Book Club Anyone??

When I first read Watchmen I wasn't sure how I felt about it.  I saw the symbolism in it and how the characters represented different ideals present in today's society, but I just didn't know quite what to make out of it.  Then I went to class and we discussed the novel.  I was listening to what others got out of the book and told them my thoughts and I began to love the way the conversation was going.  I began to think even more than I had previously about the book and the things that an intelligent reader is supposed to read into it.  By the end of class I decided that I did, in fact, love this book.  I came to class a little confused about the book and left in awe of it.  Being able to talk about the deep symbolism found inside those pages with other people made the subject come alive for me.  I suppose the point of this specific reflection is to say that having this outlet where I can talk freely about a specific novel is really cool.  It helps me to expand my mind and to be a more involved and aware reader.  I now know why book clubs are appealing to people. 

I always felt that children’s books, fairytales, comic books, and even folk tales had so much more to tell us then the obvious.  One has to really dig deep into these rich stories in order to understand the full message and figuring it out is where all the fun is.  That is not to say that people get the same message from the same story and that, again, is why these “stories” are so important.  We are able to use the same tale and glean different meanings from it that help us cope with what we may be going through ourselves.  Thus explains, in further detail, my fascination with so called “children’s books.”  I put quote around children’s books because I believe that all ages are able to discover something between those pages that was worth picking the book up in the first place.