There were only four of us that met for Pope Joan this month, but it turned out to be a fun discussion. We've gone to most of the Rocket Bakeries here in town, and I didn't know there was one so far north. It was a good location! Turns out there are several print editions of this book, but we only knew this based on the questions with the author at the end of newer editions. They all had discussion questions, which is mostly nice...but some questions are a bit general/dumbed down/repetitive. We usually end up having good conversations, mostly without them. We all think it's possible a female Pope could have existed (conspiracy theorists!) and I think we all wished she could have ended up with Gerold (romantics!). I really enjoyed the structure of this book; simple & effective. I learned a TON about Catholicism (and Latin & Italian, believe it or not), and it sparked interest in those areas. I think after Lolita, this might be my favorite book club selection. One criticism that I kind of understood was that one reader couldn't latch onto the character, the story didn't draw her in enough. Which started this discussion...I really wished that Joan had a fault. Just one! There was nothing wrong with this girl! She was perfect! And I thought that contributed to her lack of humanity, which hinders our understanding & compassion (which I'm familiar with because of theatre).
Pope Joan
7.5, 8.8, 8.5, (me) 9
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