Great Books Council of San Francisco Annual Meeting and Picnic

ARE YOU READY FOR A PICNIC?

Sunday, June 9, 2013, 12 noon to 3 pm

Tilden Park's Padre Picnic Area

Ready for some Barbecue?  I am sure Chef Brent will be manning the grill.  Bring something you like to grill: sausage, fish, shrimp, beef, chicken, pork, veggies, garlic bread, or an ear of corn in the husk or wrapped in foil, delicious.  I like a chicken breast marinated in teriyaki sauce in a zip-lok sandwich bag.  In addition bring your own beverage, paper plate and utensils and a dish to share with four others.  We always have plenty of food so nobody goes hungry.

View of SF and Golden Gate from Grizzly Peak Blvd.  Click on photos to enlarge.

 It’s a good idea to bring a folding chair (to gather into groups for the book discussion), sunscreen and a sun hat.  Laura Bushman, our event coordinator, always manages to order a warm, sunny day with a cooling breeze to go along with the greenery and ambiance of the Padre Picnic area at Tilden Regional Park in the Berkeley hills.  CLICK HERE for an information sheet with directions to the picnic area.  CLICK HERE for a park map (Padre Picnic Area is slightly to the upper right of the center of the map).

After a short business meeting,  We will separate into smaller groups to discuss Julian Barnes’ The Sense of an Ending.  A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single sitting.  The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning new chapter in Julian Barnes' oeuvre.

This intense novel follows Tony Webster, a middle-aged man, as he contends with a past he never thought much about---until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance:  one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present.  Tony thought he left this all behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own.  But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

“Elegant, playful, and remarkable.” —The New Yorker

“A page-turner, and when you finish you will return immediately to the beginning.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Dense with philosophical ideas. . . . It manages to create genuine suspense as a sort of psychological detective story.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"Brief, beautiful. . . . That fundamentally chilling question—Am I the person I think I am?—turns out to be a surprisingly suspenseful one. . . . As Barnes so elegantly and poignantly reveals, we are all unreliable narrators, redeemed not by the accuracy of our memories but by our willingness to question them." —The Boston Globe.

Join us for a fun time in the park and a book discussion.  If you have any questions contact Laura Bushman at laurabushman@yahoo.com