Interest Groups
The Library is home to a growing list of reading and discussion groups organized by members to address various interests. Groups usually meet in the twelfth floor lecture hall. Because they are based on conversation and active participation, enrollment in groups may be limited. Reservations are required. Groups form throughout the year. Check back regularly for information on new groups.
The Great Books: What is Justice? (Moderated by Joseph P. Tomain)
Series: $30 for members; $40 others
For over a decade, I have been teaching a great books course to students, lawyers and judges, both in the U.S. and Europe. My involvement with the great books began with a desire to read, really read, for the first time, those authors that we were assigned in high school and college and may have read, perhaps too quickly and too superficially.
Coming to the great books later in life has proven to be remarkably enjoyable. Italo Calvino writes that “The classics are those books which constitute a treasured experience for those who have read and loved them.” He also says that, as readers, we can never exhaust such books.
This fall, we will read Antigone, The Prince, The Merchant of Venice, and Letter from a Birmingham Jail. The basic tension in all of these readings involves the conflict between the desire for justice and our experience of law’s many injustices. —Joe Tomain
Joseph P. Tomain, Dean Emeritus and the Wilbert and Helen Ziegler Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, is the author of Creon’s Ghost: Law, Justice and the Humanities (Oxford University Press 2009).
September 16th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
Antigone by Sophocles
Antigone, one of the most widely performed dramas in history, presents a stark contrast between man’s law and something we call higher law. Obeying divine law, Antigone defies her King/Uncle’s law and buries her brother so his soul may rest.
September 30th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
The Prince by Machiavelli
The Prince presents a view of justice that is distinct from Antigone. Writing from Florence in the 15th and early 16th centuries, Machiavelli had a ringside seat to many of the conflicts among Italy’s city-states. He argued that there is an unbridgeable chasm between man’s law and any conception of morality, justice, or higher law
October 14th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare
No discussion of the classics is complete without Shakespeare. Merchant is a twisting tale of law and justice, as well as mercy and hatred. In addition to figuring out the relationship between law and justice, we must wrestle with whether or not justice was served.
October 28th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
This final reading encompasses the sweep of Western Tradition in its attempt to bring a measured understanding to the conflict we have between law and justice. Marching in Birmingham in 1963, King and his followers were served with a court order not to march on Good Friday. King was thrown in jail, and had time to respond to a group of white clergy who urged him not to march and to use “peaceful means” in this classic defense of civil disobedience.
Literary Journeys: Mother Russia (Moderated by Tony Covatta)
Series: $30 for members; $40 others
This year’s literary journey will take us to the gigantic land of Russia, home of two of the greatest 19th century novelists, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Our watch words are “gigantic greatness,” and so we will tackle the masterpieces of each: War & Peace and The Brothers Karamazov. (There are many translations but we recommend the very readable Pevear‑Volokhonsky translations, available in pbk.)
Two sessions will be devoted to each novel. We will focus the discussion on the first half of each book in the first session, the latter half in the second.
Anthony G. Covatta taught English at Columbia University and Skidmore College. He has focused his interest in the literature of foreign countries ever since he started practicing law in Cincinnati in 1979. He is a partner at The Drew Law Firm.
October 7th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
War and Peace
Tolstoy’s masterwork follows a panoply of characters through the years of the Napoleonic Wars, principal among them, Count Pierre Bezukhov, illegitimate heir to one of Russia’s great fortunes, husband to one of its most beautiful (and vacant) women, and a troubled, bumbling seeker of truth and serenity; widower Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, survivor of the Russian defeat at Austerlitz, disappointed by war and life; and vivacious Countess Natasha Rostov, the embodiment of Russian native spirit despite the infection of French culture endemic to her social class. We see the characters develop as Tolstoy trains his subtle, ironic lens on Russian society and muses on life’s moral and philosophical underpinnings. War and Peace’s broad canvas is a long drama of manners, but, with the moral depth of works like Middlemarch and Return of the Native, more deftly delivered.
We will see both sides of the coin: the self-assured, highly knowledgeable, sometimes preachy Tolstoy in contrast with the neurotic, self-doubting, tortured epileptic genius, Dostoevsky; high society glitz in Petersburg and Moscow and middle class squalor in the provinces; limpid intellectual clarity versus a coruscating, neurotic emotional stew. Kurt Vonnegut wrote once that all one needs to know about life is in The Brothers Karamazov. Maybe so. All one needs to know about life in society is in War & Peace. Two disparate masterpieces alike in portraying the vast range of interesting characters, ideas and social trends in the complex Russia of the 19th Century. - -Tony Covatta
November 4th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
The Brothers Karamazov
Father Karamazov is murdered. Who did it? Was it his sensual oldest son Dmitri, or the shadowy Smerdyakov, the illegitimate fourth brother, or someone else? More importantly, has modern thought murdered the father of us all – does God exist? As events unfold, the brothers try to come to terms with this ultimate question. Tortured idealist Brother Ivan is obsessed with the problem of evil, of sin, crime and imperfection in a world created by a deity we want to think is perfect. Youngest Brother Alexei (Alyosha), former seminarian but still saintly, has to deal with the temptations of life in the wide world, and learns that good comes from doing good for others.
We will see both sides of the coin: the self-assured, highly knowledgeable, sometimes preachy Tolstoy in contrast with the neurotic, self-doubting, tortured epileptic genius, Dostoevsky; high society glitz in Petersburg and Moscow and middle class squalor in the provinces; limpid intellectual clarity versus a coruscating, neurotic emotional stew. Kurt Vonnegut wrote once that all one needs to know about life is in The Brothers Karamazov. Maybe so. All one needs to know about life in society is in War & Peace. Two disparate masterpieces alike in portraying the vast range of interesting characters, ideas and social trends in the complex Russia of the 19th Century. - -Tony Covatta
December 9th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
The Brothers Karamazov
Father Karamazov is murdered. Who did it? Was it his sensual oldest son Dmitri, or the shadowy Smerdyakov, the illegitimate fourth brother, or someone else? More importantly, has modern thought murdered the father of us all – does God exist? As events unfold, the brothers try to come to terms with this ultimate question. Tortured idealist Brother Ivan is obsessed with the problem of evil, of sin, crime and imperfection in a world created by a deity we want to think is perfect. Youngest Brother Alexei (Alyosha), former seminarian but still saintly, has to deal with the temptations of life in the wide world, and learns that good comes from doing good for others.
We will see both sides of the coin: the self-assured, highly knowledgeable, sometimes preachy Tolstoy in contrast with the neurotic, self-doubting, tortured epileptic genius, Dostoevsky; high society glitz in Petersburg and Moscow and middle class squalor in the provinces; limpid intellectual clarity versus a coruscating, neurotic emotional stew. Kurt Vonnegut wrote once that all one needs to know about life is in The Brothers Karamazov. Maybe so. All one needs to know about life in society is in War & Peace. Two disparate masterpieces alike in portraying the vast range of interesting characters, ideas and social trends in the complex Russia of the 19th Century. - -Tony Covatta
Novellas: Long Journeys in a Short Form (Moderated by Rich Lauf)
Series: $30 for members; $40 others
Join us as we read four classic novellas which are shorter in form than full-length novels, yet take us on long journeys of insight. Rich Lauf, a long-time member of the Mercantile Library, serves on the Board of the Global Center of Greater Cincinnati and is a member of the Cincinnati chapter of the Foreign Policy Leadership Council. This Mercantile Library discussion group is sponsored by Karlee Hilliard.
September 7th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
A Journey up the Congo take us into the heart of darkness—both in the heart of Africa and in the heart of the colonial enterprise.
September 21st, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
Taking a rest cure to Venice a famous, but perhaps overly cerebral, writer discovers his latent sensuality...and a very real cholera epidemic.
October 5th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Ann Porter
The Spanish influenza epidemic provides a journey to the edge of death and to a new understanding of life.
October 19th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Hesse’s fascination with Eastern religion and philosophy takes us on a journey of spiritual discovery and enlightenment.
Walnut Street Poetry Society
$30 per year for Mercantile members and $40 for nonmembers
The Walnut Street Poetry Society was founded in 2004 and is devoted to the reading and study of poetry. WSPS meets monthly (excepting July and August) at noon. Sessions are moderated by Dr. Norman Finkelstein, poet and professor of English at Xavier University, as well as group members.
September 8th, 2010 • 12:00PM — 1:00PM
October 13th, 2010 • 12:00PM — 1:00PM
November 10th, 2010 • 12:00PM — 1:00PM
December 8th, 2010 • 12:00PM — 1:00PM
Canon Club
$60 per year for Mercantile members/CSF subscribers and $70 for nonmembers
The Canon Club is devoted to Shakespeare with the specific aim of reading, and or seeing all thirty-eight of Shakespeare's plays. The group is expertly led by Dr. William McKim, emeritus professor of English at Northern Kentucky University and Rebecca Bowman, Managing Director of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, our partner in this endeavor. Canon Club meets six times a year on Wednesday evenings. A different play is discussed each session: Dr. McKim directs discussion of the literary and historical aspects of the play, while Ms. Bowman directs discussion of the play's production. The discussions are always lively and informative. Group size is limited to 25.
September 15th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
(Canon I) Much Ado About Nothing
September 22nd, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
(Canon II) Much Ado About Nothing
October 6th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
(Canon I) Henry IV, Falstaff scenes
October 13th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
(Canon II) Henry IV, Falstaff scenes
November 17th, 2010 • 6:30PM — 7:30PM
(Canon I) Merry Wives of Windsor
December 8th, 2010 • 6:00PM — 7:30PM
(Canon II) Merry Wives of Windsor
Kamholtz Course:
$50 series members;$55 nonmembers:individual session $15 members;$20 nonmembers
Jonathan Kamholtz holds a Ph.D. from Yale University and is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Cincinnati.
There is nothing scheduled at this time.
First Wednesday Book Discussion Group
No charge for members; $5 for nonmembers. A box lunch is available by advance reservation for $8.
October 6th, 2010 • 12:00PM — 1:00PM
Book for discussion: I'm A Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson
Discussion leader: Cedric Rose
BILL BRYSON WILL DELIVER THE 23rd NIEHOFF LECTURE ON NOVEMBER 13th.
November 3rd, 2010 • 12:00PM — 1:00PM
Book for discussion: A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle by Liza Campbell
Discussion leader: Pamela Reising
LIZA CAMPBELL WILL VISIT THE CINCINNATI WOMAN'S CLUB ON NOVEMBER 5th FOR AN EVENT CO-SPONSORED BY THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY.
December 1st, 2010 • 12:00PM — 1:00PM
Book for discussion: The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
Discussion leader: Sheila G. Horstman
