I love the variety of ages represented! That must make for great discussions.

Speaking as the group's facilitator, I certainly agree that the members' wide range in ages does make for lively and interesting discussion. We do have an infant, although honestly she really doesn't contribute much except for cuteness. But we also have our resident (and self-proclaimed) moody teenager, as well as adults ranging from 29 to 75. The different generations help to bring in varied opinions and life experiences that we use when examining the book. One of the neatest things we've found is how one's perception (and appreciation) of a book changes after reading it once and then reading it again 20 years later. Also, the generation gap yields interesting results. When we read Herman Hesse's "Siddhartha," I fully expected our younger members to really get into the notion of a young person shaking off the trapping of a charmed life in an effort to find meaning in the world. But this wasn't the case. They found this novel of self-discovery a bit pointless. Siddhartha's journey, however, really resonated with our older adults. But like I said, maybe ask our younger members to reread "Siddhartha" in 20 years, and see if their opinions have changed!

Bryan T. H.