The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth

   Peter Miller a German reporter receives from a friend of Salomon Tauber, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, his diary in which he describes an officer Roshmann  killing a German officer with unusual medals.   Investigating the story in the diary Miller meets Simon Wiesenthal the famed war-crime investigator who tells him about ODESSA (the Organisation of the Former Members of the SS).  Approached by Mosad, Miller agress to infiltrate ODESSA where he informs and unravels the entire ODESSA system.  Through a silly error (using his own car) his identity is compromsied, but he manages to survive.  He finally catches up with Roshmann - finding out that the man he killed was infact Millers father.  Miller suvives various attempts on his life, Mosad catch up with Roshmann - close down his factory and stop a plot to bomb Israel with biological warfare weapons. 
   Most of us enjoyed the book - it didn't generate too much discussion, although most felt that it was a good example of the thriller genre.  A fast paced and interesting read.  Words used:  formulaic, starter thriller, enjoyable, unchallenging.  Marks between 4 - 8.

Next book

The Gathering by Anne Enright

Next Meeting

10th January at 127 Harbord St

Christmas Get Together

Thursday 6th December - Del Aziz, Jerdan Place, Fulham

Babette's Feast by Iska Dinesen (Karen Blixen)

Firstly, welcome to our newest recruit:  Gilly, I hope she enjoys this relaxed and voluble Book Club....As she will find out we take ourselves very seriously...no wine, all talk!

A gem of a book!  Babette Hersant arrives at the door of two faded spinsters, Martine and Phillppa, who have forsaken their chances of fame and romance for a life of piety and chastity, caring for their dogmatic father, a pastor of a proscribing Lutheran sect in a distant Danish coastal town.  Babette, a refuge from the turbulent times in revolutionary France, carries a letter of introduction from an old suitor of one of the sisters.  The letter is brief in introduction - only saying that she is of good character, down on her luck, in need of a place to shelter and that she (Babette) can cook.

The sisters asking no questions take her in, and for 14 years Babette serves, cooks and aids the sisters without recompense or discourse.  The story hinges on the sumptuous feast that Babette serves, using all the money she wins on the French lottery 10,000F.  Every penny is spent.  Babette's labour of love, cooking a meal fit for the aristocracy, for people who wouldn't know what they ate, or even acknowledge that they are eating the best food in the world. The question is why did Babette do this?

We all liked the book, some more than others, the discussion centred around the why, and our all very different interpretations of this.  The elegant prose - without a superfluous word, brilliantly drew the world the women inhabited, the uptight characters and unexpressed love that Babette had for the two women who had taken her in.  This meal was her way of saying thank you.

Words used to describe it:  folksy, haunting, deliciously satisfying, evocative, multi layered, a feast of a parable, lyrical.
Marks out of 10 - between 7.5 and 9 so it rates highly on the HSBC book club rating!

Next Book

The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth

Next Meeting

Wednesday 14th November

at

115 Harbord Street

Dates for the Diary
Christmas Party - Venue TBC
Thursday 6th December

Chiswick Second Hand Book Sale 1st Sunday of the month
at Chiswick Community School

Car Boot Sale at Kempton
Sunday 4th November

Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maughan

'Life has no meaning, better accept this than go on searching for it'

This book is generally accepted to be a semi autobiographical novel by Somerset Maughan. The slow meandering through a bleak childhood, boarding school and a search for a meaning full life, love and occupation.  Most  loved this book, finding in the story  and  prose meaning and elegance.  A certain amount of fingers over the eyes as the eponymous hero continues to miss his chances, love the wrong people and be beguiled into trying something new and wrong for him.  Others loathed it, finding it over written and boring.  But this dichotomy of opinions drew an excellent discussion as each side fought their corner. 

Words used to discribe it:  wretched, compelling little fucker, one of the great works of the 20th Century (not unanimous), frustrating, influencial, dramatic, compelling, under rated English treasure, the human story, loathsome.  Marked variedly between 2 & 9

Next Book

Babette's Feast by Ksak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)

Next Meeting

Wed 10th October @ 84 Kenyon St

High Tea in Mosul by Lynne O'Donnell

Last night (26th July), Lynne O'Donnell kindly came to speak to HSBClub about her book High Tea in Mosul

The book is an account of life in Iraq under Saddam through the lives of two English women who married Iraqi men in the 1970's and moved there.  Through their lives we see the changes in the country throughout Sadam Hussein's rule, the devastation and effects of the American invasion and the horrendous break down of law and order with the factional in-fighting.   Using the stories of Pauline and Margaret, Lynne manages to illustrate, in a human way, the ordinary lives of Iraqi's dealing with the food rationing, the police, anti West propaganda and the almost constant war.  It was moving, illuminating and in places difficult read.

We had many questions for Lynne, which she answered with great clarity - mostly not specific to the book!  What was also interesting was the process of publishing a book yourself.  The difficulty of getting it noticed, but also how much one can do ones self.  Lynne's knowledge of the area, the factions and internecine conflict in the Middle East was impressive - as were her stories of life as a war correspondent. It was also interesting to hear how the book was received by the women themselves and their families. 

I would like to thank Lynne for taking time out of her schedule to come and to talk to us.  We all found it fascinating and so interesting.  It brought the book and the area so much to life. 

Next Book

Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maughan

Date

Wednesday 5th September

Venue

130 Harbord St

The Coroner's Lunch by Collin Cotterill

Set in Laos, 1976, just after the Communist revolution Dr Siri Paiboun at 72 years of age was looking forward to retirement when the Ministry decrees that he is now the Coroner - he knows about what is wrong with living people, how different/difficult can it be to find out why/how people died?  With a sly and cynical sense of humour the light crime of the this drama is almost secondary to the enjoyable imagery and subversive characters that the author conjurers  up.  Dr Siri does work out who killed the wife of the party official and why two Vietnamese soldiers and civil servants were found dead in a lake apparently tortured.  The surreal supernatural thread is handled with care and does help move the story on.  Those of us who read the book enjoyed it and would recommend it to others. 

Have a look at Colin Cotterill's website:  Colin Cotterill

Marks out of 10 between 7 - 9

Words used to describe it:  interesting, subversive, enjoyable, dead pan!

Next Book

Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maughan

Next Meeting 

14 June 2012 - High Tea in Mosul with the Author Lynne O'Donnell at 126 Harbord St

5 July - to discuss Of Human Bondage venue to be confirmed.

Ask the Dust by John Fante

Set during the the Great Depression era in Los Angeles.  It is one of a sseries of novels featuring the character Arturo Bandini, a struggling writer,  much of it autobiographical in nature. Bandini falls in love with Camilla Lopez, who is in love with a bartender named Sam.  Bandini struggles with his poverty, Catholic guilt and his love for the unstable Camilla. Her mental state deteriorates and she is admitted to a mental hospital. She escapes, Bandini looks for her - finds her waiting for him in his apartment.  They move to the beach but when he returns he find that she has gone to Sam who is dying.  Before he arrives Sam throws her out and she wanders into the desert.  Bandini never finds her. 

The discussion really centred around the hand over the eyes feeling of watching someone doing what is only going to work out badly for them.  Every step he takes is wrong - and he can't see it.  The sparse and concise writing evoking the harshness of the era.  It was a good lead on from reading Grapes of Wrath and many could see the influence it had had on other later American writers.  The book has been made into a film with Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek.

Words used to describe it:  cringe-worthy, evocative, off the wall, beat classic, roller coaster, harrowing, full of angst, enjoyed it
Marks out of 10 - between 7 - 10.

Next Book 

The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill

Next Meeting

31 May at 117 Harbord St

Important Note:  

I am also going to try and get the journalist Lynne O'Donnell

 to come to one of our meetings possibly
14 June at 126 Harbord St

So buy her book 

High Tea in Mosul.

The Woman In Silk by Reg Gadney

A brief synopsis of the book:  Hal Stirling a bomb disposal expert is suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome after an incident in Afghanistan.  He is recuperating back in the UK, when news come of the death of his mother.    Hal journeys back to the large, Gothic ancestral home via his married Japanese lovers house.  Here the story changes into either a  psychological thriller or a horror ghost story depending on how you understood it.  The mother and daughter team who had been caring for his mother are either completely lovely or completely psychotic!  The plot twists and turns with spectral manifestations, psychological intrigue and moody weather!  

Reg Gadney, author and excellent artist,  kindly came to the book club to discuss the book - below is a highly edited version of the evenings discussion.  Thank you Reg for so kindly answering our question and giving us some insight into the construction/thought that goes into the background of planning a book.

Q - Who was, in your mind, the intended audience for this story?

A - Not sure!  However all good books should have three memorable characters, an interesting plot and some intrigue where the reader has to do some of the work.    I had in mind Turn of the Screw, the psychological twists and turns.  Not sure that it is a horror or a psychological thriller.

I visit Broadmoor Prison as part of a charity that I  am involved in.  Part of the idea for the story came from an inmate there.  

Q - Do you believe in the Super Natural?

A - Umm maybe.  I used be a complete sceptic, but now, I'm not sure.  I think that people do leave behind an 'essence' of being once they have gone.  The universe is such a large concept how can we know whether this is 'it'!  I visited the Spiritualist Society in Belgrave Square once - went to a seance - it neither confirmed nor disproved that there isn't anything after this life.  As I grow older I begin to think that there maybe something.  Many people have had 'ghostly' experiences - experiences which don't have a completely logical explanation.

Q - Who scares you?

A - People who should be reliable.  Doctors, nurses, nannies, soldiers - people you can usually rely on but for some reason have become psychologically disturbed.  A friend of mine Patrick Wall, an eminent neuroscientist developed a theory of the threshold of pain and the TENS machine with Bill Sweet - the electro transmission of pain in the body and how by disrupting this you could alter perception of pain.

Q - The house, was it real?

A - Yes, it's a real house.  My father bought the large Gothic house and this was where I was born. You can see the large bell tower which plays its part in the story.  It's now a school. Behind on the Yorkshire moors was where the Brontes lived and where Wuthering Heights is set.

Link to Malis Hall history.

The discussion then turned general.

Words used to describe the book:  intriguing, a psychological thriller - not a ghost story, confusing, a book of two halves, 

Marks out of 10:  between 3 - 9  

The next meeting is at Amanda's and the book:  Ask the Dust by John Fante, 26th April.

I would like to thank Reg for taking time to come and talk to us about his book.  For answering our questions and showing us his paintings - which are excellent - we hope to come to his next exhibition!

Before I go to Sleep by S J Watson

     An excellent story - with a twist - which some of us guessed but it didn't spoil the story!  A woman wakes up each day with no memory of her life - just snippets and those memories that she does have are from 20 years ago!  She doesn't remember the man lying beside her, her own face, the house she is living in - until her husband explains that she had an accident 20 years ago that has damaged her brain, he is her husband, this is their new house as their other one burnt down (hence the few photo's).  She accepts this until the day Dr Nash rings and tells her to look in the bottom of the wardrobe for her journal - in which she writes all that she has learnt the previous days.  An interesting concept - how important are memories to our perception of ourselves.  Without memories what are we?  If you don't remember what happened the day before - does it actually exist?
      The round table discussion - although rather difficult to hold as we had an almost full quorum of book clubbers that night; was full and interesting.  Most of us enjoyed the book and the twist.  There were aspects of the novel that grated but the story was gripping.

Marks out of 10 between 7 - 9 so highly rated.
Words used to describe it:  Clever, memorable, maintains momentum, intriguing, brilliant, implausible, compelling, gripping, unforgettable!

Next Book:

Ask the Dust  by John Fante

Next Meeting:

April 26th Thursday

128 Harbord St

NB

For those able to make it,

Reg Gadney will be at Mandy's to receive our opinions on his new book 

A Woman in Silk 

on 

12th April.

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

The story is written from the perspective of the solicitor who manages the inheritance of Jean Paget.  He writes her story in excerpts telling us about her experiences in Malaysia during the Second World War, force to walk from town to town  with a group of women and children, by the Japanese who did not want to put them into a camp.  While walking they meet up with two Australian men, who horrified at the state of the women and children supply then with fresh meat and medicines, illicitly gained from their Japanese captors.  The consequence of which is that Joe is crucified.   Jean believes him dead - until many years after the war she hears that he survives.

The second half of the book deals with her search for him, and her wish to build 'A town like Alice' in the outback where Joe's station is.  It is interesting and slightly shocking to read a story where casual racial apartheid is acceptable, where woman 'know there place'.  Jean was not thought to be sufficiently capable to manage her inheritance until she reaches the age of 35!  By which time she would be married and therefore her husband would be able to help her!  The last part of the books is definitely a paean to capitalist entrepreneurship!

We all enjoyed the book - some of us having gone on to buy others of Nevil Shutes novels, which we are enjoying as much.
Words used to describe it:  cracking solid storytelling, Oh my word!, spiffing yarn, I loved it, good first half.

Marks, between 7 - 9

I would like to finish this review with a big thank you to Albert the butler for superb food and butlering - I wish we could all have a man who does just like him! And of course honourable mention to the delicious cake and hostess with the butler - fab Thank you Rona.

 

Next book

Before I go to Sleep by S J Watson

Next meeting

Wednesday 21 March

at

53 Finlay Street

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer

This book starts out well, humorous, well written, cynical and ultimately disappointing.  Jeff in Venice  'the Biennial is in full swing, disillusioned hack writer Jeff Atman meets a beautiful woman and they embark on a passionate affair. In Varanasi, a man searching amid the chaos of India for something lost joins thousands of pilgrims on the banks of the Holy Ganges.  He intends to stay for a few days but ends up remaining for months, gradually letting go of everything he has known.'  Two very separate halves that do not connect - you expect the stories to interweave but they don't. 

Generally felt to be pretentious - we were sure that there were many literary allusions - but we missed most of them.   The sex scenes were well written - which isn't an easy thing to do.

Words used to describe it:  pretentious, boys wanking, noo (sic) beat, enjoyable but cobbled together, annoying, disjointed, lazy, cop out, too clever by half.   

Marks out of 10 between 3 - 7

Next book

A Town Like Alice by Nevile Shute

Next Meeting

Thursday 23 February

@ 

Rona's - 31A Pallister Road, W14 - In the super shed!

Subsequent meeting dates:  

22 March @ Giles's

April @ Amanda

May @ Mandy