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Mini-Retreat
Asilomar
Poetry Weekend Recap
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Calendar of Events

Click on event title for information.
Mini-Retreat
February 2, 2008

Asilomar
April ll-13, 2008

Leaders'Workshop
May 3, 2008

Long Novel Weekend
August 23-24, 2008

Poetry Weekend
November 15-16, 2008



November/December, 2007

Dear Great Books Supporter,

In this issue, be sure not to miss the Poetry Weekend Recap and we have our 2008 Calendar in the left column.  2008 is our 50th Anniversary Asilomar Great Books Weekend
  We are continuing the Great Books discussions founded by Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler of the University of Chicago in 1947.  GBSF (serving Northern California) is a volunteer organization of motivated readers.  We coordinate over 40 existing groups, provide leader training and sponsor literary events in scenic locations.
   If you know someone who might be interested in receiving this E-Newsletter, just click on the "Forward email" link at the bottom of this page.  Enter your friend's name and email address and we will send him or her a copy.
   There are a number of links (click here or on blue letters with underline) available for more information.  You may have to double click depending on your email program.  You can reach our website by clicking on "More about us" in the Quick Links box or by clicking on the GBSF logo at the top of this page.
Fifth Annual Mini-Retreat
Saturday, February 2, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm
Mech. Institute StatueThis is the Mechanics Monument at the intersection of Market, Bush and Battery Streets in San Francisco, a work of the Michelangelo of the West, Douglas Tilden.  It was dedicated in 1901, survived the earthquake and fire of 1906, and helped inspire the citizens to rebuild the city.  It's origin is a fascinating story of two families arriving in California before the Gold Rush.  The Mechanics Monument has nothing to do with the Mechanics' Institute, but I like it as a great sculpture.  The Mechanics' Institute, established in 1854 and the oldest library on the west coast is where we hold our Annual Mini-Retreat to which I cannot invite you because this event fills up almost as fast as the registrations are mailed out.  This year, we will be discussing The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera in the morning and viewing the 1988 film of the same name starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, and Lina Olin in the afternoon, followed by a short discussion before ending the day.  The cost this year is $30 and we only have room for 40 people.  To attend next year watch for the notice to request an application.
 
50th Annual Great Books Asilomar Weekend
April 11-13, 2008
Monterbayaquar otterAbove is "Shani" the newest freshwater otter pup on exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is just one of the many activities available for family members (kids are welcome) not attending the discussions at 2008 Great Books Asilomar Weekend.  Or, we will even let you attend if you need a weekend away from the family.  There will be a Saturday Evening Party to celebrate our fifty years at Asilomar.  Here are the readings for this year:
Poetry:
     The Moose in the Morning            Mona Van Duyn

      The City and its Own                  Irving Feldman
      The Purse Seine                        Robinson Jeffers
      The Master Speed                      Robert Frost
      The Naming of Parts                  Henry Reed (PW96)
      The Bog Queen                         Seamus Heaney
      Aristotle                                  Billy Collins
Novel:    The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Essay:    Selections from Discourses by Nicolo Machiavelli
Play:      Painting Churches by Tina Howe
For more information and access to a flyer and registration form click here or contact Sheri Kindsvater at [email protected].
 

22nd Annual Poetry Weekend Recap
November 10-11, 2007, Westminster Retreat in Alamo
 
More than Meets the Eye
 Poetry's mystique has been one of those things that has long eluded me.  But, I was convinced by several members of the GB group to attend the Poetry Weekend.  The price being right and the company being pleasurable, I sent my check in and got my packet.  After being stumped by the first set, I pre-read the rest and counted the days until the weekend, hoping the surroundings would be more beautiful than the non-sense I just read.
    Boy was I wrong.  There is nothing better than discussing the things you don't understand.  It helps you to clarify, you did, sort of, understand it.  You mean Billy Collins didn't really know Emily Dickinson?  He was just enamored with her capabilities as a poet?  Who knew?  Boy did I get that wrong.  And that snake will be with me for a long, long time, poor thing. 
    It just shows, that like a Transformer, sometimes a truck is more than a truck.  You never know what deeper meaning is inside a poem and finding it is very rewarding.  And when you only scratch the tip, it leaves you to ponder your own questions for awhile.
    And the sound of the rain on an old house in the middle of civilization helps too.
    Am I converted, not yet.  But another 10 or 20 visits might just do the trick.
Until next year,
Sheri Kindsvater

(Editor's note:  Sheri reviews horror movies on her website, Horror Scene, click here.)


Westminster Retreat house

Above is a portion of the main house at Westminster Retreat.

For me the best part of the weekend was the discussion of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  This is an epic poem of the days of sailing ships with much imagery and metaphor.  I had not read it before, but heard my 95 year old father-in-law recite verses from having read it in his youth (of course he can't remember if he took his pills this morning).  This poem goes on for twenty-three pages and is well worth the read and discussing it is even better.  Many thanks to Brent Browning, event coordinator, Carol Hochberg-Holker, Oscar and Theda Firschein, Breda Courtney, the Poetry Selection Committee and the outstanding discussion leaders.

Saturday evening there was a fun trivia game about the poetry selections played between different teams.  Then teams were assigned the task of composing poems in the manner of one of the selections for discussion:  Shakespeare's Sonnet CXXX which is less than flattering to his love.  The sonnets composed by our people were very much less than flattering to our significant others, perhaps lovingly, sensitively vulgar but short of pornographic, and hilarious.  My request to publish them here was summarily dismissed with the comment "If I thought this might be published, I would certainly not have written it."  Apparently Las Vegas rules apply:  What happens at Poetry Weekend stays at Poetry Weekend.

 
Reading Matters, our newsletter delivered via the post office, is now available electronically in living color and it arrives sooner.  Just go to our website and click on "Latest Issue" for a downloadable version of RM.  If you will email me your name and zip code I will see that you are removed from our RM postal mailing list and that will save us a lot in postage and printing costs.
Some Useful Great Books Links
GBSF is affiliated with the Great Books Foundation which was started in 1947 by Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler and produces most of the reading material used by Great Books discussion groups around the country.  Their website provides a wealth of information and a list to find groups in your area or how to start a discussion group if one is not available near you.  GBF also publishes Junior Great Books for use in schools or at home for K-12 students.

Symposium Great Books Institute discussions in January and February:  The Qur'an-Early Revelations; Euripides:  Hecuba, Andromache, & Trojan Women; Kafka:  The Trial; Conrad:  Heart of Darkness; Machiavelli:  The Prince; Virgil: Aeneid; Thucydides:  The Pelopponesian WarsKama Sutra; Camus:  The Stranger & Myth of Sisyphus; Sufi Poetry; Karen Armstrong:  Understanding Islam and the West; Freud:  Future of an Illusion; Freud: Civilization & Its Discontents.  Check the website for dates and times.

Center for the Study of the Great Ideas, founded by Mortimer  Adler and Max Weismann, exists to help citizens understand why philosophy is everybody's business and to promulgate the insights and ideals embedded in Dr. Adler's lifelong intellectual work in the fields of Philosophy, Liberal Education, Ethics and Politics.  This is a comprehensive website with something for everybody interested in Great Books.

Classical Pursuits offers learning vacations around the world with location appropriate Great Books discussions as well as Toronto Pursuits, a week in July of music, art and GB discussions.  Ann Kirkland also produces one of the best e-newsletters available.

London Theatre Tour for Thinkers VI, October 20-25, 2008.  Six days of the world's best theatre followed each morning by a Great Books type shared inquiry discussion led by Ted M. Kraus, a veteran NYC drama critic and experienced GB discussion leader.  Contact Ted at 925-939-3658 or [email protected].

Thank you for your interest in Great Books. Is there something you would like to know that we can add?  This is your e-newsletter, so let us know.

Be sure to forward this email to your friends who might be interested in Great Books.  Just click on Forward email at the bottom left.

Sincerely,

Jim Hall
Great Books Council of San Francisco