Why does nobody talk about the book club meeting where everyone read the wrong book?

This happened at my group in Springfield last month. We were supposed to discuss 'Klara and the Sun' but the email with the title got sent wrong. Half the group read a different Kazuo Ishiguro book, 'Never Let Me Go'. It was a total mess for the first twenty minutes. People were talking about clones and boarding schools while the other half was confused about solar power and a robot. I had to jump in and suggest we just talk about Ishiguro's writing style in general, which actually worked. We ended up having a really good talk about how he builds sad, quiet worlds. Has anyone else had to save a meeting when the plan fell apart like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

ericfox4d agoMost Upvoted

That "really good talk about sad, quiet worlds" sounds like a polite way to say you dodged the actual problem. If half the group did the work for the right book, it's a bit unfair to them. The mix-up is funny, but the fix just papers over it. Next time, maybe spend ten minutes on what each book is about, then reschedule the real discussion. Otherwise, why even pick a specific book?

jordancoleman4d ago

It's a book club, not a final exam. People still talked about the theme. Calling it "unfair" seems like a stretch. They can just discuss the right book next time.