Cameron Holmes

5/10/17

Book of the Year Award

Film Club by: David Gilmour

Keeping a reader engaged throughout the course of a longer book is a very dicult
task. Some parts may disinterest the reader and become redundant. In order for a readers
mind to stay focused on whats occurring, the book likely has to relate to them in some way,
or speak upon a topic that is interesting. The memoir Film Club by David Gilmour did both
of these things and much more for me. The abstract and unique plot is what really dragged
me in from the beginning. The point of view is from a father of a high school student, David
Gilmour. Davids son Jesse is failing many of his high school classes and dreads going to
school everyday. Seeing his son in pain, he oers to let Jesse drop out of school under the
condition that they watch three films a week together. Jesse agrees and they watch three
films a week for the next three years. While this is taking place, Jesse becomes involved with
a bad crowd and begins doing strong drugs and alcohol. Jesse is also tormented by several
girlfriends he has, and struggles to find the true meaning of love. Much like an intelligent
teacher, David intervenes when necessary, but tries to stay uninvolved so his son can learn
his lessons the hard way.
This book wins the Book of the Year award for me because of how much I was able
to relate to it, and how interesting the plot was. This book showed a father-son relationship
that I can really relate to. Like in this book, my father sometimes lets me make decisions on
my own where I learn the hard way. He never lets me get to the point where I make a
devastating mistake, but he isnt afraid to let me take consequences to my actions when he
feels necessary. A lot of the conversations David has with his son Jesse about girlfriends and
relationships are conversations I have had with my father many times before. The
heartbreak and lessons Jesse learns through his decisions and relationships are ones that I
myself have learned. In my life, I have related to few books as much as I did this one. What
really kept my engaged was the uniqueness of the plot. Letting a child drop out of high
school and become educated through watching a movie three times a week is such an
abstract concept that I never could even think of. The films they watched together were
usually ones ive never heard of and inspired me to do research on ones that they thought
were the best. That is why Film Club by David Gilmour wins Book of the The Year.