BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//jEvents 2.0 for Joomla//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/Berlin BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251026T020000 RDATE:20260329T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20261025T020000 RDATE:20270328T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20271031T020000 RDATE:20280326T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20281029T020000 RDATE:20290325T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20291028T020000 RDATE:20300331T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20301027T020000 RDATE:20310330T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20311026T020000 RDATE:20320328T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20321031T020000 RDATE:20330327T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20331030T020000 RDATE:20340326T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20341029T020000 RDATE:20350325T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20351028T020000 RDATE:20360330T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20361026T020000 RDATE:20370329T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CET END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250415T191500 RDATE:20251026T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260329T030000 RDATE:20261025T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20270328T030000 RDATE:20271031T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20280326T030000 RDATE:20281029T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20290325T030000 RDATE:20291028T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20300331T030000 RDATE:20301027T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20310330T030000 RDATE:20311026T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20320328T030000 RDATE:20321031T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20330327T030000 RDATE:20331030T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20340326T030000 RDATE:20341029T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20350325T030000 RDATE:20351028T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20360330T030000 RDATE:20361026T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:Europe/Berlin CEST END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:5d898f30b871f3dbf9e819b9b55df65b CATEGORIES:AWCH Calendar CREATED:20260319T183901 SUMMARY:The Book Club LOCATION:Landesfrauenrat\, Grindelallee 43\, 20146 Hamburg. DESCRIPTION:The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny\nby Kiran Desai\n \n “Two young Indian wr iters discover their conjoined destinies by leaving home, coming back, conn ecting, disconnecting, and swimming in the ocean at Goa.\n Sonia’s grandfat her, the lawyer, and his friend, the Colonel, are connected by a weekly che ss game and a local tradition of families sharing food, “paraded through th e neighborhood in tiffin carriers, in thermos flasks, upon plates covered i n napkins tied in rabbit ears.” Shortly after Desai’s magnificent third nov el opens, the two families are also connected by a marriage proposal. Upon hearing that Sonia is feeling lonely at college in Vermont—loneliness? Is t here anything more un-Indian?—and unaware that she is romantically involved with a famous, much older painter, her elders deliver a hilariously lukewa rm letter proposing that she be introduced to Sonny, the Colonel’s grandson . Sonny is living in New York working as a copy editor at The Associated Pr ess, and he, too, has a partner no one knows about. Sonny’s family feels th ey are being asked to give up their son to balance out some long-ago bad in vestment advice from the Colonel; on the other hand, they would very much l ike to get the other family’s kebab recipe. The fate of this half-hearted s etup unfurls over many years and almost 700 delicious pages that the author has apparently been working on since the publication of The Inheritance of Loss (2006), which won the Booker Prize and National Book Critics Circle A ward. You can almost feel the decades passing as the novel becomes increasi ngly concerned with the process of novel-writing; toward the end, Sonia can ’t stop thinking about whether, if she writes all the stories she knows, “t hese stories [would] intersect and make a book? How would they hold togethe r?” Desai’s trust in her own process pays off, as vignettes of just a page or two (Sonia’s head-spinning tour of a museum with the great artist; Sonny ’s lightning-strike theory that only people who have cleaned their own toil et can appreciate reading novels) intersect with the novel’s central obsess ions—love, family, writing, the role of the U.S. in the Indian imagination, the dangers faced by a woman on her own—and come to a perfectly satisfying close.”\n A masterpiece.\n (Kirkus Reviews)\n Penguin Random House, 2025, 670 pp\n We hope you will join us to discuss the highly acclaimed, beautifu lly written book.\n  \n X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
by Kiran Desai

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“Two young Indi an writers discover their conjoined destinies by leaving home, coming back, connecting, disconnecting, and swimming in the ocean at Goa.

Sonia’s grandfather, the lawyer, and his friend, the Colonel, are connected by a w eekly chess game and a local tradition of families sharing food, “paraded t hrough the neighborhood in tiffin carriers, in thermos flasks, upon plates covered in napkins tied in rabbit ears.” Shortly after Desai’s magnificent third novel opens, the two families are also connected by a marriage propos al. Upon hearing that Sonia is feeling lonely at college in Vermont—lonelin ess? Is there anything more un-Indian?—and unaware that she is romantically involved with a famous, much older painter, her elders deliver a hilarious ly lukewarm letter proposing that she be introduced to Sonny, the Colonel’s grandson. Sonny is living in New York working as a copy editor at The Asso ciated Press, and he, too, has a partner no one knows about. Sonny’s family feels they are being asked to give up their son to balance out some long-a go bad investment advice from the Colonel; on the other hand, they would ve ry much like to get the other family’s kebab recipe. The fate of this half- hearted setup unfurls over many years and almost 700 delicious pages that t he author has apparently been working on since the publication of  The Inheritance of Loss (2006), which won the Booker Prize and Na tional Book Critics Circle Award. You can almost feel the decades passing a s the novel becomes increasingly concerned with the process of novel-writin g; toward the end, Sonia can’t stop thinking about whether, if she writes a ll the stories she knows, “these stories [would] intersect and make a book? How would they hold together?” Desai’s trust in her own process pays off, as vignettes of just a page or two (Sonia’s head-spinning tour of a museum with the great artist; Sonny’s lightning-strike theory that only people who have cleaned their own toilet can appreciate reading novels) intersect wit h the novel’s central obsessions—love, family, writing, the role of the U.S . in the Indian imagination, the dangers faced by a woman on her own—and co me to a perfectly satisfying close.”

A masterpiece.

(Kirkus Rev iews)

Penguin Random House, 2025, 670 pp

We hope you will join us to discuss the highly acclaimed, beautifully written book.

 < /p> CONTACT:Carol Strametz, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. X-EXTRAINFO:Enter the passage to the Sauerberghof (next to the HASPA), pass by the park ing lots on the left and right, then follow the right lane to the Landesfra uenrat on the left. DTSTAMP:20260604T080302 DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Berlin:20260416T191500 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR