I thought our book club picking a 600 page classic was a bad idea

Our group voted to read 'Moby-Dick' last fall, and I was sure half of us would quit. I figured a book that long with all those whale facts would kill our talks. But after three weeks, we had our best debate ever about whether Ahab was crazy or just driven. Someone brought in notes on the 1850s whaling industry, and it made the whole story click for me. It turned a boring classic into a real page-turner. Has your club ever been surprised by a book you all thought would be a drag?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_lisa5d ago

You mentioning the whaling industry notes making it click is so true. We did "The Grapes of Wrath" and I thought it would be a total slog. But then someone linked the Dust Bowl to modern farming issues, and we argued for an hour. It’s wild how a single good point can turn a book you dread into one you can’t stop talking about. Why do we always assume the big classics will be boring?

spencer7825d agoMost Upvoted

That "single good point" thing is so real...

ellioth375d ago

Remember my friend who hated Gatsby? @the_lisa's comment made him see the parties as just sad rich people stuff, totally changed the book for him.