"I should have mention’d before, that in the Autumn of the preceding Year I had form’d most of my ingenious Acquaintances into a Club for mutual Improvement, which we called the Junto. We met on Friday Evening. The Rules I drew up requir’d that every Member in his Turn should produce one or more Queries on any Point of Morals, Politics or Natural Philosophy, to be discuss’d by the Company, and once in three Months produce & read an Essay of his own Writing on any Subject he pleased. Our Debates were to be under the Direction of a President, and to be conducted in the sincere Spirit of Inquiry after Truth, without Fondness for Dispute, or Desire of Victory; and to prevent Warmth all Expressions of Positiveness in Opinion or of direct Contradiction, were after some time made contraband & prohibited under small pecuniary Penalties."
-The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, section 29
Several years ago, my friend Maddie & I read this book for a literature class we were in. Being the bibliophiles that we are, we were captivated by the idea, thinking that it'd be a great way to get together and talk about our abnormal love of books with friends. Alas, of the group, we were the only ones that seemed to have been hit with this captivation. Months went by and the idea was relatively forgotten.
Then we started blogging. Realizing that the blogosphere would perhaps make an even better setting for this endeavor, we decided to give the idea a try. Our first book was A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft. Yes, it was just as difficult to read as the title sounds. So we dropped it mid-way. We attempted several other books and the same thing happened. The Junto was imperiled.
Finally, in November 2009, we started feeling rather guilty about starting up a project and then forgetting about it, so we decided to give it another try. By now intimidated by non-fiction, we started reading Villette by Charlotte Bronte, hoping that a story might keep us going. At last, success! We read/blogged about it that winter. Since then we've read Wives and Daughters and are currently reading the Odyssey.
So, although our chances at finishing a book seem to lean towards the fiction end of the spectrum, we're not opposed to the idea of reading non-fiction. Maybe we should just stay away from 18th century philosophy. :-) If anyone would like to join us, we'd love to have you! Have any good book suggestions?
