Our next meeting is at 8.15pm on Tuesday 13th November in Gatehangers Inn and we will be discussing THE BOY WITH THE TOP KNOT
by Sathnam Sanghera.
Here are the book choices for our next book.
The Railway Man by Erick
Lomax
The experience of three
and a half years of slave labour and torture as a prisoner of war of the
Japanese, on the notorious Burma-Siam railway, dominated the rest of the life
of Eric Lomax, who died this year aged 93. His 1995 memoir, The Railway Man, is
a classic of its kind, and work on a major feature film based on it is well
advanced for release next year.
It was only when he was
in his 70s that Lomax achieved a kind of peace, by meeting Takashi Nagase, one
of the men who had interrogated and tortured him, and striking up an unlikely
but profound friendship with him after they met in Thailand.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903)
Buck the dog was living a fantastic life in California
until he gets sold to pay a debt. He gets taken to the far off Klondike to
become a sled dog, where Buck must toughen up and learn the harsh reality of
the cold Northern life. Eventually, Buck becomes stronger and adjusts to his
new life. Later, no longer useful to his owners, Buck is acquired by greenhorns
whose inexperience nearly kills him. Luckily he is then saved by John Thornton
and he at last finds a man he loves.
Later, on a distant gold-hunting expedition, Buck hears a
call emanating from the woods which strongly appeals to his inherent wild
nature shared by his distant ancestors. Events take him away from his old life…
and into legend. It’s often assumed to be a book for children due to its
numerous adaptations. This however, isn’t true. It’s really an adult’s book,
but be warned, it is quite heavy on animal cruelty…
Fame is the Spur by Howard Spring (1941)
Set against the background of the years between the end
of the nineteenth century and the
beginning of the Second World War, this novel chronicles the social and
political changes involved. The story follows the rags to riches story of
cabinet minister Hamer Shawcross and his beautiful wife Ann, a dedicated
Suffragette supporter who has her own agenda and is not easily intimidated.
