South Manchester Book Group: Heart of Darkness & The Man Who Would be King

South Manchester Book Group

We're a friendly and open South Manchester pub-based reading group, and we share a love of books and discussing them with other people. We meet every fortnight, but you don't have to come to them all. It's dead simple; choose a book you like the sound of, read it (or even part of it) beforehand and turn up with a few ideas and money for beer / wine / flirtinis. It's very informal, and we're quite a friendly bunch. We meet at a pub in Didsbury around 8.30 pm, and can usually be found on the table with the books and flirtinis.

We've become rather popular recently so unfortunately aren't accepting new members just at the moment. But please drop us a line on the Contact Us form and we'll add you to our mailing list.

Our reading list, past, present, and future, appears here and a short version of what we’re reading next is here.

Thursday, 9 July 2026

Heart of Darkness & The Man Who Would be King — Joseph Conrad & Rudyard Kipling

“No, it is impossible; it is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one’s existence—that which makes its truth, its meaning—its subtle and penetrating essence. It is impossible. We live, as we dream—alone.”

“The wheel of the world swings through the same phases again and again. Summer passed and winter thereafter, and came and passed again.”

This week's books are Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad The Man Who Would be King by Rudyard Kipling and we'll be meeting at The Didsbury on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury — contact us for details.