I got so into picking apart symbolism that our book club almost dissolved over a vase

I stopped just accepting the obvious themes and started questioning every metaphor, which led to a two-hour fight about whether a blue curtain represented sadness or laundry day. It was absurd, but now we all bring dictionaries to meetings just in case.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_daniel1mo ago

But really, who decided every single detail has to mean something huge? Sometimes a vase is just a vase, you know? It's a book club, not a court case. Are we trying to enjoy stories or win some argument? Two hours over a blue curtain seems crazy. What's the actual point of reading if it just starts fights?

ryan_rodriguez471mo ago

Remember my 10th grade English teacher going on about the "symbolic weight" of a rainy window in some poem. Kid in the back just goes "maybe his window was leaky". Teacher got so mad but you could tell she was biting her cheek to not laugh. Sometimes the curtains are just blue, man. Shrug emoji.

elizabetht561mo ago

Come on, that fight proves you all care deeply! If a blue curtain starts a two hour debate, the writer did their job right.