The Red Reader: February 2018

Friday 9 February 2018

February Meet-Up

Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell

Saturday, February 24, 2pm

Rm 2-110A (2nd floor)

We're reading Orwell's Homage to Catalonia for our February book club. Bring your questions, comments, thoughts and reviews. Also, bring your suggestion for the book club's next read.

Homage to Catalonia / George Orwell

‘Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism as I understand it'. Thus wrote Orwell following his experiences as a militiaman in the Spanish Civil War, chronicled in Homage to Catalonia. Here he brings to bear all the force of his humanity, passion and clarity, describing with bitter intensity the bright hopes and cynical betrayals of that chaotic episode: the revolutionary euphoria of Barcelona, the courage of ordinary Spanish men and women he fought alongside, the terror and confusion of the front, his near-fatal bullet wound and the vicious treachery of his supposed allies.

Read Homage to Catalonia online at george-orwell.org

Read Homage to Catalonia online at libcom.org

About the book club

The Red Reader Book Club is a casual monthly get together for people interested in reading and discussing fiction written within the context of collective struggle. The works we select to go on our reading list all have that in common. While they inevitably involve personal struggle, the books the Red Reader book club reads are narratives embedded within the broader context of collective struggle or oppression. Why “the ‘Red’ Reader’ book club?” Have a look at our book list! The red flag has a long historical context as a banner of struggle, and alliteration is catchy.

At each monthly meetup we’ll decide on which book the group will read next. The books we decide to read are chosen by the group collectively, either by consensus or if we have to, a vote. The books that make it onto the groups shortlist are fiction or memoir. If the theme of the book fits with the focus of the book club, and its fiction or a memoir, then it’s on the list and can be nominated for what to read next. There is no commitment, we’ll post what we’re reading on the blog and if you want to get in on that, just show up! If we’ve decided to read a book you don’t want to, skip it.