Twitter Bookclub #thePauseBC
This morning I participated in a Twitter Book Club, led by Penguin Teachers, where we discussed The Pause by John Larkin.
It was tricky at first because I’m a perfectionist and a rotten typist – so I need to type slow – and I’m used to thinking exactly what I want to say first – and then editing that. Couple this to the 140 character limit and I was severely Twitter-book-club challenged.
Everything I wanted to say required more than 140 characters.
But once I got the hang of it, the fingers started to keep up with my brain.
It was obvious everyone had thoroughly enjoyed the book. To summarise briefly: The Pause is the story of Declan (who is in Year 11) and reaches a point where he feels life is too difficult to go on. Before he jumps (and this is the very beginning so not a spoiler), he pauses. The narrative then explores the two options and I can’t tell you any more.
Surprisingly, much of the discussion centred around the parent characters, and opinions, at times were polarised. I think this is a testament to the strength of Larkin’s character building and certainly doesn’t diminish Declan’s presence. It is his story and his perspective we look through, even though as readers we might challenge it.
So here’s hoping there’s another book, another day.You can check out the discussion here on Storify.
