The night our book club split 50/50 on 'Moby Dick' and nobody talked for a week

Last October we were at Jen's place in Arlington and we got into it over Melville's whale book. Half the room thought it was a masterpiece about obsession and fate. The other half swore it was just 600 pages of boring whaling facts. I was in the middle but the arguing got so heated that Beth literally left early. Since then our club started doing a 'split vote' rule where we read two short books instead of one long one when opinions are that far apart. It saved the group honestly because now we actually talk about themes instead of fighting over page count. Has anyone else had a book tear their club apart like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

emma_mitchell16h ago

Did you try splitting into two groups and then coming back together after a week? That's what saved my book club when we nearly broke up over The Goldfinch.

walker.andrew3h ago

Yeah the whole "splitting into two groups and regrouping" thing would probably just end with me accidentally joining both groups and reading the same book twice, which is basically my life story. Last time I tried that with my gaming group we ended up with a weird rivalry over who got the better snacks. Honestly my book club would probably vote to split me off into my own group where I just sit alone and talk to myself about the plot holes.