1. ITALIAN BOOK CLUB
Do you love Italy and all things Italian? Does the idea of knowing more about the country’s literature, history and culture appeal? Then this book club is for you.
We’ll be covering some classic Italian literature, novels and contemporary fiction as well as the odd political or historical tome — and, if we like, even the occasional cookbook. We’ll be arranging regular guest speakers, to take us through some of the tougher subjects, and to get a more real sense of Italy and Italian culture.
November 7th & December 6th: DANTE
We’ll be kicking off with a discussion of Dante on November 7th, 2016 at 7pm in the Cafe at Waterstones Oxford, with guest speakers Peter Hainsworth and David Robey, professors at Oxford and authors of Dante: a Very Short Introduction. We’ll be reading their book ahead of the meeting, with a view to reading parts of The Divine Comedy for the following meeting, December 6th.
READING NOTES
If you finish Dante: a Very Short Introduction and have extra time, another popular book to help navigate Dante is is Prue Shaw’s Reading Dante.
Please join us!
Enquiries to Rosalinda Polato ([email protected])
2. LATIN LOVERS BOOK CLUB
If you love Ancient Rome, have been dying for an excuse to read through its classic literature (Ovid, Cicero, Tacitus) and perhaps the odd modern book about Rome too, the Latin lovers book club is for you. October 11th (Tuesday) at 6pm is our initial meeting to discuss reading lists and possible guest speakers.
We’ll be meeting at 6pm on the 2nd Monday of every month (from November) in Waterstones, Gower Street. Reading in Latin is DEFINITELY not a must, but some Latin lovers may want to discuss finer points of translation at the end of the session or afterwards in the pub.
Monday, November 14th: TACITUS, HORACE, VIRGIL
Our next meeting is at 6pm on Monday, November 14th, at Waterstones, Gower Street. We’ll be meeting in the ‘philosophy turret’, which is on the top floor, turn left, right at the end.
The readings we’ll be discussing are:
* Tacitus Agricola, focusing on the section about Britain.
* Horace Odes 1.9
* Virgil Aeneid, Book I
Reader Notes
The Loeb Classical Library editions of these books have both the original Latin and an English translation. For those reading only in English, there are Penguin editions. You can also find the texts online.
Enquiries to [email protected]
