Book Discussion

Not too long ago I had dinner with some old friends and had a great time catching up on life and things.  We talked about books we have been reading and discussed a few things about them.  But there were moments it felt like awkward as the book discussions got more in depth and "intellectual," and felt there was small judgment for some of the book I have read such as Harry Potter series.  A question was posed of "What is there that you can discuss about Harry Potter?"  There are plenty of things one can discuss about this novel and more.  I think you can make any novel into an intellectual discussion if you wanted to not just novels like "Atlas Shrugged."

It felt like regardless of the book you read, if it wasn't able to be discussed it didn't count as something intellectual.  Which I don't think is the case.  You can find things to discuss about any kind of book including "Hop on Pop" if you so desire.  If you put your mind to it you can find something in any book that can be applied to life or says something about society.  And that is what my friends wanted to book discussions to be, highly in depth and intellectual.  Where as I am content at reading my books for the shear fun of it.  The need for an in depth intellectual conversation tends to take away from the joy of reading, although sometimes having that is nice, but not with every single book we read.

We can't make everything we discuss or do intellectual and in depth.  There needs to be something to take our minds off of things, something to relax, distress, and just allow our minds to escape.  Reading tends to do that, but when we try to force discussion topics into our reading it tends to take away from that effect and turn reading into something completely different. A book discussion should be fun and enjoyable, not always highly intellectual and in depth.  Enjoy the book and time with friends.