Did anyone else think it was a bit odd that Bernadette and Prudie just decide to start a book club after knowing each other for about an hour? I really loved the movie, I just found it kind of strange....
shareNo, I think it's a great way to make new friends that you have common interests with. Prudie made all those new friends that she would have never known otherwise. Same with Grigg.
In real life, it wouldn't have happened that fast, especially since they were meeting in each other's homes. You wouldn't want to invite a stranger to your home. I know some book group leaders who hand-pick the members very carefully, to be sure they all get along.
shareThis is super late and probably irrelevant now, but anyway. Personally I don't find it that weird. I mean they both clearly loved Austen's novels very much, and knew people who did as well, so forming a book club seems natural. It gave them a reason to talk about something they loved, and maybe have some fun too.
I only do it with superheroes.
I agree. I don’t think it would happen with just any book club, but very believable with Janeites reading Austen.
shareYeah, I don't know if fans of novels about career criminals or serial killers would be willing to invite each other to their homes for a crime-book club meetings, but Austen fans are pretty harmless. Certain kinds of social groupings encourage people to trust each others, like members of the same church, birdwatchers, or fossil hunters. If you're involved at all, there's an assumption that you have certain values and personality traits in common with other involved people, and it's easy to establish trust.
Besides, the book was set in Davis, California, a sleepy and safe college town, one of the few places in the world where children still walk or bike to school without a parent there to guard them. People aren't as distrustful of strangers there as they are in big cities, not that the movie was shot there. The movie seemed to be set in generic southern California.