North and South — Elizabeth Gaskell

“I take it that ‘gentleman’ is a term that only describes a person in his relation to others; but when we speak of him as ‘a man’ , we consider him not merely with regard to his fellow men, but in relation to himself, — to life — to time — to eternity. A cast-away lonely as Robinson Crusoe — a prisoner immured in a dungeon for life — nay, even a saint in Patmos, has his endurance, his strength, his faith, best described by being spoken of as ‘a man’. I am rather weary of this word ‘gentlemanly’ which seems to me to be often inappropriately used, and often too with such exaggerated distortion of meaning, while the full simplicity of the noun ‘man’, and the adjective ‘manly’ are unacknowledged.”

This week's book is North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell and we'll be meeting at The Didsbury on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

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” wrote Orwell following his experiences as a militiaman in the Spanish Civil War, and 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.

“All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.”

This week's book is Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell and we'll be meeting at The Didsbury on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.

Wuthering Heights — Emily Brontë

“I have dreamt in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the colour of my mind. And this is one: I'm going to tell it — but take care not to smile at any part of it.”

This week's book is Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and we'll be meeting at The Didsbury on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details. 

Please note change of book caused by the Great Diary Shortage.  Project Hail Mary can be read in June.