The Culture Club (Book: "Arthur and George") March 18, 2007

The next study evening in a series of culture studies where something from the media (e.g. a book, a film, a music album) is discussed from a Christian perspective but the evening is for people of all faiths and people of no faith at all who want to explore the message behind the media.

There is no charge for this event.

About the Book
===========
(From the Damaris study guide) "Arthur and George" is Julian Barnes’ tenth novel, but his first semi-biographical work. This fictionalised account of the literary hero Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his assistance to George Edalji is a fascinating insight into Edwardian England. Many of the issues raised in this novel, however, have a distinctively contemporary feel, with racism and miscarriages of justice featuring in our newspapers just as frequently as they did one hundred years ago. "Arthur and George" also offers an interesting insight into Conan Doyle's spiritualism, and the novel explores the fragility of life and the possibility of life after death alongside its more earthly themes.

Barnes became interested in the Edalji case while reading about the infamous Dreyfus Affair in which a Jewish officer was convicted of espionage in the French army as a result of racial discrimination. Émile Zola, the French novelist, took it upon himself to prove Dreyfus' innocence. This led Barnes to research George Edalji's conviction, the English equivalent of the Dreyfus Affair, and in particular led him to reflect more widely on why some people in history are remembered and others forgotten. Barnes compared the two cases and noted, ‘in both cases there is a shocking crime, a miscarriage of justice, key handwriting evidence, a sentence of hard labour, and a famous writer rides to the rescue. Why has one case been forgotten and why is the Dreyfus case resonating throughout France even to this day?’ (Daily Telegraph, 23 September 2006). Barnes has rectified this problem by bringing George Edalji's case to the attention of many.

The novel has received rave reviews, with the Sunday Times commenting that, ‘Barnes's suave, elegant prose – alive here with precision, irony and humaneness – has never been used better than in this extraordinary true-life tale, which is as terrifically told as any by its hero Conan Doyle himself’ (Sunday Times, 25 June 2005). The Independent on Sunday praised the novel as, ‘a beautiful and engrossing work’ (The Independent, 15 December 2006)). "Arthur and George" was short-listed for the 2005 Man Booker Prize.

Additional Information
=================
See author's web page @ http://www.julianbarnes.com/bib/arthur&george.html

"10 reasons why we love Julian Barnes" @ http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/barnes/

New York Times book review @ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/books/review/15rafferty.html?ex=1294981200&en=e3eb8fa749335779&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Previous Study Evenings
===================
This series continues to be popular and this is the first time we have advertised an event from the series on the web. Previous evenings have looked at "Moulin Rouge" (film), the Robbie Williams album "Intensive Care", "Lost in Translation" (film), "Whale Rider" (film), "The Incredibles" (film), "The Da Vinci Code" (book), the U2 album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" and "Chocolat" (film).