u/bluebelle236

Welcome to the schedule for The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. It will be ran by myself (u/bluebelle236), u/miriel41, u/toomanytequieros, u/thebowedbookshelf and u/sarahsbouncingsoul

The marginalia will be here when its available.

 

Here is the goodreads summary

A dazzling new novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris

In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico's funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister.

Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago crisis, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways AIDS affected her life and her relationship with her daughter. The two intertwining stories take us through the heartbreak of the eighties and the chaos of the modern world, as both Yale and Fiona struggle to find goodness in the midst of disaster.

The Great Believers has become a critically acclaimed, indelible piece of literature; it was selected as one of New York Times Best 10 Books of the Year, a Washington Post Notable Book, a Buzzfeed Book of the Year, a Skimm Reads pick, and a pick for the New York Public Library's Best Books of the year.

 

Discussion Schedule

The book has been divided up into 5. We will check in on tuesdays.

 

1)      2 June: chapters 1 (1985) - 7 (1985 – ‘and didn’t feel the cold’):- u/sarahsbouncingsoul

2)      9 June: chapters 8 (2015) - 16 (2015 – ‘Jake, thank God, was gone’): - u/thebowedbookshelf

3)      16 June: chapters 17 (1986) - 25 (1986 – ‘turn the radio up’): - u/bluebelle236

4)      23 June: chapters 26 (2015) - 34 (July 15th 1986 – ‘lets get you lying down’): - u/toomanytequieros

5)      30 June: chapters 35 (2015) - 47 (2015): - u/miriel41

See you all in the discussions!

Hi all, I’m delighted to announce that our next evergreen read will be The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky!  I am a big fan of Russian classic literature and adored Crime and Punishment when we read it with r/bookclub last year, so we are bringing back The Brothers Karamazov for an evergreen read!

 

Here is the Goodreads description if you want to check it out

 

The Brothers Karamazov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his three sons―the impulsive and sensual Dmitri; the coldly rational Ivan; and the healthy, red-cheeked young novice Alyosha. Through the gripping events of their story, Dostoevsky portrays the whole of Russian life, is social and spiritual striving, in what was both the golden age and a tragic turning point in Russian culture.

 

We will be starting in early June, so get your copy ready and keep an eye out for a schedule coming soon!