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A book club meeting in which we soberly discuss A Room with a View Today at This Diary's Book Club meeting we will begin our discussion of A Room with a View by E.M. Forster. Me: Welcome. You: Thank you. Me: Isn't the first page of this book like the funniest page ever? You: Sure. Me: It just had me laughing aloud. You: I heard the movie has naked men. When do we get to watch it? Me, pulling you aside and whispering in your ear: I'm trying to bring some culture into this place, since it's all been underwear and poop lately, and now you have to go talking about naked men. Geez, can't we just discuss the book a little first? I mean really, I do all this for you, I try to have intelligent discussions, and all you want to do is talk about naked men. Maybe I should just give up. I mean, it's obvious you don't even care. You: No no really I was just kidding I swear please don't stop. Me: Good. In high school I wrote a paper about this book, about how Lucy is always being "repressed", held back, kept from having her own opinions and from thinking for herself. You: I bet Lucy wouldn't wear g-strings. Me: Obviously not, since it's Edwardian. Duh. You: Duh yourself, I mean if she weren't Edwardian. Did they have g-strings then? Me: No, stop it. Lucy is repressed. In the first chapter she's always getting muddled, or she starts to think about things but then gets confused or whatever. For example, "Lucy was puzzled. She was again conscious of some new idea, and was not sure whither it would lead her." You: That's not from the first chapter. Me: No, it's not. You: 'whither', ha ha. I like the names of the chapters. Me: Hmm, what else? How about social conventions, and how they can confine people. Like Charlotte is always getting offended by the Emersons and refuses to even listen to them, give them the time of day, just because she thinks they don't 'do', and if she just opened up a little she could learn a lot. You: Yeah, you can learn a lot from people, maybe even especially those people you would normally not really like or whatever. Me: Yeah. Okay. Thank you for your time. Next time we will discuss Beethoven. You: Ooooooo, fun. Why do you like Beethoven so much? Me: Goddamnit, you're probably one of those stupid fucking idiots who said... Aaahh, you know what? He went deaf. He was a freaking composer, music was his life, and he couldn't even hear it anymore except in his head, and some fuckheads said -- and this is talking about the 9th Symphony, Jesus Christ -- they said that if he could hear what he'd written he never would have written it. Do you know how retarded that is? And how terribly insulting? You: Calm down, I bet only one person said that, and anyway, it's not like Beethoven's some poor neglected unknown composer. Everyone knows him. Why are you so defensive? Me: Just because. Grr. You: Okay fine, we'll talk about Beethoven, but not the 9th Symphony. That's not even in the book. Me: Okay fine. You: When are we going to watch the movie? Me: After we're done with the book, so after our next meeting. You: Good. That will be fun, because it's a foreign film. Me: Please note, we will keep our discussion in good taste. You: Okay, Charlotte Bartlett. Me: I'm not Charlotte, you are! You: Fine, then you're Cecil! Me: Shut up! I'm not Cecil! I'm Lucy! You: No you're not. This is really silly. This discussion has certainly degenerated into some childish namecalling thing, so I'm going to end it right now. --------------- Please tune in next time for our exciting discussion of Beethoven and our concluding remarks about A Room with a View.
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