Event: Sophie Group meeting Date: Thursday 24 February Time: 19.00h Location: Jäggi Bookshop Cafe, Loeb 2UG Deadline: 20 February Contact: Please register with Graham, 031 325 9836 Comments: We look at "The Da Vinci Code" of Dan Brown
December: A few members met for a small Christmas party with Graham at the Salem hospital with cake and champagne - with regrets from members who could not make it. "The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: Of shoes, and ships, and sealing-wax, Of cabbages and kings..." (from Lewis Carroll). We decided on the topics for March and April (see below) and that we would have an outdoor meeting later in the year.
This month, on Wednesday January 26 we discuss a general topic - do animals have morals? What do you think? Tell us your experiences. We meet at 19.00h at the Allegro Hotel - to find us ask at the main desk.
The topic for Thursday February 24 is hot on the best-seller list at the moment. An exciting story - how much is related to truth? We look at "The Da Vinci Code" of Dan Brown (available in German under the name "Sakrileg"). You can find many reviews online - just search for the author's name, on www.amazon.com for instance. You may also be interested in his book, "Angels and Daemons", in German appearing under the name "Illuminati". Starting with a flight to Geneva using the Mach 15 CERN jet, a plot is unravelled to blow up the Vatican at the time of election of the next Pope.
You can see the author's site on www.danbrown.ch, and interesting analyses of the material in the December National Geographic magazine. We meet at the cafe of the bookshopp Jaeggi in 2UG of the Loeb building.
The topic for March will be "ism's" - we consider socialism, utopias, your own political ideals? Tell us what you think of George Orwell's 1985, or Brave New World, or Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, or other material which has influenced your ideas. There is an interesting exhibition at the Art Museum on communism.
The topic for April is "folk tales" especially considering those of the Grimm brothers and Hans Christen Andersen, whose 200th anniversary is this month. Come and explain your favorite fable.
Another topic for this year, probably for May, is Max Frisch's Homo Faber. It's time we looked at some great Swiss literature! Is anyone interested in a trip to Zurich to see the new play? Engineer Walter Faber uses technology and his scientific worldview as a shield against other people and against his own humanity. When his shield fails him, he learns to open his heart and live fully. You may find the English translation by Michael Bullock.