The Big Read at Kansas City Public Library

And so we close the book on Kansas City’s The Big Read. Today’s lecture at the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial was the final signature event in the month-long series. Ian Kennedy, curator of European Painting and Sculpture at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, turned his considerable talents to an illustrated examination of the Italian war-front in 1917, with particular emphasis on the Battle of Caporetto. During the course of The Big Read, the 90th anniversary of these significant hostilities passed.

Kennedy began his talk with maps of the region covered by the Italian front. He also provided astute analysis of the Italian leadership which led to the tragic defeat of the soldiers at Caporetto.  Kennedy pointed out that while Ernest Hemingway accurately depicted the debacle of Caporetto, he was not present to witness it for himself. Hemingway was still in Kansas City, working for the Kansas City Star and no doubt read the news reports as they came across the wire. From these,  his own wartime experiences, interviews and research, Hemingway was able to craft a perfect rendering of the bloody and confusing battle at a personal level for the soldiers involved.

Kennedy then moved on to discussions of the leadership styles of the Germans,  and Italians with particular emphasis on General Luigi Cardona and his successor, Armando Diaz.

Other dignitaries in the audience included David Kipen, Director of Literature for the NEA, who delivered appreciative farewell remarks for Kansas City’s participation in The Big Read; Steve Paul, senior writer for the Kansas City Star and local Hemingway scholar;  and Jane Wood, chair of the Park University English Department and partner in The Big  Read.

Let’s read another next year, shall we?