I have had my trouble with on-line book clubs. I am usually fine in the chit-chat rooms, but when it comes to the book club discussions I seem to get into something.
I just don't think the book club selection should start off with so "What did you think? or did you like it?" Especially when we are discussing classics. No one likes classics. They are meant to be hard. They are meant to be discussed and analyzed so that the reader can learn something. It is not like picking up Jen Lancaster or The Help or whatever happens to be popular at the time. Classics are meant to be meaty. Most of them are written in flowery or complicated language with multi-characters and convulted settings. When they were written, it is quite possible that the average person did not read them. Education was something that was a luxury not a right as it is our country today, but instead of feeling honored that we are capable of reading these books, I sometimes get the feeling that people are annoyed that they have to plow through them.
Maybe, I am a book snob! I think it takes discipline to read a classic. I think it takes thoughtfulness and commitment. They are usually not light reads.
I think that book clubs sponsoring a classics club should take it more seriously, and the leading question should not be so, what did you feel about it?
Yes, it takes a different mindset to read a classic (at least for me). But when I'm in that groove, I really enjoy them. I used to own a classics group on Yahoo and found that "did you like it?" was a way to invite people to post without the added pressure to say something deep and insightful. Often, it was a place to start a more meaningful discussion, but others times it just fizzled. There would be follow-up questions, of course, but if people weighed in with that basic first question, they were more likely to participate the rest of the month.
ReplyDeleteYou're right in saying that it takes thoughtfulness and commitment. It's really a shame when you've put forth that effort and then have no discussion at all...