Slav Book Club

10/30/2019

The next book we will read is by the controversial, original, reactionary, misanthropic, yet fiercely talented French novelist Michel Houllebecq. We will read 'The Possibility of an Island,' a sober if not acerbic reflection on modern life. This book has everything -- love, s*x, wealth, sci-fi, clones. Date of our discussion is to-be-determiné, as they say in Paris.

09/16/2019

Message Anat Peled if you want a digital copy of The Dawn of Eurasia and did not receive one.

09/13/2019

Book club is back this quarter! Our first read is The Dawn of Eurasia: On the Trail of the New World by Bruno Maçães.

This *really good book* offers a view on how geopolitics will shift over the coming decades, and where the center of power will lay tomorrow. Bruno Maçães, a former Secretary of State for European Affairs for Portugal, who has travelled around Eastern Europe, the Eurasian steppe and Asia, has come to the conclusion that America's geopolitical reign has come to an end. But don't be turned off. Bruno isn't just some party hack. He's a learned scholar and bibliophile, too. He offers a refreshing and stunningly rich view on how politics, culture and economics will change when the supercontinent of Eurasia becomes the most dominant geopolitical bloc in the world.

01/14/2019

Once in a while Book Club will post about events we think are worthwhile on campus. This Thursday, Jan Gross, a Polish historian of the Holocaust, who was in the news last year for his opposition to the Polish Holocaust Law, will be coming to speak. While we won't be having him with us at book club due to timing constraints, his lecture should be interesting.

Jan T. Gross is Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton University, and author of several books about the history of the Second World War and the Holocaust, including, Polish Society under the German Occupation, Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, and Revolution from A...

11/21/2018

Sometimes Book Club reading connects to real world policy making — Remember when we read essays on beauty by Roger Scruton? He is now going to be in charge of a project to build more beautiful buildings in the UK.

The government hopes that better architecture could make it easier to build

05/08/2018

Thanks for joining our discussion with Professor Karol Berger on Nietzsche's dramatic break with Wagner today!

05/06/2018

Hi Everyone,

Tomorrow Book Club will be meeting with Professor Karol Berger to talk about Wagner and Nietzsche.

We will be meeting at 3:00-4:00 at Slav Library (650 Mayfield Ave.) and will be discussing excerpts from two Nietzsche texts -- The Birth of Tragedy and The Case of Wagner.

The reading (sent in an email earlier today) is:

The Birth of Tragedy, 35-51 (sections 1-8), 63-73 (sections 12-16)

The Case of Wagner, 408-432 (Includes preface and epilogue)

In addition, Sam Wolfe suggested that we listen to some Wagner to get in the mood:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tDP-K1dQ-M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fktwPGCR7Yw

See you tomorrow!

Anat and Anna

Zubin Mehta conducting Bayerische Staatsoper Bayerisches Staatsorchester (National Theatre Munich)

04/20/2018

Our next book club meeting will take place on Monday, May 7th from 3-4. We will be discussing two Nietzsche essays on Wagner with Music Professor Karol Berger.

The readings are:

The Birth of Tragedy [1872], trans. W. Kaufmann, Basic Writings (New York: Random House, 1968), pp. 31-60, 81-98.
The Case of Wagner [1888], Basic Writings, pp. 11-48.

You can read Professor Berger's bio here:

Karol Berger is the Osgood Ho**er Professor in Fine Arts at the Department of Music, Stanford University, where he has taught since 1982.

04/05/2018

Just a reminder that we will be having our first spring quarter meeting tomorrow at 4:00 in the Slav Library. We will be discussing Marshall McLuhan's 'Understanding Media'

03/25/2018

Hello Book Club!

We hope you are all having a beautiful spring break.

Anat and I are gearing up for Book Club's 3rd quarter when we get back -- and we already have our first book picked out!

Our first meeting will be held on Friday, April 6th at 5PM!
in the wonderful Slav Library.

The pick for Book Club's first week is Marshall McLuhan's 'Understanding Media'.

We will be reading two sections from the book:
From Part I:
Chapter 1 The Medium is the Message
Chapter 2 Media Hot and Cold
Chapter 3 Reversal of the Overheated Medium

From Part II:
Chapter 31 Television: The Timid Giant
Chapter 32 Weapons: War of the Icons
Chapter 33 Automation: Learning a Living

Happy Reading!
-- and see you soon to discuss,
-- Anna & Anat

03/04/2018

Since finals are coming up we will not be having another meeting this quarter. Thanks for taking the time to read and think about hillbillies, the divide between the humanities and the sciences, conservative tradition, and statelessness.
Look out for our spring break reading to be announced soon!

-Anna and Anat

02/22/2018

You can listen to chapter nine of Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism here at 1:53:40