Mensa Talks Books on Zoom
Showcase Interviews Jana Bickel
Mensa, the international high IQ-society, counts members of all ages in more than 100 countries around the world. Jana Bickel chairs Mensa’s San Fernando Valley Area’s Zoom book discussion group. We asked her about their activities in the time of Covid.
Showcase: You hold virtual discussion groups now. Will you transition to face-to-face when the pandemic settles down?
Bickel: The plan is to continue on ZOOM as most of our members don’t live in the same area, so commuting to a single location would be inconvenient. Zoom allows us to stay at home and avoid the stress of traffic.
Showcase: Instead of everyone reading the same book, you’ll occasionally read different books on related themes. How did you decide on this format?
Bickel: We discussed the format at our first meeting with people submitting book ideas to me in email. We did a survey but couldn’t find a particular book everyone wanted to read. So I tried to put the books in groups. The process continues to evolve with as much participation from the group as possible. Also, during the pandemic, we thought getting copies of the same book might be difficult. Not all books are available digitally and libraries and book stores were closed. So we tried to have a few alternatives. Also, I was afraid people might decide if they didn’t like a particular book they wouldn’t come to the meeting. By having more choices, I thought it would encourage more people to come. I’m not sure it worked out this way as you can’t always pick a subject or writer everyone wants to read. But we have a core group that seems to be willing to read almost anything.
Showcase: What California writers have you covered?
Bickel: John Steinbeck, Kevin Starr, Barry Siegel.
Showcase: What did you learn about John Steinbeck’s little-known writings?
Bickel: The earlier books like The Long Valley and Pastures of Heaven show Steinbeck learning his craft. They also show a picture of rural California in the early 20th century and show off themes that will appear in his later works like Of Mice and Men and Grapes of Wrath. The Sea of Cortez was an interesting mix of biology and philosophy and was not as typical as the novels, but still contained interesting anecdotes. The Winter of Our Discontent showed the mature Steinbeck examining how the post-War society was changing in ways he found alarming.
Showcase: What’s your take on Pipe Dream?
Bickel: I saw this Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, which is based on the characters in Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday, in a local production over 30 years ago. I thought the story and music were charming. It was not a success on Broadway. It may be that it’s a show better done in a smaller theater. It could also be that, at the time, in the Fifties, the characters were too oddball and had values from the Thirties that were no longer resonating with contemporary audiences.
Showcase: Thanks. Anything we’ve left out?
Bickel: The group meets twice a month with the first meeting being “bring your book” to share. For the second meeting we pick a subject, author, genre, or subject so we can compare and contrast the books we read. So far, we’ve had meetings on Time Travel, Westerns, Bill Bryson, Civil War fiction, John Steinbeck, World War II, Founding Fathers, and California History. The subject of our next meeting is Eleanor Roosevelt. Soon after that will be books by Terry Pratchett. I thought the most successful meeting was the one on World War II and Founding Fathers. In each case people picked books related to subject and were able to chime in with other people’s selections. Also, groups members have a wide variety of interests and often have knowledge about the subject.