Night Watch: Reading in Chunks

I didn't like the process of reading and discussing the book in chunks at certain times. I found the time periods far too long. I didn't want to read ahead and then forget some of the finer points for a discussion, but then I'd leave the book aside for long periods of time and read many in between.

I know I could've started a "spoiler" thread and maybe other fast readers would have joined me, but I didn't want to miss the whole-group read experience.

This group inspired me to read the book but after the first section I was not particularly engaged by any of the characters. I read on because I knew that I would not return to it if I left it. At the end I found the book mildly dissatisfying although I liked the writing style. Ultimately, I never really cared for or about any of it.

Just finished it! I can imagine that it might've been frustrating to stretch out the reading into chunks, but it turned out perfectly for me. I have a 6-month-old baby and not much time to read, so I couldn't have gotten through it any faster if I tried, though I found the book compelling and I think I would've read it all in a rush if left to my own devices. Glad I had this group to inspire me to keep coming back to the book and finish as soon as I did!

>1 LynnB: Thanks for starting this thread—I'd been planning to solicit feedback on this more dispersed format before we launched into another OLOB.

For my part, reading it in chunks certainly made the reading part more manageable, but I'm not sure it is the best for generating discussion. The Talk threads were pretty darn quiet except for the beginning and end. Which brings me to my second point:

For the middle two chunks, I thought going the open thread route might be best, but perhaps that was why (or at least a factor) enthusiasm dragged in the middle, as well.

>3 elizajanecurtis: It's good to know that the expanded time worked for some! Thanks for chiming in!

I'm putting a couple polls in my next post.

These polls are both pertaining to future One Librarything, One Book reads. For The Night Watch, we stretched the reading out over time, and divided the book up into chunks, with set dates for having read each chunk.

Additionally, I experimented with open threads—where I stated the section we were reading, and invited members to post their impressions, opinions, etc.—for this OLOB. They didn't go over too well, so I'll likely not do them again. But perhaps they were simply misplaced. I'd be interested to hear further opinions beyond the yes/no/maybes on this.

Do you think next time, maybe you could set up separate threads for each section of the book, and open them all at the beginning, so that folks could all read and comment at their own pace...? As long as folks don't go back and post spoilers in the earlier sections!

>7 elizajanecurtis: That might be good; the problem I had with doing it in sections was that it was too long in between each section.

re: open threads... maybe one open thread, plus one or more other threads with guided topics for discussion?

The Open Threads, for me, signalled the start of the discussion. This may not be necessary if we are not reading in chunks.

>7 elizajanecurtis: That's a good suggestion.

>10 LynnB: Maybe >7 elizajanecurtis: would work better if we only did a week in between, instead of two? Some LT staffers were concerned that this book was too long for a group read like OLOB, which is why we broke it up like we did.

yes, a shorter time period would be better. The last section only had 46 pages and we had a long time to get it read.

I like >7 elizajanecurtis: idea. That way it doesn't matter how fast or slow you are reading the book. You can just go to that thread when you finish that section of the book.

I read this book so long ago (and didn't have time to read it again) that I didn't participate in the OLOB, but I would recommend having threads for sections, that all open at the beginning, and that include the assumption that those threads WILL contain spoilers regarding that particular section but with the hope that people won't post about later sections in the discussion of earlier sections . . . is that too much to ask? (probably)

My thought is that people could read a section, post about that section, then move on to the next section, etc. . . .

FWIW, I'm not really seeing enough discussion in any of these threads to be encouraged about these OLOB events . . . I really did think it was a good idea at the beginning, but doesn't seem to work in practice. Then again, the ReadaThings also seem to have gone the way of the dodo, so perhaps people just aren't willing to do general group reads anymore . . . :( Are group reads happening in other forums?