To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was published in a time of racial segregation in the USA, as the black civil rights movement was on the rise. The book dissects racial relations in a small southern town through the eyes of a precocious young white child, whose innocence is eventually destroyed by racial injustice. The author explores issues of class and gender and their intersections with race. The book's impact includes what is called "racial heroism which was useful in building positive black role models in the USA civil rights movement. Now one of the most read books in English speaking countries, there have been calls to remove it from reading in USA schools based on its inclusion of historically accurate racial epithets.

Presenter: David
Commenter: Lisa

Date: 12 April (exceptionally on Tuesday instead of Wednesday)
Time: 19:15 sharp

Format:
1. Members introduction (5 minutes)
2. Club demography (2 minutes)
3. Introducing interesting books (5 minutes)
4. Brief introduction of next book (2 minutes)
5. Book presentation (20-30 minutes)
– A brief history of author’s life
– A short summary of the book
– Main/new ideas that the book brought to the society at the time that it was written
– What were the major implications/reactions at the time that it was written?
– What are the major implications on our daily lives (if any)?
6. Group discussion led by the commentator (45-60 minutes), member’s personal view about the book, opposing ideas

Venue: Librairie-café Les Recyclables: 53, rue de Carouge, Genève

Tram 12/13 arrêt Pont d'Arve ou Augustin,
Bus 1/4/44 arrêt Pont d'Arve ou Plainpalais,
Parking vélo devant l'arcade,
Parking voiture sous le centre commercial Plainpalais-centre

Note: reading the book is not a "must" to attend the meeting!

Look forward to see you all!

To purchase the hard copy, you can send an email to Grégory in Librairie-café Les Recyclables: [email protected]

To join the club: http://www.glocals.com/#/groups/geneva/geneva-book-club-group.htm

To see the upcoming events:http://sites.google.com/site/genevabookclubgbc/event/eevents-2011

To sign up as presenter and/or commenter (please check the above web address first and only register for the books that are marked with “volunteer needed”:
https://spreadsheets0.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dDlMbUVtTnRXdW5KUVpDZ3pLUWNVX2c6MQ#gid=0