Abundance of Katharines by John Green...

We had a good meeting the other night. Those who attended all enjoyed the book greatly. We discussed the theme of "mattering" and "not doing". Interestingly, we talked about how "mattering" wasn't just a teen-angst issue, but that many people struggle with the concept well into adulthood. "Not doing" was the other primary theme we saw. All three main characters were in some way "not doing" something. We all really liked Hassan's character. Some of the best "throw away lines" come from his character. Catch phrases and one liners that spoke a truth without dwelling on it caught our attention. Such as Green's comment when Colin discusses wanting to like coffee and that Katharine "liked her coffee the way she liked her boyfriends... bitter". We felt the characters were treated respectfully, but not necessarily reverently. Footnotes were an added part of the story. People felt that they went easily into the story and didn't pull you away from the storyline. We all really liked that the core relationships in the books really focused on friendship rather than romance (even though there is some of that too). We felt this book was emotionally real. We also liked the fact that the book basically begins and ends with a road trip. The one disappointment to the book we decided was the cover. It either gives the impression of a self-help book or a chic lit book, of which it is neither.

Group members - Did you miss our meeting? Did I miss something you want to include? Please add your comments to this post.