New experiences

Last month, I was lucky enough to be invited to the Cheltenham Festivals' monthly book club. This would be my first ever venture into a book club. I suppose one could say that I have been attending ‘book clubs’ for years, that is, lectures, classes and seminars, but on reflection, I can’t quite believe it has taken me this long to actually attend a bona fide one.

And so I accepted the invitation with both excitement and trepidation. Why? The titters amongst colleagues who attend book clubs always surmount to anecdotes that contain lashings of wine, gossip and not so much book reading and/or discussion. Not that I have any problem drinking said wine or participating in titillating banter, but I realised I was totally clueless as to the required etiquette. It turned out there was no etiquette at all really, just discussion, honesty and the ability to take turns (it was a big group). With wine involved however, this would have produced a much different outcome!

Reading the book in question, however, offered no hurdles – we would be discussing the quite brilliant Stoner by John Williams.

This book has become something of a phenomenon. Published in the US over 40 years ago, it was received with mixed reviews. Today, however, it has literary critics and bookworms alike up in arms as to whether it is thought-provoking prose versus a book about a man in which nothing really happens. I happen to be in the former camp – it is a beautifully written novel that simply (but not prosaically) charts a man’s life – it is emotive, inspiring, and frustrating, all at once.

And the verdict? Bookclubs: join one. Stoner: buy/borrow.