UNH Manchester book discussion group features “journeys of discovery: travels in literature and film”

The University of New Hampshire at Manchester Spring 2005 Books in the Mill discussion series focuses on “Journeys of Discovery: Travels in Literature and Film”.

This spring, the Books in the Mill series will focus on four books with international settings. All of the works explore the meeting of cultures and how such interactions lead to discovery, growth and change. Join UNH Manchester librarians Annie Donahue and Carolyn White for discussions of the books and their film adaptations. The conversations will focus on the literary works, so please come to the discussions prepared to talk about the novels. Discussion will also include how the screen adaptations contribute to an understanding of the novels.

Copies of the films will be on hand for individual viewing at the UNH Manchester Library; please call in advance to reserve time at a viewing station. Book discussions take place from 7 to 8:15 p.m. in the Library on the Thursday evenings listed below, and are free and open to the public.

Thursday, Feb. 3: Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer
During World War II, Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer escaped from a British detention center in India and eventually made his way over the Himalayas to Tibet, where he lived in the “forbidden city” of Lhasa. Harrer describes life in Tibet in the last days before the Chinese invasion, including his own transformative friendship with the young Dalai Lama. The acclaimed 1997 film version stars Brad Pitt.

Thursday, March 3: Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington
For years the Australian government separated Aboriginal children from their families and their communities; the children were relocated to “education centers” for “assimilation” into the white community. This true story traces the steps of three sisters who escaped from such a center and followed a fence across the country to return to their home. The film adaptation features Kenneth Branagh.

Thursday, April 7: Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Alan Paton’s classic novel is set in South Africa in the 1940s. The book explores that country’s troubled past through the relationship between a black minister and a white landowner whose lives intersect as the result of a tragic incident. James Earl Jones and Richard Harris starred in the 1995 film based on the novel.

Thursday, May 5: Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
In this novel, an English woman travels to India to research the life of her great-aunt, whose affair with an Indian prince during the days of the Raj created a scandal in the British colonial community. The book follows the stories of the two women, generations apart, who are both radically changed by their experiences in India. The Merchant-Ivory film of the novel stars Julie Christie and Greta Scacchi.

Conversations will focus on the literary works, so please come to the discussions prepared to talk about the books. Limited discussion of how the screen adaptations contribute to an understanding of the books will be included.

The films will not be screened at UNH Manchester. Most of the movies should be available at your local public library or video outlets. Copies will also be on hand for individual viewing at the UNH Manchester Library; please call in advance to reserve time at one of our viewing stations.

For more information about this spring’s Books in the Mill series, contact Carolyn White in the UNH Manchester Library at 641-4172.