Report on the bar book club

So a group of guys I know meet once a month or so at a local microbrewery/bar and discuss a different book each time. I just like how that sounds--yeah, honey, I'm heading to the bar to, umm, discuss a book. Yeah. Actually we do, and we can get into some pretty intense discussions. We've had fiction and non-fiction, classics and more recent stuff, humor, high-brow, low-brow... So far when it's been my turn to bring suggestions, we've done Jennifer Government, Italo Calvino's Baron in the Trees, and most recently, Lies of Locke Lamora. (Dictionary of the Khazars was actually my first choice last time, but they turned that down. I read it anyway and loved it).

So I think I'll put little reports here each month on that. Last night's beer of choice was Scottish Highland Ale. Our book, however, was set in Ireland--Paul Watkin's Promise of Light. It was a good, though not great, story of an American in 1921 who ends up stuck in the middle of the struggle for Irish independence. It did lead to some good discussions as we drank our beer. One thing that fascinated me was the way an absent person could become a symbol for those struggling. Less impressive was the way the story turned so much on coincidence, on lucky breaks.

Next month, or a little over a month from now, the Scottish Ale will be more apt, as we read a nonfiction book called How the Scots Invented the Modern World.

Comments

Art said…
My wife would never in a million ears buy that one---
Art said…
or years, either.
She would, however bite my ear off if I tried, which may be what I was trying to say. Maybe, but wasn't.
Daniel Ausema said…
You don't know until you try =)