We meet for Book Conversations at 6:45 pm at the Goethe-Institut in Washington, D.C. (see map). Our Book Conversations aim to approach significant works of German literature (occasionally philosophy) in an informal way that allows maximum audience participation and enables exploration of individual viewpoints. A panel of experts will present various aspects of the book and react to comments and questions from the participants. Selections are predominantly contemporary works which must be available in English translation. Participants read either the German or the English version, according to language preference. Our discussions are in English, with light refreshments following the conversation.

 

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Thursday, November 29, 6:45 pm, Goethe-Institut: Daniel Kehlmann, Die Vermessung der Welt (2005) (Measuring the World, 2006). In this historical novel, Kehlmann presents a twin biography of two science giants: explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) and mathematician/astronomer Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855). An ironic yet empathetic critique of Enlightenment ambition to control the world through reason, the novel is a comedy of ideas and character set in 19th century history from the Napoleonic wars to the revolutionary upheavals of 1848. As Kehlmann tells it, Humboldt and Gauss could not have been more different. Humboldt, a Don Quijote of ecology, seeks the unity of nature in the jungles and on the mountains of South America. His ascent ? the first ever ? of Mount Chimborazo is side-splittingly funny. Gauss, by contrast, is a dour type, earth-bound and intolerant. His humiliated son, in order to survive, emigrates to North America. As part of the historical context, Kehlmann presents us with irreverent vignettes of the two epochal philosophers, Kant and Hegel.

The book is now available in German and English paperback version.

Kathryn Olesko, History of Science Professor at Georgetown University, will introduce the book and lead the discussion.

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Topics of past book talks
2004:	2005:
Günter Grass. Im Krebsgang /Crabwalk Uwe Timm. Johannisnacht/ Midsummer Night W.G. Sebald. Die Ausgewanderten/ The Emigrants Michael Jürgs. Der kleine Frieden im Groàen Krieg Stanley Weintraub. Silent Night	Immanuel Kant. Vom ewigen Frieden/ On Perpetual Peace Ernst Jünger. In Stahlgewittern/ Storms of Steel Friedrich Schiller. Wilhelm Tell Thomas Mann. Königliche Hoheit
2006:	2007:
Monika Maron. Animal Triste Goethe. Iphigenie auf Tauris Elfriede Jelinek. Prinzessinnendramen/ Princess Plays Cornelia Funke. Drachenreiter/Dragon Rider, Herr der Diebe/The Thief Lord, Tintenherz/Inkheart	Hermann Hesse. Märchen Gottfried Keller. Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe

 

 

 

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