LIFELONG LEARNING
Beth El offers a variety of lifelong
learning activities. Our Lifelong Learning Committee provides the
opportunity to enroll in semester-long
courses which generally include Hebrew language, Torah
study, prayer, and various cultural subjects. Throughout the year,
brief individual classes and short-courses
and lectures covering topics of interest to the members
are also presented by local experts as well as speakers from outside
the Beth El community and beyond the Triangle area.
Below is a complete list of the books that the Beth El Book Club Selection October 2006 – September 2007 Thur. Oct 19, 2006: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by: Lisa See “I was entranced by this wondrous book-the story of a secret civilization of women who actually lived in China not long ago. Magical, haunting fiction. Beautiful - Maxine Hong Kingston, author of the Fifth Book of Peace. “Only the best novelists can do what Lisa See has done, to bring life not only a character but an entire culture, and a sensibility so strikingly different from our own. This is an engrossing and completely convincing portrayal of a woman shaped by suffering forced upon her from her earliest years, and of the friendship that helps her to survive”. - Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha Thur. Nov 16, 2006: The Last Angry Man – by: Gerald Green AmazonReviewer: Green's work is especially relevant in today's culture where our leadership doesn't seem to have any moral or social backbone. The Last Angry Man portrays a truely noble doctor's attempt to reclaim such morality, by oddly caring about the consequences of his actions and the reality of his situation. Being the older and poorer practictioner, loosing patients to yuppie specialists and a neighborhood that is falling apart. Life's difficulties are explored and his undying anger prooves there are still some of us that care. Thur. Dec 21, 2006: The History of Love – by: Nicole Krauss “Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer, tapping his radiator each evening to let his upstairs neighbor know he’s still alive, drawing attention to himself at the milk counter of Starbucks. But life wasn’t always like this: sixty years ago, in the Polish village where he was born, Leo fell in love and wrote a book. And although he doesn’t know it, that book also survived: it crossed oceans and generations, and changed lives. Fourteen year old Alma, was named after a character in that book. She has her hands full keeping track of her little brother Bird (who thinks he might be the Messiah) and taking copious notes in her book, How to Survive in the Wild Volume Three. But when a mysterious letter arrives in the mail she undertakes an adventure to find her namesake and save her family. In her extraordinary new novel Nicole Krauss has created some of the most memorable and moving characters in recent fiction. A tail brimming with laughter, passion and soaring imaginative power, The History of Love confirms Krauss as one of the most remarkable writers of her generation”. -“Nicole Krauss strides into the forecourt of American letters” – Susan Sontag Thur Jan 18, 2007: Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy by:Carlos Eire “Waiting for Snow in Havana is a profoundly imaginative work, moving, compelling, and powerful. With a magical elegance that is entrancing, Carlos Eire re-creates the world of his childhood as revolution engulfs Cuba. It is a remarkable achievement, one of the most dazzling memoirs to appear in a very long time” Nicholas Gage, Author of Eleni Please Note: We decided to read two complimentary books in February so that we can discuss them together. Thur Feb 15, 2007: Never Let Me Go – by Ishiguro Amazon Reviewer: ... nevertheless, Kazuo Ishiguro's "Never Let Me Go" was an intriguing read, reeling me in ever so gradually, nearly losing me, never fully snagging me, but throwing me bait of disconcerting revelation just frequently enough to keep me turning pages. By end, I had to admit I had enjoyed reading the book more than, well, than I had realized while reading it. Which is the kind of odd quality, odd hold, this novel has over the reader. Ishiguro writes in unassuming language. His story seems quite ordinary, initially nothing much more than a coming of age tale, and it runs over 80 pages before I got my first real jolt. Even that, more of a tug than a jolt. The reader begins to notice something strange going on, little weirdnesses tucked between the everyday routines. Once the reader realizes the scene unfolding is not quite as ordinary as first thought, interest grows. This is a dark tale of human beings being treated as less than human beings, of human clones grown and nurtured for the sole purpose of harvesting their organs, and their less than humane treatment, even though in appearances humane, based on various societal biases or perhaps only less than clear thinking, or faulty value systems. Indeed, this is Ishiguro's mastery. He has given something very dark, some might say evil, a face so bland it goes almost unnoticed. And, isn't this how evil pervades society every day? Monsters are rarely big and green and warty. Strangers are often your favorite uncle, or the boy next door. The taking down of civilization is not done with a big bang, but with nibbles and bites, a gradual desensitization. Ishiguro's evil is seemingly meek and submissive, as if done for the well being of the masses, and that may arguably be the tactic used most successfully. In novels as well as in life.
Thur Feb 15, 2007: My Sisters Keeper – by: Jody Picoult New York Times best selling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness. My Sisters Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person …….. Thur Mar 15, 2007: Missing in Action in the USSR – A Soldiers Story by: Martin Lakin “This memoir is based on my reconstruction and interpretation of events and experiences during my service as aerial gunner in the United States Air Corps, 1943-1945. They include the diplomatic negotiations concerning my internment and release by the Soviet Union”. – Martin Lakin Thur April 19, 2007: Thread of Grace by: Mary Doria Russel “You will lose yourself completely in this ecumenical epic of Italians working together to save Jewish refugees during the German Occupation of 1943-44. Russell has a deep empathy for her characters and writes with genius about the horrors of guerrilla war. This wholly absorbing novel ends with perhaps the most moving coda in fictional history”. – Susan Cahill, author/editor of Desiring Italy and the Smiles of Rome Thur. May 17, 2007: Mirror to America by: John Hope Franklin “With his remarkable sense of humanity, Renowned historian John Hope Franklin shares his life journey – an odyssey marked by scholarship, public service, and his passionate commitment to improve the condition of African Americans and their relations with their fellow citizens. Through candid stories of Franklin’s relentless pursuit of equality, Mirror to America calls upon all Americans to look at our nation’s past so that we may destroy the color line that continues to divide our country, and progress together into the future”. – Bill Clinton Thur. June 21, 2007: Saturday by: Ian McCuewn “…..Towards the end of a day rich in incident, a Saturday filled with thoughts of was and poetry, of music, morality and love, Baxter appears at the Perowne home during a family reunion, with extraordinary consequences. McEwan’s last novel, Atonement, was hailed a masterpiece all over the world. Saturday shares its confident, graceful prose and its remarkable perceptiveness, but is perhaps even more dramatically compelling, showing how life can change in an instant, for better or worse. It is the work of a writer at the very height of his powers”. Thur. Sept.20, 2007: Queen: The Story of an American Family by: Alex Haley Amazon Reviewer: “ This is one of the best books I've read in my life. Alex Haley was such a skilled writer. "Queen" deals with many harsh facts of the antebellum South without becoming vulgar. It is also an inspiring tale of an American family. One of my complaints with "Queen" is the blatant misuse and fabrication of facts by David Stephens, who finished Alex Haley's posthumous masterpiece. The writing of Mr. Stephens also doesn't measure up to that of Haley. While it is a great book as it stands, I wish I could see what this book would be if Haley had been alive to complete it.” 2000 – September 2006 Alameddine, Rabih - I, The Divine Allende, Isabel - Daughter of Fortune Allende, Isabel - In the Time of the Butterflies Allende, Isabel - Eva Luna Appelfeld, Aharon - Katerina Bingham, Emily - Mordecai Buck, Pearl S - The Good Earth Chabon, Michael - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Calisher, Hortense - Sunday Jews Calof, Rachel - Rachel Calof’s Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Planes Cook, Blanche Wiesen - Eleanor Roosevelt Cottin Pogrin, Letty - Three Daughters Dorris, Michael - A Yellow Raft in Blue Water Dubner, Stephen - Turbulent Souls Dykewomon, Elana - Beyond the Pale Ehrdrich, Louise - The Master Butcher’s Singing Club Eugenides, Jeffrey - Middlesex Fremont, Helen - After Long Silence Fuller, Alexandra - Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight Gaines, Earnest - A Lesson Before Dying Goldberg, Myla - Bee Season Goldsmith, Marvin - The Inextinguishable Symphony Gregory, Philippa - The Queen’s Fool Haris, Lis - Holy Days Hosseini, Khaled - The Kite Runner Ishiguro, Kazuo - When we were Orphans Kadish, Rachel - From a Sealed Room Knafo Setton, Ruth - The Road to Fez Lansky, Aaron - Outwitting History: Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Books Larson, Erick - The Devil in the White City Liss, David - A Conspiracy of Paper McDonald, Anne Marie - Fall on your Knees Mattison, Alice - The Book Borrower Mirvis, Tova - The Ladies Auxiliary Monk Kidd, Sue - The Secret Life of Bees Nafsi, Azur - Reading Lolita in Teheran Nattal, Lillian - The River Midnight Park, Jacqueline - The Secret Book of Grazia Dei Rosi Ragan, Naomi - The Ghost of Hannah Mendez Reichel, Ruth - Tender at the Bone, Growing up at the Table Rushkoff, Douglas - Nothing Sacred – The Truth About Judaism Sanchez - Day of the Bees Sijie, Dai - Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Singer, Katie - The Wholeness of the Broken Heart Shalev, Meir - The Four Meals Schwarz-Bart, Andre - The Last of the Just Sobel, Dava - Galileo’s Daughter Tyson, Tim - Blood Done Sign my Name Wilson, Jonathan - A Palestinian Affair Yehoshua, A.B. - Mr. Mani Yehoshua, A.B. - A Journey to the End of the Millennium Yehoshua, A.B. - The Lover Zimmler, Richard - Hunting Midnight Zunes, Stephen - Tinder Box
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