Friday, March 9, 2007

My First Book Club


Last night I attended my first ever book club meeting. I must admit, I was a little intimidated going in. I had no idea what to expect because I had never been to such an adult-like function. Attending a book club combined with eating dinner at 10:30 PM a few weeks ago has left me wondering what happened to my sonic youthful innocence. But that is a topic for another day.

The book of choice for this weeks meeting was A Mighty Heart by Mariane Pearl. The book chronicled the events surrounding the abduction and murder of the WSJ reporter Daniel Pearl by terrorists in Pakistan as seen through the eyes of his wife Mariane.

The discussion at book club centered more on terrorism and what motivates terrorists rather than the syntax, imagery, etc. employed by the author to convey her message. This made me happy because the conversation was much more interesting from my perspective. Arguing over why the author chose to use one word vs another does not do it for me.

One of the most interesting topics of discussion for me was when Eric wondered if he could love or be loved as passionately as Mariane and Daniel did. To me, this was the most compelling part of the book. Mariane really excelled at conveying her emotions to the reader and it really drew me into the story. By getting this glimpse into her emotions and feelings, the impact of losing her husband became so much more meaningful for me. I can't imagine suffering as she did and yet still having the overall positive perspective on life that she appears to maintain.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading A Mighty Heart and I really enjoyed attending book club. I like pretending like I am an adult and I look forward to the next meeting.

2 comments:

Dubious Brown said...

Maybe we should read Elise's "Principles of Terrorism" textbook for next month. Then maybe "How to Succeed at Terrorism Without Really Trying."

Anonymous said...

skate or die mother effer!!!!!!!!