From the Community Catalog: A Reflection on our First Darker Times Book Club and The Library at Mount Char
Sitting with The Library at Mount Char in all of its flabbergasting glory.
We partner with Bookshop for all our book links. Any purchase you make through our links help support Darker Times.
Firsts are meaningful––the first time we lose a tooth, the first time we drive a car, the first time we fall in love. There are a lot of firsts that can be experienced in our lifetime, and perhaps one of my favorite firsts is discovering a beloved book. In selecting the title for our first Darker Times book club, the need to land on a book that meant something was paramount. And in conferring with the Darker Times team, Scott Hawkins’ The Library at Mount Char seemed to fit that bill.
Now, I should address something about this book before we begin––it has been recommended to me for literal years by some of my very favorite people. When I would ask them what it was about this book that brought such high acclaim, there was always a hesitant, hushed language around it. Just trust me, it won’t make sense for a while, but it’s worth it. It changed my life, it’s such an incredible book. Such chatter around this novel instilled some nerves; what the hell was between the front and back cover? Now, having read the book, I can confirm that no amount of conversation could have prepared me for the territory traversed in The Library at Mount Char, and I am so very thankful for this first to have been accomplished with such a lovely group of folks, the Darker Times community.
The Library at Mount Char is a book that doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre, doesn’t cover any one conflict, and doesn’t shy away from the most brutal truths of the human experience through some truly otherworldly means. Scott Hawkins penned one of the most impressive debuts that I have read to date, somewhere between fantasy and horror, but moreover, he wrote a book that garnered so much conversation. Books that have the ability to forge connections outside of their pages always feel extra special, kind of like a boost of humanity that we all could use these days.
On top of these meaningful emotional ties, the technical merits of this novel have lingered. Hawkins weaves a very intricate narrative that requires an extreme amount of planning, understanding, and respect for the art of storytelling, extending beyond his own plot. Many discussions over the course of our book club centered around the creative choices Hawkins made––when he would choose to dispense details, zoom in on them, or pan away. These choices felt monumental, and, given that Mount Char is Hawkins’ debut, especially impressive. Additionally, his very intentional character work felt wholly unique, accented by glib humor and memorable dialogue. Truly, I cannot name another book like The Library at Mount Char.
With the Darker Times book club, our goal is to create a meaningful community around the books that we love and cherish so much. In my mind, this was wholly accomplished thanks to The Library at Mount Char, and it is my sincerest hope that this continues into our future selections and discussions.
The Darker Times book club is for paid subscribers only. This month, we're reading Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones. Want to get in on future discussions? Subscribe now!
Darker Times
Comments ()