Reading Club: Blindness - Εικόνα

The SNFCC Reading Club, coordinated by the author Panos Tsiros, continues in October. 

On Monday, October 26, bibliophiles renew their monthly appointment, meeting, this time, at the Book Tower of the Stavros Niarchos Park, from 18:30 to 20:30, to discuss the book they read during the month that just passed. The group of readers will once again have the opportunity to come together and use the book of the month as a starting point to share experiences, emotions and ideas, as well as to create new friendships and exchange opinions.

October Book of the Month: Blindness 

The Portuguese Nobel laureate José de Sousa Saramago (1922-2010), one of the most important writers of our time, is internationally known for his intensely allegoric tone and distinctive writing style, which features long sentences. He was a self-taught translator and journalist, who also worked as a scriptwriter and literary critic. He came from a poor agricultural background, and he was active in politics and a member of the Communist Party. His recognition in Portugal came mostly through his novels (Baltasar and Blimunda, The Stone Raft, The Silence of Water, The History of the Siege of Lisbon, Cain, etc). In 1991, the country was shaken up by the publication of The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, which was the final stroke in Saramago’s relations with the conservative government, as well as the Roman Catholic Church, and resulted in his permanent move to Spain, where he remained until his death.

In his book Blindness (1995), which was made into a film in 2008 by Fernando Meirelles, José Saramago revisits the world of allegory to create a fictional country whose residents are suddenly afflicted by mass blindness. At the same time, he demonstrates the impact of this epidemic on the lives of the population, whose society begins to fall apart and drifts into anarchy. The famous author creates a gripping style with very distinctive punctuation and, avoiding to name his characters, brings the reader face-to-face with some critical questions: For how long will road traffic run smoothly? How long will food supplies last? When will electricity, gas and water be cut off? What will happen to pets? Will sexual restraints collapse? In a world of blindness, what would you do if you could see?

Panos Tsiros was born in Athens in 1970. He studied at the School of Philosophy of the University of Ioannina, and went on to pursue postgraduate studies in Philosophy in England, completing his thesis on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico–Philosophicus. He has worked in secondary education for several years. His first collection of short stories, Ferte mou to kefali tis Marias Kensora (Bring me the head of Maria Kensora), was published in 2007 by Gavriilidis Publications, followed, in 2013, by another short story collection, entitled Den ein’ etsi? (Isn’t it so?), published by Mikri Arktos. His third collection, I monaksia ton skilon (The loneliness of dogs) was released by Nefeli Publishing in 2019. He has collaborated with several magazines, and a number of his short stories have been translated into French. 

Monday 26/10 | 18:30-20:30
BOOK TOWER 

For adults
Up to 30 participants
Free admission by online pre-registration

Preregistration starts on Friday 02/10 at 12.00.

Coordinator: Panos Tsiros, author

To take part in the Reading Club, registered participants are required to have read the book of the month. 

Participant safety information: 

  • Participants are required to wear a non-medical face mask
  • Participants are advised to use hand sanitizer, and maintain safety distances in accordance with guidelines and signage. 
  • Single-use Personal Safety Equipment (gloves, masks, etc.) must be discarded immediately after use in the yellow bins provided. 
  • The shared use of objects (pencils, pens, papers, books, etc.) should be avoided. 

Due to public health measures, there may be changes regarding either the staging of the event, or the maximum number of participants.

 

See also

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Wednesday 07/10, 18:30

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