BOOKS AND LIFE

      First I would like to announce the formation of a new book club beginning in October, the first Thursday of every month, 10 - 12 in the morning and will be meeting in Classroom B in the Clubhouse. It will be called Read It, Chat About It. This club will work a bit differently than other book clubs in that we will not necessarily do many of the best sellers or the classics. Instead, we will be working with thought provoking and sometimes controversial topics. We might do a genre book session and not just one book. All will be decided for sure at the first meeting in October. However, if interested, please email me - you can do so at this address or simply post a comment on this posting and I will get it.
     This weekend I read two fascinating books. One is The German Suitcase by Greg Dinallo and the other is The Train To Warsaw by Gwen Edelman. Both are connected superficially by a connection to the Holocaust, but there is much more to the questions they pose and perhaps the answers they propose - or do not.. The German  Suitcase is easier to read. It holds your interest all the way through and you will find much of the reporter's touch in its writing, giving many facts which seem extraneous to the story, but they are there for a purpose, forming a foil for the other narrative, a story of humanity and inhumanity and its consequences.
     The Train book also has flashback and modern day, but almost in a fugue type or style and when one gets used to it, proves to be almost hypnotic in drawing the reader into the story and the reason behind their being or going to Warsaw in the first place. It asks questions that may not have any answers.
     One of the book states that journalists are the checks on the world's worst impulses..."the ones who give us pause when we think no one is watching; who call us to account when we cross that unethical or illegal line." Think about the times we are living in today and the near future. How more relevant can this statement be?
     I think that the first book that we will be reading for this club will be The German Suitcase. The Clematis St. library has a copy and we can ask Okeechobee branch to order it as well. It can be purchased on line as well and is a book one might want to own. We will discuss it on the first Thursday in November when we meet.
     As an aside, I like to think of myself as possibly following in that tradition in my own small way as I report on the world - at large and here in CV and raise questions that need raising, giving actualization to some thoughts. Looking forward to seeing you at our first meeting in October. All are welcome. Come exercise your gray matter