The 'John Lennon Book Club'

Thanks LL for some awesome additions!

I wonder if anyone here has ever attempted to read/flip through The Tibetan Book Of The Dead? It intrigues me.

I also have not read the bottom two books and I didn't know much about Margaret Trudeau's books. Interestin'!

Philip Dick pairs with John seamlessly... I wasn't at all surprised John was a fan of his work. I wouldn't be surprised if John was here today ... I'd expect Exegesis to top his reading list. We got another (approx) 1,000 pages this year and another 1,000 pages set for next year rumor has it. When will the 8,000 pages come out, unabridged!!

Originally Posted by Apple Scruff

I wonder if anyone here has ever attempted to read/flip through The Tibetan Book Of The Dead? It intrigues me.

Flicked through it years ago, and at the time, may as well have read it upside down for all the sense it made to me... but since picking my way through Nag Hammadi scriptures, Pistis Sophia and other Gnostic teachings should give it another go... and would love to know what Gnostic literature John may have read... even Hermetic/Esoteric stuff as Yoko had that Cheiro numerology book she consulted for all manner of things... wasn't John influenced by it too?

Hell yeah! John not only read this book, he once told Yoko about her poem describing a tower of light that "you should go ahead and make one dear." Hello Imagine Peace Tower. This book is a trip. A lot of people don't get it, but I have always f*cking adored it. It's one of those books that seems ridiculous, but in a really positive and cool way.



Here's a review by some feminist chick:

Grapefruit isn't your ordinary book. It's not a novel or a piece of non-fiction. It's a book of art, though it doesn't contain photographs of Ono's completed work. It's poetry; it's a collage. Ultimately, it's a book of instructions -- instructions for you, the reader, to create your own conceptual art.

Yoko Ono's husband John Lennon once said that the first time he started reading Grapefruit, it utterly baffled him. Then, the perceived nonsense between the pages greatly angered him. And finally, it clicked, and he suddenly understood both the sincerity and the joke. His process wasn't unique; in fact it mirrored mine almost exactly, and those of most I've known to pick up the book. And we who stuck with it to the end have almost always found it worth it.
Grapefruit is an amazing primer to Ono's artistic style and thought process, and still one of her best works. For her, ideas are art, and art is entirely about audience participation. Some of those ideas are utterly hilarious. Others are incredibly solemn. All are thought-provoking. You're not actually intended to perform most of the pieces, at least not physically. Most of it is head work. And it's capable of opening you up to a new way of abstract and idealistic form of thinking.

Yoko Ono is sadly best known not for her work, but for the lies told about her. If you want to know who Ono really is, and what she really does, there is no better place to start than Grapefruit.

John would WANT you to buy it!

I was going to write a lot about Honore de Balzac right now, but my mind just took flight. I will address Monsieur Balzac a bit later.

But all this talk about books makes me wonder if we shouldn't REALLY form a JL Book Club? Like, once a month, assign one of the books from this list and then on a certain day open up a thread for about a week discussing our take on the book.

Anyone up for this?

Originally Posted by wildewoman

I was going to write a lot about Honore de Balzac right now, but my mind just took flight. I will address Monsieur Balzac a bit later.

But all this talk about books makes me wonder if we shouldn't REALLY form a JL Book Club? Like, once a month, assign one of the books from this list and then on a certain day open up a thread for about a week discussing our take on the book.

Anyone up for this?

Even though I am still in the process of reading Norman, I'm in!!! I'm so in!!!

Ok, Scruff's in...what about the rest of you? My idea is not to get it going until the dust settles after the holiday season, but shortly after the New Year so we can do some winter reading while the weather stinks for most of us. Not so much in *my* neck of the woods, but I know some of you have some really rotten weather arriving soon, if it hasn't already.

No rush on Norman, Scruff. I know that some of us have kids, jobs and partners who require a lot of time. Still, if it is only one book a month, or even a quarter if it comes to that, it might be fun.

-comes out of lurker shell-

I would love that. I would do it.
but I dunno if I'd be able to get my hands on a good many of the books.

Originally Posted by wildewoman

Anyone up for this?

I'd give it a whirl... Let's not start with The Tibetan Book of the Dead, though.

Originally Posted by Maia 66

I'd give it a whirl... Let's not start with The Tibetan Book of the Dead, though.

Yes, please wilde...start us off on something a little more "lightweight," though not completely!

Well Hi, LetThereBeMusic! Looks like we have a scribbler here as well! You write Ringo Fanfic? That's great!

And NO! No Tibetan Book of the Dead to start with! I'm not sure I'll ever read that one! That would be like asking someone to start a study of Joyce with "Ulysses!" They'd take one look and run away screaming!

If the Just William books were more easy to get hold of, I'd suggest those to begin with...but as they aren't all that common, at least in the US, I was thinking more along the lines of the Alice books, or Wind in the Willows....I was thinking the Macrobiotic book might be in order following the season of overindulgence in sweets after the new year, but that's not so easy to find.

I write a lot of things xD (I have a john fanfic i hope to write some day :P). I'm more of a musician/artist than a writer =P

I might not be able to read some of the assigned books as my resources are quite limited, but I'm sure I can get quite a few.

you can always try amazon 8D they have everything, man.

Originally Posted by wildewoman

Well Hi, LetThereBeMusic! Looks like we have a scribbler here as well! You write Ringo Fanfic? That's great!

And NO! No Tibetan Book of the Dead to start with! I'm not sure I'll ever read that one! That would be like asking someone to start a study of Joyce with "Ulysses!" They'd take one look and run away screaming!

If the Just William books were more easy to get hold of, I'd suggest those to begin with...but as they aren't all that common, at least in the US, I was thinking more along the lines of the Alice books, or Wind in the Willows....I was thinking the Macrobiotic book might be in order following the season of overindulgence in sweets after the new year, but that's not so easy to find.

I actually will try and get some of these titles. I was going to ask my dad about the Just William books...I may have to find a way to get a hold of some of them. In any case, the Macrobiotic book is something that truly appeals to me, and it could open up a ton of discussion about John's lifestyle and all the discussion that ensues could be riveting...but we could hold off that and do something basic. You know, I was actually planning on posting some Wilde books here. John was a huge fan, although I don't know any specific books so...would a collection do or should I imagine what he'd have read of Oscar's?

I remember reading somewhere that he was one of the few people who actually read those books about Winston Churchill, since they shared a name. I think it was Paul who said it. I could be wrong.

not sure how they influenced him, but there's those.


I also heard tale of many other Lewis Carroll poems, not sure which, however.

"Jabberwocky" was more than likely his favorite!

Thank you LTBM! You know you're always welcome to post in here. And bring up Ringo. He is well loved.

In all my research I've not seen any specific titles. I did note with interest that in the movie "Nowhere Boy" when Mimi's waiting at Mendips for John to return from visiting Blackpool with Cousin Stanley (but John's really gadding about with Julia), Mimi's reading Wilde's Fairy Tales. I don't know if the director or propmaster turned that up in original research (meaning, they knew it was an actual title in Mimi's real-life library) or they just thought it would look good to have Mimi reading it.

So there's that. And I think it's quite likely John read them. He did mention being torn between the "macho, James Dean" side of him vs. the "gentle Oscar Wilde side." And those fairy tales, while full of wit and humor, have an absolutely heartbreaking tenderness to them. He also referred to Wilde as a poet, so it's likely he read Wilde's poetry too. He probably read "The Ballad of Reading Gaol," and perhaps others. And of course NO one who loves Wilde would miss "De Profundis."

^See, this is why I love that you're here. I need to broaden my own Wilde reading list. I feel like sticking something of a collection in here, but being sure it's one that would have been out when John was a lad.

I don't believe we should start with the collected Churchill either.

I do think the bookclub is a fun idea. My resources are limited too but you know, many of the harder to find books can be got through your local library. You might have to do a long distance loan though but I've rarely seen librarians beat! Somehow, the obscurer the book the more help you'll get. I've seen the fanatic look in their eye when faced with a challenge like that!

S'pose that's why I wasn't really suggesting them =P
adding to the books John read.

Also- I think the Jabberwocky poem is actually in 'Alice'... I've read it, but I haven't read 'Alice' in a really long time...

I'm going to look for the Just William books and, if I obtain, I will notify you all ASAP. I know we're not starting the 'John Lennon Book Club' until after the holidays (as well as a couple other threads I have set to the side for then), but I like to let you know I've made some effort to be prepared. I mean, whomever gets the books first can sort of chime in. In the meantime, I will look and post more books for this thread.