of the Month?: What ending to a novel would you re-write if you could?