The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse (German1943). The Glass Bead Game takes place at an unspecified date. Hesse suggested that he imagined the book's narrator writing around the start of the 25th century.The setting is a fictional province of central Europe called Castalia, reserved by political decision for the life of the mind; technology and economic life are kept to a strict minimum. Castalia is home to an austere order of intellectuals with a twofold mission: to run boarding schools for boys, and to nurture and play the Glass Bead Game, whose exact nature remains elusive and whose devotees occupy a special school within Castalia known as Waldzell. The rules of the game are only alluded to, and are so sophisticated that they are not easy to imagine. Playing the game well requires years of hard study of music, mathematics, and cultural history. Essentially the game is an abstract synthesis of all arts and sciences. It proceeds by players making deep connections between seemingly unrelated topics.

Nominated by: Ema

Presenter & Commentator: Ema

Date: 23 Jan 2013
Time: 19:15 sharp

Format:
1. Members introduction (5 minutes)
2. Club statistics (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.

At the end of the meeting, a group of us goes to a bar nearby for a drink, everyone is welcome to join.

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 participate in the on-going book selection process:www.mostinfluentialbooks.com

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

To see the upcoming events: https://sites.google.com/site/genevabookclubgbc/event/2013