Even though I work in a library I have never participated in a book club or book discussion. I have almost zero experience with attending or facilitating a book club. However, I was very pleasantly surprised by this one! I planned to attend the January meeting to satisfy the class requirement but I liked it so much that I went back last month and plan to go to the future meetings.
The meeting is led by a library staff member who acts as both participant and discussion leader. The group is small, usually five or less members, so it is necessary for her to participate as well. Each participant spoke about an equal amount of time. The librarian asked most of the questions, but most of the conversation was a back and forth between all of the participants. The first question (for the Cursed Child discussion) she asked was what we all thought about the play. I am a big Harry Potter fan but I didn’t get into the extended universe besides watching the Fantastic Beasts movie and finding out my Hogwarts House (Hufflepuff if you're curious). I had heard about how awful Cursed Child was but had never bothered to read it. I won’t bore everyone with my opinions, but I will say it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting and was a pretty good fanfiction (haha).
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| The best House |
The discussion moved on from the book to J.K. Rowling’s crazy Twitter statements to the new movies and beyond. It was really entertaining to talk to other people about Harry Potter and really analyze the content of the Harry Potter universe. According to the article "Reads Well With Others" more and more book clubs are interested in learning more about the author and learning how or why they wrote the book (33). Harry Potter fans are certainly no exception. They love to dissect every little detail in the books and find connections between the books that foreshadow the ending. It is no surprise that our discussions moved to the Harry Potter Universe at large.
For the Cursed Child discussion the librarian also included snapshots and release dates for the play both in the U.K. and here in the U.S. She discussed how much the play cost to put on (well over $10 million which is unheard of for a play) as well as how long the play is (there are two parts, so the play is over four hours long). It was interesting to get the background information of the play and helped my understanding of it. I’d still like to see it someday. Maybe one day it’ll come a little closer to Evansville Indiana (I can dream!).
For the Fantastic Beasts discussion she asked both of us if we had seen Crimes of Grindelwald yet, because I guess much of the discussion questions that she found are answered in that movie. I haven’t seen it nor read the screenplay yet and neither had the other participant. The librarian asked open ended questions and we discussed both the screenplay and the movie as well as the numerous plot holes. We discussed whether we believed it would’ve worked better as an actual book rather than a screenplay and we discussed our thoughts on American “wizard culture" and how it differs from what we’ve seen in the original series. It was a very interesting discussion! I plan on watching the movie before I read the screenplay just because I think that will help my understanding of what I’m reading and I’m looking forward to our April meeting.
No one person dominated the discussion and the atmosphere was welcoming. The other participants knew I worked for the library but that didn’t deter the conversation. Snack and drinks were provided for both sessions.
References:
Goldstein, Bill. "Reads Well With Others". Publisher's Weekly, 252(21), pp 30-34, 23 May 2005, https://web-b-ebscohost-com.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=6a5600fd-fd5a-4e57-a13f-ee9e7e82679c%40pdc-v-sessmgr02. Accessed 5 March 2019.
Image is from the Pottermore Wiki.
It's quite a testament to the power of the Harry Potter universe that we are still discussing parts of it after 20 years. It just continues to grow and morph, and people are still interested in book clubs about the (side) books! I haven't read The Cursed Child or Fantastic Beasts (although I've seen the first movie), but I'm sure there was plenty to discuss knowing how much inter-connectedness there is in the stories and the characters. I sometimes marvel that all of this came out of one person's imagination. (And I am a Griffyndor, just in case you're curious.) :)
ReplyDeleteOur discussions the last two times ran over the hour designated- we all had a lot to say! I am glad to see the impact that Harry Potter has had on pop culture. I may not agree with everything that's happening with the Fantastic Beasts story line but it is great to be able to share it with a new generation!
DeleteWell hello fellow Hufflepuff! Welcome to the yellow team!
ReplyDeleteI am severely jealous of this book club. This would be my kind of place. Although, I have never read any of the screenplays, but I have read the Cursed Child. I have mixed feelings about it but that will be a discussion for another time. Have they gone through the original seven books already? Because that would be interesting. They have been out for a number of years but every time I re-read them I swear I learn something new. Probably not the case and its really just my terrible memory, but its always fun. :)
Yes the book club has been going on for almost a year so they've done the original 7. I too have mixed feelings about Cursed Child and we had an interesting discussion about it. I wish I could've been there for the beginning when they discussed the original books!
DeleteWhich branch are you at in Evansville? I work at the Princeton Public Library! We are nearly neighbors! I bet that book club IS fun... that is probably a theme I could try here and get people to participate! We have done lock-ins with the teens themed around Harry Potter. We had cockroach clusters, butterbeer, pumpkin juice... and several other themed snacks that were awesome! Maybe I could try a kickoff and have some of the snacks, or maybe a themed snack each month? We have been watching the Fantastic Beasts movies with the teens and had giggle water :) I may give this a try once our expansion is complete! Thank you for the great idea!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds awesome! Our teen programs are seriously lacking so it's nice to hear you have teens that attend programs. I work at Oaklyn, which is probably the branch that's closest to Princeton ;)
DeleteHi Caitlyn.
ReplyDeleteWow, this sounds like a book club I would love to attend! Like Shannon mentioned above, if they provided HP snacks during the discussion, it would make the experience even better.
When I first began reading your post I wondered about the longevity of the club- once all the Harry Potter books and extended universe materials were discussed, would the group still meet? And you seemed to answer this question when you said you guys planned to read The Magicians by Lev Grossman. Maybe the club will eventually morph into a "If you liked Harry Potter, try this book!" type of thing. That would appeal to many people, I'm sure.
This book club sounds awesome!! I love that it's getting into the expanded universe and I love that you felt so comfortable that you're continuing to go! Great observations, I would love to do something similar to this at my branch! I didn't appreciate The Cursed Child screenplay until I saw the play and ..... wowza, amazing. Worth the money and the hype! Full points (even though you're a Hufflepuff - Slytherin is where its at!)
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