Gotta get down on Friday (with Turgenev and Beethoven).

Friday, October 28th... it's St. Jude's Day, the anniversary of the Revolutionary War's Battle of White Plains (we lost), and the birthdays of English actor Matt Smith (the eleventh Doctor Who) and of 19th century Russian Realist author Ivan Turgenev.


Turgenev, most famous for his novel Fathers and Sons, stood apart from the rest of the 19th century Russian literary community because of his liberal beliefs. Turgenev rejected the religious fixations of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, though he maintained an oft-strained friendship with Tolstoy. He became a major influence on Henry James and Joseph Conrad, and remains one of the most revered figures in the impressive pantheon of Russian literature.


And if Russian literature is your thing, you're in luck... 'cause we're a library and we have a ton of it. And if Russian literature is not your thing... well we've got hundreds of thousands of other books, and magazines, and movies, and more.


More, like great events! So if you feel like spending a little personal time with another great light of European culture, get your tickets now for Beethoven: His Women and His Music with music by Chamber Music Charleston and starring Clarence Felder (Actors Theatre of South Carolina) as the great German pianist. The performance is Thursday, November 3rd, at 7PM. Get your tickets now by calling 1.888.718.4253, or by clicking here.

Notes from the middle of Fall events season

I suppose almost two months of hiatus should tell you a little something about how busy things have been here at the Charleston Library Society. So there's no time like the present (doubly so because this particular present is Pat Conroy's birthday!) to offer my apologies, sit down at the keyboard, and crank out another post.

Since September, the Library's events calendar has been in full swing. Unedited's second and Wide Angle's third series have started off as smashing successes. Beatles Bach & Beer was even more fun this year, with special thanks to Westbrook Brewing for providing two excellent kegs, and to the Bachstars and Ward Williams for providing some excellent tunes. The first two Wide Angle lectures, featuring historian Mark Smith and poet Susan Kinsolving were equally stellar. Other than that things have been fairly quiet... just some small events like hosting country music icon Marshall Chapman, New York Times bestseller Dorothea Benton Frank, kicking off our great new Discussion Group, and little things like that. Like I said, fairly quiet.

All that activity is not slowing down anytime soon, either. Tonight will bring us Mary Boykin Chesnut's Long Lost Civil War Photo Album, which is teetering right on the happy edge of being totally sold-out. Next week we will host actor Clarence Felder and Chamber Music Charleston for the concert/musical theater event Beethoven: His Women and His Music, the show's first appearance back in the States since touring internationally. Then our Speakers Series lights up: Simon Winchester will be here November 8th, and Amanda Foreman on November 14th. Both are bestselling authors and really, consider getting your tickets now... these are going to be big events.

Also in November, we'll have everybody's favourite event: it's Book Sale time again! Join us Saturday the 19th and Sunday the 20th for great bargains on books of all types. It's a great way to get a head start on holiday gift buying, or to just find something stimulating for yourself.

[Please note, though, that while we love when you donate your used books to us, we can no longer take paperbacks due to space and processing constraints. Many thanks.]

So that's a quick look back and a quick heads up... don't forget that more information on all upcoming events can be found at our website, and tickets for most events can be purchased by phone at 1.888.718.4253.