Book club questions

[generalkala]

Am I the only one it annoys when authors add a section in the back of their book that comprises possible questions for book clubs to discuss?

 

I just read The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. I really enjoyed it, but it just seems like writing their own questions is a form of arrogance, like assuming their book is so good that every book club in the world will want to discuss it.

 

Argh.

[Ben]

I guess they just want to give the readers a few hints on what would make good discussion points. I know it must seem annoying, but some people struggle when they want to discuss key points in a book, with what questions to ask. I guess it's not really being arrogant, just helpful. You don't really have to use them.

[BookJumper]

I quite like that kind of Author's Preferred Text; Neil Gaiman's usually include forewords, reading group suggestions, interviews... I don't belong to a bookgroup but I find it interesting to compare what I thought were the most interesting themes with the author's idea of what they were meant to be, and I am a sucker for freebies - bring the extra material on, I say!

[Kell]

I like them - if I've enjoyed the book it often encourages me to go back and look again at bits of it that are raised in the discussion questions. Also, who better to set the questions than the authors themselves? After all, they know their own books better than anyone other than the hardest-core fans.

[MuggleMagic]

I don't really take much notice of them. There are book club Qs in the back of We Need To Talk About Kevin

[Charm]

I've never come across this before, I must be reading the wrong books, either that or I just missed it . It does seem like a good idea though, it lets us know what points the author deemed the most important part of their work.

[Nollaig]

I also think it seems a bit ignorant, but I would like the insight to the author's way of thinking.

 

In the back of The Book Of Lost Things, John Connolley gives his brief interpretation of what he wrote, but also says it's open to personal interpretation, as in chances are readers will read into whatever they want to, irrespective of what he intended, which is cool.

[Echo]

I don't really mind them, but I usually just ignore it.

[Chimera]

They remind me of those special editions we had in school with studying material at the back (you know the type where there were ready made essay titles so that lazy teachers didn't have to think them up? THE best way to turn a book in a torture instrument).

 

But barring that image, I also think that discussion questions can give an interesting perspective as to what the author was trying to convey (though, is it really the author who writes them? I would have thought the publisher).

[chesilbeach]

I'm not sure that the author writes the questions, I think it's more likely something the publisher decides to include, partly as a marketing tool. It's seen as a way to add something extra to the reading experience, sort of like DVD extras for the book world, making the reader think they're getting extra value out of the book.

[bethany725]

The book club guides in the back of some books don't usually bother me one way or another.

I DO like it when an author does a Q&A about a book in the back, though.. I often have unanswered questions when I turn the last page of a book, and more often than not, some of those questions are covered in an author's Q&A about the story.

[lexiepiper]

I don't usually read them I'll be honest

[generalkala]

You're probably right about it being the publisher, but it doesn't make it less annoying for me!

 

Thing is, I can't leave a part of a book unread. I have to read the full thing - interviews, forewords and all. I do quite like the author interviews though.

[tyvek999]

I sometimes like to think over what i read and asking questions helps. So I sometimes enjoy those questions. I am not so sure that is arrogant though, but that is a good question.

[Anika]

 

Thing is, I can't leave a part of a book unread. I have to read the full thing - interviews, forewords and all.

 

 

You're a very thorough reader. You should give yourself 'permission' to not read the parts you don't like. It might be tough at first, but think of how many more books you can read (and enjoy) if you omit the annoying stuff!