Book club

"It is in group that we learn to read alone"

One of the activities that I enjoy the most in my work at the Alliance française de Manchester is the organisation of the Book club.

I discovered this kind of meetings this year, at the same time that I began to organise them, and I don't think I will stop after the Alliance française.

It consists in a monthly meeting for a discussion in French with a group of regulars, generally from 11 to 15 people, most of them English native speakers (with rare exceptions), but all of them with a good level of French, able to express their literary and general impressions on the book (with exceptions again!).

Each meeting lasts from one hour and a half to two hours, in depends on the book and the vitablity of the group. We meet to talk about a book that we previously chose.

The programme for the year below :

• September : Rouge brésil, by Jean-Christophe Rufin
• October : Chagrin d'école, by Daniel Pennac
• November : Trois femmes puissantes, by Marie Ndiaye.
• January : Les heures souterraines, by Delphine de Vigan
• February : Topaze, by Marcel Pagnol
• March : Le vin de la solitude, by Irène Némirovski
• April : Les liaisons dangereuses, by Choderlos de Laclos
• May : Syngué sabour, pierre de patience, by Atiq Rahimi
• June : L'art Français de la guerre, by Alexis Jenni

Concerning the choice of the books, I listened to the various requests of the group (vary the period, more female writers, less sad books, etc), but I have to admit I chose most of the books.

What are the goals of these literary meetings?  

- exchange reading impressions

- develop one's liking for reading

- develop one's literature critical sense

- improve one's ability to interpret a book

- increase the number of reading experience for the members

- increase the audience of a library

- meet people sharing the same interests as you

What is the organizer's role ?

In general:

- choosing a name for the group - I didn't have to choose one as a book club already existed when I arrived at the Alliance française, named "Cercle de lecture"

- deciding of the frequency of meetings - I kept the same frequency, that is to say once a month

- deciding of the date and time of meetings

- maybe inviting a writer to take part in the discussion

Before the meeting:

- reading of the book as a matter of course, and recently

- knowing the book from A to Z - it implies a lot of researches about the time, History, the main themes, the questions that raises the book, the characters, the literary genre

- think about some "problématiques" or problems - useful when it comes to spark the debate during the meeting

- knowing everything or almost everything about the writer - her/his life, bibliography, and maybe having read other books by this author

- looking for some parallels to make with other writers/ books

I generally spend 5 or 6 hours doing these researches.

During the meeting:

- layout of the room - in my case, we meet in the AF library, and I arrange the chairs in circle

- preparation of a light meal - in my case it appears to be two bottles of wine, white and red, orange juice, peanuts, and grapes, as we meet at 6.15pm- concerning the choice of the light meal it depends on the time of the meetings, but you would rather choose coffee, tee and biscuits on daytime.

- welcome of the members - invitation to take a seat

- make people feel enough comfortable to express themselves by creating a good atmosphere

- possibility of starting the discussion by a short presentation about the book and the author - it is not what I do, I generally start by asking a general question to gget their general impressions about the book, such as "So, did you enjoy the reading?".

The moderator is not a teacher, nor is she/he an authority, the moderator manages/organises the discussion:

- listening to everyone

- invitation to respect and diplomacy

- encouraging everyone to talk and express oneself - you will have to be a bit crafty for that, and never give the impression that you oblige people to talk

- help the members understanding each other, by asking for some details to the person who talks, if it is not clear and understandable - especially if the group is made of non-native speakers

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