My book club in Tempe used to pick safe bestsellers, but after we voted to read 'Blood Meridian' last fall, the arguments got way more intense and people actually started doing research.

Has anyone else's group shifted from polite chats to real debates after choosing a deliberately difficult book?

2 comments

2 Comments

That shift from polite chats to real debates is the whole point. My group tried to tackle "Gravity's Rainbow" and it was a mess. We spent an hour just arguing about what a single paragraph meant, and I was so lost I had to pretend my dog started a kitchen fire to get off the Zoom call. Safe books don't leave any scars.

adams.harper9d ago

Hah, that's perfect. @quinn_nelson you get it. The messy fight is the whole lesson. If a book doesn't make you feel stupid or angry sometimes, you didn't learn anything. Your kitchen fire excuse is way better than just saying you're bored. Those confusing books are the only ones worth talking about.