Library Book Club

Next meeting in November!

2009-11-05T15:32:00.001+01:00

Dear readers,

I would like to invite you to our next meeting. It will be held on November, 11th at the clubroom at the Central Library. The begining is at 7 pm.
And the topic?
Because only Dana (and her cat) and me visited last horror meeting, I would like repeat same topic and author. So it is horror and Stephen King.

You can freely choose any of his books that you want to talk about. In fact, many of King's books are similar, so it doesn't matter which one you will select. The point is always the same - a fear of strange and supernatural things.

I will also prepare a little surprise for you:-).

Horror quiz

2009-11-05T15:27:00.001+01:00

1. Who is the author of the novel Frankenstein:

A. Percy B. Shelley
B. Mary Shelley
C. George Gordon Byron

2. Where could you meet the main characters of novel Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux)?

A. Paris Opera House
B. Toulouse Opera House
C. Metropolitan Opera

3. After which lord named Bram Stoker the vampire in his novel Dracula? (The Impaler)

A. Vlad I, Prince of Wallachia
B. Vlad II, Prince of Wallachia
C. Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia

4. Robert Louis Stevenson, author of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or Treasure Island is a

A. Scottish
B. Irish
C. English writer

5. King´s first success

A. Salem’s Lot
B. Carrie
C. Shining

6. The Dark Tower series has

A. six
B. seven
C. eight volumes?

7. Novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a story about:

A. family terror (stepmother wants to kill her stepdaughter)
B. girl wandering in a forest
C. murder during National League Championship

8. Shop Needful Things offers:

A. Vitamins
B. Food
C. Trinkets

9. What does it mean Redrum

A. Cuban drink with rum
B. backwards Murder
C. ethnic red drum from South Africa

10. Who is it?

And answers: 1B, 2A, 3C, 4A, 5B, 6B, 7B, 8C, 9B, 10 - Count Orlok (Nosferatu)

Rock and Hawk: Poetry of Robinson Jeffers

2009-08-26T10:57:00.008+02:00

Dear friends,

I would like to invite you to the evening of poetry of the American poet Robinson Jeffers. Our guest is Professor Elliot Roberts, Vice President of the Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation, author of many books inspired by live and work of Jeffers. Professor will read verses, answer your questions and also he will invite his own guest Táňa Fischerová, Czech actress, who will read verses in Czech.
So the programme is bilingual.
This event will be held in Central Library (Mariánské náměstí 1) on September 16 at 6:30 pm at the Big Hall (downstairs).

Free admission!!!! It's not necessary to book a seat, because Big Hall has capacity almost 400 seats.

Some information about Elliot Roberts:

Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts is co-author of Bowing to Receive the Mountain: Essays by Lin Jensen and Poems by Elliot Roberts (Sunflower Ink: Carmel, CA, 1997); co-editor/co-translator of two works of poetry from the Telugu: Chalam's Sudha (Nectar) (Motilal Banarsidass/ UNESCO: Delhi, 1990) and Selected Verses of Vemana (Sahitya Akademi: New Delhi, 1995); and co-editor of the college text Bridges (Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1972). He has published two chapbooks of poetry and his poems have appeared in various anthologies and journals, including Dancing on the Brink of the World: Selected Poems of Point Lobos, The Anthology of Monterey Bay Poets: 2004, caesura: the 25th anniversary edition, and The Homestead Review. His poem “The Scrub Jay” was set to a musical score by pianist/composer David Clay and had its world premier at the New Music Works Avant Garden Party in Santa Cruz. His four poems that appeared in Dancing on the Brink of the World have been translated into Spanish and published in the El Nuevo Diario newspaper(Managua, Nicaragua). He has read his poetry at various venues on the Monterey Peninsula.

As Vice President of the Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation in Carmel, Mr. Ruchowitz-Roberts coordinates the Foundation’s annual Poetry and Performance Series and its annual Prize for Poetry, for which he is a preliminary judge. He also presents an annual benefit reading and is one of four poets in the annual “Robinson Jeffers at Point Sur” tour and reading.

Mr. Ruchowitz-Roberts lives in Carmel Highlands with his wife Tey. He has three adult children and seven grandchildren. He is President/Chair of the non-profit Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur and Chair of the Monterey County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.

Next meeting in September!!!

2009-07-22T12:06:00.005+02:00

Dear readers,

Last meeting was visited by a few members. In fact, I was there alone and I was sad because the topic was good. For this reason the next meeting will be after holiday, on September 23rd (6:30 pm, Central Library, Clubroom). The topic will be same - COMICS.

We will also chat about your summer time and holiday, and maybe you will tell me, where were you in July, when I was waiting for you at the clubroom and reading Garfield.

Next meeting!!

2009-06-22T12:26:00.005+02:00

Dear friends.

Our next meeting will have a very specific topic - COMICS. We invite all fans and also adversaries to chat about classical heroes, graphic novels, about growing popularity of comics. I hope that lot of you will come despite the holiday and nice summer weather. Meeting will be held as usual at the Clubroom of the Central Library (Mariánské nám. 1, Prague 1) on July 8 at 6:30 pm.

Women and literature - quiz

2009-06-22T12:10:00.002+02:00

Dear readers,

Last meeting was about Literature for women and in the beginning we tried to answer this quiz. Answers below.

1. The names of three famous English writers of the 1840s and 1850s?
(Because it's too easy, there are no options.)

2. Which Brönte sister wrote The Professor?
A. Anna
B. Charlotte
C. Emily

3. When did Jane Austen get married?
A. 1757 (when she was 18)
B. 1816 (one year before her death)
C. she never get married

4. Whole name of Virginia Woolf is:
A. Adeline Virginia Woolf
B. Barbara Virginia Woolf
C. Marie Virginia Woolf

5. Marjane Satrapi, author of graphic novel Persepolis was born in:
A. Iraq
B. Iran
C. Israel

6. Who is the author of The Six Bullerby Children?
A. Dagmar Lange
B. Sara Lidman
C. Astrid Lindgren

7. The most famous Czech female writer is:
A. Božena Němcová
B. Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová
C. Marie Pujmanová

8. The richest female writer is:
A. Helen Fielding
B. J. K. Rowling
C. Gina B. Nahai

9. The pen name of Mary Anne Evans:
A. George Eliot
B. James Joyce
C. Adam Bede

10. Who is the author of this title:

Leaves from the journal of our life in the Highlands, from 1848 to 1861 to which are prefixed and added extracts from the same journal giving an account of earlier visits to Scotland, and tours in England and Ireland, and yachting excursions

Correct answers:
1. Brönte sisters - Anna, Charlotte, Emily
2B - first novel by Charlotte Brönte - published posthumously
3C
4A - but her original name was Adeline Virginia Stephen
5B - now Satrapi lives in France
6C - She is the best remembered for writing the Pipi Longstocking
7A - Author of the novel Babička (Grandma)
8B - Author of Harry Potter series
9A - She was an English novelist, one of the leading writers of the Victorian era
10 - Queen Victoria

Fairy Tales

2009-06-05T17:41:00.004+02:00

Dear readers,

here is the report from the meeting about Fairy Tales. The author is Marta that held this meeting.

At the beginning of our fairy evening we used the folklorist classification of folk tales and tried to explain some expressions. Than some famous tales collectors as Němcová, Erben, Dobšinský, brothers Grimms were mentioned.

We had fun during listening to Astrid Lindgren short story „Older sister and younger brother“ – a story where an older sister is trying to tell a fairy tale to her younger brother.

Classic fairy tales are always full of several archetypes of character, they are spread all over the world, though some story details may differ (as for example Czech, Slovak and English Cinderella version). It was also interesting to hear that the tale of the Greco-Egyptian girl Rhodopis, recorded in the 1st century BC, was considered the oldest known version of the story.

Sometimes life is like a fairy tale, but not each story finishes with a happy ending. Lida Baarova story was given as a good example.

All of us liked very much another story about the girl, who did not agree with marriage and lived happily on her own ever after.

And before saying goodbye an old Chinese story about first storyteller was retold and I hope we all spent a nice time by returning to our childhood – at least for a while.

Jane Austen's works

2009-06-02T11:29:00.004+02:00

Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose realism, biting social commentary and masterful use of free indirect speech, burlesque, and irony have earned her a place as one of the most widely read and most beloved writers in English literature.

Novels

Sense and sensibility (1811)
Pride and Prejudice (1813)
Mansfield Park (1814)
Emma (1815)
Northanger Abbey (1817)
Persuasion (1817)

Unfinished fiction

Lady Susan (1794, 1805)
The Watsons (1804)
Sanditon (1817)

Other works

Sir Charles Grandison (1793, 1800)
Plan of a Novel (1815)
Poems
Prayers
Letters

Juvenilia – Volume the First

Frederic & Elfrida
Jack & Alice
Edgar & Emma
Henry and Eliza
The Adventures of Mr. Harley
Sir William Mountague
Memoirs of Mr. Clifford
The Beautiful Cassandra
Amelia Webster
The Visit
The Mystery
The Three Sisters
A beautiful description
The generous Curate
Ode to Pity

Juvenilia – Volume the Second

Love and Friendship
Lesley Castle
A Collection of Letters
The female philosopher
The first Act of a Comedy
The history of England
A Letter from a Young Lady
A Tour through Wales
A Tale

Juvenilia – Volume the Third

Evelyn
Catharine, or the Bower

Next meeting is not only for women!!

2009-05-22T16:11:00.007+02:00

Dear friends,

the next meeting will be held on June 3rd at the Central Library at 6:30 pm. Again at the Clubroom.

The topic is literature for women, but men are also welcomed.
We will talk about romanticism, feelings (love and hate), of course about Jane Austen and her novels.

We are looking forward to seeing you!!

Using internet at the library

2009-05-22T16:04:00.006+02:00

Dear readers and visitors,

Municipal Library of Prague offers services that you could be interested in:

All branches of the Municipal Library of Prague (MLP) offer the access to the internet.
There are 40 branches in Prague and in places where there is no „stone“ library, 
there is a stop of our mobile library - the bibliobus.
Each library has at least 2 PCs with i-net access.

A wifi-connection for public is a new service that our library offers in most branches.

To make use of this service you just need a notebook or a pocket PC with  
a wi-fi card in standard 802.11b or 802.11g, then you pick the nearest library,
find  yourself a comfortable place and search for accessible nets
and  get  connected to the one called „Mestska knihovna“.
You can surf all day long.
Due to technical reasons there is no wi-fi connection in mobile libraries.

The Internet at the Municipal Library of Prague is free of charge for

everyone; there is no need to be a holder of a reader´s card.

Addresses and working hours of all branches are on :

http://www.mlp.cz/english/knihsit.php

2009-04-20T17:30:00.004+02:00

The Types of the Folk-Tale

Tale classification used by folkloristics.

I. Animal Tales

o Wild Animals

o Wild Animals and Domestic Animals

o Man and Wild Animals

o Domestic Animals

o Birds

o Fish

o Other Animals and Objects

II. Ordinary Folktales

o A. Tales of Magic

Supernatural Adversaries

Supernatural or Enchanted Husband (Wife) or Other Relatives

Supernatural Tasks

Supernatural Helpers

Magic Objects

Supernatural Power or Konwledge

Other Tales of the Supernatural

o B. Religious Tales

o C. Novelle (Romantic Tales)

o D. Tales of the Stupid Ogre

III. Jokes and Anecdotes

o Numskull Stories

o Stories about Married Couples

o Stories about a Woman (Girl)

o Stories about a Man (Boy)

o The Clever Man

o Lucky Accidents

o The Stupid Man

o Jokes about Persons and Religious Orders

o Anecdotes about Other Groups of People

o Tales of Lying

IV. Formula Tales

o Cumulative Tales

o Catch Tales

o Unfinished Tales

o Other Formula Tales

V. Unclassified Tales

o Unclassified Tales

Next meeting will be fabulous!

2009-03-23T17:14:00.004+01:00

Fairy tales are our topic for the up-coming meeting.
We will talk about your favourite stories from the childhood, about traditional fairy-tales from various countries; we will try to find a connection between fairy-tales and dreams and we will flirt with Freud and Jung. Bring a fairy-tale book or a picture of your favourite character. We will return to the childhood and spend there as much time as possible.

Next meeting: April 22nd, 6:30 pm, Central Library, Clubroom.

Atonement - Happy ending

2009-03-23T17:10:00.008+01:00

On our last meeting we talked about Atonement (Ian McEwan). Discussion
regarded guilt and death, love and jealousy, mistakes and rectification.
Also Atonement, the movie , was mentioned. Mainly the breathtaking scene on the shore of Dunkirk.
And we have written two alternative endings of the story, that in fact has an unhappy solution.

First group has created this ending:
We tried to imagine the three main characters near the end of their lives.
Briony is a Proffessor of Literature (Cambridge University). She is also very famous because of her books, she has got a lot of money and fans. She spends a lot of time with her brother´s children and grandchildren. Robbie and Cecilia are old happy married couple, living in Paris, far away from bad memories, in spite of that they have forgiven Briony long time ago.
They are pensioners now, but Robbie used to be a doctor, as he always dreamed and Cecilia used to assist him as a nurse. Now they spend most of their time making charity.

Second group has written this ending:
Robbie was lucky to survive the war and when he returned back home, he married Cecilia. Within a year their son was born. They lived a peaceful life till a car accident broke their family happiness.
Parents were killed and a five year old Robbie remained alone. There were only two possibilities for him - either to be placed in a children´s home or to live with his aunt Briony, a famous writer.
He knew nothing about her. His parents had decided not to confuse him with the past. And now he was to be a part of Briony´s life. As time went by, Robbie grew up with loving care of his aunt. It was a satisfaction for her to make up for what she did to his father. As much as she tried to keep Robbie away from the past he unexpectedely got to know what had happened and wasn´t able to reconcile to it and fully blamed his aunt.
A couple of days later there was a very bad weather forecast. Robbie and his friend wanted to go out sailing but according to what the radio said, his friend refused to go. Robbie persuaded him and so they went. The weather got worse and worse and the boys had a lot of trouble with the boat. A terrible storm had broken and they nearly got drowned. After returning home, Robbie realized that it is so easy to get in a situation when you have full responsibility for the life of someone else and that it´s humanly to make mistakes.

What do you think? Do you like it? Or do you have your own idea? (Use commentary)

Atonement

2009-03-09T17:08:00.011+01:00

As a result of your voting our next theme is McEwan´s novel "Atonement".
It was written in 2001, translated into Czech in 2003 and filmed by Joe Wright in 2007.
This book in considered to be one of not only McEwan´s best works, but also one of the most celebrated and honoured books of the recent years.
A psychological story about consequences that one tragical mistake had caused by a very sensible girl that isn´t yet able to understand the world of the adults.
In case you haven´t read the book and would like to, we can offer you to borrow it in the Central Library or in some of other library branches.
Also you can buy the book in the Anagram bookshop. Members of the club get a 15 percent discount.

During our meeting on March, 17th we will have a short reading from this novel and then there will be some time for discusion. Information about other McEwan´s books you have read and like are also welcomed.

Looking forward to seeing you!

Anagram Bookshop: http://www.anagram.cz/

Discworld meeting - photos

2009-03-08T10:37:00.001+01:00

Our group during serious discussion

Time to play

Nemo is a king

Mr. M is Santa Claus

We don't know who Mr. M is

Xena (with chakram or frisbee)

Next meeting

2009-02-25T11:52:00.010+01:00

Our third Library Book Club meeting will be held on March, 17th (it´s Tuesday this time, not Wednesday as usual) at 6:30 pm in the Clubroom in the Central Library.

You still have time to select the author for this meeting: Haruki Murakami or Ian McEwan.

You can vote in the left column of the screen till March, 1st. (Voting is now closed.) You can also suggest which book you would like to read in the commentaries to this article. We will choose the title and discuss it.

Murakami’s novels, translated into English

Hear the Wind Sing (1987)

A Wild Sheep Chase (1989)

Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1991)

Norwegian Wood (2000)

Dance Dance Dance (1994)

South of the Border, West of the Sun (2000)

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (1997)

Sputnik Sweetheart (2001)

Kafka on the Shore (2005)

After Dark (2007)

McEwan’s novels

The Cement Garden (1978)

The Comfort of Strangers (1981)

The Child in Time (1987)

The Innocent (1990)

Black Dogs (1992)

Enduring Love (1997)

Amsterdam (1998)

Atonement (2001)

Saturday (2005)

On Chesil Beach (2007)

Children’s fiction

Rose Blanche (1985)

The Daydreamer (1994)

We spent a great time on the Discworld

2009-02-25T11:16:00.025+01:00

The participants discussing this series didn´t have the same knowledge about fantasy literature. A Discworld’s expert was present, as well as a person that only heard about the Discworld and even a person who has never heard about this world before.

We couldn’t decide which book is the best one and who is the favourite character. The mostly mentioned book was the sixth story The Pyramids, that stands aside the series and only four characters appear in the other books.

Here came out a question: Which book should a beginner read as a first step to the Discworld. What do you think? (Use comments below)

My personal opinion is that the best books are those at the beginning of the series as all motives are new and surprising. Maybe later characters are described more in detail and during time they change, but in the first two books there is the naive tourist Twoflower, that is described perfectly by only one sentence.

We also mentioned Jan Kantůrek, the Czech translator of the Discworld. Terry Pratchett says, that the best translations are into Czech and into Dutch. But Kantůrek had problems with the English language, because he only holds the English-Czech vocabulary in his head but he can’t speak English. He usually has to have two or three snifters before he finds the courage to talk to Terry Pratchett. During their first meeting Kantůrek had an interpreter and Pratchett was shocked. By the way, Kantůrek is an amateur theatre star and usually plays the Librarian (orangutan, no monkey) from the Unseen University.

Later we had time for a little game. Our small company divided into two groups - the Dark and the White one and we played something that could be called an Activity game. Each group prepared for the other one some terms from the fantasy literature and one player tried to express the word to her/his co-players by pantomime, depicting or drawing a picture . There sure were good actors and painters among us.

Dark group (around left table) tries to guess right Mr.M´s acting

Next topic! The Discworld!! (18th February)

2009-02-12T09:54:00.006+01:00

The topic for the next meeting is Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series. Until 2008, 36 stories of the Discworld series have been published. The first book, The Colour of Magic (1983), introduces the cynical wizard Rincewind, who guides the tourist Twoflower. Their journey is full of incredible experiences resulting from misunderstanding and on effort of Rincewind to flee. The story continues in the second book of the series The Light Fantastic, but both characters reappear in other novels.

An interesting group of characters is presented by persons that rule the magic. The witches (from Lancre) use magic rarely, they prefer a special kind of psychology: the headology. Three main witches are Esmeralda Weatherwax, Gytta Ogg and Magrat Garlic. They appear in Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad and Lords and Ladies.

Wizards from the Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork create a group using real magic. Older wizards are usually lazy, fat and in fact, don’t know, how magic works. Younger wizards practise modern experiments and try to achieve progress in magic science.

A very charming character of the Discworld is Death. He does not kill, only collects. Death is fascinating for his humanity and loosing his objectivity. For this, he (or her, depends on the translation) has problems with the Auditors of Reality, that supervise life on the Discworld. Auditors are supernatural beings, gods that hate life, because it is unpredictable and they prefer lines and rules.

Some novels from series are situated to the city of Ankh-Morpork. Protagonists are guards from the City Watch (Night Watch, The Fifth Elephant), Lord Winder, despotic ruler of the city, or wizards, of course.

The series has many characters, I can not name them all, but I am sure that you will remember others on Wednesday. Maybe you have not read any book of this series yet, but you can still manage, because the stories are quite short and readable. Some of the books can be found at the MLP branches or in the Central Library as well.

If you have no time to read, just find some information about the Discworld on Wikipedia sites.

See you on the Discworld on Wednesday 18th at 6:30 pm in the Central Library in the Clubroom.

World of Fantasy

2009-02-12T07:44:00.008+01:00

Fantasy is a genre based on magic and other supernatural forms like
mythical creatures and gods. Same as in horror or sci-fi literature,
typical for fantasy literature is its milieu and props. The story is usually
placed to a world, that has either no or least connection to our world.
Sometimes even an alternative world is created.

The origin of the fantasy literature comes from old legends and myths (Greek, Celtic).
Typical fantasy literature started to appear in the 19th Century. In the 20ties
of the 20th Century fantasy literature became known from Pulp Magazines.
Those were and still are quite cheap magazines with not only fantasy,
but also adventure novels, westerns, horrors and crime stories.

In Weird Tales (Pulp magazine) Robert Ervin Howard introduced
his hero Conan the Cimmerian. J.R.R.Tolkien had a great deal in making the fantasy
literature very popular. His Hobbit and most of all the Lord of the Rings became
the most famous books. Tolkien´s friend C.S.Lewis is the author of the Chronicles
of Narnia, the tales from the alternative world.

Fantasy subgenres

Alternate history - could be a subgenre of sci-fi, but where magic
works and legendary creatures come alive, it becomes a fantasy
subgenre
Comic fantasy - this subgenre skits ideas and motives of the fantasy
in a better or worse quality
Heroic fantasy - the hero of this subgenre is usually on the quest
and carries one or more magical items
High fantasy (Epic fantasy) - epic struggle between good
and evil fantasy worlds with a moral tone
Sword and sorcery – is concerned more on action and muscels, the hero is
usually immoral and his/her motivation goes for their own profit
Urban fantasy - takes place in an urban estate, where magic sneaks
from the fantasy world
Other subgenres - Dark fantasy, Fairytale fantasy, Steampunk,
Prehistoric fantasy

Recommended recent authors and their books:

Sapkowski, Andrzej: Witcher
Pullman, Philip: His Dark Materials
Novik, Noemi: His Majesty´s Dragon
Pratchett, Terry: Discworld series
Chadbourn, Mark: The Age of Misrule series
Clarke, Susanne: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel
Gaiman, Neil: Stardust
Rowling, Joanne: Harry Potter

Fantastic quiz

2009-02-11T11:51:00.027+01:00

1.Which mythical creature often appears in fantasy stories?

A. Duocorn
B. Unicorn
C. Nocorn

2. The name of a powerful character from Cimmeria?

A. Ciri
B. Conan
C. Red Sonya

3. Where did Smaug the dragon live?

A. at the Lonely Mountain
B. in the Lonely Lake
C. on the Lonely meadow

4. Which weapon does Xena usually use?

A. Shakram
B. Spear
C. Bumerang

5. Author of the Never-ending story?

A. Michael End
B. Michael Ende
C. Michael Endless

6. The name of the Sapkowski’s Witcher?

A. Gerard
B. Geralt
C. Gertrude

7. Unforgivable killing curse from the Harry Potter novel?

A. Crucio
B. Alohomora
C. Avada Kedavra

8. Which actor played Captain Shakespeare in Startdust movie?

A. Robert Redford
B. Robert Downey Junior
C. Rober de Niro

9. Which world has been created by Terry Pratchett?

A. Discworld
B. Otherland
C. Earthsea

10. What did Gandalf puff out, when he was smoking in Hobbiton (before Bilbo’s birthday)?

A. Flower
B. Cake
C. Ship

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Correct answers: 1B, 2B, 3A, 4A, 5B, 6B, 7C, 8C, 9A, 10C

Evaluation:
Number of the correct answers:
1 - 3: fantasy ignorant (recognizes books)
4 - 6: fantasy reader (recognizes fantasy books)
7 - 9: fantasy expert (recognizes only fantasy books)
10: fantasy god (doesn't recognize fantasy and reality)

Let us know how many good answers did you have.
Use comments.

Our next meeting will be fantastic !!!

2009-02-02T15:54:00.004+01:00

Fantasy literature is the winner of the voting.
Now, which book would you like to read for book club? It is up to you again. Here is place for your suggestions of titles and authors (write the commentary to this article).

On next Monday we will select one the most mentioned author and title.

Interesting lecture!

2009-01-29T11:07:00.004+01:00

The Vikings - not only the merciless warriors

Kenneth Eriksson, Swedish literature scientist, will introduce Viking mythology, cosmology and world view. In English, interpreted into Czech.
When: February 9, 18:30
Where: Czech Centre Prague, Rytířská 31, Praha 1
Free entry.

Why the best fantasy-writers come from Britain?

2009-01-29T08:34:00.001+01:00

It was one of the topics that were discussed at first meeting of the Library Book Club on Wednesday.

But we wandered also on the field of the healthy food and proper surrounding for living.

Topic was huge, because everybody was talking about their favourite book. But the group of the fantasy fans dominated and the most mentioned titles were The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or Discworld.

The origin of the wild fantasy of the British authors could be set off the weak position of the Church and fortune of the British mythology. Also it could be caused by historical spirit that still remians in Oxford, Cambridge, and Edinburgh. Or what do you think?

Beat poets had their fans there too, by name Jack Kerouac and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, but two members jumped from the beat poetry to classical Scandinavian authors. Do you know some of them?

Small circle of the fans talked about authors that try to show the connection between human and the surrounding. Not only the physical relations, but also spiritual connection. From Czech authors, Václav Cílek, the geologist, writes very popular books about this topic and about Genius Loci phenomenon. Do you sometimes have the feeling, that some place is breathing?

Topic for next meeting will be selected by your voting. We have three themes: Fantasy, classic Scandinavian literature, non – fiction literature, focus on the relation between man and surrounding.

You can also suggest good books for every topic in the Forum.

Next meeting will be held on February 18, at 18:30 in the Central Library in the club room.

How to get to the clubroom

2009-01-28T14:46:00.001+01:00

Forum

2008-12-29T14:12:00.001+01:00

Suggest us books for next meetings...

First meeting!!!

2008-12-24T14:01:00.001+01:00

Dear readers,

we would like to invite you to first meeting of the Library Book Club. It will be introducing meeting, where you will have the opportunity to hear more information about book club, about library, about possibility, where and how you would get books for reading on our book club.

The first topic is: Favourite book
It should be book that has changed your life, that has hurt you. Maybe you have more than one book of life, but try to choose only one. I know that is difficult.

And the date?
Christmas time is coming and it is clear, that everybody has many duties around baking , cooking and buying the presents. And also to find the piece of the Christmas peace.
So first meeting will be held on January 2009, on Wednesday 21st at 6:30 pm.

And the place?
Meeting will be held in Central Library in the club-room. The Central Library is situated on Old Town.
Here is address: Mariánské náměstí 1, Prague 1.

We are looking forward to you!!!

Forum For You

2008-12-23T16:30:00.028+01:00

The Forum is place for your discussion.Write us your topics for next book-club meeting, recommend us good book, suggest us tips of some events.

Forum

Vi talar svenska på Stadsbiblioteket!

2008-12-23T13:45:00.000+01:00

Hej!

Kommer du från Sverige, Norge, Danmark, Finland eller Island? Talar du svenska, norska, danska? Vill du veta mer om Stadsbiblioteket Prag, om våra tjänster, tycker du vi kan göra något bättre? Kontakta mig gärna på svenska, norska, danska (eller engelska)! Du får svar på svenska! Vi kan även träffas på biblioteket om du önskar så!

Med vänlig hälsning,

Vít Boška, bibliotekarie

boskav@mlp.cz

January Film Club

2008-12-19T13:37:00.004+01:00

Municipal Library of Prague would like to invite you to Film Club

All films are in Great Auditorium in the Central Library (Mariánské nám. 1, Prague 1) at 7 pm.

Tuesday 20. 1. - Sketches of Frank Gehry (60 CZK)
USA, 2005, Sydney Pollack, 83 min.

Film director Sydney Pollack, a friend of Gehry's, made the documentary Sketches of Frank Gehry with appreciative comments by Philip Johnson, Ed Ruscha, Julian Schnabel, and Dennis Hopper, and critical ones by Hal Foster supplementing dialogue between Gehry and Pollack about their work in two collaborative art forms with considerable commercial constraints and photography of some buildings Gehry designed.

Frank Gehry is the author of the e. g. Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and Walt Disney Concert in downtown Los Angeles or Dancing House in Prague.

English version. Czech subtitles.

Wednesday 21.1. - René (60 CZK)
Czech Republic, 2008, Helena Třeštíková, 85 min.

Helena Třeštíková is the author of major documentaries collected over time, i.e. pictures observing lives of selected people, and later put together in a film.

Director watched the fate of repeat criminal Rene Plasil for twenty years. European Film Academy Documentary 2008 – Pix Arte winner.

Czech version

Thursday 22.1. - Annie Leibovitz: Life Through A Lens (60 CZK)
USA, 2006, Barbara Leibovitz, 90 min.

This documentary takes an in-depth look at the influential career of iconic photographer Annie Leibovitz, from her earliest artistic efforts to her storied tenure at Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair magazines and beyond.

English version, Czech subtitles

Tuesday 27. 1. Wolke 9 (Cloud Nine) (60 CZK)
Germany, 2008, Andreas Dresen, 98 min.

69-year old alteration tailoress Inge has been married more than 30 years. But in this old age, completely out of the blue love rears its head again: Inge falls head over heels in love with 76-year old Karl and starts a passionate love affair with him.

German version, Czech subtitles

Wednesday 28. 1. - Import / Export (60 CZK)
Austria, 2007, Ulrich Seidl, 135min.

A nurse from the Ukraine searches for a better life in the West, while an unemployed security guard from Austria heads East for the same reason.

German, Slovak, Russian version, Czech subtitles

Thursday 29.1. - Control (60 CZK)
GB, 2007, Anton Corbijn, 119 min.

Control is a black-and-white biopic film about the late Ian Curtis (1956–1980), lead singer of post-punk band Joy Division.

English version, Czech subtitles

Have you got any question?

2008-12-08T13:27:00.005+01:00

Veronika Chruščová, Foreign Relations, Municipal Library of Prague:
veronika.chruscova@mlp.cz

Jonáš Vohrna, Digitization Department, Municipal Library of Prague:
vohrnaj@mlp.cz

Vít Boška, Librarian, Municipal Library of Prague:
boskav@mlp.cz

December Film Club

2008-12-08T12:51:00.002+01:00

Municipal Library of Prague would like to invite you to Film Club.

When:
9. 12., 4pm, 6pm - Mamma Mia (65 CZK)
16. 12., 4pm, 6pm - Rolling Stones (50 CZK)

Where:
Great Auditorium in the Central Library (Mariánské nám. 1, Prague 1)

The Film Club Card is possible to get (50 CZK per year) in the box - office at these hours:
Monday - Friday: 1:30pm - 7:30pm
Saturday - Sunday: one hour before beginning

Welcome to Library Book Club

2008-12-04T17:50:00.003+01:00

We are very pleased to welcome you in Library Book Club. Here you can find the right place for you. Here you have chance to discuss about your favourite books, meet new people and be inpired by others.

Because a story is always better if you have someone to share it with.

But we don't want to keep only virtual meetings. Our library is going to prepare really meetings where we would like to invite you. We will select together topic for the meeting, author or book on this blog and then we would meet, discuss and eat cakes.
We would like to introduce you our library as a open space for every opinion, for every mood, for everybody.

Language of the meetings will be English, but book club is open not only for native-speaking English readers:-).

We hope that you find on this blog everything you need. If you have some question, use FAQ or contact me: veronika.chruscova@mlp.cz.

FAQ

2008-12-04T17:26:00.010+01:00

*How long does the Library Book Club exist?
Since December of 2008.

*What ideas does Library Book Club have?
The idea is very simple: To read and share same book, to discuss about it and to meet new people.

*How often will Library Book Club be held?
We would like to have meetings once a month.

*Where and when will Library Book Club be held?
All Book Club meetings are held in the Club-room in Central Library. Address is: Mariánské squere 1, Prague 1. Ask the porter.
Meetings are on Wednesday's evening around 6 pm.

Library Book Club

Next meeting in November!

Horror quiz

Rock and Hawk: Poetry of Robinson Jeffers

Next meeting in September!!!

Next meeting!!

Women and literature - quiz

Fairy Tales

Jane Austen's works

Next meeting is not only for women!!

Using internet at the library

Next meeting will be fabulous!

Atonement - Happy ending

Atonement

Discworld meeting - photos

Next meeting

We spent a great time on the Discworld

Next topic! The Discworld!! (18th February)

World of Fantasy

Fantastic quiz

Our next meeting will be fantastic !!!

Interesting lecture!

Why the best fantasy-writers come from Britain?

How to get to the clubroom

Forum

First meeting!!!

Forum For You

Vi talar svenska på Stadsbiblioteket!

January Film Club

Have you got any question?

December Film Club

Welcome to Library Book Club

Sponsors

FAQ