The one book club debate that still bugs me 2 years later

Had this guy in my old book club, Dave, who would always shut down conversations about the author's background. We were discussing 'The Round House' and I brought up how Louise Erdrich's experiences probably shaped the legal stuff in the book. Dave got real defensive and said we should only judge the text itself, not the person who wrote it. I remember he literally said 'the book should stand on its own' and crossed his arms. It stuck with me because half the club agreed with him and the other half wanted to talk about context. We never got to finish discussing the tribal jurisdiction themes because of that split. Has anyone else run into this purist vs context argument in their book club?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant47812d ago

Hey, that Dave thing sounds exhausting, I'm sorry your group got stuck like that.

james_bell12d ago

The book should stand on its own" but knowing where Erdrich comes from makes that legal stuff hit way harder for me.

claire87212d ago

That Dave guy sounds like he sucked all the fun out of the room, sorry your group got derailed like that. Knowing Erdrich's background really does make those legal themes hit different, and it's frustrating when someone shuts that down.