The Banana Republic by Connor Israel

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

Meeting 1 Date: 1/23/24
Pages / Section:Part 1 chapter Gautama.

Meeting 2 Date: 2/1/24
Pages / Section: Part 2 chapter Amon the Child-People

Meeting 3 Date:
Pages / Section: Part 2 Chapter The Ferryman

Meeting 4 Date:
Pages / Section:Part 2 Chapter Govinda

NOTES

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

Section/Pages: Amon the Child-People
Members Present: All members present

Discussion Highlights:
- These chapters were a bit confusing, we hope that the book becomes more straightforwards.
- The culture of these chapters were very good.
- These quotes relate to everything that is happening in the world.
- Siddhartha is an interesting book
- We said that this book helps us understand why people try to find their pseudo happiness.

Agenda Topic 1

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

“felt thirst, overcame the thirst, felt new thirst.”

“Oh, Govinda, I believe out of all the Samanas out there, perhaps not a single one, not a single one, will reach the nirvana.”

Agenda Topic 2

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

“And see now, you have become a man and are choosing your own path. May you travel it to the end,”
“For suddenly this also became clear to him: he, who truly was like one who has awakened or newly born, he had to begin his life anew from the very beginning.”

Agenda Topic 3

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

“ I’ve had to experience despair, I’ve had to experience the worst thoughts. The thoughts of sucide
“ I’m no longer young, that my hair is already half grey
He is contemplating his existence in his pilgrimage

MEETING REFLECTION

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

1. The popular opinion is the book is still very slow paced but more interesting than before. The self inflicting damage to be more in touch with Buddha and the natural world was very interesting.
2. The large group allows for differing standpoints and interpretations of the book.
3. The quote “felt thirst, overcame the thirst, felt new thirst” was the center of our discussion. Saddartha felt a “thirst” to expand past the Self.

NOTES

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

Section/Pages:
Members Present: All members present

Discussion Highlights:
- we all spoke about our opinions on how the book ended
- we all spoke about all topics we chose
- we discussed about the themes
- we started to theorize our essays

Agenda Topic 1

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

The Theme that I found interesting in this book is the theme of journey. The whole book is based off a journey of finding yourself. I found this theme interesting because a personal and an actual journey go hand in hand in finding yourself for all sorts of reasons.
Personally the book was meh. Better then the previous book i read, a lot shorter, more type action
A quote that I found interesting is “it’s a beautiful life you have chosen for yourself, it must be beautiful to live by this water every day and to cruise on it”.

Agenda Topic 2

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

The theme I chose from this book is the search for pseudo-happiness. The reason why I chose this is because in the book was very slow, which made us actualize the journey he took to find the happiness. One quote that demonstrates this would be, “What could I say to you that would be of value, except that perhaps you seek too much, that as a result of your seeking you cannot find.”
The book was good and bad. I liked the message the book demonstrated, but at times the book was really slow. Overall, I would rate this a 7/10.

Agenda Topic 3

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

The theme that is present in Siddhartha is the theme of self discovery. The way that this is shown throughout the book is when Siddhartha goes off from his friend that stayed to learn under the Sublime one. “I have had to experience so much stupidity, so many vices, so much error, so much nausea, disillusionment and sorrow, just in order to become a child again and begin anew. I had to experience despair, I had to sink to the greatest mental depths, to thoughts of suicide, in order to experience grace." This quote shows self discovery because it shows all of the things that he had to go through in order to find grace and begin anew.
When reading to book I understood where Siddhartha had to go and find himself but the book was boring through his journey. I wouldn’t recommend this to someone my age because it was a boring book and talked about the struggles of life.

MEETING REFLECTION

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

1. Today in book club, the group discussed the various themes we identified in the book. The themes each are very different with different evidence to back them up. The large group assisted in the finding of various themes.
2. Our group would not recommend the book to our age. Though the book way be impactful in the message the book portrays it is very slow and really not interesting at all.
3. The group does not find the book very enjoyable to read we I do believe that the story contains strong and meaningful themes helpful for readers our age and older.

NOTES

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

Section/Pages: Chapters 1 - 3
Members Present: All

Discussion Highlights:
-Do you agree with Siddharta’s decision that he should have went to become a Samana
- The role of Govinda as a friend and supporter of Saddartha’s goals
- The change is Saddartha’s views of the world before and after his enlightened change
- Character building of Saddartha and Govinda throughout their journey together

Agenda Topic 2

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

“The world tasted bitter,” “Life was torture.”

Agenda Topic 3

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

“You shall become a great Samana, Siddhartha. You have mastered every exercise quickly, the old Samana have often admired you.”

MEETING REFLECTION

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

1.book is boring so far in the beginning
2. So far it’s very slowed pace
3. We have a large group and this can allow us to have a lot of opinions and good conversation in our book club.

RULE 1

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

Be Active within the group by reading

RULE 2

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

Listen to other opinions and views

RULE 3.

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

Everyone participate in the discussions and agenda topics

MEMBERS

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

Name:Anthony Ulloa
Email:25399au@chaminade-hs.org

Name:Sebastian Paul
Email:25295sp@chaminade-hs.org

Name:Connor Israel
Email:25193CI@chaminade-hs.org

Name:Matthew Imperiale
Email:25191mi@chaminade-hs.org

Name: Ryan OToole
Email: 25437ro@chaminade-hs.org

BOOK TITLE/AUTHOR

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

SIDDHARTHA / HERMAN HESSE

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

EXIT SLIP

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

https://forms.gle/cCJbHs6scjgEERui7

BOOK CLUB PROMPTS

25193ci — 2024-01-12 17:18:45 UTC

Siddhartha

25193ci — 2024-01-23 17:07:21 UTC

Agenda topic 4

25347ds — 2024-02-01 17:12:20 UTC

“If he ever became a god, the Govinda wanted to follow him as friend, servant, his shadow.”

“all were not worth a passing glance, everything lied.”

Agenda Topic 5

25295sp — 2024-02-09 16:44:14 UTC

A theme I found in Siddhartha is the theme of time and how it distracts if from life. In the book, Siddhartha learns how even with time passing, he was no different from the boy he used to be when he grew older. He realizes that nothing separates the boy from the man inside him, the same how nothing separates his life as a samana from that of a merchant.

“Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?" That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.” - I think this quote ties into the theme, mainly the part of the river where it says that it’s everywhere at the same time, which could be used in the same way saying how your younger self is truly never gone, even when you grow up

My overall opinion for this book is that it was weird to read. It wasn’t slow, it was just hard to understand by the way it was formatted and the way the characters spoke

Agenda topic 4

25347ds — 2024-02-09 16:55:52 UTC

One theme central to the story of Siddartha is the search for true meaning and joy, along side the need to avoid lies or false versions. This theme is shown very early on in the book. Upon beginning his journey as a Samana Siddartha begins to see the world as full of lies, fake beauty, “it all lied, it all stank, it all stank of lies, it all pretended to be meaningful and joyful and beautiful” (Hesse 15). Although I do not find this book very enjoyable to read, I do believe that the story contains strong and meaningful themes helpful for readers our age and older. Themes around what to peruse in life and what to avoid are crucial for high school students about to enter college and with that change gain much greater freedom to pursue a variety of interests some of which they should avoid.

Agenda Topic 1

25437ro — 2024-02-27 17:16:52 UTC

Agenda Topic 5

25437ro — 2024-02-27 17:18:17 UTC

Would I recommend the book?

25193ci — 2024-02-27 17:21:22 UTC

I would to a person who can understand some of the topics, but if it was to a 5th grader… probably not. It felt very slow when I was reading it. I would give the book a 7/10. I would rank it higher if it had some type of hook to it, but it’s fine.

Ryan O’Toole

25437ro — 2024-02-27 17:22:16 UTC

I do not recommend the book. The book reflected on some major themes and the importance of self discovery, however the book was very slow and boring. Reading the book was like running uphill with no destination.

Would I recommend the book?

25191mi — 2024-02-27 17:23:31 UTC

I would recommend the book to someone that likes a story of finding yourself. So i would recommend this book to someone older but not to a high schooler or middle schooler because the book isn’t very high intensity but it has a good story about the struggles of life. I think an older person would like that and how it relates to them.

Not recommended

25295sp — 2024-02-27 18:08:36 UTC

I would not recommend this book as it is pretty hard to understand at first. It also wasn’t really enjoyable by the way it was structured

Agenda topic 4

25347ds — 2024-03-06 17:11:08 UTC

Recommendation

25399au — 2024-03-06 17:15:54 UTC

I do not recommend this book because it’s very slow and it slow pacing action. If you like slow books then it’s for you but for me personally it’s not

Not recommended

25347ds — 2024-03-06 17:17:34 UTC

Although this book covers important themes and has strong messages, the way it delivers them is slow and makes reading the book tedious. The pacing and dialogue is difficult to follow due to the incredibly slow pace. I would not recommend this book for next year.

25191mi — 2024-03-06 17:19:33 UTC

25193ci — 2024-03-06 17:21:39 UTC