May 28th Book Discussion: "The Stranger" by Albert Camus

The Stranger is a deeply philosophical book, and to many readers the book is strange and boring.  They are reading the book like a contemporary novel - focused on the plot and action to make sense and have completeness.  Camus wanted readers to embrace chaos and understand not all actions have a purpose.

This novel has impact. The author, Albert Camus, was the inventor of the term "absurdism." Absurdism states that the universe has no inherent meaning  and is filled with chaos. Camus believed that we are born without a purpose or rules.  Yet, he never states that man can't find a purpose or create his/her own.  In The Stranger, you (the reader)  decides if the narrator of The Stranger has any control.

Want to learn more about Camus and absurdity?  Checkout philosophytalk.org.

https://www.philosophytalk.org/blog/camus-and-absurdity

The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain

LET'S TALK ABOUT IT!
Thursday, April 12th @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Twain’s last novel, published in 1984, addresses personal identity and slavery. The book's plot is  driven by a crime- two children, slave and white, switched as infants. This controversial novel has been banned and challenged in numerous school systems and libraries.  

Can't come in to the Havelock Library to check out a book?
Click on the book cover  to access a free e-book from Gutenberg project.

What are your thoughts about this book? 

Why do you think it was challenged or banned?

The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen Carter

Let's Talk About It - Book Discussion

Date: Thursday, March 22nd

Time: 6:00 -8:00 pm

Place: Havelock-Craven County Library

When the novel, Emperor of Ocean Park, opens, Judge Oliver Garland (THE EMPEROR) is dead, apparently of a heart attack.    At the burial a man, Ziegler, confronts Talcott, the eldest son of the judge and an upper-class lawyer and professor at an Ivy League law school.  When Ziegler demands to know his late father's ''arrangements,'' Talcott has no idea what he is talking about.  From this opening discussion springs the many twists and turns that alters Talcott’s view of family, love, and justice.

The Emperor of Ocean Park is a window.  A window into family dynamics, the struggles of the privileged African-American, and the complications of marriage.  Yet, all these sub-plots pale to the suspenseful murder-mystery entwined to keep the reader turning pages.

To learn more about the author, Stephen Carter, visit Readers Read’s bio and interview: https://www.writerswrite.com/books/interview-with-stephen-l-carter-70120021

Books are available at the Havelock-Craven County Library.  Discussion will be led by  Michelle Manning, Senior Lecturer, University of North Carolina Wilmington. 

Let's Talk About It - A Lesson Before Dying

By Ernest J. Gaines

Discussion led by scholar Margaret Bauer                                     Join us Thursday, Feb 8th @ 6:00 pm for discussion!

A Lesson Before Dying is Ernest Gaines's eight novel. Jefferson, a young black man, is an unwitting party to a liquor store shoot out in which three men are killed. He is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. A strange bond is created between Jefferson and Grant Williams, a teacher who is struggling with his place and purpose, when he is convinced by relatives to visit Jefferson in prison. As the friendship grows between Jefferson and Williams, the characters struggle with the question of death, dignity, and living life the fullest in the time you have.
The character Jefferson is based on the true story of Willie Francis, who was sentenced to death by the electric chair twice in Louisiana, in 1945 and 1947.

If you are interested in finding out more about Willie Francis click on the link below:
http://murderpedia.org/male.F/f/francis-willie.htm

Let's Talk About It 2018 Schedule

Thursdays from 6 pm to 8 pm

For February, March and April, the book club will be participating in the “Let’s Talk About It” book reading and discussion series instead of the regular scheduled times. The “Let’s Talk About It” book  begins Feb. 8 with Ernest J. Gaines’ “A Lesson Before Dying.”

This library discussion series brings scholars and community members together to explore how selected books illuminate a particular theme. The theme of Law and Literature invites readers to ponder the difference between what is established and what is just by examining a selection of writers who demonstrate the powerful interaction of law and human affairs.

The Havelock-Craven County Public Library and Lifetime Learning Center are partners in presenting the Thursday night programs, during which we’ll read five books and interact with five visiting scholars over 10 weeks, to learn more about the authors and discuss each book.

• Feb. 8 – A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest J. Gaines
• Feb. 22 – Billy Budd, Sailor, Herman Melville
• Mar. 8 – Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson
• Mar. 22 – The Emperor of Ocean Park, Stephen L. Carter
• Apr. 12 – The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson, Mark Twain

The five meeting dates for this year’s programs are all on Thursdays and take place at the Havelock-Craven County Public Library from 6 to 8 p.m. The program is free and books are provided on loan. Please call the library at (252) 447-7509 to register.

*This program is sponsored in part by a grant from the NC Humanities Council in cooperation with the North Carolina Center for the Book.

JANUARY'S BOOK

Wednesday, January 24^th @ 10:00 am 

The January book club read is The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  The NY Times Bestseller was a 2006 finalist for the Orange Prize for Fiction and won the 2008 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing for fiction. Krauss’s novel is filled with twist and turns that create a captivating story about love, loss, and survival.

Krauss’s main character, Leo Gursky, is a man who fell in love at the age of ten with his neighbor named Alma, and he writes a book about their love. Hiding during WWII, he places the book in his best friend’s hands for protection. When he attempts to retrieve his manuscript, he is told the book was destroyed. Sixty years later he lives in America, a heart-broken old man who taps on his radiator each evening to let his upstairs neighbor know he's still alive.  What Leo does not know is that his book has been published under another - his best friends name and it is inspiring readers to live and love. 

Fourteen-year-old Alma’s mother lives and breathes by Leo’s book, but when widowed she loses herself in depression and loneliness. Alma, in hopes of saving her family, undertakes the quest to find her namesake in the book – the love of Leo’s life.  
Will Alma's quest save her mother and brother?  Does Leo ever learn to love again?  You will laugh and cry as Krauss reveals the positives and negatives of love and humanity.

International Movie Night @ Craven Community College-New Bern

Friday, January 5th   @ 2:30 & 7:30 p.m.

Orringer Auditorium - New Bern

 All films is this series take place on Fridays, with two shows, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. in Orringer Auditorium on the New Bern Campus. Events are free and open to the public. We welcome donations at the door in support the series and our students. 

More info: http://www.cravencc.edu/LLC