Viva Lewes Issue #139 April 2018

LITERATURE
Get into reading
Lewes book groups
As anyone who has
thought about joining a
Lewes choir will know,
there are a large number,
and they are very different.
The same is true of
book groups. Not all take
the ‘reading’ bit seriously.
Some are more focused on
extending the opportunity
for playground conversations,
enhanced by wine, and offer a lot of mutual
support. Many have been established for years.
Lewes has many intelligent, opinionated readers,
and in some groups, discussion is taken seriously
with the expectation that you’ve read all of the
chosen text. Most aren’t ‘open’, but some are. The
Get Into Reading group every Tuesday afternoon,
for example, welcomes everyone, so I go along.
It’s been running for nine years, in Lewes Library,
led by retired University of Sussex lecturer Christine
Cohen Park. Her role was funded initially,
but once that ended, she carried on voluntarily.
They read each book aloud, taking turns, stopping
for discussions, tea and cake.
I arrive to find them reading Rose Tremain’s
Restoration. I ask if it’s ok to interrupt to ask some
questions, and they say they are fine with that.
These answers came from various members of
the group:
Are there ‘rules’? ‘There is no right and wrong
opinion, everybody's views have equal weight.’
‘Everybody is welcome.’ ‘We always finish with a
poem, because that has a resolution.’
Why do you come? ‘I didn't do that much reading
and I stuck to genres I knew. Here, I read
books I wouldn't have chosen. It's an education.’
‘I arrived in Lewes not knowing a soul, and I’ve
made new friends.’
‘Having a leader,
an ethos and some
structure is helpful.’
‘If the protagonists
are going through a
crisis, sometimes we
share our own. The
themes of the book can
draw things out. It’s
supportive. Someone
with ME came and lay on the carpet for part of
the time. And once, we went to the house of a
member who wasn't well enough to come.’
Who chooses the book? ‘Christine makes the final
decision. Each book needs to work well being
read out, although there is some discussion.’
How long does it take to get through each
one? ‘It depends on how much we talk about it!’
How do you feel about reading out loud? ‘It’s
fine, even though I felt nervous initially. You don’t
have to read out loud.’
Where do you source your copies? ‘60% from
the library, who are brilliant.’ Emma Chaplin
Get Into Reading, upstairs at Lewes Library, 2.30-
4.45pm every Tuesday, free, all welcome. Just turn
up or contact Christine christinecohenpark@yahoo.
com, 01273 480650 / Lewes Short Story Club, run
by Holly Dawson. Monthly, free, held in the back
room of Lewes Waterstones. Three stories are read
aloud, and this is followed by a lively discussion.
Everyone gets a photocopy of the stories. lewesshortstory.co.uk
/ Cook the Books, organised by
Viva’s Chloë King, comprises sharing of different
dishes brought by people inspired by recipes in
their favourite cook books. Meets monthly. cookthebooks.club
/ U3A has a fortnightly Book Circle,
see u3asites.org.uk
Photo by Emma Chaplin
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