We recently launched our book club and have been amazed by the response. In our age of distraction and outrage, there is so much enthusiasm for simply going back to basics and reading the great books again.
We’ve had a lot of inquiries about the book club, so here are some answers to the most commonly asked questions…
What is this for?
We are a community of lifelong learners who simply want to return to the great texts of the Western canon. We are studying them at a gentle pace, carefully and thoroughly, and discussing them together. That’s it.
We are working through a handful of the classics, from ancient to modern, from Homer to Hemingway. They are the books, epic poems, and plays that tackle the big questions of morality, meaning, and the human condition — the texts that represent major stepping stones in the journey of Western thought.
So far, we’ve read Milton’s Paradise Lost, a radical examination of the nature of evil, and Notes from Underground, Dostoevsky’s prophetic dramatization of the dangers of rationalism and utopianism.
How do I participate?
All subscribers to our publication can join the bi-weekly live streams on Substack. They take place every other Wednesday, at noon Eastern Time, and usually last for 90-120 minutes.
All paid subscribers can participate or ask questions via the live chat on Substack, or join the discussion on Zoom directly if preferred. Shortly before each session, all of our paid subscribers will receive a Zoom link via email.
Note: all paid subscribers are welcome to join the Zoom directly, but most prefer to tune in to the Substack live streams and ask questions via the live chat.
Please also join the ongoing book discussion taking place inside our subscriber chat.
Where is the link to the live session?
You can find the Substack live streams on our homepage (www.theculturist.io) — the stream will appear at the top of the homepage as soon as we go live.
However, we also share the links to the streams inside our subscriber chat, which is where you’ll find all book club announcements and general discussion.
For those who want to join the Zoom session directly, we email the Zoom links out to all paid subscribers shortly before each session.
What if I can’t make a live session?
That’s totally fine. We record all the sessions for our paid members and upload to Substack so you can watch them back any time. You can find all the recordings that we’ve posted to date here.
What is the schedule?
We are reading one new book each month, split into two bi-weekly discussions every other Wednesday (unless it’s something lengthier that requires more time to read).
Shortly after the final Wednesday session on a book takes place, we vote on the next book inside our subscriber chat. Paid members are presented with a list of books to vote on — the one with the most votes wins.
What are we reading?
There is no formal reading list, and we are reading through the great texts in no particular order. However, our members vote on a pre-selected list of classics, similar to those in the image below.
We have chosen a list of 30-40 great works that we feel qualified to discuss and explain at length. They are books that tackle the big questions on morality and the human condition, and that have contributed significantly to the great journey of Western thinking — from ancient times to modern.
What is the format of the sessions?
These are interactive sessions. The first half (45-60 minutes or so) will typically be a lecture by our expert host, Sean Berube, who will discuss key themes, plot points, and tips for reading — before moving on to the discussion section and Q&A.
All paid members are encouraged to join in directly with questions and comments in the second half, either directly via the Zoom call with Sean, or via the subscriber chat on Substack.
What is the pace of reading?
We have made this as flexible as possible so that people can read along at their own pace.
Generally speaking, we will have two bi-weekly discussions on each text (unless we are reading something that requires more time). During the first of two sessions, we will broadly cover the first half of the text, major themes, and tips for reading onward. During the second session, we will cover the second half and our reflections on the text at large.
There is no requirement to hit a certain number of chapters prior to any discussion. However, those who have at least read a few chapters by the time the first session takes place, and at least half of the book by the second session, will get the most out of the sessions.
Where can we discuss the book and our progress?
Please join us inside our subscriber chat — this is where all book club discussion takes place, and we encourage as much participation from our members as possible. This is a journey that we are all sharing, and the great texts are best studied together.
Also, after each book club session concludes, we share a written recap of key discussion points inside the subscriber chat.
Are there any other resources to help understand these texts?
Yes. Most of the texts we will be covering in the book club are texts that we’ve written about already on our Substack. Head to the literature section of our publication for breakdowns that will serve as a useful introduction to whatever we’re reading.
For example, we’ve written about the nature of evil in Milton’s Paradise Lost, the prophetic warnings of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, C.S. Lewis’s take on the question of suffering, and the quest for meaning in Homer’s Odyssey.
All paid members can access our entire archive of articles and essays from the last 18 months.