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Law & Literature:

The Eva R. Rubin Series

 

Series Begins September 22, 2008

     The Carteret County Public Library proudly presents the latest in this popular book discussion series. Your insights are the focus of the sessions. Our guest humanities scholars act as guides, leading discussion about how the books inform and enrich our lives.

     This new series from the NC Humanities Council is specifically about the law in literature. Legal issues furnish the plots; the authors’ imaginations supply the rest. These books make us take notice of the ways law shapes our humanity, and what happens when characters encounter the complexities, conundrums, aspirations, and limitations of the legal system.

 

     The texts are not exclusively legal in their concerns. They include other dramas in human experience, and many of them contain an element of romance, but they all remind us that the law plays a powerful role in shaping the way we see our own society and ourselves.

     The pleasure of reading these books comes from seeing the law as a real presence in human life. Compelling literature can bring into plain view the difference between what is established and what is just.

1. Monday, September 22, 7 p.m.
Speaker: Joe Gomez
North Carolina State University

Billy Budd
By Herman Melville
It is a time of war between nations, but on one ship, a smaller battle is being fought between two men. Tormented by the jealous Master-At-Arms Claggert, the “Handsome Sailor” Billy Budd finds himself charged with treason.
You are cordially invited to join Carteret County Public Librarian Susan W. Simpson as she hosts one of the most popular programs at the library.

Each of the five sessions brings together avid readers and an eminent humanities scholar. Together, participants go on a journey of enlightenment as they discuss the nuances and relevancy of books at hand.

The series is free of charge and open to the public. Sign up now for your free book loans and bring a friend!

2. Monday, October 6, 7 p.m.
Speaker: Ann Baker
North Carolina State University

The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson
By Mark Twain
This American humorist's classic satirical novel depicts race, identity and human nature under slavery, through the reflections of a country lawyer named Pudd’nhead Wilson. This short novel is considered Twain's most courageous work.

4. Monday, November 3, 7 p.m.
Speaker: Bill DiNome
UNC Wilmington

Snow Falling on Cedars
By David Guterson
In the midst of a raging snowstorm, a trial on Puget Sound in the 1950’s pits the island's Japanese-American inhabitants against the local fishermen. This novel is a courtroom drama plus a study of conflicts between cultures and generations.

3. Monday, October 20, 7 p.m.
Speaker: Rebecca Godwin
Barton College

A Lesson Before Dying
By Ernest Gaines
Grant Wiggins, a college-educated man who returns to his hometown to teach, forms an unlikely bond with Jefferson, a young Black man convicted of murder and sentenced to death, when he is asked to impart his learning and pride to the condemned man.

5. Monday, November 17, 7 p.m.
Speaker: William Cobb
East Carolina University

The Emperor of Ocean Park
By Stephen Carter
The saga of a unique family, set in two privileged worlds: the upper-crust African-American society of the Eastern seaboard and the inner circle of an Ivy League law school.

North Carolina Humanities Council

The “Let’s Talk About It” Book Series is brought to you courtesy of the North Carolina Humanities Council and the North Carolina Center for the Book.
Refreshments courtesy of Friends of Carteret County Public Library.

Friends of Carteret County Public Library

The library will loan the books at no charge to you. Sign up...and show up…with an eagerness to learn. Sessions take place in the library auditorium.

Past “Let’s Talk About It” Series

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