Wednesday, May 13, 1998
Word count
EVENT: "Invisible Man" reading will entice English department
funds to appear
By Emi Kojima
Daily Bruin Staff
It will take about 20 hours to read all of Ralph Ellison’s
"Invisible Man" at the English Department’s Marathon Reading
Thursday, but by the end, students and faculty hope to make $8,000
materialize.
The event, in its third year, is sponsored by organizations and
private donors who support individual readers. The money goes to
fund student scholarships.
Students, faculty and celebrities (like John Lithgow), and
community members will all gather in the Rolfe Hall Sculpture
Courtyard to participate in the unusual event.
"Two years ago, it started as an undergraduate project to read a
novel all the way through," said J. Darrin McGraw, English graduate
student and Marathon Reading coordinator.
"It grew into something with more graduate student and faculty
member involvement, with fund-raising and outreach to the
community," he said.
Thomas Wortham, the chair of the English department, agreed that
the Marathon Reading has made a name for itself and become bigger
each year.
"Through the students’ efforts, it’s become more popular and
profitable each year. This year there is certainly more
undergraduate involvement," he said.
McGraw said the Marathon Reading staff expects 500 to 1,000
people to attend.
Some undergraduate English classes are planning to attend, as
well as the Undergraduate English Association (UEA), which has
scheduled a block of time for members to read. The staff is also
working with a local public high school which hopes to attend.
"The best thing that it does is it creates a sense of
community," Wortham said.
"Students come from community colleges, high schools – and
teachers come to the reading and become more involved in our
program. We all are celebrating a literary text of great
importance," he said.
The idea of reading a whole book out loud from cover to cover is
not novel. But while marathon readings are held by literature fans
and Jewish groups have read the Torah, the English department’s
fund-raiser is unique.
"I don’t know about anything else like it," said Stuart Wolpert,
public information representative for the College of Letters and
Science.
No other department on campus has such an event to raise
money.
"There are a number of fellowships available, but these funds
(from the Marathon Reading) go directly to students within the
English department," McGraw said.
The money will be used to fund travel expenses to conferences
and for research projects, among other things.
Anyone can sign up for one of the five minutes slots to read the
"Invisible Man." Although McGraw said the Marathon Reading
committee is saving some spots for people who walk by and want to
read during the late night hours, most slots are filled.
Over 250 people will read during the two-day event, including
celebrities Mayim Bialik and Michael Ellison-Lewis, a political
activist and the nephew of the late Ralph Ellison, author of the
novel.
Audience members also can enter a drawing for such goodies as an
$800 value Kaplan GRE course, a Princeton Review GRE course and
certificates for Westwood businesses such as Maloney’s and Circuit
City.
Stephanie Lasker, a fourth-year American literature student,
worked as a volunteer gathering such donations "to feed Marathon
participants and help raise money for the drawing."
"The primary goal of the event (is) to bring together lots of
people who like literature. It’s a nifty idea," she said.
She is among some of the 35 people who have been working on the
event since October.
Part of the planning has included making preparations for the
unpredictable weather. Should rain strike, the group will move
inside Rolfe Hall and post signs to direct visitors.
Lasker and some of her friend got wet last year for other
reasons.
"The sprinklers came on and we all got soaked," she said.
The Marathon Reading staff selected "Invisible Man" because it
is a classic, has a gripping plot, and because of its length. "Moby
Dick" and "Bleak House" were read for previous events.
After the the 1996 Marathon Reading of "Moby Dick," other
institutions have followed the example, with marathon readings of
the novel taking place on the beach in Santa Monica and another in
Mystic, Conn., in connection with a museum.