The Book Club

Cultivating a lifetime of reading

By Frank Bradley

Sentinel Writer

Near the end of last month, 22 assorted individuals from Clay, Towns, Union and Fannin counties gathered in the community room of Sharp Memorial Church in Young Harris, Georgia to discuss a novel written by Thornton Wilder almost a half century ago.

The novel, entitled “The Eighth Day,” was actually a reread by the group, which has often referred to itself as “The Book Club,” and its gathering last month marked the 40th year anniversary of the book club’s existence.

The composition of the club, as you might imagine, has changed over the years with only three of the original members (John and Patti Kay and Bettie Sellers) still active participants and another Janice Moore, who joined the book discussion group just a few years later. Except for Patti Kay, who is a retired public school teacher and former bookstore owner, the other three were professors at Young Harris College. John Kay is also a pastor and a former dean of of the college.

While the continuous monthly meeting of the reading group started by the Kays and Sellers back in 1969 is the oldest book club in these parts, it is relatively new on the historical continuum of book clubs. The concept of book clubs had its origin in America as far back as the 1720s. Long before the advent of television, movies, radio, American colonists met in groups to discuss books they had read. Then it was something of a social club as well, since books were scarce and often only available to society’s upper classes. It wasn’t unusual for men to meet in taverns or coffee houses, where sometimes discussions turned into political arguments.

It wasn’t long before women followed suit developing their own reading groups, replacing or supplementing sewing and church groups. These reading groups allowed women to read and discuss the same issues that were of interest to men; they enabled women’s voices to be heard at a time when men pulled the levers of power and held all governmental posts.

Book clubs became somewhat popular for middle-class Americans in the 20th Century following an expansion of public schools and a rise in adult literacy. Often, they were started among friends and folks with common interests; attendees frequently met in homes, churches and libraries. Recently, there has been an increase in book club groups, the idea having been popularized by Oprah Winfrey within the last decade.

Currently, there are several other book reading clubs in our mountain region, including ones in Murphy and Hayesville. Some clubs are sponsored by bookstores. The size of the clubs varies from as few as six members to as many as 25 or 30. Typically, the club decides on what book it wants to read and then members meet a month later to discuss it.

Wilder’s novel “The Eighth Day” is a story of two families following the death of one father and the accusation of the father of the other family, who was convicted of murder and who later escaped. He made his way to Peru where he works as an engineer with a mining company. His daughter pursues a career as a singer and his son becomes a prominent journalist. The setting for most of the book takes place in a small town in Illinois. The author creates vivid characters who struggle against difficult circumstances to find meaning and purpose in their lives.

Thornton Wilder was recipient of three Pulitizer Prizes for two plays: Skin of Our Teeth and Our Town, and a short novel: The Bridge of San Luis Rey.

Looking over the list of books read by the club during its four decades of reading and discussion, one notes a mixture of both popular and classic American novels, biographies, and non-fiction, including those of most well known Georgia and North Carolina writers: poet and novelist, James Dickey; novelist Pat Conroy; novelist Alice Walker; novelist Terry Kay; novelist, short-story writer Flannery O’Conner; essayist, short-story writer Steve Harvey; non-fiction writer Melissa Faye Greene; poet Byron Herbert Reece; political writings of Zell Miller; novelist Reynolds Price; novelist Ann Tyler; novelist Clyde Edgerton; novelist Charles Frazier and poet, novelist Fred Chappell. Several regional authors have been met with the club over the years to discuss their works. Among them are Terry Kay, Steve Harvey, Bill Rayburn and Pat Conroy.

For the past dozen or so years, the club has alternated monthly choosing books of fiction and non-fiction. Its January selection is normally a well-known classic: by Charles Dickens, George Orwell, Somerset Maugham, Thomas Hardy, William Faulkner or Nathaniel Hawthorne, etc. For at least as many years, Barbara Harvey has served as book coordinator, making sure the books are available in paperback (keeping the cost low), scheduling the meeting dates and meeting location. She and John Kay stay in touch with the members by e-mail, sending reminders, and perhaps reviews and comments of the book to be discussed.

“The great thing about belonging to a book club is that it broadens your reading experience,” Claudia Kennedy told me. She and her husband Ben have been regular members of the group for the past six years. “I know I’ve read books I wouldn’t have even considered reading if they hadn’t been picked by our group. And to listen to different points of view about them, well, that’s really been valuable.”