Rant: My book club fought over a 10 year old novel like it came out yesterday

Last month our group spent 45 minutes arguing about The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and I realized half of us hadn't even read past page 50. Has anyone else's club turned into a heated debate over books nobody actually finished?

2 comments

2 Comments

henderson.kim15d ago

Honestly, 45 minutes on The Road sounds about right for my old book club too. I used to think you could just skim the first few chapters and get the gist of it, but then I actually finished it last year and realized how wrong I was. The whole point is watching the dad and the boy try to hold onto any bit of goodness, and you can't get that from just the opening pages about ash and cold. The cannibal basement scene changed everything for me, it made me see the dad's violence and fear in a whole new light. I avoided the big discussions before because I thought I had it figured out, but now I see why people get so heated when others half-read books.

xena_miller3116d ago

The Road is the worst book to half-read. Everyone thinks they're an expert on bleakness after 50 pages. Half my club quoted the same two paragraphs about the dying world but missed the whole point about the boy. We spent a solid hour arguing about whether the ending was hopeful or not. Turns out the hopeful camp hadn't read the cannibal basement scene yet. Book clubs should have a reading quiz before debate.