Understanding The Middle East Book Club
Understanding The Middle East group meets on the third Monday of the month at 7 p.m. It has the purpose of exploring the rich culture of the Middle East through literature (poetry, fiction, memoirs). They do include readings of nonfiction as they try to gain an understanding of history and current events. Although they read writers from the west, the goal is to discover the many talented authors from middle eastern countries who may not be well known in the U.S. Even though discussions of politics cannot always be avoided, this is not the focus.
For more information, contact Tina Martin. New members are always welcome.
We do not meet in December.
Upcoming
- December: no meeting
- January 16: House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization by Jonathan Lyons
- February 20: More Than I Love My Life by David Grossman
- March 20: Lebanon: A Country in Fragments by Andrew Arson (Part 1)
- April 17: Lebanon: A Country in Fragments by Andrew Arson (Part 2)
May not be available - email or call for information
For centuries following the fall of Rome, Western Europe was a benighted backwater, a world of subsistence farming, minimal literacy, and violent conflict. Meanwhile Arab culture was thriving, dazzling those Europeans fortunate enough to visit cities like Baghdad or Antioch.
INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE • A remarkable novel of suffering, love, and healing—the story of three generations of women on an unlikely journey to a Croatian island and a secret that needs to be told—from the internationally best-selling author of To the End of the Land
Lebanon seems a country in the grip of permanent crisis. In recent years it has suffered blow after blow, from Rafiq Hariri's assassination in 2005, to the 2006 July War, to the current Syrian conflict, which has brought a million refugees streaming into the country.