Book Club

A discussion group, hosted by someone who’s visually impaired, for those members of the visually impaired in the community, translated…

It was, a Sunday afternoon when my friend was a no show, it’d, hit me, that she was, hosting a book club nearby, I’d, immediately, run on over.

This book club, was, somehow, related to me. About two years ago, I’d met up with a couple of my visually impaired friends at a friend’s café, discussing “The Dreams of the Red Mansion”. She is a Chinese teacher, very wide read, she’d read all of the classics in the world, I’d, asked her a couple of questions; perhaps, there’s, a lacking of this sort of a discussion going on in the cafés, as the owner heard our discussion, he’d come by immediately and inquired, “Are you hosting a book club meeting?”

Thus, that, was the birth, of our, unscheduled book club. But on that day, it was, my first time.

I’d, walked into the café, saw that boy sitting at the corner, he’d only wanted, some place, to settle in, and instead, he’d, accidentally, gotten, involved in the “book club”. Because, he was, intrigued by the visually impaired, discussing literature, he’d, settled in, and became, a brand new friend to the group, and the only other seeing person, beside me.

It was very loud at the scene, there were people from Keelung, from Taichung, and as far as Hong Kong too; the small café was, completely, cramped, and, the audience almost, flowed to the sidewalks outside the café.

We discussed “Gone with the Wind” on that day.

The story began, with the female protagonist, Scarlet, trapped between the two men she was in love with.

She’d stated slowly, unsure, if we were actually, listening, and not known, if what she was saying, was attention getting, there was, silence all around; and, one of the segments she’d talked of, how Scarlet had, used the green velvet drapes to make a new dress……I’d, accidentally, let out a sound in awe, and, it’d, started this ripple effect, with everybody else, chiming in after me, and people started, trading opinions on the matter with their neighbors; at this moment, I saw her, relieved, “So, you’re all, listening!” Our voices gave her the encouragement she needed, she looked happy, took a sip of water, then, discussed the approaches of love that Scarlet took: if the story sets in present day, if we were, her, how would we choose………

After she’d become blind, she’d, spent a lot of time, listening to books on tape, from “Jane Eyre”, to “Pride and Prejudice”, from “Les Miserables” to “Count of Monte Cristo”, she took, everybody on this journey, venturing into the worlds she’d, ventured into. She’d loved reading, as well as talking, it’d made her willing, to take the greyhound from Yilan, then transfer on the busses, to come here; she’d talked of the day when she’d, just lost her vision, although she’d, stated it so light, but, I’d not, neglected to note, how in the adjustments, she’d, shown great strengths, otherwise, she couldn’t, be where she is right now.

With the progressions of “Gone with the Wind”, my thoughts got into the Civil War, until the waiter tapped me on my shoulders, “here’s your coffee!”, I’d taken a few sips, and, smelled the scent of cookies baking, and suddenly, I’d felt, two forces, fulling at me, on the one side, the stories, the other, the snacks, until the end of my own tug-of-war, I’d, lifted my head, looked out the window, it was, almost dusk.

I watched as all of the visually impaired audience got up to leave, some were searching for their canes, some, their purses, some, felt the walls, to get to the restrooms, some asked someone else to call up a cab………I am, deeply, impressed! I’d recalled that in “Gone with the Wind”, an elderly woman who’d, weathered through the hardships of life said to Scarlett, that’s, fitting for now—as we met our storms, the hardships come, we’d not, blamed the heavens, or others, just, kept working hard, smiling, waiting on, the better days.

And so, by being around these people with visual impairments, you learned, of their strengths, of how much hardships they were weathering through in their lives, and yet, each and every one of them still, worked very hard, to make their living day to day matter!