The Adversary by Emmauel Carrere

Rather like Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, the journalist Carrere becomes fascinated by the story of a man who lived a completely false life and then on the verge of his lies unraveling he kills his family - his wife, children, parents and tried to kill his lover.  How did he manage to maintain this lie for so long; why was he not found out, why kill, why, why, and how?  These questions are at the heart of this true story.  
Carrere tries to keep speculation and imagination to a minimum, How did Jean-Claude Romand manage to keep up the pretense that 
1) he had managed to graduate from medical school (without ever taking an exam) 
2) he worked for the World Health Organization (he never worked, he spent his days in cafes and laybys) what a waste of a life and time 
3) why did people trusted him so much they gave him their money to invest without any questions 
4) and how at the end, once convicted, he became the darling of the prison visitors with his conversion to religion, acceptance of his sins therefore his forgiveness and redemption is assured. 

This creepy book generated a good discussion on the nature of man, do we really know people, how much people will accept or ignore, just because you are 'normal, ordinary'.  

Words used to describe it:  
Profoundly drepressing, cold, shocking, disturbing, intriguing

Marks out of 10 - between 5 - 8

Next Book

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Next Meeting 

117 Harbord St - Mandy's

Strumpet City by James Plunkett

'A classic story of Dublin during the Lockout' so says the Irish Times.  The book doesn't deal in isolated lives but in the way large events connect disparate people.  From Rashers Tierney  marginalized and precariously positioned one penny from starvation, to the upper-class world of the Yearling and Bradshaw's.  The 5 years of increasingly bitter dispute between Dublin's unskilled workers, organized by James Larkin's Irish Transport & General Workers' Union and the city's employers, led by William Martin Murphy.   Murphy demanded that workers renounce the ITGWU or be 'locked out' of their jobs.  The six months it took to effectively starve the work force into submission are graphically depicte.   It was the slow violence of hunger much of it directed against children, that ws most telling.  The characters are carefully drawn and accurately crafted.

Many didn't finish this book as it was long and detailed.  It is worth the read, if you manage it. Despite only a few reading it - it generated an interesting discussion about class, poverty, and the Irishness of the characters.

Next book

The Adversary by Emmanuel Carrere

Next Meeting

14th September at Carolyn's