Oates, Joyce Carol "The Accursed" - 2013.
Here is Lisa's detailed description including questions:
And this is the book description:
"This eerie tale of psychological horror sees the real inhabitants of turn-of-the-century Princeton fall under the influence of a supernatural power. New Jersey, 1905: soon-to-be commander-in-chief Woodrow Wilson is president of Princeton University. On a nearby farm, Socialist author Upton Sinclair, enjoying the success of his novel 'The Jungle', has taken up residence with his family. This is a quiet, bookish community - elite, intellectual and indisputably privileged. But when a savage lynching in a nearby town is hushed up, a horrifying chain of events is initiated - until it becomes apparent that the families of Princeton have been beset by a powerful curse. The Devil has come to this little town and not a soul will be spared. 'The Accursed' marks new territory for the masterful Joyce Carol Oates - narrated with her unmistakable psychological insight, it combines beautifully transporting historical detail with chilling fantastical elements to stunning effect."
Our schedule is as follows (more details in Lisa's post).
Week 1 (Oct 1–Oct 8) Author's note, Prologue, + Part 1 The curse descends on the Slade wedding; Woodrow Wilson's strain
Week 2 (Oct 9–Oct 16) Part 2 Historical cameos; the eerie Bog Kingdom; social satire
Week 3 (Oct 17–Oct 24) Part 3 Hysteria spreads; moral decay of the Princeton elite
Week 4 (Oct 25–Oct 31) Part 4 to End Climax, resolution, and unpacking the narrator’s reliability
And this is for the audio book:
Week 1 (Oct 1–Oct 8) Book 1 (Chapters 1–4)
Week 2 (Oct 9–Oct 16) Book 2 & Book 3
Week 3 (Oct 17–Oct 24) Book 4 & Book 5
Week 4 (Oct 25–Oct 31) Book 6 to End
We also will write a new post every Friday in October (Oct 9, 16, 23, and 30) with discussion prompts, character trackers, and space to share your thoughts.
Looking forward to sharing this with you.
Thank you for the shout out to my post for 'The Accursed' read-along! I'm looking forward to this read-along starting in a few days. I can't believe it's almost here.
ReplyDeleteMe, either, Lisa. I just had a look at my book and started reading but noticed that I have a different division, I sent you an e-mail. I am sure it's still the same book, though.
DeleteI changed my two previous posts based on your email. I responded to your email letting you know. I will begin reading this book on October 1st. Happy reading!
DeleteSo did I. Thanks, Lisa.
DeleteHi Marianne,
DeleteI am now solely keeping the following reading schedule in my blog posts to avoid any confusion:
Week 1 (Oct 1–Oct 8) Author's note, Prologue, + Part 1 The curse descends on the Slade wedding; Woodrow Wilson's strain
Week 2 (Oct 9–Oct 16) Part 2 Historical cameos; the eerie Bog Kingdom; social satire
Week 3 (Oct 17–Oct 24) Part 3 Hysteria spreads; moral decay of the Princeton elite
Week 4 (Oct 25–Oct 31) Part 4 to End Climax, resolution, and unpacking the narrator’s reliability
I disposed of the other reading schedule entirely. I'm assuming that Google Gemini made a mistake with creating the original reading schedule I had posted to my blog originally as I didn't have a copy of the book at the time I created my blog post.
I have since changed my blog posts to contain the new and improved reading schedule as noted above. Thanks to you, Marianne, I learned the reading schedule made by Google Gemini was wrong based on the physical copy of 'The Accursed' which you have. I will be listening to the audio edition of 'The Accursed' and can only assume that it's formatting/layout is the same as the physical book.
I'm thrilled to have discovered and changed the reading schedule before we actually started!! Onward we go from here!!
I'm so excited to start reading 'The Accursed' with you, Marianne, as I've enjoyed reading and discussing two other JCO novels with you earlier this year. Happy reading!
As you see, I have done so, as well. I was confused what might be correct but I suppose as I have it black on white, this will be the correct one. I left the old one in, just in case someone else is listening to the audio as well and gets confused themselves.
DeleteLooking forward to our discussions.
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ReplyDelete