Reading Club: The Turn of the Screw

The SNFCC Reading Club, coordinated by the author Panos Tsiros, continues in January. 

On Monday, January 25, bibliophiles renew their monthly appointment, from 18:30 to 20:30, to discuss the book they read during the month that just passed. The group of readers will once again have the opportunity to come together and use the book of the month as a starting point to share experiences, emotions and ideas, as well as to create new friendships and exchange opinions.

January Book of the Month: Henry James, The Turn of the Screw

Many consider The Turn of the Screw as the finest book written by Henry James (1843-1916), one of the greatest personalities of English literature, whose work bridged 19th century realism to 20th century modernism. Most notable among his works are The Bostonians, The Portrait of a Lady, The Europeans, and Washington Square. 

This masterfully crafted novella by the prolific American author enjoyed huge popularity from its very first appearance as an illustrated series of 12 installments in "Collier’s Weekly" magazine (1898). It has since been adapted dozens of times, for the stage, cinema, radio and television, made into a ballet, and served as the inspiration for Benjamin Britten's opera of the same name. 

Through a tale told in a quintessentially gothic atmosphere, James – the emblematic master of the psychological thriller – unravels the plot of the book with cinematic virtuosity, and introduces deliberately ambiguous characters and mysterious situations that teeter between reality and fantasy. Through his ingenious and playful style, he keeps his readers riveted and urges them, discreetly, to give their own interpretation to the strange events described in The Turn of the Screw. 

It all begins on Christmas Eve, with the reading of a manuscript describing, in the first person, the harrowing tale of a governess, who is trying to save two orphaned children, Flora and Miles, from the ghosts of the former servants who haunt their isolated mansion in the English countryside. Is the house actually haunted by ghosts? Will the young governess manage to protect the childhood innocence of Flora and Miles? Is she telling the truth, or is it all a pathological delusion?
 

Panos Tsiros was born in Athens in 1970. He studied at the School of Philosophy of the University of Ioannina, and went on to pursue postgraduate studies in Philosophy in England, completing his thesis on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico–Philosophicus. He has worked in secondary education for several years. His first collection of short stories, Ferte mou to kefali tis Marias Kensora (Bring me the head of Maria Kensora), was published in 2007 by Gavriilidis Publications, followed, in 2013, by another short story collection, entitled Den ein’ etsi? (Isn’t it so?), published by Mikri Arktos. His third collection, I monaksia ton skilon (The loneliness of dogs) was released by Nefeli Publishing in 2019. He has collaborated with several magazines, and a number of his short stories have been translated into French.

Monday 25/01, 18.30-20.30

For adults
Up to 50 participants
Participation by online pre-registration

Pre-registration starts on Friday 08/01 at 12.00
 

Coordinator: Panos Tsiros, author

To take part in the Reading Club, registered participants are required to have read the book of the month. 

The Reading Club will take place online, via Zoom.