Minutes 21/2/2006

The meeting was held in the meeting room of the Bermuda College Library and began
at 6:05PM
* We welcomed new member StClair Fox to the club.
• Members were advised that the book, ‘In the Name of the Father’, had arrived at the Bermuda Bookstore. This book was slated for discussion at our next meeting.
• Because of the difficulty in having books available in a timely fashion it was agreed to attempt to become ‘one book ahead of ourselves’, rather than wait until we have read one book to select and locate the next. The next book to be read will be ‘A Woman in Berlin’ by an anonymous author. Craig will order copies of this book and advise the members.
• It was announced that the Royal Gazette has offered to provide editorial coverage on our club in their ‘book corner’ column. An interview will be conducted on Wednesday, March 1st. The book column appears, we believe, on Tuesdays in the Lifestyle section of the daily newspaper.
• Work continued on the blog. At the time of this meeting it was half completed with Amin and Craig still working on it.
• Our last selection, ‘Reading Lolita in Tehran’ by Azar Nafisi, was debated. This book did not inspire overwhelming praise. This was put down, chiefly, to the writing style and feminine orientation of the subject matter. It was noted, however, that this book was partially selected because of some members interest in Arabic and Islamic subjects.
• Craig conceded that while he appreciated the authors writing style the portions of the book he found most interesting were those describing life in Tehran. This thought met with general agreement from the other members.
• Willow queried the possibility of retribution against the author for writing a book of this nature.
• Discussion followed on the hypocrisy of Iranian and Muslim society. The book described how much the Iranian people and religious leaders appreciated, enjoyed, and emulated American culture.
• The issue of censorship was debated. Special mention was made of the Iranian censor of films who had been blind. We queried if there was ever a valid reason for censorship?
• Sexual mores in Iran were noted. The Government feared sexual degeneration in society but then lowered the age of marriage for a female to 9 years of age.
• Further discussion ensued on the geo-political nature of the modern middle-east, Afghanistan and the Taliban and differences between Western and Islamic societies.
• The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, March 22nd.
• The meeting ended at 7:40PM.