For those of you who live in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, I am happy to announce the recommencement of
The Cathedral of the Madeleine Book Club. We will begin meeting again on Tuesday, 2 February 2010 from 7:00-9:00 PM. The book we are going to discuss is
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. According to Dr. Marianne Friederich, Schlink's novel is part of the fourth wave of German Holocaust literature. Dr. Friedrich has noted that in
The Reader Schlink "takes a new approach in dealing with the Holocaust" not only by shifting the focus "from the victims to his protagonist's personal encounter with a perpetrator," but "he also replaces the bond between fathers and their children with a bond of passionate love," which the film version greatly overplayed at the expense of the novel's integrity.
We will gather in the Our Lady of Zion chapel promptly at 7:00 PM, which is the prayer room just off the Cathedral, the one with the votive candles, just prior to moving to the Cathedral rectory where our discussion will take place. After
The Reader, we will read and discuss John Allen's recently published book
The Future Church: How Ten Trends are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church.
I would love to be there!
ReplyDeleteEspecially since Dr. Frederich, a retired literature professor from Germany, who has engaged in a lengthy correspondence with Schlink, and who contributed the entry on him for Holocaust Literature: An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work, will be part of the group. I plan on learning a lot from her that evening. She is a parishioner and a lovely and very humble person.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! I read *The Reader* and thought it very interesting. I appreciate the point you (she) bring out about this reversal of roles. I haven't seen the movie, not sure I want to.
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to read that book.
ReplyDeleteI wish that I could join you all- it sounds wonderful.