Every Day is For The Thief by Teju Cole

Just four of us met to discuss this book on a chilly evening at The Hundred. Another of our members though kindly sent her comments 'virtually'!

Of the five: one member ‘did not love it’ because it did not tell ‘a story’, three loved it and one enjoyed “having had the opportunity to read such an interesting book” but did not consider it a 'good read.'

So we discussed our differences in opinion and decided, though fiction, this is more of a diary than a novel. However, regarding the missing story, each chapter is a small story and, though the book is a quick read, perhaps each chapter should be read and reflected upon before moving forward? 

So, why was it not a good read for one of us? We found it wasn’t the quality of the writing that is the issue but the situation. The book presents a desperate situation in a desperate, lawless state. So, for this reader, the issue is that there is “so little to enjoy” in the tale that unfolds. 

This is certainly true - this book depicts Lagos (and Nigeria) as corrupt, lawless, anarchistic and lacking in self-sufficiency or national pride.  However, it's not all bad and our narrator, during his visit, finds plenty of examples of good, honest folk living 'ordinary' lives: the record shop, the lawyer's clerk, the music society MUSON School, his own family, his friend the doctor. 

That lead us on to think about the author's motives - why did he write such a seemingly damning reflection of his visit to Lagos and such a scathing critique of his home nation? Was he simply painting a picture of how he saw his home city at a point in time? Or perhaps it's a cry for help on behalf of his county (to embarrass the leaders or to expose what is happening to the wider world?) Or is it to overcome a personal dissonance: he left, he doesn't really want come back but feels he should? Or is it to express his disappointment at how things have changed since he left? Who knows? We concluded the author is fabulous but perhaps a little confused.

So, would we recommend this book? We didn't really conclude this but overall we felt it's worth a read because it's not a hard or long book to read and it does give an interesting view on a country none of know, or understand. So - ummm - YES!

Our next book is Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan, a favourite author of more than one member of our group. There was a split opinion and the casting vote swung in favour of fiction and away from a perceived sensitive subject. However, some of us will also aim to read Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey over the next couple of months. So, we will meet to discuss our thoughts on Sweet Tooth and, if more than one has read it, Elizabeth is Missing on Thursday 19th March 2015, 8pm at the Ashendon Hundred. Here's hoping for a better turn out: as always all welcome. 

Book Choices - January 2015

Winter is still with us and threatening to get colder and harder before Spring arrives. For Ashendon Book Group reading books offers a break from the harsh reality outside our doors and we have three strong contenders to choose from.

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

In this darkly riveting debut novel - a sophisticated psychological mystery that is also a heartbreakingly honest meditation on memory, identity, and ageing - an elderly woman descending into dementia embarks on a desperate quest to find the best friend she believes has disappeared, and her search for the truth will go back decades and have shattering consequences.

Elizabeth is Missing introduces a mystery, an unsolved crime and one of the most unforgettable characters since Mark Haddon's Christopher. Meet Maud ...'Elizabeth is missing', reads the note in Maud's pocket in her own handwriting. Lately, Maud's been getting forgetful. She keeps buying peach slices when she has a cupboard full, forgets to drink the cups of tea she's made and writes notes to remind herself of things. But Maud is determined to discover what has happened to her friend, Elizabeth, and what it has to do with the unsolved disappearance of her sister Sukey, years back, just after the war.

A fast-paced mystery with a wonderful leading character: Maud will make you laugh and cry, but she certainly won't be forgotten.

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy 

Far from the Madding Crowd is perhaps the most pastoral of Hardy's Wessex novels. It tells the story of the young farmer Gabriel Oak and his love for and pursuit of the elusive Bathsheba Everdene, whose wayward nature leads her to both tragedy and true love. It tells of the dashing Sergeant Troy whose rakish philosophy of life was '...the past was yesterday; never, the day after'. And lastly, of the introverted and reclusive gentleman farmer, Mr Boldwood, whose love fills him with '...a fearful sense of exposure', when he first sets eyes on Bathsheba. The background of this tale is the Wessex countryside in all its moods.

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan

From the bestselling author of Atonement and Enduring Love comes ‘A web of spying, subterfuge, deceit and betrayal... Acute, witty...winningly cunning’ Sunday Times.

The year is 1972. The Cold War is far from over. Britain is being torn apart by industrial unrest and terrorism. Serena Frome, in her final year at Cambridge, is being groomed for MI5.

Serena is sent on a secret mission – Operation Sweet Tooth – which brings her into the world of Tom Haley, a promising young writer. First she loves his stories, then she begins to love the man. Can she maintain the fiction of her undercover life? And who is inventing whom? To answer these questions, Serena must abandon the first rule of espionage – trust no one.

We will make our book choice on Thursday 15th January, 8pm at the Ashendon Hundred when we will be discussing Every Day is For the Thief by Teju Cole. Please come along and join us if you would like to - whether you have read the book, or not.