Unless by Carol Sheilds

There is a review by the Guardian reviewer  Blake Morrison 'Hell hath no fury' which reads so much more into this book than we did.  It sees the novel as a quiet scream against the female ouvre, a feminist novel but not a strident one.  We didn't read it as such.  Most of us just saw it as a novelist writing about a novelist, introspective and navel gazing.  Although the language is beautiful and skillful, the story was not engaging enough for most of us.

Words used to decribe it:
concited, navel (novel) gazing, uncompromising, gloomy, beautifully written, disjointed, unengaging

Marks out of 10
Between 3 - 8 (only one 8)

Next Book

A Gentleman in Moscow

by Amor Towles

Venue

at Carolyn's

 January 17th 2019

Christmas dinner at Chelsea Arts Club 

19th December

Villette by Charlotte Bronte

Villette, was Charlotte Bronte's final novel and possibly her most autobiographical.   Lucy Snowe, leaves England, fleeing an unspecified family trauma to a French boarding school in the French town of Villette.  Watching the romance between Dr John and Gineva Fanshawe brings to Lucy the heartache Lucy has tried to escape.  

This novel is considered to be one of the most insightful fictional studies of a woman's consciousness in English literature.  We thought, as a group, it was a difficult read and most of us didn't finish it despite having nearly 3 months to read it!  

Words used to describe it:
long-winded and over-elaborate, boring, endless, tedious, boring and null - Ummm not good ones!

Marks out of 10 
between 3 - 4 

Next book

Unless by Carol Sheilds

Next meeting

16th November at 126 Harbord St

Dietland by Sarai Walker

I wasn't at the meeting so can't comment on this book.  Sorry.
But there is a really good review by the Guardian here

Next book

Villette by Charlotte Bronte

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

A fictionalized ccount of Ernest Hemmingway's first wife, how they met, loved and then lost and hated.  Based in Chicargo and Paris of the 1920/30's the loush life of wine, women and cigarettes on a tight budget.  The marriage is improbable from the beginning, the young handsome writer Ernest and the blue stocking older Hadley, met, love and marry.  Moving to Paris to further his career Hadley falls pregnant and with the birth of their son watches as Ernest's affections depart and move onto a younger, richer woman, who eventually becomes his second wife.

This book generated some discussion but didn't see to grab peoples attention.  There was a feeling of impending doom throughout the book and did bring the characters of the people involved to light.  But was it a good book for book club, probably not. 

Words used to describe it:   literary tourism, enjoyed/intriguing, faux diary, my life

Marks out of 10:  between 7 and 9 so highly marked

Next Meeting 

26th July at 115 Harbord St

Next Book

Dietland by Sarah Walker
and not
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely fine - which I read and loved!

Daughters of the Dragon by William Andrews

Anna Carlson adopted Koren daughter of an American couple, returns to Korea after the death of her adoptive mother to search for her birth mother.  On leaving the orphanage an old woman presses into her hand an elaborate double headed dragon hair comb with the urgent request that she come and visit her.

The story told from the old woman is of the 'Comfort Women' of Korea, kidnapped and forced into prostitution for the Japanese army.  Jae-hee tells this story, how her life was under Communist rule in North Korea, her fiancees arrest, her escape and her success in S Korea and her plunge into poverty once her secret comes out - she was once was a comfort women.  The horror and degradation of her time as a comfort woman is not easy reading, and more importantly an aspect of history that should not be ignored.

In the discussion afterwards what struck people most was the 'deus ex machina maquina' device of furthering the action - using the story of the Empress/Goddess who is supposed to unify Korea. 

Words used to describe it:
harrowing, informed, enlightening, compelling, factual

Marks out of 10 - between 5 - 8

Next Book

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Next Meeting

20th June - Mandy's

Lie of the Land by Amanda Craig

Like many people now, Quentin and Lottie Bredin can't afford to divorce and can't afford to live in London.  So they decide to downsize and move their family to Devon.  A darkly harsh black comedy, of middle class issues of money and marriage.  The book delves into the issues of zero hour contracts, infidelity and relationships.

Having said that this book club didn't really like the book, people found it lecturing, excructiating and in places ludicrous.  

Marks out of 10 - between 1 & 5

Words used to describe it:
disappointing, oversold, hectoring, disjointed.

Next Book

Daughters of the Dragon by William Andrews

Next Meeting 

May 24th at Carolyn's

Black Water by Louise Doughty

Last night, Louise Doughty came to The Haven at Fulham Broadway where some of this book club and a number of other book clubs heard her talk about the book and a little about her previous book Appletree Yard.  There is something refreshing about hearing an author talk about the process - admit that writing is hard and hearing how considered the small stuff is.  For instance, where the main character goes into town early on in the book, Louise had originally written he wanted to go in for 'some bits and pieces' but considered this too feminine, so opted for the line 'a bit of shopping'.  I'd never really considered the gender status of some of our normal phrases.  Or even how culture and country affect they way that we use phrases.  It was also interesting to hear how a flash of inspiration, in this instance, the idea of a man, lying in a hut, listening to the sounds of the jungle wildlife, at night and expecting the worst to happen...the question is why, how did he get there and who is he......

To answer some of those questions: the protagonist is Harper an Indonesian/Dutch man, partly brought up in America and Holland,  haunted by his past and the massacres of in Indonesia in 1965. Complex in its breath this book explores relationships, guilt, race and colonialism, along with that grey area of the security personnel who do the work government and their agencies don't want to be seen to be doing. 

A fascinating book that I recommend reading.  As this was an event we don't have our usual word to describe it or marks out of 10 from the group.  But personally I would say slow to start, but riveting and give it 7.

Next Book

Lie of the Land by Amanda Craig

Date

12th April, Thursday at 126 Harbord St

I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing by Maya Angelou

This is the now famous book by the poet Maya Angelou, her 1965 autobiography, the first of 7 books.  The book describes Maya and her older brothers early life, her rape at 8 and becoming a mother at 16.  How she over came rape, racism, and a disjointed childhood to graduate from high school.  Subsequent books cover her later life, but this is her most famous.  Not all of us had finished reading it, it's funny how the story is so well known but we hadn't read the book, it seems that the themes have leached into popular culture and we know the story.  As you would expect from a poet the prose is lyrical and descriptive, but at times feels dated,

Words used to describe it:
Illuminating, not what I thought, expecting more, beautifully written but

Marks out of 10
Between 6 - 7

Next Book

Black Water by Louise Doughty

Next Meeting

Tuesday 13 March at the Haven, Effie Rd, Fulham, London SW6 1TB

Berlin Poplars by Anne B Radge

"Just before Christmas on a farm in Northern Norway, 80-year-old Anna Neshov, matriarch of a troubled family, is taken gravely ill. Her three sons have been quietly immersed in their work: one an undertaker, one a window-dresser, and the eldest running the family farm, but now they are forced to reunite for the first time in many years. Their personalities are as disparate as their careers, and tensions mount from the second they meet, climaxing over Christmas dinner when the matter of inheritance prompts the revelation of disturbing family secrets," - from Goodread A good synopsis of the story.

The book generated an interesting discussion about the nature of family, sexuality, the scars of war,  and prejudice.   

Words used to describe it:  clunky, ghoulish, macabre, well drawn characters, bleak, sad, no redeeming features

Marks out of 10:   between 2 & 7

Next Book 

I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing - Maya Angelou