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When I read something for book club, I try to wait to review it until after the book club meeting. Often my initial reaction to a book is changed through the discussion of the book. This is one reason I attend book clubs. For me, the best way to experience a book is by sharing it with others. This is why I am writing a blog about books. I listened to an audiobook of Way Station, and I felt that it went very quickly. At about 2/3 through the book I realized I was enjoying myself but that not much had happened, and I did not have much idea what sort of action and climax was going to take place in the short time left. Let me tell you, this book did not leave me disappointed.
On the other hand, it was clear that this book was written in a different time, a time when attention spans were longer and we did not rely so heavily on action-action-action to drive a story. Some people in the book club felt the book was tedious or slow, so it was interesting to discuss how this book won the Hugo and Nebula awards when it was new.
One attendee mentioned that while our expectations may have changed the subject matter of the book is still very relevant. In the book there is a threat of World War. On the day of our discussion, U.S. strikes on Syria were threatened (and have since taken place.) If a being like Enoch Wallace happens to be manning a Way Station now, he will find himself just as hard-pressed to defend the human race as our protagonist did 55 years ago.
I find a lot of value in reading books that might be dated and putting the onus on myself to look for their value- either in the context of their time or in mine. My personal expectations should not be what makes or breaks the value of a book, especially when I know it has been valued by others or was revered in another time or place. As for Way Station, I thought it was fun and appreciated the quickness of it. For such heavy subject matter, it did not take itself too seriously. This was a good pick for our sci-fi book club.
My example:
I loved reading The Martian Chronicles, even though we now know that there’s no canals or “people” on Mars, so it’s super dated. I was able to put myself in a mindset that still saw the possibility of aliens so close by, and to then feel the disappointment today that our explorations have not reached as far as people in the mid-20th century hoped we would by now.