The first meeting of the reading club fills the modernist house with words

Last Saturday, February 21th, at 12:00, the first meeting of the Can Prunera Book Club took place. The museum’s meeting room was decorated for the occasion, displaying with subtle elegance a space where the written and spoken word would come together in beautiful harmony. The club’s leader, Teresa Mayol, an anthropologist and literature enthusiast, acted as master of ceremonies to welcome the members of this new literary brotherhood. The word that defined their faces was gratitude. Also, joy. Many of the participants told us that a literary space of this caliber was needed in Sóller, where curious people who love literature and good conversation could come together. All this was accompanied by refreshments including specialty coffee, soft drinks, beer, and Mallorcan wine. As Bela Hamvas said in his work The Philosophy of Wine: nothing goes better with literature than a good wine.

From the most intimate simplicity, Teresa introduced some topics as a way to break the ice and get to know each of the members better.

Are you a daytime or nighttime reader?
Do you prefer novels or essays?
What book have you been unable to finish?
Which literary character would you invite to dinner?

With these simple questions, an atmosphere conducive to thought, attention, and honesty was created. Randomly, each person read the question they had drawn and began to voice their reasoning aloud in front of the others. Very enriching. The book chosen for these sessions was “Life Told by a Sapiens to a Neanderthal” by Arsuaga and Millás (Alfaguara, 2020). A work filled with humor, intelligence, and a kind wisdom that will make us reflect on the meaning of life. From our shared humanity, Arsuaga and Millás invite us to look at ourselves in retrospect to understand ourselves in perspective. All of this is seasoned with countless literary affinities between two thinkers who, in addition to being great writers, are eternal friends. The literary fellowship of Can Prunera thus emerges as a space for poetic friendship and human prose, with human beings who, in the face of the speed of contemporary society, have found in the museum their refuge from haste. We encourage and invite you to join the book club; we still have places available.

Participants were able to purchase the book at the museum store and become friends of Can Prunera. During the session, the action plan and the chapters to be discussed at the next meeting were set. The next meeting will take place on Saturday, March 14 at 12:00h.