Quote:
Originally Posted by bfisher
Yes, there are a lot more books out there than there is time available to read them, so if you have already traveled down a trail before, why not take a new road instead.
Although there is something to be said for re-reading an excellent book if there has been a long enough passage of time that you may have become essentially a different traveler, so that you see new things with fresh eyes, especially if you travel in good company, and have the benefit of your companions' observations.
|
Oh, I agree. Speaking outside of the book club context, I decided last year to revisit the Victorian novelists, including several books I read decades ago. It was a revelation; it had been decades in most cases and I got so much more from them now, to the extent that the Victorians are now a permanent addition to my reading.
And in regard to book clubs, a good discussion is a pleasure in addition to that of reading and can redeem an otherwise bad experience, as with
Sylvie and Bruno. So the combination of a good book and a good discussion is a joy.
But as to the books for this month which I've read, I've read it too recently, don't think it has as much heft for a good discussion as other choices, didn't like it enough, or some combination. And it serves to make an easy cut!