Date: October 16th, 2023
Reviewed by: Donna Brown
The TIC Book Club met recently to discuss our book choice, Berlin, by Bea Setton. The author had lived in Paris, London, and Berlin, so she chose the latter to tell a story of young Daphne, a 26-year-old woman who was trying to find her way. There had been considerable expectations on her from her well-to-do parents, however Daphne took ludicrous jobs and lived in borrowed apartments.
Date: March 11, 2023
Reviewed by: Anne van Oorschot
On Friday, March 10, 2023 8 TIC members braved the rainy and cold weather to meet at Cinecitta for the start of the weekend. The movie chosen – Tár – was one all were curious to see. In the lead up to the Oscars, actress Cate Blanchett was a serious contender to take home one of the coveted golden statues for her role as Lydia Tár, the brilliant but manipulative and predatory classical conductor.
Date: April 21, 2023
Reviewed by: Anne van Oorschot
Cinecitta was again the location for our movie night on Friday, April 21 and we saw the film Jackie, about first Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the days following the assassination of her husband, President Kennedy. We were a small group of 4, but that had the advantage of making for a more intimate discussion of the film over drinks and snacks afterwards. We also got the chance to get to know Estela and Jonas better (2 perspective members) We all enjoyed the movie and felt it gave a good impression of Jackie, flaws and all.
Date: February 17, 2023
Reviewed by: Donna Brown
A small group of TIC members – 4 to be exact – met at Cinecitta on 17 Feb. to see The Fabelmans. The main focus of the film was showing how Steven Spielberg’s interest in movie making began with a train set after watching The Greatest Show on Earth. That was truly the start of something no one could predict, as our post-movie conversation could attest.
Date: September 29, 2023
Reviewed by: Sapir Farbman
Together with the fellow members from the Tilburg International Club, we have
gathered in to watch A Haunting in Venice; The movie was engaging, striking a
balance between spine-tingling scares and intriguing fascination.
Surrounded by warm smiles and friendly faces from various corners of the world, the
evening felt like a delightful journey through diverse cultures and perspectives. After
the movie we headed to a nearby bar, where conversations flowed effortlessly, and
laughter echoed in the air.
Date: September 4th, 2023
Reviewed by: Katie Schweitzer
We had a nice first Book Club after the summer, giving everyone had plenty of time to read Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks. But first we took some time to catch up and hear about everyone’s summer and fun vacations. It was also a lovely warm evening, so we sat outside to soak up some of the last of summer time.
Date: March 7th, 2023
Reviewed by: Natalie Harms
The book (a mix of romance and time-travel genres) centres around Tom Hazard, a man who has a condition that makes him age extremely slowly. He looks 40 but he’s been alive for centuries. There are others like him in the world, known as ‘Albas’, and many of them have been coerced to join a secret society (more like a cult) run by a manipulative time-traveller named Hendrich.
Date: April 18th, 2023
Reviewed by: Wendy Powell
Good Reads gives this book a 4.35, and suggests that “With incredible empathy, intelligence, and candor, Jodi Picoult tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion—and doesn’t offer easy answers.”
The book is certainly challenging, not only raising difficult topics, but challenging our own beliefs and prejudices. This did not sit comfortably with all of our readers, with some finding Picoult’s observations about white subconscious prejudice to be a broad generalisation which could cause offense.