Why I don't join book clubs

Reading Motoko Rich's story, The Book Club With Just One Member, I couldn't help thinking that she was writing about me. I love to read, but I really do not like to talk about books I read, which puts me a bind sometimes, being a bookseller and a publisher. When people walk into the store and ask me for a good read, it is quite easy. But when they ask me what the book is about, I get stumped. First of all, does a book have to be about something? Secondly, a good book is about many things, all at the same time, and that is its beauty. And different people will walk away from it taking different things with them, and the book will still remain whole. But, usually, I can tell them quite easily what a book is not about: it is not self-help, it is not management, and so on.

Fortunately, most of my customers do not expect a blow-by-blow account of the entire plot. All I need to tell them is how the prose leaves a pleasant after-taste in the mouth, or how full-bodied and big it is, or warn them that 'this is strong stuff'. Yes, it is almost like describing wine. Most understand, even love my suggestions, but a few will still want to know, "So, what is the story about?"

I have never liked taking apart a book, even when I was young, particularly ones I liked, I considered good. Thank God I didn't major in literature. All that deconstruction would have killed it for me. I often recommend good books to others, of course, but a 'you must read this' or a 'read this and tell me what you think' will be the extent of my spin. And all I would want in response would be a 'wow' or an 'oh my God!'. In my world, good books must be savoured and enjoyed whole, not talked about to death.

Certainly, I am obsessive. I do understand book clubs and the roles they play, and why people like to join them, even online ones. Why, I have even helped organise several, but I have preferred not to become a member of any. If I read something and I like, or can relate to a line, a sentence, a phrase or even a word, I do not like to strip it, take it apart, and parade it naked in front of a dozen prying eyes in public. Go on now, go! Go find your own personal moment, line, phrase, word or whatever! Go, parade that all you want, if you want. For me, let me enjoy my private moments with my books, moments that will live with me for years, or decades. I might mention it to someone special, someone close, someone whom I know will understand, in private as if at a confession. But, I would prefer not to go starkers in public.

So, that is why I do not join book clubs. Please do not misunderstand. It is nothing personal. Please join as many clubs as you want, and enjoy them. As Motoko Rich says, "The collective literary experience certainly has its benefits. Reading with a group can feed your passion for a book, or help you understand it better. Social reading may even persuade you that you liked something you thought you didn't."

But I am different. You might have heard the saying, "If you can talk about it, it ain't Tao." Or, to quote Louis Armstrong, "If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know." Reading, for me, is like that. It is a total body experience.

Read Motoko Rich's story in the New York Times