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Our club split over reading two short books instead of one big novel, and I still think the short books won
When my book club in Ann Arbor picked our spring list back in March, we had to choose between one 600 page novel or two short books under 200 pages each. Everyone else voted for the big novel because they said short books feel like homework you finish too fast. I pushed hard for the two short books and lost the vote 8 to 3, so we read the long one and half the group quit by chapter 9. Six weeks later we had our worst meeting ever, only 4 people showed up and nobody finished it. The next time I suggested two short books, we tried it and had our best talk in two years with 11 people there. So here is my question for you all, do long books actually make for better talks, or do they just make people feel guilty?
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felix47821d ago
Eight people bailing by chapter 9 of a 600 page book sounds about right, and honestly I would have been the ninth. My own club tried Moby Dick two summers ago and I made it to page 140 before I started reading the same paragraph four times and just gave up, told everyone I "got busy with work" like a coward. Here's the thing though, a long book only works if the group actually finishes it, and most groups don't. You end up with four people who read the whole thing and seven who are faking it, and the fakers just sit there quiet while the four talk, which is not a discussion, that's a lecture. Two short books give everyone something to actually say, and you get twice the ground to cover. Guilt is not the same thing as depth, and your group proved it.
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