For our March Not Fiction Book Discussion, we will be discussing the New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, the story of how Mortenson became a humanitarian who has helped impoverished villages in remote and war-torn areas of Central Asia build over fifty schools for girls. The village of Korphe in the remote Karakoram mountains of Pakistan generously helped Mortenson regain his health after his failed attempt to summit the world's second highest peak,K2, in 1993, so Mortenson promised to build the village a school. The story of how he kept that promise and its far-reaching consequences provides drama, romance, humor, cultural insight, and hope that one person can make a difference. As we discuss Relin's role as narrator of Mortenson's life and work, Mortenson's powerful and sometimes difficult personality, the many challenges of humanitarian work, and the political implications of this book as America continues its military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, perhaps we will also come to understand why Three Cups of Tea has become a bestseller, a book for our times. We hope you will join our discussion, either Tuesday, March 4, at 7:00 p.m. in Meeting Room A of Charleston County Public Library's Main Library or here on the blog.
Monday, February 11, 2008
March Not Fiction Book Discussion
For our March Not Fiction Book Discussion, we will be discussing the New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, the story of how Mortenson became a humanitarian who has helped impoverished villages in remote and war-torn areas of Central Asia build over fifty schools for girls. The village of Korphe in the remote Karakoram mountains of Pakistan generously helped Mortenson regain his health after his failed attempt to summit the world's second highest peak,K2, in 1993, so Mortenson promised to build the village a school. The story of how he kept that promise and its far-reaching consequences provides drama, romance, humor, cultural insight, and hope that one person can make a difference. As we discuss Relin's role as narrator of Mortenson's life and work, Mortenson's powerful and sometimes difficult personality, the many challenges of humanitarian work, and the political implications of this book as America continues its military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, perhaps we will also come to understand why Three Cups of Tea has become a bestseller, a book for our times. We hope you will join our discussion, either Tuesday, March 4, at 7:00 p.m. in Meeting Room A of Charleston County Public Library's Main Library or here on the blog.
Notes from February's Not Fiction Book Discussion
Our discussion of Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul: Memories and the City centered on Pamuk's conviction that "Istanbul's fate is my fate. I am attached to this city because it has made me who I am." As one member of our discussion group suggested, Pamuk has embraced his fate and from it created for his readers an almost palpable sense of Istanbul as he knows it, a city of huzun, or shared melancholy, inseparable from his family's life and his interior life as a young artist. Another member of our discussion group, who is a native of Istanbul and an admirer of all of Pamuk's works, asked us whether we felt we could "see" Istanbul after reading Pamuk's memoir, saying that he felt it did a wonderful job of portraying Istanbul but that he was biased by knowing the city and being a fan of Pamuk's writing. We agreed that we do feel we now know Istanbul, but that if we were suddenly to find ourselves in its streets, we would be surprised to see the vibrant, full-color, present-day city rather than the black and white city Pamuk portrays. It is to Pamuk's credit that the city we know so well is the city of his memories.
Readers who enjoyed Pamuk's family stories and honest portrayal of his inner life as an artist will enjoy reading his Nobel Lecture, My Father's Suitcase, in which he presents a poignant story about his relationship with his father as well as his view of the role of literature in today's politically sensitive world.
Readers who enjoyed Pamuk's family stories and honest portrayal of his inner life as an artist will enjoy reading his Nobel Lecture, My Father's Suitcase, in which he presents a poignant story about his relationship with his father as well as his view of the role of literature in today's politically sensitive world.
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