Our club voted to drop 'The Great Gatsby' after 3 meetings and I'm glad we did

For years, I pushed for the classics, thinking they were the only books worth a real debate. Last fall, we spent a month on Gatsby and the talk just went in circles about symbols. We switched to a newer book, 'The Vanishing Half', and the conversation about family and identity was way more alive. Anyone else find their group gets stuck on the same old titles?

3 comments

3 Comments

jake_walker2mo ago

Gatsby's a classic for a reason, but those circles about symbols sound rough. Maybe the group just needed a fresh way into it.

butler.mark6d ago

Twice now I've tried to lead that exact same exercise. First time I picked the green light. Second time I picked the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. Both times I ended up just rambling about weather metaphors. @jake_walker nailed it though. Sometimes you need a new angle or the whole thing stalls out.

margaret_singh12mo ago

Totally been there. Try having everyone pick one symbol to track through the whole book, then just talk about what it actually does for the story. Way less abstract.