Introducing BLRB: Our New Book Club
Posted by Saffron Morter-Laing
On Monday 27th July, the Bookshop will host the first session of our new book club which will meet on the last Monday of every month.
Our inaugural pick is As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.
Under this oppressive heat, I could think of nothing better to read than a Southern Gothic. Set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, Faulkner’s third novel follows 15 characters in a stream-of-conscious narration focusing on the death of Addie Bundren and her family’s quest to honour her. Themes of ecological crisis background their journey (which I thought apt for the current heat wave!)
For those interested, there is also a film adaptation. Peter Bradshaw gave it three stars and wrote it ‘may look gimmicky and self-conscious, but it is consistently and seriously presented, and Franco's As I Lay Dying is a worthwhile movie, approached in an intelligent and creative spirit.’ Make of that what you will.
That’s not all for film references. As I Lay Dying as a title is derived from Homer’s Odyssey, an adaptation of which is coming to cinemas very soon, directed by Christopher Nolan.
If you would like to read more on the book see the following:
On ecological crisis in As I Lay Dying
For a comparison between Faulkner and Morrison
How to attend
Please RSVP by emailing books@lrbshop.co.uk and buying your book at the London Review Bookshop. Places are limited.
It will take place Monday 27thJuly at 6.45pm.
Looking forward to seeing you then!
