The Quiet(ly Reading) Student

PENN READING PROJECT | Members of the Class of 2007 bring a diverse range of interests to campus, but they have at least one thing in common: their summertime reading.

Graham Greene’s 1955 novel, The Quiet American, was chosen for the Penn Reading Project this school year. The book focuses on a friendship between a British journalist and an idealistic American in Vietnam toward the end of French colonial rule there. During orientation week in late August, incoming students and faculty came together in small groups to discuss the ideas in the book.

Alumni returning for Homecoming this fall also will have a chance to weigh in on the novel. Dr. Robert Lucid, emeritus professor of English, leads an alumni book discussion on Friday, November 7, at 3 p.m., in the Kelly Writers House. To register for the free event, go to (www.alumni.upenn.edu/homecoming2003).