Book Club

I've joined a Book Club and I'm very much looking forward to it - except the hosting. I'm not looking forward to that so much.

However, hosting reservations aside, the writer, reviewer, English teacher and English undergraduate in me are very excited about the prospect. Why? Because I love to discuss books. That's not difficult to discern and may not be a surprise to you but this part of me rarely gets an airing. It lives in the cobwebby corners of my mind and gets to come out through reviews but even then, it's minimal. There's some analysis but it's scant compared to the extent to which I could examine a text and draw impressions, conclusions, speculations - a whole host of elements! - to pin it down: what I liked, what I disliked, character motivation, plot flaws, plot successes, twists, word choices.....and on it goes.

The right audience

Rarely do I go into the detail of a book. I don't have the audience at home. My husband is not a reader and if he did read, it would be non-fiction. He has read Robert Harris but the thought of discussing narratorial style and devices would make him flinch. Neither of my boys read a lot. My eldest might entertain a discussion and I think that it would be stimulating and enlightening but we have very different tastes and agreeing on a book might take more time than the actual intermingling of minds. My youngest? David Goggins and the gym. I say no more.

I'm desperate to get into the meat of this, the analysis now I know it's on the horizon. I also know that this book club is not going to be an excuse to drink wine either although some may be consumed and there may be nibbles - but no! This is not going to degenerate into some gossip fest as depicted in T.V. programmes and films! This is not an excuse for women to gather, like some secret coven, to whisper the latest rumours about their neighbours and old school friends and bitch about their husbands!

This is going to be some serious book discussion!

A book club, where you actually talk about the book?

Why am I so sure when history has shown that the former is true? Because I was specifically asked if I would like to join a book club where we actually talk about the book. My provenance set me out as a likely candidate: writer, reviewer, English teacher, English degree as stated above. The organiser of it, a lady called Sarah Davis is a published writer nonetheless (although I've read none of her work) and had expressed the same frustration about book clubs she'd previously joined as I've expressed in this piece, and said this to our mutual friend, Clare. Clare has also experienced gatherings masquerading as book clubs where a page has not been peered over or dissected but the canapés have gone down a storm as has the Pinot and she too wanted more imbuing of meaning and less imbibing of grape.

I'm excited. I've even been writing notes on the book as I've gone along. This is partly to frame my thoughts on the night but also because I'll have finished it before the 3rd of September which is when we meet first and I need to be able to recall it. This is no small feat for my 53 year old brain, I jest you not.

And I've loved doing this! Picking out phrases, sitting and gazing into space as I try and piece together my thoughts, speculating on meaning, nuance, "What did that character mean there?", "Why mention that?" - ah, it's been very satisfying.

Book selection may need work

However, there is a problem. It's the book itself. A Booker Prize longlisted book. Beautiful cover. Easy to read. Not sure what it's about. It is a challenge although you wouldn't expect a book nominated for the Booker Prize to be less than literary but this book...I don't know....it's curious...and I can't quite work it out...and I'm wondering if this is how it's meant to be, that part of the reading of it, its conceit, is working out what exactly is happening...or whether I'm being a complete numbskull.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I like the current fug I'm in, trying to work it all out. I won't be ashamed to go into the Book Club with strangers, Clare excepted, and express my befuddlement with confidence. One of the great benefits of age is giving less and less of a shit about stuff which previously would have incapacitated me. Don't worry - I'll express my ignorance with decorum and aplomb and back it up with knowledge.

In many ways, it's a great book to start with as there's plenty to talk about and to theorise through as a collective to get at what we think it all means and I'm interested to know what the others think of it other than "I didn't enjoy it" or "I loved it!". Someone might have. Now, we'll be able to quantify it, I hope and knock ideas about, maybe even get to the actual nub of it all, its deeper message to our group satisfaction.

Looking forward

I will, of course, review it on here. It's Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman and I will complete a review before Book Club so that you get my impressions without influence.

I'll probably finish the book today and I am interested to see how it ends. I will, I confess a little sheepishly, be glad that it's finished and I can move onto something else.

I will, of course, share my book club experience and until I report back, let me know your thoughts on book clubs, what you make of them, if you've ever been part of one, etc.

I would love to know if you've attended one yourself and if it's as exciting a prospect as I'm hoping it will be!