About us
The Copenhagen Classic Book Book Club is for anyone interested in reading books.
The purpose of this book club is to read classic books that are accessible to everyone, and become wiser through sharing the reading in a social and friendly setting.
Ressources
The great benefit of classic books is that most of them are in the public domain and for that reason they are readily available, for free, in all formats.
Below are some great ressources that are helpful for you before reading one of the books for our meetups:
- LibriVox: LibriVox is an open source network of volunteers who record audiobooks. You will be able to find and download most of the books we read as audio books for free on this site. I highly recommend it. The quality of the audio, however, is not as great as with professionally made audio books.
- Project Gutenberg: Project Gutenberg is just one of many websites offering free ebooks. You will be able to find most of the books we read as ebooks on this or similar sites. To read an ebook you will need, preferably, some kind of tablet or e-reader like an Amazon Kindle or similar.
- YouTube: YouTube is also a great resource for finding and listening to audio books. Most of the books we read will also be available as audio books on YouTube.
- Local Libraries: If you are registered as a user at your local library in Denmark, you will have access to borrow ebooks and audio books for free. If you are not proficient in Danish, you can access ebooks and audio books in English by downloading the app Libby to your smart phone and tablet. By connecting the app to your local library, you will then be able to borrow e-books and audio books in English through Libby.
Founding Principles
Here are some founding principles that members at the first book club event on Sunday August 18th 2019 have agreed on [changed, revised and updated since then]:
• 1. We are a social group and sharing personal experiences related to the topics that we discuss makes a lot of sense and will bring us closer together as a group. Respect and understanding for someone who chooses to speak at our book club events about a personal experience related to the reading is therefore welcomed, and it should be respected and greeted by all who are present. Please abide to those terms.
•1b. A classic book is a book that has obtained that status within the general realm of our civilisation. Usually, a classic book will have been around for some years and can be in any genre or field, but it can also be a contemporary book that has been recognised as a contemporary classic.
• 2. The Copenhagen Classic Book Book Club meets up when it meets up. We decide from time to time when the next meetup will be. In late fall and winter, we have meetings at The Fireplace Lounge at 25hours Hotel in Pilestræde 65. During spring and late summer wet meet up at The Garden of the Royal Library. If I am sick or unable to attend a meetup, I will still put up an event and reserve a table for you guys. If we’re reading a particularly extensive book of, then we might do a mid-reading meetup, as completing a long book can be a daunting task.
• 3. There is no limit to how many people can attend each meetup, but please do click “attend” on the event. This gives me an idea of how to form the conversation and the group as a whole. If you have decided to attend an event, but in the end decide you can't go, then please remove yourself the attendees list in advance.
• 3b. Please also strive towards doing the reading, or listening, in its entirety if you plan to show up. However, you are more than welcome to join even if you have not done any of the reading. Just be aware that most attendees have done the reading will be focused on discussing the contents of the book, so be mindful of not directing the conversation in another away from the book, if you have not done reading.
4. We usually agree on new books, when members put them forward at the end of the meetup. So please do bring your suggestions for books to read to the meetup. If there's more than one book to pick from, then we decide so by popular vote. The way in which you decide to consume the classic work is up to you. You can read it, listen to it, or even watch it as a movie if available. There is no "right" way to do it.
• 4b. Therefore, when you make suggestions for new books to read, please ensure that the book is readily accessible for all to read in more than one format, as we do prefer books that are readily available in the form of e-books and audio books as well as at any general book store or online store based in Copenhagen and Denmark. This is due to the fact that physical books ordered abroad can take a long time to arrive and therefore offers less time for members to complete the reading.
• 5. We also have a group on Goodreads, which you can join if you want: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1073366-the-copenhagen-classic-book-book-club
• 6. If you want to browse the books we have read previously you can do in our gallery: https://www.meetup.com/the-copenhagen-classic-book-book-club/photos/30090912/
Thanks for joining the book club and remember the words of Mark Twain:
“A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.”
Happy reading!
Best wishes,
Andreas Lauritzen
Upcoming events
1
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Fireplace Lounge, Pilestræde 65, 1112, Copenhagen, DKThanks to everyone who joined for our discussion of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray yesterday. As always, it was a pleasure to see both familiar and new faces, and I hope you all enjoyed the conversation.
The next book to read is East of Eden (1952) by John Steinbeck.
Set primarily in California’s Salinas Valley around the turn of the 20th century, the novel follows the intertwined lives of the Trask and Hamilton families across several generations. Drawing inspiration from the biblical story of Cain and Abel, Steinbeck explores family relationships, love, jealousy, betrayal and the struggle between good and evil. At the heart of the novel lies the question of whether our lives are determined by our circumstances and the choices of others, or whether we ultimately have the freedom to choose our own path.
You can read more about the book on Wikipedia and find it on Goodreads.
The book is also available on Apple Books, and you can look for an audiobook on YouTube.
There are also several screen adaptations.
The best-known is the 1955 film directed by Elia Kazan, starring James Dean in his first major film role. The film received four Academy Award nominations and won Best Supporting Actress for Jo Van Fleet. It is worth mentioning that the film covers only the final part of the novel.
There is also a brand-new Netflix miniseries from 2026, starring Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott and Mike Faist. Written by Zoë Kazan, the granddaughter of the director of the 1955 film, the seven-episode series offers a new interpretation of Steinbeck’s novel, with particular emphasis on the character Cathy Ames.
For other resources on how to get a hold of classic books, please see the About section on the front page of the group.
We meet up on Saturday, December 12th, at 4 p.m.
The location will once again be the Fireplace Lounge at 25hours Hotel, Pilestræde 65.Please remember to bring your suggestion for the next classic book to read.
Also, if you plan to attend, please remember to click “Attend” on Meetup.And, as always, please be mindful and respectful of each other, so that everyone feels welcome and appreciated.
In the meantime, happy reading/listening/watching — or however you prefer to do it.
18 attendees
Past events
61
