February 3, 2011
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Science Fictional Universe
So I think that I mentioned earlier that I joined a bookclub. Last night was my first meeting. I would say that it went pretty well. It’s always nice to meet book-minded people. It often seems that we are too rare of a breed. There were about 10 people at the meeting so it was a nice, small group. We read “How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe.”
Most people didn’t really care for the book. I liked it okay. Some of it was hard to get through but it does have some really lovely lines in it. Really it’s about not living life linearly and allowing yourself to think and reflect on both your past and your future. For myself, I feel like it would do me some good to analyze the past a little less. Living in the moment is good, oh so good. Another point in the book is that we create our own circumstances, or our own sort of Science Fictional universe with its own context.
We had some pretty good conversation with only a few awkward pauses. I got the feeling that most of us are pretty introverted so that could be why. I’m hoping that being at a book club with relative strangers will help me break out of my shell a little more and to communicate better with people I don’t know well. I’m interested to see how many people attend meetings with regularity. It would be nice to have some cohesion in the group. I might feel a little bit more comfortable that way. It’s so hard for me to speak up sometimes. I have stuff to say almost always but I get very self-conscious about speaking or even finding a good moment to speak out. On the other hand, if I know you well, I’ll talk your ear off.
Anyhow, I’m definitely looking forward to attending more meetings. The meeting was definitely a nice way to break up the week.
Here’s some good quotes from the book, taken from my Goodreads:
- “Most people I know live their lives moving in a constant forward direction, the whole time looking backwards”
- “Can you live your whole life at zero?”
- “Time is a machine; it will convert your pain into experience”
- “Life is, to some extent, an extended dialogue with your future self about how exactly you are going to let yourself down in the coming years.”
- “We break ourselves into parts”
- “Maybe we spend most of our decades being someone else, avoiding ourselves, maybe a man is only himself, his true self, for a few days in his entire life”
- “At some point in your life, this statement will be true: Tomorrow you will lose everything forever.”
- “Step out into the world of time and risk and loss again. Move forward, into the empty plane.”
Comments (14)
Hmmmm… interesting. Now you’ve got me thinking I should try to find a book club out this way, I think it’d be something I’d enjoy. Sounds like a rather odd book y’all read, but I’m glad it went over well for you. You should keep us Xangans abreast of the club happenings…
glad you had a good time!!
And I simply love the first quote you posted!! Its so very true!
I would love to do a book club, but my life has been so transitory lately. There’s one here that I know of, bookclub2010, but not many participate. I hope the people in yours stick with it — sounds like it could be quite fun, and you’ll all get to know each other soon enough. How often do you meet? And this book sounds interesting, at least in theory. Had some interesting quotes.
I’m introverted too so I understand how awkward it can be in a group of strangers. My job has helped a lot. I work with the public and over time I went from being polite to friendly. I hope your bookclub works out
. These are very good quotes. Food for thought. Some of those thoughts I’ve already had. peace always
The book sounds interesting. Hopefully your book group (and your relationship to it) develops nicely.
It’s hard to imagine you as an introvert! I remember a friend described her self as a geek. There were lots of ways to describe her…but not as a geek. Sometimes we realize our own opinions are rather myopic. –BTB
Enjoyed the quotes, esp the third. How true! Good for you for joining the group. It definitely should help with the communication, especially as you get to know the group better. It’s true, I used to be painfully shy when I was young, so it’s odd sometimes to see myself as a boss, in charge and telling people what to do, even to find out that I intimidate them (me??)! to some degree. Life is funny…
@Passionflwr86 - I found them through Meetup.com . You may remember me complaining about a lot of DC people being not particularly open to branching out to meeting new people. This is a nice way to find new people who are actually looking for new friends.
@der_lila_Stern - I was a little nervous but I’m glad I ended up having a good time.
@mercurialmusic - This book club meets twice a month. The first meeting is to discuss a fiction book. The second is to discuss a non-fiction. I think right now I may only do the fiction meeting unless the non-fiction one really intrigues me (I have so many non-fiction books that I want to read that I don’t want to take up valuable reading time with something I’m not crazy about, haha). Was the book club that you found on Meetup.com?
@peacenow - Yeah, my job has definitely helped me a little but I still feel like I have a long way to go!
@christao408 - I’m hopeful
@buildthebridge - I think that may be because I can be pretty talkative in my blogs. I’m right on the border between introvert and extrovert but a little more on the extrovert side (at least according to the Myers-Briggs test). I always have something to say, I just have a hard time getting it out.
@endlesssummer128 - Yes! The third quote definitely rang true for me!
Joining a book club is a good way to make new friends with mutual interests as yourself. I like the first quote about living in a forward and really moving backwards. I know I didn’t copy it exactly the way it is but I like that.
I find it hard to find people to talk about books with. I just seem to find it hard to find people who have read the same books, but then again, I don’ t know a lot of people. I think it would be fun to join a book club, but I probably won’t now since right now most of the free time I have to read is on the subway.
I like the first quote.
Neat quotes from the book. I loved the book club I belonged to. However, after about seven or eight books, we all just disintegrated. Saadia is very involved with one.
@tymedancer - I like that one as well!
@pax_intus - I’m pretty open to reading just about anything so I’m thinking that this club is going to be a good fit for me. I’m only worried that I’m going to have to put aside the books that I really want to read in order to keep up with the book club books. I really hope that doesn’t happen!
@icepearlz - Me too!
@ZSA_MD - My mom is really involved in two book clubs with two sets of friends. Both clubs have been going on for awhile. I’m interested to see how my book club is since we really aren’t that cohesive of a group yet.