I don't know who invented the idea of book clubs, but as of today I am firmly of the opinion that they should be tied up in a sack with a brick for company and thrown into the nearest deep river. I was meant to be in Houston today and a hurricane torn city with a curfew would be preferable to rural Lockeridge. Why? It turns out tonight is our turn to host the monthly meeting of the Kennet Valley book club. When I say our I am of course speaking figuratively as males are barred from membership. Given that the majority of the literature in this house is mine, and is not confined to 19th Century English Literature (other that the collected works of Trollope) this represents the worst form of sexism. Now that could be lived with (see title) but I see no reason why I should be excluded from the sitting room from 0730 this morning to allow cleaning and removal of inappropriate literature. Not only that visits to the kitchen to make coffee have been frowned on as it is disrupting preparations for the evening event. I have resorted to playing the collected works of Leonard Cohen in the mess that I call my study to reflect my mood, and will disappear shortly to the local pub with daughter and son to minimise our impact on the event. I am contemplating arriving back drunk in animated discussion of Dostoevsky as a precursor of existentialism and way in which the exploration of free will and reason in The Brothers Karamazov is reflected by the actions of Mathieu and Ivich in Les chemins de la liberté. It will make a change from similar past returns singing Bread of Heaven.
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Comments (8)
Excellent! (Your post, not your being banned from the living room ... :) )
Posted by David | September 18, 2008 8:45 PM
Posted on September 18, 2008 20:45
Grin!
Is it just incidental volumes being removed, or incidental book shelves? Or - shudder - incidental cupboards stuffed with books which by the weird evolutionary logic of literary multiplication wound up in your living room As Well?
To evaluate your cry for virtual mercy - or at least sympathy and understanding - one must come to grasps with these kinds of details, as I hope you'll understand.
Oh, please don't forget Dostojevski's Memoirs from the Souterrain on your way home from the pub. "Zapiski iz podpolja". Just kind of loudly mumble the title (or parts of the text) with a gutter-like voice and you're sure to make an impression. If not on your family (they'll probably laugh their heads of), then on some innocent bystanders.
Posted by Mireille Jansma | September 18, 2008 9:26 PM
Posted on September 18, 2008 21:26
Dave
You need to do what my neighbour Kev did to the 'Book Club" here in the valley - he crashed it and acted like he was meant to be there - now they actually have lots of male members of the 'Book Club" - social change - you can do it 8-)
Nerida
Posted by Nerida Hart | September 19, 2008 8:30 AM
Posted on September 19, 2008 08:30
This is the first time I've heard that book clubs are a female domain, and I can't for the life of me think why this should be the case! Weird.
I have made myself unpopular on several occasions by objecting to things like the women's blogging awards and stuff on the grounds that there is no equivalent men's award. Then again, I find the MOBO awards unacceptable on the grounds that there are no MOWO, MORO or MOYO awards.
If we are trying to redress discrimination, introducing fresh instances of discrimination will not help.
Okay, I've just gone and made more of this issue than your post intended, so I'll get back in my box now.
Posted by Karyn Romeis | September 19, 2008 9:48 AM
Posted on September 19, 2008 09:48
pshhhshshshhshssh- men are so inconsistent about attending these things anyway- let the women have their book club in peace. you're just upset cause you had to work in ur own messy study!
Posted by Humera | September 19, 2008 12:26 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 12:26
Chill out! ... go have a pint or three, put that apron on and then serve the tea and scones with a smile and a cute "yes dear..." ... ;-)p
Posted by rc | September 19, 2008 2:58 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 14:58
:-D I think you should share your "inappropriate literature" with the appreciative readers of your blog. Or is this all an elaborate excuse to play Leonard Cohen all day before heading to the pub to drink a lot of beer ?
A life-long bookworm (and female), I have never felt the slightest need to join a Bookclub, as reading is a favourite, solitary pleasure. After recently seeing the Bookclub in an episode of "Lost" (they were reading "Carrie" by Stephen King, for goodness sake !), the whole concept of Bookclub now has some very sinister overtones.
But have I told you how much I love my Women's Film Group ? Choice of film is definitely a reason for sexist segregation...
Posted by Cheryl | September 19, 2008 4:42 PM
Posted on September 19, 2008 16:42
Greetings,
I was surfing today and stumbled upon your posting regarding book clubs. I'm one of the founding partners of Booksprouts.com
We are an online book club site that is free to join, and allows members to create a club, invite friends, create meetings, and to choose and read books together online. The service is still fairly new, and we are interest in getting feedback on it, as well as getting the word out to people that may be interested in the service. We welcome you to trying out the service free of charge, and welcome to you blog or write about it - good or bad - we appreciate all feedback that helps us improve the service for our members.
Thank you, and we hope you enjoy Booksprouts.com!
Please contact me directly with any questions or assistance.
Regards,
Jason Pfeifer
Community Manager
Booksprouts.com
jason@booksprouts.com
Posted by Jason | November 4, 2008 11:01 AM
Posted on November 4, 2008 11:01