Philosophical Fiction Book Club

This event is supported by The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Local Partners Programme.

N.B.: this meeting will be held online via Google Meet. There is no in-person event for this discussion.

We're taking a summer break for the book club this August but will do one special online film discussion for The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan.

Having discussed Homer's Odyssey in our June meetings, this feels like a good opportunity to compare the film and talk about Nolan's interpretation of the story and its themes. Please do attend having watched the film beforehand.

Our normal book club pattern will resume in September, and the books for the rest of the year are:

• September - Gawain and the Green Knight
• October - Orlando by Virginia Woolf
• November - The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin
• December - Moby Dick by Herman Melville

The meeting starts at 7pm with drink breaks at 8 and 9. The discussion will end around 10pm, but leave whenever you need to.

This event is supported by The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Local Partners Programme.

This meeting will be held in person in the Prince of Wales pub near Covent Garden. There is also an online session held on Thursday if you are not in London or are unable to attend in-person.

Time for some chivalry and deadly games as we take our first-ever journey through an Arthurian tale. Instead of Arthur, though, we follow his nephew, Sir Gawain, who volunteers himself in a challenge against the mysterious Green Knight. Expect themes of bravery and duty, temptation and seduction, nature and redemption.

You're very welcome to try the 14th-century Middle English original, but most likely, you will want to read a translation. We won't prescribe a specific translation, but both the Simon Armitage and JRR Tolkien versions are quite popular.

The meeting starts at 7pm with drink breaks at 8 and 9. The discussion will end around 10pm, but leave whenever you need to.

Here's the blurb from goodreads.com:

Composed during the fourteenth century in the English Midlands, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight describes the events that follow when a mysterious green-coloured knight rides into King Arthur's Camelot in deep mid-winter. The mighty knight presents a challenge to the court: he will allow himself to be struck by one blow, on the condition that he will be allowed to return the strike on the following New Year's Eve. Sir Gawain takes up the challenge, decapitating the stranger - only to see the Green Knight seize up his own severed head and ride away, leaving Gawain to seek him out and honour their pact. Blending Celtic myth and Christian faith, Gawain is among the greatest Middle English poems: a tale of magic, chivalry and seduction.

This event is supported by The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Local Partners Programme.

This meeting will be held online via Google Meet. There is also an in-person session being held on Tuesday of the same week in the Prince of Wales pub near Covent Garden.

Time for some chivalry and deadly games as we take our first-ever journey through an Arthurian tale. Instead of Arthur, though, we follow his nephew, Sir Gawain, who volunteers himself in a challenge against the mysterious Green Knight. Expect themes of bravery and duty, temptation and seduction, nature and redemption.

You're very welcome to try the 14th-century Middle English original, but most likely, you will want to read a translation. We won't prescribe a specific translation, but both the Simon Armitage and JRR Tolkien versions are quite popular.

The meeting starts at 7pm with drink breaks at 8 and 9. The discussion will end around 10pm, but leave whenever you need to.

Here's the blurb from goodreads.com:

Composed during the fourteenth century in the English Midlands, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight describes the events that follow when a mysterious green-coloured knight rides into King Arthur's Camelot in deep mid-winter. The mighty knight presents a challenge to the court: he will allow himself to be struck by one blow, on the condition that he will be allowed to return the strike on the following New Year's Eve. Sir Gawain takes up the challenge, decapitating the stranger - only to see the Green Knight seize up his own severed head and ride away, leaving Gawain to seek him out and honour their pact. Blending Celtic myth and Christian faith, Gawain is among the greatest Middle English poems: a tale of magic, chivalry and seduction.