Monday, June 07, 2010


From The Times
March 5, 2010

How a book club changed my life
Alyson Rudd tells how joining a club made reading a different, exciting experience

It was ten years ago and I was a new mum at the local school. My son bounced into the playground and made friends while I stood on the fringes wondering what the parent protocol might be and feeling slightly awkward. Conversations were eventually struck up, coffees drunk and then, after a few months, came an invitation. Would I like to join a book club?
It was like being in an Enid Blyton story; I was being asked to join a secret society. So I was flattered — and then worried. Book clubs presumably read books and I did not do that. Oh, I read my kind of book — the kind where the writer was dead and themes were deep — but I could not possibly read contemporary fiction.
“Do you read books by living authors?” I asked. Instead of retracting the offer the women rubbed their hands together, delighted with the challenge of converting me to modernity. I will admit that I accepted more as a chance to meet other mums than to broaden my literary horizons. I held out little hope of actually enjoying any of the books.

 The first novel chosen was Zadie Smith’s White Teeth. I did not enjoy it. It tried too hard to bring multicultural Britain to life and, while the melting pot that is London is a tempting subject, I did not want to have to fall into it and drown among all its characters; there were far, far too many for me. It explored too many themes and was not as well written as the Gogol I had just finished. But I remember the experience of encountering it through the group vividly; the reading of it, the ensuing discussion, the ripe Brie and grapes we munched while discussing its flaws. 
“It wasn’t quite the right choice was it?” the woman who picked it will say even now.The more polite club members will say it was fine, while I agree it was a disappointment. But it was not a dreadful book, the cheese and wine were more than fine —and my new friends were fun.

So we moved on to the next book and my heart sank: it was Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams. It sounded awful. It would surely be whimsical and soppy and indulgent and quite possibly dull and earnest to boot. One love letter is more than enough for me, I thought.
 
“Are you sure?” I asked, “I would never pick up something with a title like that.” I dutifully read it, though — and that was when I became a true, even zealous, book club fan. Four Letters is remarkable; a moving and quietly beautiful novel and one I would never have read without my book club. The other members did not have to gloat, for I freely admitted my folly.
The rest at The Times.


Doris Mousdale of the Arcadia Bookshop in Auckland's trendy Newmarket reports in response to the above story:
 
 We host bookclubs at Arcadia, we supply wine and cheese or coffee and cake, provide secure parking and then we give them the freedom of the bookstore. some groups settle down to business and discuss the chosen title some even have discussion notes prepared, others have a bag of books they pass around and make a suggestion who they think might like to read which book.
Yet others come in and just want to talk about books in general, all have great fun ,there is always a wide cross section of ages. Last week's small group drank four bottles of wine enjoyed the blue cheese,nuts, chocolates and fudge and we had a very lively meeting,most enjoyable for me as much as the group.
What comes out of these evenings is how conservative the average reader is, going for what they know and like and then there is the joy of discovering that good writing is more than words on a page it transports them either through good characterisation or situation and they also find out literature is just good storytelling and that it is more rewarding to read the good stuff but light reading also has its place when you are wanting to "rest your brain"and we all indulge in it from time to time.



This week's group is young mums so it will be interesting for me to find out what they have been reading.

On the other side is how seriously they take on the role of selecting and buying books for the bookclub. One woman came in at about 10.00am the other Sunday, We spent more than half an hour talking about various books and suggestions then she went away without buying anything , she then came back just before closing and bought all of the books I had recommended, she obviously went and thought about what would suit the group and took her responsibilities to heart.

John Connolly dropped past unannounced Friday afternoon and we shared a bottle of wine over a long informal chat sitting in the shop,what friendly unassuming man, he even went out to the car of two customers and gave them one of his CD's when he realised they had bought a copy of his book. I hope his free day on Saturday was rewarding,

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