Reports: December 2004 | January 2005| February 2005 |
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What is it? The Sophie group is a "Readers Club" which meets monthly to discuss a book or an author, or an agreed theme. Topics are set several months in advance, to give members time to find and read the material.
Topics are often chosen to lead to discussions of ideas rather than simple romances or crimis. The group was named after the book "Sophie's World, which was discussed at one of the early meetings. Meetings are usually on the last Wednesday or Thursday of each month and are held in different locations but always central in Berne. Guests are welcome at no charge, but should mail Graham for information.
The Sophie Group started as a special interest group of the International Club of Berne. Membership of this costs 35.- francs a year or 45.- for families. The ICB organises many activities including a monthly meeting with a presentation of an interesting topic.
Further information is regularly exchanged on a mailing list, a yahoo group sophie-group. Apply to join this by sending an email to sophie-group
There is also a Swiss mailing list for book clubs, see Bookclubs-in-Switzerlandand also see the Basel talk parties at Bergli Books
The following list is incomplete and contains some errors of date.
| Date | Theme | Area |
| 2003 | ||
|---|---|---|
| September 25 Villa Stucki | The Alchemist Paolo Coelho | Inspiration |
| August | Lord of the Rings by J. R. Tolkien and the film and New Zealand by Graham | Fantasy, film, travel |
| October 23 | the works of Arthur C. Clarke | Science, future |
| November 27 | ||
| December | Seven Minutes by Paolo Coelho, Soul Strippingby Paula Charles, and Sex in the City currently on TV | Dreams and reality in the sex trade |
| 2004 | ||
| January 30, 2004 Starbucks | Clan of the Cave Bear and others by Jean Auel | Society, history |
| February 26 | Men are from Mars ... and other books by Gray and Pease | Men and women |
| Allegro | Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaardner | Philosophy overview |
| March 25 2004 at the Galaxy | Earth in the Balance by Al Gore and other books | Environment, global warming |
| April 29, 2004 at Salem Spital | The Art of Travel Alain de Button | Philosophy and travel |
| May 27, 2004 Starbucks | our experiences and the meaning of travel | |
| June 30, 2004 Beaulieu C | Chariots of the Gods and other books by Erich von Däniken | Mysteries of archaelogy and evolution |
| July 29 Interlaken | visit to Mystery Park | |
| August 25 Waldeck | The Celestine Prophecy by Redfield | Inspiration, life philosophy |
| September 23 Starbucks | World War II in general | History and politics |
| October 28 Savoy | Stupid White Men and other works by Michael Moore | Politics |
| November 25 at Loeb | Oracle Night by Paul Auster | |
| December 29 at Salem Spital | no special topic | Sophie Dinner |
| 2005 | ||
| January 27 Allegro | Do Animals Have Morals? | a philosophical question |
| February 24 at Jaeggi | The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons by Dan Brown and possibly Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco | Religious societies, conspiracies |
| March 24 at Stauffacher | isms | a discussion on political idealisms |
| April 27 at Villa Stucki including dinner and readings | Fables and Folk Stories by Hans Christen Andersen and others | origins of stories and equivalents in different cultures |
| May 25 | Homo Faber by Max Frisch | the conflict between engineering and humanity, or between men and women |
| Jun 30 | ||
| July 27 at the RFose Garden | Kahlil Gibran: The Prophet | poetry readings |
| Aug 31 | Douglas Adams: Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe, etc. | the film and the stories |
| Sep 29 | Simplify your Life / Body Language | experieces and desires |
| Oct 26 | ||
| Nov 30 | economics and politics ? | |
| Dec 29 | Dinner together | general discussion |
| 2006 - the year of crime stories | ||
| January | C. S. Lewis: The Narnia Stories (film and the first book) | morals and their use in entertainment |
| February | Saturday, Ian MacEwan | suspense |
| March | Memoirs of a Geisha (film and book, Arthur Golden) | Cultures and stars |
| April | Mozart, Amadeus (any sources) | In this anniversary year - what was Mozart like |
| May at the Swiss National Library | Patricia Highsmith, Mr Ripley, Rent-A-Woom, Sweet Freedom | exhibition, film |
| June at the Rose Garden | poetry readings, romantic poetry | Poe, Browning, Shakespeare, and others |
| July 27 | Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | trip to Meiringen and Reichenbach |
| August | Agatha Christie, Final Curtain | the last and best of Hercule Poirot, murder by proxy |
| September | Friedrich Dürrenmatt, The Physicist | Theater at the Waldau on Sept 9 |
| October | not yet decided | |
| November | P. D. James | Inspector Dalgliesh, and the Future of Man |
| December | dinner | (no topic) |
| 2006 - oriental year | ||
| Wed 24 January | Holy Cow, Sarah MacDonald | comparative Eastern religions |
| Wed 28 February | Runaway and other stories, Alice Munro | the life of a Canadian woman |
| Tues 20 March | James Heriott, vet stories | Yorkshire, language, myths, |
| Thu April 26 | Fables and arab stories | The origin and history of fables |
| May 23 | The Jacoubian Building, Al Aswami | including presentations from the author and the translator |
| Wed June 20 | poetry evening, Rumi etc | oriental poetry |
| Wed 25 July | Next,Philip K. Dick | science fiction and the future |
| Wed 22 August | Seventh Scroll, Wilbur Smith | history of Egypt |
| Wed 26 Setember | ||
| Monty Python | Movie evening | |
| Sunday 4 November | Halloween poetry workshop | gothic romantic poetry |
| Wed 21 November | The Schwarze Spinne, Gotthelf | Swiss-German gothic story |
| Sat 24 November | The Birds and Rebecca by Hitchcock and Daphne du Maurier | Movies |
| Wed 28 November | Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier | |
| Fri 28 December | year end meeting | including poetry workshop |
| Bridget Jones - two movies | Movie evening | |