Pathfinder the Table Top RPG as a Book Club?

I am part of a group that plays a game called Pathfinder it is like Dungeons and Dragons. Our group is like a book club. The story is told by a game master. We all get the same information told in story format. Like all stories we interpret the information differently, our group has a dialogue on how to proceed. We dissect every angle of what the authors have written. We discuss points for hours sometimes before making a move. It is kind of like a book club where you choose your own adventure. We get to create the characters that inhabit this world and actually interact with it. We are doing what most readers wish they could do. We are immersing ourselves in this other world that was created by someone else and bring a bit of ourselves with us into it. It is considered a game but it is more like collaborative storytelling.

The story is laid out like all stories there are plot points and hooks, twists and turns, the only difference is we are the characters and they are not prewritten. A typical session starts with a recap of what we have accomplished so far. Then the game master gets into telling the story and based on the information provided and what has already been established we as players have to come to a decision of what should happen next in the story with the given options. Some decisions are made by dice rolls but there is a majority of it that is made through discussion and dissection of the story so far.

We meet weekly or bi-weekly and play. The only person who actually reads the whole story and most of the options is the game master. The rest of the players just get to see what happens from their decisions.

We are not a traditional book club. We listen to the story at the same time, now occasionally one of the players will miss a session we spend part of the next session recapping for them, so they are caught up. Sometimes things are missed, and they have to make decisions on the fly. There is a lot of talking at once and taking turns sharing perspectives. Everyone gets a chance to speak and be heard. The game master acts as a moderator for the group reigning things in when the discussion gets out of hand or goes on for too long and it is time to move on.

Another way we differ from a traditional book club is our meetings last hours, usually a minimum of 2-3, at a time. Our stories go on for months following the same arc. The average life of a game in Pathfinder is 6 months. Meaning it takes us 6 months to get through one complete story. So our titles do not change frequently.

There are many differences between us and a traditional book club. But we do have some similarities like snacks. We either all bring our own or pitch in and order pizza to share.  We are like a book club in that we share a story and talk about it, the biggest difference is we are part of it. We get to impact where the story goes next.

Special Topic: Graphic Novels

What is a graphic novel? This is a question that still begs answering to this day as there is no clear answer. How does it differ from a comic book? That is a bit easier to explain a comic book is a periodical that tells part or a short story about a character and intended for children. A graphic novel is “usually taken to mean a long comic narrative for a mature audience, published in hardback or paperback and sold in bookstores, with serious literary themes and sophisticated artwork.” (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Are graphic novels their own genre? I don’t believe they are I believe they are a delivery method not unlike audiobooks. They are not limited to a specific genre like horror or action but rather can be found across all genres. It is a medium by which a story is told. The features of a graphic novel are not indicative of the story being told but the manner in which it is told much like an audiobook or print book. These mediums are how people choose to enjoy a story. Many popular classics such as Frankenstein and The Three Musketeers have been turned into graphic novels cementing the fact that they are not a genre but a medium.

This can help shed light on the question of if graphic novels can be considered literature. I believe they can be if the story they are telling is one that is literature worthy. Many great literary tales have been converted into graphic novels does this in some way take away from the story’s literary credibilityMerriam-Webster defines literature as “writings in prose or verse especially writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest”. So, the argument could easily be made that graphic novels are told through prose as well as imagery and could therefore technically be considered literature. “Awareness doesn’t mean critical sophistication or conscious analysis; reading the images in graphic novels is similar to learning to “read” one’s environment — point of view, consequences of action, and feelings provide narrative cues.” (Goldsmith)

Week 7 Prompt

As someone with severe depression and anxiety, I am a major advocate for mental health, and I really related to and got a strong message from the book 13 Reasons Why. I believe it is a powerful text that shows us just how our words and actions affect the people around us. When the Netflix show based on the book came out there was a lot of backlash saying the book was pro-suicide. We defend books we love like we do close friends or family because that is what they become to us. I had to defend one of my favorite books to literally everyone who hadn’t read it based on what was being said about the show. I can say I have never watched the Netflix series, but the book tells a powerful story that everyone has an impact on our lives good or bad. I feel the book shows a valid side to depression that sometimes you can’t recover, it reinforced for me the belief that a person did not kill themselves but was killed by depression. Hannah’s depression was brought on by bullying, so when I read the article this week about how the author was accused of harassment, I was slightly shocked. I felt betrayed by a man I had never met and likely never will. Yet I felt like he owed to me to be the kind of person I expected because of a book he wrote, and I liked it.

 We are all human and make mistakes, I have never met, nor do I ever expect to meet, the perfect person. We all say things we regret and don’t mean. The same article went on to prove another valid point though to me, one person does not make the voice of a movement. Another book I love Furiously Happy is about depression and is more of a memoir, but it too shows the many sides of depression. 13 Reasons Why takes an extreme stance that is not found in Furiously Happy. I think both books are part of healthy dialogue on depression and suicide.

Books and authors take on new meaning to us as readers when the work is near to us for whatever reason. It makes it hard to like something when you know the creator did or stood for something you are against. I don’t agree with Jay Asher’s actions and it has caused a struggle in me to justify still liking his work after learning this about him. One thing I do know is I can’t change how that book makes me feel and what it has done for me but that doesn’t mean the author gets a pass. 

Underwood, Alexia. (2018) The #metoo Movement Hit the Literary World Hard This Week. It's Not the First Time. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/2018/5/10/17323642/metoo-junot-diaz-allegations-nobel-literature-prize

Week 6 Prompt

I would do a Summer Camp theme display for our summer reading program. Ideally, I would do a different “Camp” for each genre but as we are focusing on only one genre, I will limit my focus to Horror. One of the displays I would do would be “Camp Crystal Lake” and fill the display with horror books and movies. This takes Horror out of its niche at Halloween and gives it more limelight. I would bring up Steven King titles in books and pair them with the movies, I would pull book and movie adaptations of each other and other general horror movies and books. I would make sure to include titles friendly for each age group, such as Goosebumps for the younger children. We could even do ghost books, a similar take on the blind date with a book but choose horror books instead. Do light descriptions and key notes about the book that may be a turnoff for some. But you don’t know what you are reading until you open the paper.

The Poison Thread

The Poison Thread

By: Laura Purcell

Synopsis

Ruth Butterham lived a rough life from a young age. She was tormented in school because she wasn’t as well off as the other girls. She found her place beside her mother embroidering and sewing, as soon as Ruth’s mother turns up pregnant and the family barely getting by as it was Ruth’s recreational assistance turns into a full-time job at 14. The baby dies after Ruth embroiders on her blanket the family falls apart, her father committing suicide and forcing her mother to “sell” Ruth into service of the dressmaker they were contracting with. As time progresses Ruth learns of deaths and misfortunes of others who she sewed for including her mother her suspicion grows that her sewing is cursed. When her mistress dies, she cannot help but believe it to be her own fault. Dorothea is a 25-year-old aristocrat who is secretly a phrenologist who lost her mother and lives with a father whose main goal is to get her married. While Dorothea’s is to be a good charitable person by Catholic standards. She spends her time at the Oakgate prison where she meets Ruth and is enraptured by the idea that a 16-year-old can have the skull of a killer and if it can change. “If we can detect vice in a timely manner and point the child down another path, the shape of the head, as well as the texture of the spirit may change.” The book is written in alternating perspectives from both girls, Ruth recounting her life to Dorothea and Dorothea muddling through it and her own life.

Characteristics of Horror

·         Has moments of gore described in detail

·         Unresolved Ending

·         Erratic Pacing

·         Dark and Foreboding Mood

·         Narrative told in alternating chapters

·         Vague Villain

Read A-Likes

·         Edgar Allen Poe

·         The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

·         The Unseeing by Anna Mazzola

·         The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Week 5 Prompt

I don’t think its right that one type of book gets reviewed all to pieces and other books get ignored. This can impact the library collection by increasing requests for “Best Sellers” because they have read a good review about it and they are the only books they are seeing reviewed. Then your collection has a large number of one type of book or too many copies of one book that will have to be weeded later on down the line, all because these are the books getting reviewed publicly.

I don’t think it is right to only print positive reviews because not everyone has a positive experience with a book. It's important to show both sides it will save people time and keep them from reading books that aren’t their taste. The only place I do not think this applies is on the book itself because these reviews are meant to help sell the book.  I think reviews are important for me personally because I do not purchase for a library. I read reviews as well as summaries when deciding what to read next. I check the reviews on the book, I know these are generally only good reviews meant to sell the book, but it is a good highlight of what people liked about the book the best.   When the reviews and summaries line up to something that sounds like my taste, I will check out the book. I also like to skim the first couple pages of the book as well to see if I like the writing style.

Kirkus Style Review of The Poison Thread

Set in Victorian England this gothic tale of a charitable aristocrat and a dressmaker turned maid who is in jail for killing her mistress with what she claims are supernatural abilities.

Ruth Butterham lived a rough life from a young age. She was tormented in school because she wasn’t as well off as the other girls. She found her place beside her mother embroidering and sewing, as soon as Ruth’s mother turns up pregnant and the family barely getting by as it was Ruth’s recreational assistance turns into a full-time job at 14. The baby dies after Ruth embroiders on her blanket the family falls apart, her father committing suicide and forcing her mother to “sell” Ruth into service of the dressmaker they were contracting with. As time progresses Ruth learns of deaths and misfortunes of others who she sewed for including her mother her suspicion grows that her sewing is cursed. When her mistress dies, she cannot help but believe it to be her own fault. Dorothea is a 25-year-old aristocrat who is secretly a phrenologist who lost her mother and lives with a father whose main goal is to get her married. While Dorothea’s is to be a good charitable person by Catholic standards. She spends her time at the Oakgate prison where she meets Ruth and is enraptured by the idea that a 16-year-old can have the skull of a killer and if it can change. “If we can detect vice  in a timely manner and point the child down another path, the shape of the head, as well as the texture of the spirit may change.” The book is written in alternating perspectives from both girls, Ruth recounting her life to Dorothea and Dorothea muddling through it and her own life. 

I liked the book but could not help but feel it was missing one more, even a short chapter from Ruth at the end. It didn’t have me burning through the pages, but it did keep me wondering until the end.