The Reader
I went to my first book club meeting this week! I know this may not sound very exciting, but I actually had to wait until there was a spot in the club to join. The people are all from GoL and so far everyone is really nice and fun to hang out with.
Our book this month was "The Reader" by Bernhard Schlink. We were supposed to read "Like Water for Chocolate" but when a few copies were ordered through the local bookstore, they didn't come for 3 weeks (instead of 3 days). So, some of us read it and some of us didn't. To solve our dilemma, we all switched to "The Reader", which most of us ordered through Amazon in Germany -- free shipping to Switzerland, but the order form took me about an hour to fill out since I had to translate it.
"The Reader" was really good! Turns out it's an Oprah Book Club book, but one I would never have picked up on my own. Translated from German, it's set in Berlin and is a brief tale about sex, love, reading, and shame in postwar Germany. It's the story of Michael Berg who falls deeply in love with a mysterious older woman, who one day disappears. Years later, when Michael is a young law student, he sees her again as a defendant in a trial related to Germany's Nazi past. Michael struggles with the overwhelming question of what his generation should do with its knowledge of the Holocaust. The book is very sad, but really makes you think. It's a beautifully written book, but the subject matter is a little tough to read at times.
The great thing about the book club is it's made up of people from all over the world. One guy, from Belgium, is the grandson of a camp survivor. Another girl is German and had a great uncle in the SS (although for years it was kept from her). The discussion was lively and very interesting among all of us (when the topic of flag-waving came up, me, the only American in the group, was asked to explain why we love to wave ours so much). It was a great meeting. I can't wait for the next one.
I also went to my Toastmasters meeting last night. I was the "Welcome Hostess", not a big job, but I participated! This is another group of people from all over the world (I think I'm one of only three Americans). I'm making fast friends with a really cool gal from Jamaica. We joined the same week and both have a fear of giving our second speech (we both did our "ice breaker" speech in June). More updates on that in the coming months! :)
Our book this month was "The Reader" by Bernhard Schlink. We were supposed to read "Like Water for Chocolate" but when a few copies were ordered through the local bookstore, they didn't come for 3 weeks (instead of 3 days). So, some of us read it and some of us didn't. To solve our dilemma, we all switched to "The Reader", which most of us ordered through Amazon in Germany -- free shipping to Switzerland, but the order form took me about an hour to fill out since I had to translate it.
"The Reader" was really good! Turns out it's an Oprah Book Club book, but one I would never have picked up on my own. Translated from German, it's set in Berlin and is a brief tale about sex, love, reading, and shame in postwar Germany. It's the story of Michael Berg who falls deeply in love with a mysterious older woman, who one day disappears. Years later, when Michael is a young law student, he sees her again as a defendant in a trial related to Germany's Nazi past. Michael struggles with the overwhelming question of what his generation should do with its knowledge of the Holocaust. The book is very sad, but really makes you think. It's a beautifully written book, but the subject matter is a little tough to read at times.
The great thing about the book club is it's made up of people from all over the world. One guy, from Belgium, is the grandson of a camp survivor. Another girl is German and had a great uncle in the SS (although for years it was kept from her). The discussion was lively and very interesting among all of us (when the topic of flag-waving came up, me, the only American in the group, was asked to explain why we love to wave ours so much). It was a great meeting. I can't wait for the next one.
I also went to my Toastmasters meeting last night. I was the "Welcome Hostess", not a big job, but I participated! This is another group of people from all over the world (I think I'm one of only three Americans). I'm making fast friends with a really cool gal from Jamaica. We joined the same week and both have a fear of giving our second speech (we both did our "ice breaker" speech in June). More updates on that in the coming months! :)
posted by Swiss Miss | 09:10
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