The words ‘silent bookclub’ are usually met with a confused look. A bookclub is where you go to argue about a specific and prescribed bit of reading, and you’re expected to stick to the ‘curriculum’ and (ideally) actually finish reading the book.
However, The Silent Bookclub, recently hosted at Camus Farm in Ardfield, is different.
On a warm and muggy Sunday afternoon earlier in August, about 30 people gathered to drink tea, coffee, ginger beer, and sit in companionable silence reading whatever they wished.
Organised by Sarah Moloney, a Tipp girl living in Gaggin, she got the idea from a friend who was hosting the San Francisco chapter of the Silent Bookclub stateside.
She contacted the groups in Dublin and Galway to get some practical advice, and the first West Cork Silent Bookclub ran at Camus Farm in July.
The bookclub is free to attend, but people are asked to support the hosts by buying something if they can. Sarah is doing this on a voluntary basis, but says it’s not a big commitment.
‘It’s just to keep building it now. October is our next bookclub, and it’s free but we do booking online through Eventbrite just to keep track of numbers.’
The gathering is very relaxed: ‘Here, you can bring a friend, or you can walk the grounds. Some people have said they find it hard in social situations, so this is one of those spaces for every kind of person. Everyone’s welcome’.
The Southern Star had a chance to speak with a few bookworms before the silent hour began. Almost overwhelming, the appeal in The Silent Bookclub was found in the companionship, even if it’s not necessarily verbal. Leanne Hunter and Anneisha Hurley from Bandon came to The Bookclub together; Leanne really got into reading during lockdown, and both were reading fantasy novels at Camus Farm.
‘She’s better for it (reading) than I am!’ says Anneisha, who recalls a fondness for Jacqueline Wilson and Nicholas Sparks when she was younger. Both she and Leanne (who is fan of murder and mystery novels) were attracted to the idea, where people ‘aren’t pressurised into socialising’.
Across the way and sitting in the corner is Marilien. From Amsterdam originally, she’s living in Ballinspittle and reading Dream Count on a kindle.
She’s at Camus Farm with her sister Vivien (who’s reading a Dutch translation of Anna Burns’ Milkman) and Viven’s partner Greg (Burning Love by Dutch writer, Jan Wolkers). They are visiting from the Netherlands.
‘I know Sarah’ says Marilien, ‘and I thought it wasn’t for me but I came last month, and I loved it. It’s such a lovely feeling of being together. It’s the first time in ages I actually read. It’s interesting that it’s on a Sunday; it feels like a “sacred moment”’.
The idea of The Silent Bookclub appeals to the social introvert.
There’s no pressure to have a fully-formed critical thought on the book in an instant, and no-one will ask why you did or didn’t like it, and there’s no obligation to read or finish a novel, because no one will check. It’s just you and your book.
There are other kinds of people who benefit from this kind of social outing too.
One man, who did not wish to be named, has a hearing impairment and said that this necessarily limited his social activities. Like many readers, he brought a choice of material. In his case, HG Wells’ The Time Machine, and Tolstoy’s slim How Much Land Does a Man Need.
‘I’m moving away from bestsellers. This, The Time Machine, it’s not about science and maths and engineering; it’s about society, and civilisation. It was published in 1845, and it’s a study of human nature. The time machine is a trivial aspect’.
After the chatting is done and the silent hour begins, it’s not a forbidding silence. It’s more like a library in a college, or a warm study hall. In the large, open dining hall, all that can be heard are people shuffling and the sounds of the trees and birds outside the wide open doors, and the occasional clanking of a cup or glass. People are asked to go outside if they want to take a phone call or stretch their legs, but most stay where they are for the hour, which is brought to a subtle end as people ‘wake up’ and begin to speak to one another again in low voices, before the room comes alive once more. Some people have brought books they want to get rid of, and these are collected on a central table giving people a chance to take something new home if they wish, and get talking to others if they
want to.
Trish Kennefick has travelled from Mallow to Ardfield for the bookclub. The distance didn’t put her off: ‘I saw it online and I thought it looked interesting. I was big reader as a child but not so much now, with life and work; I like the idea that we don’t all have to talk about the same book, and I was interested to see Camus Farm too.’
Jackie McCarthy from Clonakilty hasn’t travelled as far. With the Five People You Meet in Heaven under her arm, a book she’s read many times, she confessed that she’s an avid reader, happiest with a cup of tea, and up to bed with a book. Likewise, Ann and Stuart Sloan made the short journey over from Inchydoney. Ann is using the hour to research her Lonely Planet Guide to Japan for their upcoming trip, while Stuart is reading David McWilliams Money.
‘The book is very good’ says Stuart. ‘I mainly read novels, so this is unusual. I’m not interested in a traditional bookclub; I like to read for myself. And this is something we can do together, but not ‘together’’.
Ann, meanwhile, is attracted to the fact that the Silent Bookclub gives her a chance to see what other people are reading. Her physical copy of the Lonely Planet might be considered a little unusual considering how many people research their holidays online, but she prefers to have the book in her hand.
‘I love reading, and I love flicking back and forth through the book. Online you’re just staring at the screen. I ordered it in Kerr’s, and they got the newest edition in for
me’
The next Silent Bookclub in Camus Farm will be on Sunday October 12th. Other Silent Bookclubs may be held in Skibbereen, Kinsale, and Clonakilty in the latter end of the year, but these are yet to be confirmed. Find more details about the West Cork chapter on Instagram, and bookings can be made via Eventbrite.
