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Reading Matters

Vol. 12, No. 2 Spring-Summer 2006

The Great Books Council of San Francisco

Serving Northern California www.greatbooks-sf.com

The Long Novel Weekend and Why

Chuck Scarcliff

For around fifty people — sometimes more, some-times fewer — late summer’s Long Novel Week-end is an event not to be missed. It’s a little dif-ferent and for some of us, our favorite annual Great Books event. The Long Novel Weekend fills an important niche, one that you might fit into comfortably.

The novels are, of course, long ones. In past years, we have read and dis-cussed War and Peace and Our Mutual Friend. A lot of pages lie be-tween the covers of those two. And some of our selections are challeng-ing. Ulysses was no walk in the park. Neither is this year’s selection, The Ambassadors by Henry James. But once their

complexities are sifted through and sorted out, these novels re-ward the reader as few books do.

The length and complexities of our readings call for extra com-mitment. Before attending the

Long Novel Weekend, readers and leaders alike spend many hours with the text. Some of the best Great Books discussions you can find result from their effort.

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Food, Friends and The Kite Runner

Kathleen Conneely Mark your calendars: The 2006 Annual Meeting and Picnic will be from noon to around 3:00 PM on June 25th at the Padre Picnic Area of Tilden Park, Berke-ley. You don’t want to miss it. The location is an ideal spot for picnicking with friends

and discuss-ing a book, this year The Kite Run-ner by Khaled Hosseini. And it’s Free.(See and save the enclosed flier for details and directions.)

The Picnic: It’s pot luck, but you will need to bring your own main course, plates, cups, utensils, etc. plus a dish to share with four others. Bar-becues will be fired up for grilling the entrée of your choice.

The Annual Meeting: Af-ter lunch there will be a brief meeting electing Council officers for coming year and conducting other business as may be necessary.

The Book: This powerful first novel by an Afghan phy-sician now living in northern California tells the story of

Amir, a privileged young man who comes of age during the last peaceful days before his country’s revolution and its invasion by Soviet forces. Historical and political events shape the novel, but it is also a story of friendship — the friendship between Amir and Hassan, the son of the servant to Amir’s father. Their fragile relationship —

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A New Logo

The Great Books Council of San Francisco proudly presents its newly designed logo. It will appear on publications and other printed materials, and will mean “Great Books of Northern California” to all who see it. The designer was Bryce Browning, a commercial artist living in Marin County and brother of president Brent Browning.

For more about The Ambassadors, see the article on page 6.

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symbolized by the kites they fly competitively — is the thread that holds the novel together.

After being away from Afghanistan for several years, Amir returns to find his home country suffering under the rule of the Taliban. Parts of The Kite Runner are raw and excruciating to read as the friendship is tested by the course of history to a nation the author clearly loves. while hating what has become of it. From this moving

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It Happened in Novato The Great Books Leader Workshop

On February eleventh, a Saturday, eighteen of us came to the home of Kay and Rick White to learn the skills and unlock the mysteries of leading Great Books discus-sions. Some came with leading experience behind them while others were new to the game. Kay conducted the workshop with assistance from Barbara McConnell and Brent Browning. All three knew what they were doing

and were good at doing it.

We talked about the princi-ples of leading shared in-quiry discussions and then got down to brass tacks. Brent led a demonstration discussion to show how it’s

done. In the afternoon we all tried our hands at leading short practice sessions. And our work was critiqued by both the professionals and our fellow trainees.

It worked. The workshop successfully gave us all, ex-perienced leaders and novices alike, information, ideas and practice that benefited us all. And it was fun.

Next year’s Leader Workshop is planned for February 10, 2007. Learn more about it in the November issue of Reading Matters.

Poetry Anyone? The Great Books Poetry Weekend

Chuck Scarcliff

Several years ago I encountered a very short poem about a lipstick-stained tissue seen floating in a toilet bowl. It turned out to be a surprisingly good poem. A poem by Billy Collins, tells us something we already knew — nobody likes a wet dog. And there’s Linda Pastan’s poem about jump-starting a car. Or is it? Not on your life. It’s a master-piece of mild eroticism.

Among the poems discussed at the November 2005 Poetry Weekend was “The Wood-pecker Pecks, But The Hole Does Not Appear” by Charles Wright. This is a truly excel-lent work, but it has nothing to do with woodpeckers. No, it goes to the very core of our existence — evanescence of

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The 2006 Poetry Week-end will be held on Novem- ber 11th & 12th at the Westmin-

ster Retreat in Alamo.

Watch for the an-nouncement that

will be mailed in mid-August. And sign up early. Space is limited.

GREAT BOOKS COUNCIL of SAN FRANCISCO , Serving Northern California:

OFFICERS: Brent Browning, President; Kay White, Vice President; Gary Geltemeyer, Secretary; Grace Apple Dennison, Treasurer; Brian Mahoney, Past President. READING MATTERS: Chuck Scarcliff; Publisher Paul Ortega and Lucy Whybrow-Ortega, Editors Council Website: www.greatbooks-sf.com; Great Books Foundation Website: www.greatbooks.org

From the President

Brent Browning We have, on the whole, had a very good year. This year’s Asilomar Weekend, and last year’s Long Novel and Poetry Weekends were all successful. Attendance

at Asilomar was back up to a normal level due, at least in part, to a vigorous effort by our Pub-

licity Committee.

Your Great Books Council is an all-volunteer organization with no paid positions. Our successes come from the efforts of our volunteers. We are now seeking someone who will join our Asilomar team as Registrar. The job includes receiving checks from par-ticipants and mailing the books to them. And the Regis-trar needs to be comfortable working with the computer and, most of all, working with people. If this sounds like a job you might be interested in do-ing, please call me at (408) 353-6340 or contact me by e-mail at brentbrowning@comcast.net. I would like to discuss the position, its responsibilities and job-satisfactions, with you in greater detail.

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Add to that, we devote six hours of discussion to the book allowing time for saying, in sufficient depth, the things that need to be said.

The setting is a good one — different from the Asilomar Conference Grounds or Westminster Retreat, but cer-tainly no better nor no worse than the other two. Just different. Walker Creek Ranch is in a rural valley sur-rounded by grassy and forested hills in northern Marin County near Petaluma. It is a pleasant and peaceful place to spend a weekend among friends discussing a great book.

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human life, the fundamental futility of human effort.

So why am I telling you about stained tissue, wet dogs, jumper cables and woodpeckers? Because po-etry can and does touch upon all manner of human experience and thought, often in surprising ways. And it is these surprises that draw many of us to po-etry and, accordingly, to the annual Great Books Po-etry Weekend at Westminster Retreat in Alamo.

The weekend has three two-hour discussions of po-ems selected by the Poetry Committee. Two of these discussions are centered around themes. On Saturday morning last year we discussed poems of Intimacies . . .Limitations . . .Boundaries, and in the afternoon, Dreams . . .Reveries . . .Rude Awakenings. The third discussion, on Sunday morning, was a potpourri ses-sion. The committee invariably selects a good mix-ture of classic and traditional poems, and recent and contemporary ones. Last year, for example, we read poems by John Donne, William Butler Yeats, Wil-liam Shakespeare, Randall Jarrell, Sylvia Plath, Jack Gilbert and Stanley Kunitz. Selections range from readily accessible poems to difficult but not impossi-ble ones. The Plath poem, “Morning Song,” was not hard to grasp, while the Charles Wright poem men-tioned earlier was far more challenging.

The committee also plans and stages a program for Saturday evening with everyone participating in light-hearted fun and entertainment. Last year a poem by Paul Muldoon was used. Here is one of its lines: “as when Queen Elizabeth entertained the Earls in her something, something ruff.” Groups were formed and the “somethings” were replaced, often with hilarious results. Poems, themes and pro-grams change from year to year, but a good and stimulating time is always had by all.

Poetry is perfectly suited for Great Books discussion — shared inquiry. Participants will have interpreted

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Ripe Apricot

My grief is a ripe apricot, put aside when it was green, waiting for a hungry mouth to pierce the bruised skin, breathe an unnamable fragrance, taste the juice of memory — the ballet matinèes, the books we shared, and words, always words — to see, to say, to feed and taste — epiphanies when even mute Petroushka spoke to me. I hold this fruit so ripe it wants to burst into my mouth. I break it open, taste it, crush it gently and swallow.

Carol Hochberg

In addition to being a skilled poet, Carol Hochberg is a member of Poetry Committee where she is active in planning the Poetry Weekend and selecting poems for it and for the Asilomar Week-end. Reading Matters invites submissions of poems or other short creative writings, or queries from its readers.

London Tour for Thinkers IV will be October 23-28 2006. The cost is $1,665 (double) or

$1,915 (single) per person. Additional days can be added before or after the tour. Phone (925)939-3658 or contact Ted Kraus at

tmktheatretours@hotmail.com for more information

poems in different ways. Some will have picked up details, small or large, others have missed. And those who don’t read poetry regularly, need not be intimidated or self-conscious — good groups and leaders make the novice feel comfortable and right at home.

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And Our Readers Say . . .

Reading Matters surveyed two groups of readers asking one group to tell us of the qualities and practices they, as participants, either do or do not like in Great Books leaders. The other was asked to name the one book or books they look upon as the greatest they have read. Reading Matters thanks everyone who took the time to respond and although there is nothing scientific here, we believe these thoughtful responses will be interesting to anyone who cares about reading and discussing books. Better yet, you can play along with our little game by asking yourself, “How would I have answered if that Reading Matters guy had sent me one of his survey forms?” Chuck Scarcliff

What do Participants Want?

Theda Firschein put it well when she wrote, “A good leader is friendly and respectful of the group, elicit-ing by example their respect for each other.” An-other of the participants surveyed said that being re-laxed and having a good sense of humor are qualities she hopes for in leaders. She went on to say that good leaders must listen carefully and be “sensitive to the mood of the group.” Rudy Johnson mentioned “intangible qualities” of a good leader — qualities that some people have while others may not. Ted Kraus, pinpointing one of the intangibles, said that a good leader “makes the group feel comfortable.” One of the most succinct expressions came from a person quoted earlier but who asked that her name be withheld: “A good leader must lead without seeming to.”

One thread that worked its way into most responses was that no one likes leaders who are “too control-ling.” As one respondent put it, “We want to feel that it is our discussion.” Rudy said a leader “should not intrude himself too much into the discussion. Gary Geltemeyer agrees: he prefers a leader who “lets the participants participate . . . and, if need be, just plays traffic cop.”

Janice White wrote that she prefers to call leaders “facilitators,” and went on to say that they should not be verbose or controlling. More than others, Janice emphasized distaste for leaders who push their own points of view and singled out those who show they

are pleased when a participant says something with

which they agree. Likewise, Kathleen Conneely doesn’t care for leaders who express their own, espe-cially negative, opinions of the book or of the au-thor’s point of view. Theda wrote that leaders should

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The Greatest Book?

Although knowing there is no such thing as a “greatest book,” I asked several of our members to name one or more that they put at the top of their lists. I also listed a few possible choices — from which two or three pointed out that I did not know how to spell “divine” (as in The Divine Comedy).

Bob Calvert wisely declined to pick a book say-ing he “hasn’t written it yet.” Tom Cox who had read all but one of the books on my list, thought they were all great but added one I didn’t include: The Sound and the Fury.

Tom Slakey, a retired faculty member from St. John’s Col-lege, chose The Bible. And it would be hard to argue with Frances Wright of Sacramento. The Complete Works of Shake-speare has long been her greatest book. For Beatrice Petrochi, also of Sacramento, the great-est is War and Peace with The Magic Mountain coming in second. Vince Scardina mentioned Conrad’s short novel Heart of Darkness and Jim Vasser’s choice was Moby Dick. I certainly can’t quarrel with any of those choices.

In addition to saying War and Peace had long been her choice for greatest novel, Fiona Hum-phrey called attention to some other greats: Grapes of Wrath, Ethan Frome by Edith Whar-ton, and Death of a Salesman, but here’s the one that interested me most — A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh. It’s a children’s book, as she said, but “wonderful for adults too, and has a philosophy of life we could all emulate.” I think Fiona is

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“A good leader must lead without seeming to.”

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not “push an idea or show impatience.”

There was widespread agreement that leaders must be sure that, as Ted put it, “everyone who wants to con-tribute ideas has the chance to” do so. And one added that leaders should not call on those who have nothing to say — it wastes time and embarrasses the participant. “A better plan,” as she said, “Is to keep the discussion so lively that ‘reticents’ will want to participate out of sheer enthusiasm.” A variation on this theme was that one or a few participants should not be allowed to mo-nopolize the discussion. Another expressed displeasure when a leader allows a “repetition of ideas.”

And leader preparation and formulating good questions count for quite a bit too. As Rudy pointed out, “It re-quires a lot of work to prepare to lead,” and “Reading the book as leader is different from reading it as a par-ticipant because the leader is always thinking of discus-sion topics while reading.” Ted believes that a leader should be prepared with follow-up questions but not follow a list of questions throughout the discussion. Another respondent — who asked that her name be withheld and, by the way, serves both as a leader and as a participant — wants leaders to know the work thor-oughly; trying to lead “by the seat of his pants” without thorough study of the text makes the leader ill-prepared to deal with the unexpected ideas that may arise. And finally, Kathleen Conneely doesn’t like it if a leader “doesn’t cover the major issues raised in the book and leaves discussants feeling frustrated at the end.”

So there you have it: what a few of our readers think about Great Books leaders. They may have missed a thing or two but if they did, it wasn’t very much.

(Continued from page 4) What do Participants Want? The Greatest Book? sizian made some interesting and well-considered selections — Le Pere Goriot by Balzac, Huckleberry Finn and The Scarlet Letter.

Oscar Firschein named several books s we would all do well to read: Hamlet, The Bible, Ulysses, Lolita, The Iliad, The Brothers Karamazov (He said “The Grand Inquisitor Chap-ter” alone was “worth the price of admission.”), Don Qui-xote, Madame Bovary and two Greek tragedies — The Tro-jan Women and Iphigenia.

Howard Crane listed a few fairly recent novels — All the King’s Men, Tender is the Night, Catch 22, Lolita, Deliver-ance, Portnoy’s Complaint, Mr. Sammler’s Planet (the only Saul Bellow novel mentioned) and one that really caught my eye — The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears, an English writer. (See the review on page 9 of this issue.)

The other book reviewed on page 9, The End of Faith by Sam Harris, was brought to our attention by Joe DeHazes.

Mary Lentz of Burney sent an impressive list of several con-temporary and classic choices. Her choices included Mrs. Dalloway, Portrait of a Lady, Remains of the Day, The Dub-liners (especially “The Dead”) The Brothers K, Lolita, To Kill a Mockingbird and more.

Many gave reasons and made comments about their choices. Too bad we cannot print these comments for everyone to read.

onto something. Jan Fussell named To the Lighthouse, and also some works of poetry — Frost’s collected poems, Words-worth’s early poetry and Rilke’s “Sonnets to Orpheus.” Larry Fussell mentioned The Origin of Species. Wal-den made it onto both Jan’s and Larry’s lists.

Louise DiMattio had two classics — The Brothers Karamazov and Pride and Prejudice — but also men-tioned a contemporary novel — A Fine Balance by Ro-hinton Mistry. Not at all unexpectedly Dorothy Jan

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In February it’s The Mini-Retreat

Not everyone can attend. Space at the Mechanics Institute in San Francisco is limited. But the Annual Mini-Retreat is a one-day event well worth considering. The group usually discusses a single novel and often views a related film. This year’s novel was Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov; a year ago it was End of the Affair by Graham Green. The book to be discussed at the 2007 Mini-Retreat will be announced in the November issue of Reading Matters.

However, the date has been determined: Sat-urday, February 3, 2007.

Because of its limited enrollment, Mini-Retreat notices are not sent to all Great Books members. To be added to the mailing list and receive the flier for the 2007 Mini-Retreat, contact Claudia O’Callaghan, callcoc@aol.com.

Please see the article

about Lolita and the 2006 Mini-Retreat on page 9.

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47th Annual Great Books Bellingham Institute. June 16-18; Western Washington University, Bel-lingham Washington. For information contact Steve Blair at stevenrblair@hotmail.com.

This year’s readings will include Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen; John Steinbeck’s The Winter of Our Discontent, and two nonfiction works of special interest. Our friends in Wash-ington seem not tip toe around controversial sub-jects. One of the nonfiction selections is Dar-win’s Black Box by Michael J. Behe, a biochem-ist. This is the book widely referred to in support of intelligent design. The other, River out of Eden by Richard Dawkins, an evo-lutionary biologist, presents a Darwinian view of life. Where better than in a Great Books dis-cussion to tackle the issues raised by these two books?

Toronto Pursuits. July 16-21, University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto. For information contact ann.kirkland@classicalpursuits.com.

Reading selections include Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, The Lord of the Rings (J. R. R. Tolkien), Middlemarch

(George Eliot) and Swann’s Way (Marcel Proust) with additional seminars —

Plato vs. Aristotle, In Search of the Source of Artistic Inspiration,: Musi-

cal Maestros, Martinets, or Met-rognomes, The Power and Purpose of Poetry, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin and Toni Mor-rison and What Einstein did and how he did it.

50th Annual Wachs Great Books Week. Au-gust 6-12, Colby College, Waterville, Maine. For information contact agreatbook@aol.com.

For many, this is the year’s pre- mier Great Books event . This year’s readings: I and Thou (Martin Buber), The Trial (Franz Kafka), Sym-posium (Plato), The Tempest, (William Shakespeare), To The Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf) and Song of Myself (Walt Whitman).

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Reading Henry James

Chuck Scarcliff

The fiction of Henry James has stood the tests of time and has many admirers. Yet even in Great Books, you may find those who say they would

rather eat cat food than read his stories or novels. Their two most frequent complaints are, first, the man wrote am-biguous prose with long and convoluted sentences. Even in dialogue, his charac-ters seldom say what’s on their minds. Second, James is dated, reflecting no more than the manners of a Victorian

society. Both call for a closer look.

James’ sentences are long, intricate and complex, but convoluted sentences are usually unorganized or undisciplined. His are anything but that. Each part — each clause or phrase — relates to every other part of the sentence. This complex prose style gives subtlety, nuances and depth that few writers achieve.

As to ambiguity, James is undoubtedly guilty as charged. He writes of a world where human behav-ior and morals have many shades of gray but little that is black or white. And his prose reflects such a world — one with few absolutes, few acts that are absolutely good or bad and little knowledge that is abso-lutely true or false.

To complicate matters further The Ambassadors, this year’s selection for the Long Novel Weekend, is told exclusively from a single character’s point of view. Readers know only what Lambert Strether knows or thinks. When he has uncertainties, we do too. He reaches his conclusions and James allows us to reach ours. No authorial voice guides us or interprets the novel for us.

No James character pursues a nasty white whale to the end of the earth or does battle with windmills. He populates his novels with real people facing real situations— the ones we all face. Strether of The Ambassadors must weigh his duties and commit-ments to one person against what is best for another. He must choose one or the other. And he must bal-

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“It’s well worth the

effort.”

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ance his obligations to himself, his right to lead his own life as fully as he is able, against his responsibilities to others. These and other and other problems go well beyond man-

ners; they are the ethical issues we all face, of-ten without easy answers.

Society and culture play an important role in The Ambassadors. We see the no-nonsense materialism of New England contrasted with the artsy sophistication of Paris. They are the New England and Paris of the late 19th century, but the contrasting values are not far different

from the ones we see as we travel today.

The Ambassadors, with its complex prose, does require time and patience in the reading. This is not a thrill-a-minute novel, but neither is it a bland or esoteric one. But of one thing we can be certain: The Ambassadors has a wealth of discussible issues and interesting material. It’s well worth the effort.

(Continued from page 6) Reading Henry James Mentors of Marin And Great Books

Chuck Scarcliff

In a recent letter to Reading Matters, Betty Roberts, Di-rector of Mentors of Marin, wrote:

“Some women in our non-profit immigrant net-work meet regularly to discuss readings from the Introduction to Great Books Series. It’s an amazing experience, discussing the likes of John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty, Aristotle’s On Happi-ness and Sigmund Freud’s Why War? with peo-ple from China, Iran, El Salvador, Peru, Tibet to name a few. You should hear the comments and insights. The readings are one education. The ladies are another.”

We spoke to Ms. Roberts and learned a little bit about her organization that guides and assists Marin County’s immigrant population in many ways. Two hundred and fifty men and women of forty-five nationalities are now, in varying ways and to different extents, registered with Mentors of Marin. They receive personal mentoring and, in weekly meetings, come together to discuss com-mon problems and concerns and learn more about the society and culture they are becoming a part of. They also participate in social activities and form lasting friendships.

The Great Books group meets once monthly discussing their readings no differently from the way we all do in our local groups or at Council events. After the formal discussions they often continue the conversation by talking of ways they personally relate to the subjects discussed. For example, some come from areas that have been subjected to war-fare or revolution. For them, Freud’s Why War? struck a most responsive chord.

This is important work that Ms. Roberts and her col-leagues do, and we are pleased to learn that Great Books plays a part in it. We look forward to welcoming Men-tors of Marin’s members or former members into our local groups, to the Asilomar Weekend or to other an-nual events.

INTRODUCING THE NEW ASILOMAR

READINGS COMMITTEE

Brian Mahoney A new Asilomar Readings Committee consisting of: Brian Mahoney (chair), Ann Longknife, Ted Kraus, James Vasser and Nancy Wortman has been formed. Our immediate task will be the selections for Asilomar 2007, but our long-term goal is to develop a five-year inventory to be revised each year. We want to be able to announce the next year’s readings at the end of each Asilomar conference. Ann Longknife has a lot of expertise in essays; James Vasser will keep us informed on science subjects; Ted Kraus is a professional drama critic; Nancy Wortman’s interests cover plays and novels; and Brian Mahoney leans towards the short novels, historical essays and loves plays. Each member will read as many selections as possible, then two or three times during the year we will hold telephone conferences to discuss our findings. We encourage Asilomar participants to recommend read-ing selections that will sustain two-hour discussions. Sug-gestions may be made to the Asilomar Readings Commit-tee, brianmahoney55@comcast.net or mailed to Brian Ma-honey 800 Cherry Way #10 Hayward, CA 94541

Watch for the November issue of Reading Matters. It might be the First Annual Swimsuit Edition. Or it might not be.

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Good Discussions; Good Leaders

Thomas Murray Note: Tom Murray is Great Books member from Seattle who joined us for last summer’s Long Novel Weekend. Upon read-ing his response to our survey asking “What do Participants Want?” we concluded that his thoughtful answer deserved to be printed, as it is here, in its entirety. If our project is to promote good "Great Books" or "shared inquiry" discussions I believe that we can make the most headway by focusing on what should happen in the course of a discussion. We can hope leaders will make the best use of their own particular set of skills, provided they have a clear vision of what a shared in-quiry discussion is intended to accomplish and have a conviction that what goes on in the discussion process has important value for the participants. What, then, is a Great Books type of shared inquiry dis-cussion all about? Understanding this can be aided by comparing a typical "every-day" book discussion with a Great Books type of shared inquiry discussion. The every-day book discussion, does have some has some aspects in common with the shared-inquiry discussion. Both consist of a group of readers sharing thoughts concerning the book. In the every-day book discussion the conver-sation often consists of sharing the partici-pants' experiences of their personal involvement in the book— their personal identification with the characters and the plot. The Great Books leader should encourage the group to move beyond what normally occurs in the every-day book discussion. The leader should see that the conver-sation seeks to increase participants’ understanding of the work through the give and take of conversation. This is also different from what goes on between teach-ers and students. Shared inquiry is a group process of seeking. All participants, including the leader, are seek-ers. That is where the word "shared" comes in. Partici-pants should be working together to find meaning. The most satisfaction to be found in a good shared inquiry discussion is in the pleasure of discovery. Recounting and sharing the pleasures and satisfactions of having been engaged in the book is typical of every-day book discussions. I admit that they can be a pleas-ant experience. I suggest we face up to what that experi-ence really is. Losing oneself in a book amounts to an

escape from the world of life into the pages of a book. This is the heart of the difference between amusement and learn-ing. It is where the shared inquiry discussion, attempting to find meaning, is superior to the every-day book discussion which attempts to find pleasure. Thus, the Great Books leader should not be satisfied in just maintaining order while the group simply delights in the experience of losing themselves in the work. Another way of putting it is that a really good shared inquiry discussion should involve an element of self-generated literary criti-cism. Every participant should share in discovering what the work has to offer that enriches our understanding of who we are and what we should want to become. Having made a claim of superiority, I must concede that I am not a purist. There is no reason why a shared inquiry discussion cannot include some of the pleasure and satisfaction of the every-day book discussion. Different leaders achieve satisfying Great Books discussions with different mixes of qualities and skills, some natural, some developed with considerable effort. Memory, logic, organizing ability, diplomacy, articulateness, determination, and energy suggest themselves.

It follows that leaders are not solely responsible for achieving good discussions. The discussion that has bombed is at least as likely to be the responsibility of the participants as it is of the leader. Good dis-cussions require participants who have read the work well. In addition, they require that participants

exercise an openness of mind and spirit. Discussion will not develop if participants believe that what they say will make them the object of derision and scorn. One operative rule leading to real discussion is that a participant should be able to change or withdraw a position he has previously pro-moted or supported. Obviously, he or she should do so openly and not be condemned for changing his or her mind. Such changes should be celebrated by the group, not taunted, as they are evidence of real discussion. Minds are being changed. Further, I believe the limitation on using outside sources is logically mandated. I don't believe this to be a controversial point with most Great Bookies. To put the point differently, the objective of the discussion is mutual discovery. The "right answer" to the type questions we are dealing with is hardly ever certain or if certain one day may become uncer-tain the next. It is the thinking and reasoning process leading to discovery that is important to us. We should be un-ashamed to say that we are not scholars. We are seekers. A good shared inquiry discussion is a treasure much to be prized.

“A good shared inquiry discussion is a treasure much to be prized.”

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Two Books Recommended and Reviewed

The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears The great Roman general Scipio, and his dream about the vanity of fame and the ne-cessity of virtue is the point of departure for Iain Pears’ extraordinary novel that inter-weaves three stories spanning the history of Europe and forces that nearly destroyed it.

The first is the story of Manlius Hippomanes, an aristo-crat and thinker of the last years of the Roman Empire who struggles against barbarian armies and, in his view, the equally barbaric new Christian faith. Another tells of Olivier de Noyen, a poet who, during the Avignon pa-pacy in the 14th century, discovers Manlius’ manuscript commenting on Scipio’s dream. The third is about Julien Barneuve, a scholar during the Vichy period who learns the terrible secret of Olivier’s death. Each faces a mortal threat to European civilization as they know it. For Manlius it is the barbarian hordes; for Olivier, the Black Death; for Julien, the Nazis. Each finds himself betraying friends and concealing personal convictions in their attempts to battle the larger enemy. The Dream of Scipio is an exquisitely complex tale about moral choice, about men attempting to live virtu-ously and asking a timeless philosophical question: What is the obligation of the individual in a society un-der siege? Their answers are the triple-punch climax of this artful historical thriller. Recommended and reviewed by Howard Crane.

The End of Faith by Sam Harris

The subtitle reads “Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason,” and it is within this frame-work that Sam Harris’s thesis lies. The major monotheistic religions — Christianity, Islam and Judaism — are and for a long time have been linked with violence, war and terror. And in a world with nuclear and other weap-

ons of mass destruction, humanity can no longer afford to place its faith in ancient texts — holy books that ad-vocate destruction of non believers and promise paradise for martyrs.

And Harris tells us, it’s not just the fundamentalists and extremists who should worry us. Religious moderates, in their fashionable tolerance of beliefs other than their own, are the enablers who make it possible for others to commit acts of violence and terror in the name of reli-gious faith. Believers must, in Harris’s view, abandon faith and turn to reason. And religious tolerance, well intentioned though it may be, is no longer an option.

Harris presents strong arguments on some points but offers thin support for others. However, with world events such as they are, connections between religion, terror and violence are not to be ignored. Nor is The End of Faith. Although not a perfect book, it is quite a good one that raises important issues, ones that must be considered and discussed. Recommended by Joe DeHazes, reviewed by Chuck Scarcliff

Quotes from the Cutting Room Floor

Not everything an author writes makes it into print. Writers sometimes make deletions of their own, and editors regularly whittle away at the manuscripts before them. Long lost snippets of dialogue cut from some of the great classics have recently been rediscovered and as a service to its public, Reading Matters is now publishing a few.

“Next time I’ll bring sunscreen.” (Robinson Crusoe) “I should have hired the dream-team.” (Raskolnikov)

“What white whale? Martians wrecked the damn boat.” (Ishmael) “He said he was just going out to buy cigarettes.” (Penelope, wife of Odysseus)

“How much do you think the painting will bring on eBay?” (Dorian Gray) “Sometimes I wish I’d had sons.” (King Lear)

“Thomas Beckett had terrorist links.” (King Henry II) “Thank Heaven for little girls.” (Humbert Humbert

Read any good books lately? Reading Matters would like to hear about them. Contact Chuck Scarcliff, 916/428-4672, ckdxs@sbcglobal.net or at 7738 Quinby Way, Sacramento, CA 95823

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Great Conversations from Chicago

Chuck Scarcliff

Great Conversations 1 may now be the most talked about — talked about in Great Books discussion groups, that is — of books published by the Foundation. This year twelve groups in our area are using GC1 for all or part of their discussions. That is nearly forty per-cent. And there’s more to come. Great Conversations 2 is being published this spring in plenty of time for use by groups starting their discussion year in the fall. And rumor has it that a Great Conversations 3 is in

the planning stage.

While the anthologies of the 50th Anni-versary Series are unified around spe-

cific themes (Parent and Child, Order and Chaos, Clashes of Culture, etc.) Great Conversations are not. And they offer more reading selections — fifteen com-pared with seven in the 50th Anniversary Series. The cost is more — $24.95 vs. $15.95 — but the value is greater.

We spoke with several leaders who are now using GC1 in their groups. Without exception all were having good results, and all spoke highly of the anthology. One leader did, however, express her preference for the 50th Anniversary Series because it is more heavily weighted with fiction.

Great Conversations 1 includes ancient texts (The Epic of Gilgamesh) and recent or contemporary ones (“Tell Me a Riddle” by Tillie Olsen and “Boys and Girls,” by Alice Munro) familiar readings (“Self-Reliance” and Democracy in America) as well as selections we have not seen before in the Great Books oeuvre (The Secret Sharer by Conrad); science (The Value of Science by Poincare) and poetry (“Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” by Whitman). Among its fifteen selections, GC2 will give us a chance to read and discuss Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher;” The story of Samson from the Old Testament; fiction by Nadine Gordimer and Raymond Carver, and Synge’s Playboy of the Western World.

Remember The Picnic And The Kite Runner

Sunday June 25th at Tilden Park. Spend a summer afternoon with Great Books friends. You’ll love it.

Lolita Fifty Years Later

The 2006 Mini-Retreat

Claudia O’ Callaghan

When I first read that Time magazine’s critics had placed Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita on their list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present I hadn't decided on a novel for the 2006 Mini-Retreat. And Azar Nafisi’s recent Reading Lolita in

Tehran had revived interest in Lolita and probably had at-tracted new readers to the book. I decided to find out whether Great Books Mini-Retreat par-ticipants would agree with Time’s critics. Lolita became the selection for 2006. During our discussion, every-

one agreed that the author’s lyric use of the language was exceptional and even more remarkable as English was Nabokov’s third language (after French and Rus-sian). Still, the theme of the systematic abuse of a young girl remained a disturbing element which, for many, could not be transcended. As Rick White com-mented, "I don't like being inside that guy's head" The plot is confusing from start to finish. Does the story have an objective reality or is it mainly the inter-nal ravings of a self-confessed madman? Further, Lo-lita is, by turns, both shocking and humorous placing the reader continuously off-balance. We discussed whether Humbert (the anti-hero) under-went a transformation by the end of the book. Did he really grow to love Lolita, or did she still remain an object of his malevolent conceit? Participants were expectedly divided. The book ends with Humbert's statement, "I am think-ing of aurochs (extinct wild oxen) and angels, the se-cret of durable pigments, prophetic sonnets, the refuge of art. And this is the only immortality you and I may share, my Lolita" I suspect Nabokov would be pleased to know that fifty years after publication his novel has indeed received a measure of immortality and undoubtedly will be read and debated for generations to come.

After an unsuc-cessful attempt to have it published in the United States Lolita was first published in France in 1955, It was finally pub-lished here in 1958.

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A Success Story

After a few years of declining enrollment, this year’s 47th Annual Asilomar Great Books Weekend reversed the trend. The total number attending in-creased by approximately fifty percent with more than fifty participants com-ing for the first time. Fourteen were from outside of California; most from neighboring states but Illinois, Iowa, New York and Min-nesota were represented.

No Asilomar Weekend in memory has proven more successful than this one. Each book we discussed — Democracy in America, Madame Bovary, The Price and the selected poems — was well re- ceived by every-one and prompted excel-lent dis- cussions. From early reports every discussion was well led and had lively participation. Finally the Saturday evening program discussing democracy in America now was an outstanding success.

Successes like these don’t come easily. Many people spent many hours doing the many things it takes to make the Great Books Weekend great. From selecting the books, publicizing the event, preparing and sending mailings, design-

ing and printing labels and name tags, greeting new-comers, inspiring and enter-taining us at the piano and

being sure that meeting rooms were unlocked and ready for us, everything necessary to a suc-cessful conference was done. And done well. The leaders gave extra effort to assure stimulat-ing discussions, and the Saturday evening panel members prepared and performed well.

But there are three who deserve special recogni-tion and thanks: Kay White who guided the leaders in their preparation, Jimmie Harvey who, as Registrar and Asilomar Liaison person, did so many things and did them with a smile. But most of all, Barbara McConnell, Chair of the Asilomar Weekend worked tirelessly to bring it all together. It would be impossible to overstate Barbara’s role or to give her too much credit for this year’s success.

Asilomar Scrapbook

We Came to Asilomar,

Got What We Came

For,

And We Thank You.

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Asilomar Scrapbook

13

SAN FRANCISCO GREAT BOOKS COUNCIL Serving Northern California c/o Jan Vargo 2835 Shasta Road Berkeley, CA 94708-2011 Email: vargopack@cs.com RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

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Northern California Events June 25, 2006: Annual Meeting and Picnic The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini . Contact Kathleen Con-neely, krconneely@yahoo.com. August 26-27, 2006: Long Novel Weekend The Am-bassadors by Henry James. Contact Chuck Scarcliff, ckdxs@sbcglobal.net or Mary Stuart, mlstu@aol.com. November 11-12, 2006 : Poetry Weekend February 3, 2007: Mini-Retreat Contact Claudia O’Callaghan; callcoc@aol.com. Reading selection to be announced. February 10, 2007: Great Books Leaders’ Work-shop. Contact Kay White, kaycleveland@aol.com April 7-9, 2007: Asilomar Great Books Weekend Reading selections to be announced.

Events Elsewhere June 16-18: Great Books Bellingham Institute (Bellingham, WA). Enemy of the People, Ibsen; Dar-win’s Black Box, Behe; Winter of our Discontent, Steinbeck and River out of Eden, Dawkins. Contact

Steve Blair, stevenrblair@hotmail.com. July 16-21: Toronto Pursuits. Readings include War and Peace, Lord of the Rings, Hannah Arendt, African-American Literature and others. Contact Ann Kirkland, ann.kirkland@classicalpursuits.com. August 6-12: Wachs Great Books Week (Colby Col-lege, Maine) Readings include works by Kafka, Buber, Plato. Shakespeare, Woolf and Whitman. Contact agreatbook@aol.com. October 23-28: London Tour for Thinkers IV. Six plays in London to be determined. Contact Ted Kraus, tmktheatretours@hotmail.com. November 3-5: Philadelphia Fall Institute Week-end. Contact John Dalton, jd5258875@aol.com. Classical Pursuits, a Toronto-based organization that works cooperatively with the Great Books Foundation sponsors several events which, in 2006 and early 2007, are planned for Savannah, GA, Quebec City, Paris, New Orleans, Greece, Krakow, Newfoundland and Florence. Website, www.classicalpursuits.com. Contact ann.kirkland@classicalpursuits.com.

Great Books Events ? Coming In The Next Twelve Months