The Gold-Rimmed Spectacles this Sunday, a special August event & a glimpse of Autumn
More about Bassani, a Summer treat, and a sneak peek ahead
Dear walking book clubbers,
How have you been getting on with this extraordinary queer novella, first published in 1958 and set in 1930s Italy? Easy to imagine ourselves sitting with Bassani’s characters on the scorching sands of the Adriatic coast, as temperatures soar here! Thank goodness it is set to be much cooler this Sunday for our Hampstead Heath walk. This is a very slim book, at just over 100 pages, so you still have time to read it - what better to do in the boiling hot sun?! Still not convinced that you NEED to read this book? THIS brief Guardian review is sure to win you over.
Please scroll down:
to discover more about Giorgio Bassani
for details of an exciting new August event
and a peek ahead at Autumn.
But first, here are the links to book your spot for our meet ups:
On the Heath: Sunday 24th July, 11.30-1pm, meeting at Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB
On Zoom: Monday 25th July, 8-8.40pm
We will also have a Live Discussion Thread to discuss the book and our other July reads on Friday 29th July, 2-2.30pm. No need to book; the link will arrive in your inbox just before 2pm on the day.
Buy The Gold-Rimmed Spectacles from Daunt Books here and receive 10% off using the code WBC at checkout, or just tell them you’re in the group if you’re buying it in the shop.
I’m especially excited as this month’s Hampstead Heath walk will transform us into Book Fairies. Witness the work of Book-Fairy-in-Chief on our previous walk:
This Sunday, we’ll be joined again by the Book-Fairy-in-Chief, who will help us decorate and deposit our read copies of the book around Hampstead Heath - fear not, there will be extra copies of The Gold-Rimmed Spectacles to give away in case you can’t quite bear to part with your own (and you are also welcome to bring along another book to pass on if you’d rather). If you can’t make it along to the walk, feel free to work your own Book Fairy magic wherever you like. You can order special Book Fairy stickers, ribbon etc from their website HERE. Ideally, share a pic on Instagram and tag me (@EmilyRhodesWriter) or use #emilyswalkingbookclub so we can link it up and glory in your efforts!
More about our July Book
Here is Giorgio Bassani, photographed in Rome, 1969.
A great place to begin is with THIS brief Guardian review of The Gold-Rimmed Spectacles. Who knew that it was WG Sebald’s favourite book?! Even more fascinating is THE GUARDIAN OBITUARY by Jonathan Keates.
For those interested in translation, I recommend THIS IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW with Jamie McKendrick about translating Bassani for New York’s Centro Primo Levi.
I enjoyed listening to THIS UNDER THE INFLUENCE podcast from indie publisher Influx Press, with writer Niven Govinden about how Giorgio Bassani influences his own writing. He talks specifically about The Gold-Rimmed Spectacles at minute 25, though the whole episode is illuminating. I’ve included the link to apple podcast, but it’s also available on other platforms including Spotify.
Below, you can watch an amazing event held at the Italian Cultural Institute in New York, celebrating the publication of many of Bassani’s short novels (including this one) under the umbrella of The Novel of Ferrara. I love the very ponderous beginning, where the moderator completely goes off on one about Bassani before getting round to introducing guests, Andre Aciman (author of Call me by Your Name) and translator Judith Thurman.
Finally, I expect many of you have seen Vittorio de Sita’s award-winning film of Bassani’s The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (a previous walking book club pick), currently available on Apple TV. There is also a film of The Gold-Rimmed Glasses, starring a young Rupert Everett, but alas it looks very hard if not impossible to track down! For what it’s worth, HERE are its details on IMDB.
A Very Special August Event
Who here remembers Colleen Hubbard, veteran walking book clubber, who sadly no longer lives in London? Well she’s only gone and written a brilliant novel, and to celebrate its UK publication this summer, she’s invited all of us to her book launch at Daunt Books Hampstead!
I will be there to ask Colleen a few questions about her debut novel, Housebreaking, and the evening will be a very informal celebration - a chance to raise (and drink) a glass of wine on a sunny evening and catch up with one another in a book-filled setting. Here is a beautiful trailer for the book:
Please join us:
6.30-8pm, Tuesday 16th August
at Daunt Books Hampstead, 51 South End Road, NW3 2QB
This is a free event, but we need to know numbers; RSVP directly to Colleen: colleen@colleenhubbard.com.
Our Autumn Books
I’m so excited to share the four books we’ll be reading together this Autumn.
All to be revealed next week, but in the meantime, you can try to guess the titles from the back covers here…
Hope you manage to stay cool in the heat, and looking forward to seeing you soon to talk Bassani,
Emily