Our discussion of "The Leopard" by Guiseppe De Lampedusa turned out to be as wide ranging and expansive as the book itself. One of our participants shared that to him, the book evoked the soul of Sicily. We agreed that the description of the changing structure of class and society during the end of the 19th Century was particularly compelling. The upheaval of the social structure followed the political changes, as the old aristocracy saw power eroding, and faced the new upstarts that challenged the religious establishment as well as everything else. The beauty of the writing, and the ironic descriptions of the fading upper class life, impressed us all. Our discussion also focused on the knowledge that as one ruling class fades, another is ready to take over. From the aristocracy of birth, to the aristocracy of power, to the aristocracy of money, we realized there is always an aristocracy.
Our next book will be "At the Existentialist Cafe" by Sarah Bakewell. Here is a link to a review from the New York Times. We will meet Wednesday, December 6, in Room 115 of the Richardson Library. Discussion begins at 1:30, with the room open at 1 pm. for anyone who wants to bring in a brown bag lunch. For further information contact Kathryn DeGraff or Helen Marlborough.
We will continue to review the titles on our list for consideration for upcoming discussions. Please let Kathryn, Helen, or anyone else in the group, if you have a favorite book you would like to share with your DES colleagues. As you can tell from the posts, we are interested in a wide range of fiction and non fiction. We enjoy our sessions thoroughly and always have room for more people and more insights
