Sunday, March 27, 2011

DAY 176 - THE EATERY LITERARY SOCIETY

Day 176

Months ago, at about the time I began writing this blog, I though about starting up a book club.  Being the procrastinator that I am, it took me six months of thinking before I decided to act.  

Two months ago, I finally sent my friends an e-mail inviting them to join the book club.  It was decided that our first read was going to be The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. 

Yesterday, the club had its first meeting.  I didn’t really know what to expect.  I have never been part of a book club and, although I found a little questionnaire on the novel, I knew we wouldn’t be a very disciplined group.  So, I went, not really knowing how it was all going to turn out, only being sure that we were going to have fun.

The outcome of the evening definitely surpassed my expectations.  My cousin Chris, as a Historian, had done some very enlightening research on the historical background of the book (the story takes place in Guernsey, a small British Island, after World War II), which brought the conversation to a higher level.  We all felt very good about that, flattering ourselves of our intelligence and scholarly conversations.   My cousin Serge made us laugh with his sharp criticism of the book.  My friend Christina, still hadn’t finished reading it, which definitely added to the debate and created some comic relief!!

At a certain point, I looked around and noticed that everybody was talking at the same time.  It sounded like I was at one of my family reunions (Egyptians are known for being loud talkers and for not listening to one another). There was a sort of exhilarating chaos, with everyone vigorously expressing their thoughts on the novel, and on other issues of course.  At that moment, I felt a surge of happiness, as I saw that the event had suddenly taken a life of its own!

Everyone brought a dish to share.  The food was delightful, the company and the evening memorable!  Serge ended up coming up with the name of our Club: The Eatery Literary Society... I think it suits us quite well!  

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1 comment:

dcmarvel said...

i want to be part of the Eatery Literary Society!!!! what fun !