Booksquare

We attended two distinctly different dinner parties this past weekend yet faced the same problem. At each party, one guest (Party A, 11-yeard old girl; Party B, 40-something man) wanted to Talk About A Book, or, rather, The Book. This was impossible — we were safely contained under a cone of silence — because, well, it’s a really long book, and, let’s be frank, people simply aren’t prepared for this type of dinner party conversation. It is hard enough to find commonality with movies and television.

Just the fact that this happened warmed our black little heart and gave us hope for humanity.

The eleven-year old handled the situation via IM and phone calls with friends who apparently don’t have jobs and/or lives. The forty-year old tried to impress us with his ability to summon fire. We came away thinking that it is in entirely possible that future social engagements might result in other discussions about the story and whatnot. Possibly even other books, though we have found that diverse tastes make lively conversation difficult. Good debate often centers around more than one person having read the same thing.

Perhaps this is the true beauty of bookclubs. Though there are no guarantees, chances are sufficient members have read the month’s selection and are prepared to talk about it. Given the number of books published each year, this is no mean feat.

Thanks to the power of Staying Up Late, bolstered by Getting Up Early, we finished our copy of Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince. This is a surefire guarantee that we’ll never be invited to leave the house again, but if it should happen, we are ready. We have talking points (beyond the obvious typo on page ten, the one that made us worry about rushing and such). We can discuss style and structure and, if pressed, compare the notion of family in the Potter series to the same concept in anime (this will require much wine, but that’s fine).

A postscript to those who thought they might wet their feet with Book Six: bad idea. While most series attempt to bring the new reader up to speed, usually in a very clunky fashion, J.K. Rowling assumes her audience knows what’s gone before. This can be a little teeth-gnashing if you’ve read a lot of books in the interim (and found yourself short on the necessary time to refresh your mind on major and minor plot issues).