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The Reading Revellers (TRR) started as an online extension from a Vancouver based Book Club, Reading Revellers Club of Vancouver (RRCV) during the pandemic lockdown of 2020. With support from the founding leaders of Reading Revellers Club of Vancouver and enthusiasm of young Reading Revellers in the team, The Reading Revellers was born.
TRR is an online medium of discourse on topics that our Reading Revellers find important to discuss. You can also participate in these programs and be an active participant. If you would like to do more than just participate, let us know.
The Reading Revellers (TRR) started as an online extension from a Vancouver based Book Club, Reading Revellers Club of Vancouver (RRCV) during the pandemic lockdown of 2020. With support from the founding leaders of Reading Revellers Club of Vancouver and enthusiasm of young Reading Revellers in the team, The Reading Revellers was born.
TRR is an online medium of discourse on topics that our Reading Revellers find important to discuss. You can also participate in these programs and be an active participant. If you would like to do more than just participate, let us know.
You may join us and leave a formative impression!
You may join us and leave a formative impression!
The story of the genesis of RRCV was covered by the Globe and Mail in 2009. The following is an excerpt from the article.
The story of the genesis of RRCV was covered by the Globe and Mail in 2009. The following is an excerpt from the article.
Naresh Koirala lived all over the world before he moved to Vancouver in 1994. A Nepalese geo-technical engineer who specializes in designing tunnels and landslide-prevention systems, he worked in Thailand and Hong Kong, among many other places, using and learning English along the way.
Naresh Koirala lived all over the world before he moved to Vancouver in 1994. A Nepalese geo-technical engineer who specializes in designing tunnels and landslide-prevention systems, he worked in Thailand and Hong Kong, among many other places, using and learning English along the way.
But once he was in Vancouver, his work took over his life. "I got so busy that I stopped reading," Koirala said. "I was too focused on what I was doing and my horizon was shrinking, I thought. So I needed to go back to reading."
But once he was in Vancouver, his work took over his life. "I got so busy that I stopped reading," Koirala said. "I was too focused on what I was doing and my horizon was shrinking, I thought. So I needed to go back to reading."
Koirala, an ever-curious and energetic 65-year-old, also felt he couldn't speak English as well as he'd have liked. And he was bothered by what he saw as a general decline in reading and wanted to get families to spend more time with books.
Koirala, an ever-curious and energetic 65-year-old, also felt he couldn't speak English as well as he'd have liked. And he was bothered by what he saw as a general decline in reading and wanted to get families to spend more time with books.
Three years ago, he found a way to solve all of life's quandaries. He started a book club, naturally, and he did it by reaching out to Vancouver's tiny Nepalese community of 600 people.
Three years ago, he found a way to solve all of life's quandaries. He started a book club, naturally, and he did it by reaching out to Vancouver's tiny Nepalese community of 600 people.
Today, the club meets the first Saturday of every month in the home of one its half-dozen core members, all of them Nepalese immigrants.
Today, the club meets the first Saturday of every month in the home of one its half-dozen core members, all of them Nepalese immigrants.
Every second month is devoted to a book, giving everyone lots of time to read the selected work (not that everyone does, Koirala says). Among the books they've covered are Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, Roots, by Alex Haley, and Thomas Homer-Dixon's The Ingenuity Gap.
Every second month is devoted to a book, giving everyone lots of time to read the selected work (not that everyone does, Koirala says). Among the books they've covered are Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, Roots, by Alex Haley, and Thomas Homer-Dixon's The Ingenuity Gap.
The in-between months are spent discussing issues of some weight. January's topic was "The Impact of Changing Modes of Inter-Personal Communication in the Society and the Individual"; next month the members, most of them raised as Hindus, will hash over the question of whether the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu text, sanctions violence by promoting the idea of just and unjust wars.
The in-between months are spent discussing issues of some weight. January's topic was "The Impact of Changing Modes of Inter-Personal Communication in the Society and the Individual"; next month the members, most of them raised as Hindus, will hash over the question of whether the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu text, sanctions violence by promoting the idea of just and unjust wars.
Koirala admits that much of the discussion occurs in the members' native language, but all the books are in English; as well, the host of every meeting has to write a summary in English of the discussion and send it to all the other members.
Koirala admits that much of the discussion occurs in the members' native language, but all the books are in English; as well, the host of every meeting has to write a summary in English of the discussion and send it to all the other members.
Aside from the adult stuff, the first hour of each meeting is devoted to members' children, aged 7-13, who read and report on their own book selection.
Aside from the adult stuff, the first hour of each meeting is devoted to members' children, aged 7-13, who read and report on their own book selection.
"They select the subject they want to read, and then they are questioned and critiqued by the adults and the other kids," Koirala says. "That's been going on for more than two years now and the children seem to be much more enthusiastic about coming to the club and reading to the club - more than some of the adults."
"They select the subject they want to read, and then they are questioned and critiqued by the adults and the other kids," Koirala says. "That's been going on for more than two years now and the children seem to be much more enthusiastic about coming to the club and reading to the club - more than some of the adults."
Koirala has an infectious love of books that comes across even in a long-distance phone call. One of his favourites is Pride and Prejudice : "I enjoyed just getting a sense of the style of English in the early 19th century," he said. "It's such a joy to read and you get a sense of the culture and how the society lived and what the priorities were in little English villages at the time the book was written. Those are fantastic experiences just to read them and feel them."
Koirala has an infectious love of books that comes across even in a long-distance phone call. One of his favourites is Pride and Prejudice : "I enjoyed just getting a sense of the style of English in the early 19th century," he said. "It's such a joy to read and you get a sense of the culture and how the society lived and what the priorities were in little English villages at the time the book was written. Those are fantastic experiences just to read them and feel them."
His enthusiasm has lately begun to directly benefit his homeland: Koirala is the president of the Nepal Library Foundation, a charity he co-founded that raises money to build and operate libraries in Nepal. Its broader goal is to help establish a national library system in a country where 40 per cent of the population lives in poverty and illiteracy rates are among the highest in the world.
His enthusiasm has lately begun to directly benefit his homeland: Koirala is the president of the Nepal Library Foundation, a charity he co-founded that raises money to build and operate libraries in Nepal. Its broader goal is to help establish a national library system in a country where 40 per cent of the population lives in poverty and illiteracy rates are among the highest in the world.
"With reading you always learn," says Koirala, who returns to Nepal every year. "You learn the language, you learn the writing style, you learn how to express yourself in difficult ideas. It always helps."
"With reading you always learn," says Koirala, who returns to Nepal every year. "You learn the language, you learn the writing style, you learn how to express yourself in difficult ideas. It always helps."
First PUBLISHED MAY 22, 2009 on the Globe and Mail
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