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Great Books of the Western World
Know Thy Shelf!
We sit on couches, certainly, though we are as far from potatohood as computers are from clay tablets. And yes, we like to mix our metaphors as much as we like reading. We get together monthly for a couple of hours to let our minds bloom in the fertile ground of the great classics. And we are open enough to take some liberties, every now and then, with the notion of what a classic might be.
Modeled after the Great Books Discussion Groups, the Redwood Couch Orchids are in their tenth year of grueling immersion in the classics. Participants meet to discuss the month's selection at one of their homes, more or less in rotation, on the last Thursday of each month at 7:30 PM .
To get a feel for our history, take a look at the lists of titles we've covered so far. Click on the specific year in the Table of Contents at the left of this page.
A pithy line by T.E. Lawrence (at least as mouthed by Peter O'Toole in the film Lawrence of Arabia) came up in one of our meetings: "Nothing is written." While we honor this dictum in our discussions in the sense of having no respect for boundaries, we consider ourselves fortunate that these books were in fact written. Else we might remain forever potatoes -- underground, colorless, asleep. Imagine: orchidhood would be no more than a distant dream. And that would never do. While we like to read tragedies from time to time, we prefer to avoid living them. It's the Orchid Way!
(Well, okay, we don't really call ourselves the Redwood Couch Orchids, though it did seem like a splendid name at one time. Before we open the wine we can usually remember that we are the North Coast Great Books Discussion Group. After the first glass most of us tend to forget the exact words and their proper order, except for "book" which we do remember since we generally have one in our hands.)
Now here is our reading list for 2008 -- our fifteenth year:
As the year progresses we make notes at the bottom of our endless booklist. If you live locally, check us out one time or join us for a longer stay and contribute to the process of putting together future programs. If you live elsewhere, send us email and tell us what you think. And come back towards the end of 2007 to see our list for next year. Until then, stay out of bars and visit more bookstores. Or give both their due! Just make sure to offer libations to the Genius and the Muse, without whom there would be little worth celebrating.
 The group was co-founded by retired physicist-mathematician Joe Duroux (now retired from the group), HSU professor and author Dr. Dick Stull, and quondam KHSU radio producer and general nuisance Lance Hardie. To learn more, call Lance at (707) 822-6924 or email him at bookman@hardiehouse.org.
This page is updated occasionally on the basis of new discoveries.
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