Accompanied Literary Society's Preview Of The Reader

by ARIEL MOSES · December 1, 2008

[Stephen Daldry and Brooke Geahan meet Fabiola Beracasa. Photos by BILLY FARRELL for PMc]

Last Monday, Brooke Geahan and the Accompanied Literary Society treated members to an exclusive preview screening of The Reader, hosted by director Stephen Daldry, Michael Cunningham (Pulitzer prize-winning novelist, The Hours), Lewis Lapham (Lapham's Quarterly, Harper's), and Francine Prose (acclaimed novelist and president of PEN American Center) and . The World War II period piece, staring Ralph Fiennes, Kate Winslet, David Kross, and Lena Olin, is based on Berhard Schlink’s award-winning novel of the same name.

More photos from this event below...

The movie traces the lives of two generations of observers of the Holocaust, stemming from their relationship with each other through the sharing of novels. The film focuses on the power of literature and literacy, as it brings the two protagonists (Winslet and Fiennes) together through memory and guilt built up during postwar Germany. The movie has received fantastic reviews, and the book itself has been translated into over 39 languages.

Guests included Emma Snowdon-Jones, Brinkley Skye, Adam Rathe, Heather Wolfgang, Peter Wolfgang, ALS’s Hannah Borum, Donna D’Cruz, Tommy Silverman, Kristy Hinze, Heather Butler, Evan Yurman, Jeffrey Leeds, and Teen Vogue’s Lindsay Talbot. Notable literary scholars in attendance included Colum McCann ("Dancer"), Sloane Crosley ("I Was Told There'd Be Cake") and Victoria Redel ("Loverboy").

After the screening, the Accompanied Literary Society treated around 50 guests to an intimate sit down dinner where Stephen Daldry gave a heartfelt speech about the project its personal tie to him. He proclaimed that the moment he was presented with the script, he knew he had to pursue it. He explained that the novel was not easy to turn into a movie due to the intimate nature of the narrator, and the depiction of Ralph Fiennes (as a teenager) throughout the love making scenes, especially tied into the dismal time period. However, he was particularly impressed on how tender these scenes turned out juxtaposed to the harsh treatment of the characters in the novel throughout storyline. Harvey Weinstein himself was also in attendance, speaking with attendees and discussing the prevalence of and reactions to the movie.

Jennifer Missoni, Kristian Laliberte, Maya Camin, Brooke Geahan, Jason Rossi