Nevermore: Christopher Hitchens, Cold Comfort Farm, Devil in the White City

The first book up for discussion was God is Not Great:  How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens.  Hitchens, who died in 2011, was known for his keen intellect, wit, ability as a debater and his strong opinions on a variety of subjects.  He had particularly strong views on religion, as can probably be discerned from the title of the book.  God Is Not Great reflects Hitchens’ cynical views that all religions are designed to limit believers’ independence and that organized religions promoted hatred. Our reviewer said that it was interesting to read because Hitchens’ arguments are of a sort that is seldom heard, whether or not one agreed with those arguments. In fact, Hitchens had a number of religious friends with whom he had lively, non-combative debates.

Another reader was enjoying Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons.  Set in the “near future” and written in the 1930s, this is a satirical look at class and at a literary tradition.  Flora Poste is an educated, fashion conscious, upper class young lady whose parents perish within a few weeks of one another, leaving her to fend for herself—something for which she is not quite prepared, especially if it involves getting a job. She moves in with relatives who own a farm but not, alas, one of those happy, sun-kissed farms populated by robust, cheerful folk.  Instead, it lives up to its name of “Cold Comfort.”  Flora decides to take everyone in hand and fix their lives.  It’s a clash between sophisticated and country folk, with eccentric characters and, yes, a madwoman in the attic.  While it’s a difficult book to categorize, our reader said, “It’s a really fun book!”

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is the story of the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. It’s also the story of a notorious serial killer who used the allure of the fair to bring in victims.  Larson has a gift for evoking a time and place through wonderful details, and his research is thorough.  He can make seemingly dull subjects both vibrant and relevant.  This is non-fiction that reads almost like fiction. Our reader was very impressed, and several other members commented on his marvelous style as seen in books such as Isaac’s Storm and In the Garden of Beasts, both of which had been discussed in earlier meetings.

The Nevermore Book Club meets every Tuesday at 11:00 am in the Frances E. Kegley Conference Room.  Readers talk about whatever book it is that they’re reading at the time. Coffee is provided by the library, and doughnuts are courtesy of the fabulous Blackbird Bakery!  Feel free to stop by and join us.

Nevermore: Scientology, Cold Comfort Farm, Darwin's Doubt, and Humans of New York

Reported by Kristin

Jud began the book club discussion by talking about Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright.  The Church of Scientology, founded in 1954 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, has attracted many well known personalities such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.  Sometimes seen as cultish, the group has come under harsh criticism from some quarters.  The book club members who have taken a crack at this book found it to be comprehensive and meticulously documented, probably to avoid lawsuits. The author also wrote The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11.

A humorous novel moved into the spotlight next: Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibson.  Originally published in 1932, this book was reported as the perfect picture of British wit and satire.  20 year old Flora Poste finds herself unexpectedly orphaned when her parents die within a week of each other in a flu epidemic.  Flora had always been kept at boarding schools and she never expected to have to work for a living, so she begins writing to various relatives in the hope of finding a place to live.  With only her 100 pound per year inheritance, Flora is invited to live with her cousins the Starkadders at Cold Comfort Farm in Sussex.  Finding a gaggle of eccentric relatives, Flora manages life in the country.  The book was made into a movie in 1995.

Another reader brought up Darwin’s Doubt by Stephen Meyer.  A staunch proponent of evolution, Charles Darwin realized that there were inconsistencies in the fossil record, but went ahead and wrote down his theories anyway.  This volume is a scholarly work, but our reader believed that it provides a balance between religion and science.  The author makes a case, and a good one, for intelligent design.

One of the last books discussed was Humans of New York, by Brandon Stanton.  Humans of New York started as a simple photography project.  The author planned a tour through several large cities, but came to a stop in 2010 in New York—the city with so much personality that he found things and people to photograph day and night.  With a burst of attention due to social media, Stanton attracted widespread interest.  Tumblr and Facebook played a major role in the popular spread of his work.  Stanton takes beautiful photographs capturing the cultural diversity present in New York City.  From kids playing on bikes to people in extremely creative garb, Stanton looks at the city and finds faces with a story to tell.  While some of the photographs in the book have been published on his social media sites, many can only be seen in this volume.