Alternate Group Read (Non-Fiction - Jan 2016) - Gratitude by Oliver Sacks

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Our first Alternate group read is Gratitude by Oliver Sacks!

Apologies this thread is up a bit late! But discussion starts from now.

If anyone wants to be a group read leader for this, and pose questions/encourage people to read, feel free to post on here!

[Bouchra]

Looks like an interesting book, possibly a quick read, despite the depth it seems to hold.

I'd love to be a group read leader, I'll find a way to get a copy within the next 24 hours or so and start posing questions ...

Are there any specific questions that must be included or should I just feel free to improvise?

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

It's something new we're trying so feel free to improvise. Ask questions that the story makes you think about or things you'd Ike to discuss. Try not to ask things that include spoilers.

Lots of times just having a few questions will get the conversation started... Although not everyone will choose to respond to the questions.

[Bouchra]

Thanks, Renee!

I still am in the process of securing myself a copy, but I thought I'd start by posing a couple of questions ...

Q1. What comes to your mind when you hear/read the word "gratitude", in everyday conversation?

Q2. What does "gratitude" mean for you?

Q3. What is the first impression you have of this book, without having read anything but the Goodreads synopsis?

I'll answer these questions myself tomorrow!

[Bouchra]

Hmmm, is there anyone reading the book? I started and finished it on the 7th.

Anyway, here are the answers to the pre-reading questions I posed:

A1. The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the word "gratitude" is a huge Thank You sign or someone expressing their profound thanks to another.

A2. Gratitude to me means taking the time to remember to thank someone for something they did for you. It also means that I am thankful to God for the things he gives me on a daily basis, whether they be large success or small wins.

A3. I imagined the book would discuss gratitude from the author's point of view.

Now that I'm done reading the book, I have a couple more questions, but I won't post them until I see some activity here!

I don't think I'm the only person in this group to have read the book, after all, I missed voting, so it's definitely not me who played a role in choosing the book!

[Holly, That Geeky One]

I'm going to be starting this in the next few days!

[Hannah]

I'll be reading too but have another book to finish first - it's nearly done!

[Anna]

I'm starting this book later today so I'll take a super quick stab at answering these now:

Q1. What comes to your mind when you hear/read the word "gratitude", in everyday conversation?

A1. It's a word I tend to hear more (in everyday terms) in relation to illness...gratitude for help from friends and family, for support from community members and healthcare providers, for each shared moment left. I rarely hear it come up in relation to other situations where gratitude may well be the reaction. We say "thank you" all the time and express "appreciation," yet I rarely hear discussions about "gratitude".

Q2. What does "gratitude" mean for you?

A1. I guess I think of gratitude as an emotion, as opposed to maybe appreciation as an expression less in touch with the emotional weight of thankfulness. When I think of real gratitude, I think of this happy/sad feeling thankfulness and the strong desire to be able to express that feeling, to share the strong desire to enact it in a positive way.

Q3. What is the first impression you have of this book, without having read anything but the Goodreads synopsis?

A3. I know Oliver Sacks more from interviews and podcasts (I used to be a devoted RadioLab listener) than from his writing. I always enjoyed his personality, his voice on those shows. He sounded highly intelligent, a good bit kooky, very personal and relatable, and very compassionate about humanity. I remember hearing that he was dying and then when he passed (in August 2015, I think) and that there was a collection of his reflections on the end of life, about which I immediately though, "I would trust that voice to have something impactful and truthful to say about the end of life."

[Hannah]

Have read this today - such a short book which I think needs to be read again and perhaps again.
My initial thoughts of gratitude before reading were about thankfulness and appreciation. It can also be used to make people feel guilty - how often are children told they should be grateful?
Having read the book - gratitude is should be a daily state and perhaps by distancing ourselves from what is going on around us and recognising and appreciating our experiences of living helps this to happen.

[Holly, That Geeky One]

I finished this a few days ago and found it a really intriguing read.

I too was quite surprised, that there was honestly little about direct 'gratitude'. Instead, I think it was Sacks' way of highlighting the general gratitude you should have towards life, not so much a specific gratitude. He was generally grateful for his life, and his experiences and that really showed within the essays.

[Daniel]

I'll start tonight

[Plethora]

Both my library systems have long waits for this title.