Prologue: Martin

It’s not so much that we’re lazy, or that we’re disaffected or disinclined or dis-anything really, it’s that there so much else to do in the world, and that spending 45 minutes of an hour long book club listening to other women compare the heroines of Tolstoy to the nurturing role of a homemaker, well, let’s just say that I’d have a better time clipping my toenails. Not that I dislike clipping my toenails. I quite enjoy it really. Only I’ve recently mislaid my large clippers, and it’s a pain and a half searching for an object of that size, when it could be anywhere within 1200 square feet.

Excuse. Let me begin again.

So, as Jones says, we’re reading books and talking about them. Only, we do so in the manner in which we see fit. Much the way we live our lives, against the grain. No coffee shop reserved tables for us. No Mr. Darcy (a fine hero) nor Oprah’s seal of approval (a 50% chance of a good read), we’re choosing the books which suit us in our present travels, in our current needs. Often book clubs are begun with the honest intent of reading more, and reading within a community. Some sense of accountability which imposes a sense of guilt on the reader should they not finish their allotted 7 chapters by next meeting. This is a worthy treatment of a club, until the third meeting or so, when you discover that Hilda over there with the head scarf is not an interesting Eastern block refugee, but is rather a throwback to 60s era women’s lib and finds nothing more satisfying than pointing out unremarkable and aggravating gender and sexual theory critiques. Or that Ramon is deeply conflicted with his life as a gay bartender and instead reads all male roles as aggressors and pursuers, even the above mentioned Darcy, which I think we can all agree is the epitome of well wrought hero.

Anyway.

I believe the HBC, as it was so aptly and judiciously named, will bring out the best of all worlds. The sense of community is just a digi-type away, and the allowance of impunity and independence will foster greater removes from normal book club fodder and conversation. Because why do we read? For education, yes, but mostly, for enjoyment. And the best education happens when you enjoy what you are learning. Hopefully with our little HBC, Jones and I (and others as they come) will learn to read for ourselves, and then to translate that into a enjoyment and an education for others. It should not be a reporting on what the book was about, but rather, what did we learn from it? What do we take away from it? How has it changed us, and how can we use that to impact and change those around us? In that sense, I believe our HBC will forge new heights. Because just like the beloved sonnet, we are first given strict parameters and then full fledged freedom.

To begin with an about me: I have a Bachelor’s degree in English Lit, won from the prestigious university of the church of Christ, also known as David Lipscomb U. There’s a novel in there somewhere, but it’ll take a more disciplined wit than I to pour it all out. Post graduate work was done first in the workforce for a small publishing company, and second in the graduate force, in a small classical graduate program. This allowed me to gain a Master’s degree, although as you can see, it did nothing to break me from a bad habit of writing in the passive voice. Post graduate work will soon follow the Master’s, as in August I will begin a PhD program studying Latin American history.

This last sentence may seem trivial, but let me assure you, it is not. Three years of application, two of GRE study, countless hours writing lists of myself, my family, my background, and my future, and to show for it, a 700 word apology on who I am and what I want. I challenge anyone to do that and escape unscathed. At the end of the day, I cannot and will not be able to leave the rubrics of my future in a box. The HBC will be a house for my journey through the cultural and historical significance of slavery, revolution and rebellion. It will also be a burial ground.

I look forward to the coming August. And you should too. Jones and I plan on being here in full glory and with full hearts.

Vive la libertad!