I ask members in the discussion to think skeptically about what’s there, but also what’s not there.
Using the archives to understand an author’s viewpoint is helpful, but clarity on the author’s every intention cannot be expected. For our member book clubs, materials from a particular book are pulled from the archive and shown preceeding a discussion with small groups who have already read the work. How fortunate then, to have access to the archives here at the Ransom Center where the creative process and choices made by an author can be gleaned from the materials in their archives.
Questions (usually unanswerable) often emerge during book discussions about the intentions of an author. Even though it’s a solitary activity, it brings people together and gives us a common language.
The depth of knowledge and range of opinions that can emerge from a good book discussion has always been one of my favorite aspects of reading. Decades after its publication, this fictional account of the assassination of John F.
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