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Finally cracked the code on sparking debate in my book club
After three months of dead air during discussions, I started assigning each member a "devil's advocate" role for one character before we meet. Last Tuesday it actually worked - we argued for 45 minutes about whether the narrator in *The Vegetarian* was a victim or just passive. Has anyone else tried structured roles like this?
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tyler622d ago
Didn't that book already have like three different ways to argue about consent before you even get to the dinner scene? I once watched a book club fall apart because someone brought a whiteboard and started mapping character motives like a crime scene. People either love that kind of structure or they'll ghost you after the second meeting.
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derek_schmidt622d ago
Oh man, "mapping character motives like a crime scene" is exactly the kind of energy I bring to things I should probably just enjoy. I once spent 45 minutes trying to diagram who owed who an apology in a dinner party scene, and my friend just quietly put her wine glass down and said "I'm good on book club, thanks." It's like my brain sees a story and immediately wants to turn it into a math problem nobody asked for.
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