I was surprised when two retired professors made statements that more or less elevated "reading" the book club book to the level of virtuous activity. I guess there is a difference between "Did you read that 400 page book?" and "Do you know what that 400 page book says?" One of the questions seems to be about properly behaving and dutifully "doing the homework" while the other asks if you know something. I have written about my dumb practice of asking students who say they have read the book "what is the next word after the word "model" on page 64?" Of course, students respond with a bewildered look. They did not claim to have the text memorized. So, what do we tend to mean when we say we have read the text?
I think we normally mean that "I can probably answer most basic questions about what the text states."
A man recently advised getting information about a book by searching YouTube. He said that many authors of many recent books have interviews on YouTube aimed at promoting sales of the book. The few times recently I looked up an author on YouTube, he was quite correct. In fact, the author interview I watched included comments and opinions that may well have been created only after the author had the book published. So, searching YouTube and maybe Google, too, may provide insights not available to one who simply reads all the text.
I posted several suggestions for members of my group who know the discussion is coming up but have not read all or maybe any of the book. My three suggestions were:
Look up the author's interviews on YouTube
Read one paragraph per page
Read the last chapter
One professor called my writing "the voice of temptation", I guess more or less equating me with evil. The other professor expressed thanks for the "Cheats". I actually advocate attending book club meetings without having read the book. Such attenders, if not gagged by shame, may make valuable contributions and ask pertinent questions.
