Knots & Crosses by Ian Rankin

The discussion between 9 members of our group wasn't really a debate but it flitted between positives and negatives throughout. So, I think it's fair to say the response to reading this book was mixed even in the minds of some individual readers.

Opening comments included: different, refreshing, irritating, unsatisfactory, enjoyed it, didn't enjoy it, not really my genre but...and so on - see, mixed!

It is an easy (to) read book that can be speed-read but should not be read on holiday. It is NOT an easy subject as this story is about a nasty, child related crime and the subject matter was a hurdle to get over. When one of our members requested the book from a local library she was offered only a large print version and told all other copies were already on loan from prison libraries. We chose, en masse, to believe that popularity among inmates is because the story involves a shocking catalogue of police errors.

This was the first in a series about DS John Rebus and those of the group who had read Ian Rankin before felt his later Rebus stories were much better than this one so recommended we all try another some time.

Of the characters, we felt:

• John Rebus is a self-pitying man
• Jim Stevens was a ghastly man
• Michael Rebus - loved the image of him in his see-through socks

Although it gives a sense of the darker side of Edinburgh, it's seedy bars, cigarettes, whisky, beer and sex, this is not a book of depth and description. It is hard to get lost in the story, you just read it. As one of our group aptly put it "I felt less involved than in other crime novels'. 

So, as I said earlier, we were mixed and our discussion around the book was short (we made up for that by reflecting on books we have read and enjoyed previously).

Would we recommend it? mixed - so let's go with these two responses:
"Yes, because I have read other Ian Rankin books."
AND
"No, because I have a big pile of books I want to read more."

Our next book and meeting dates is on Thursday 15th May 2014 when we will be discussing The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. We will meet at 8.00pm in The Hundred of Ashendon and have decided to have no host as the pub now is not really one that is easy to have a nibbles in, so eat before or perhaps try a bar snack at the pub?

March 2014 - Book Choices

We are meeting on Thursday 20th March at The Hundred of Ashendon - 8pm - and will be discussing  Knots & Crosses by Ian Rankin. Felicity has kindly offered to host. 

Our book choices for April/May reading are:

Wild Swans - Jung Chang

The international best-seller is a biography of three generations of Chinese women in 20^th century China — her grandmother, mother, and herself. Chang paints a vivid portrait of the political and military turmoil of China in this period, from the marriage of her grandmother to a warlord, to her mother's experience of Japanese-occupied Jinzhou during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and her own experience of the effects of Mao's policies of the 1950's and 1960's.

Wild Swans was translated into 30 languages and sold 10 million copies, receiving praise from authors such as J.G. Ballard. It is banned in mainland China, though two pirated versions are available, as are translations in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away -  Christopher Brookmyre

Back when they were students, just like everybody else, Ray Ash and Simon Darcourt had dreams about what they'd do when they grew up. In both their cases, it was to be rock stars. Fifteen years later, their mid-thirties are bearing down fast, and just like everybody else, they're having to accept the less glamorous hands reality has dealt them. Nervous new father Ray takes refuge from his responsibilities by living a virtual existence in online games. People say he needs to grow up, But everybody has to find their own way of coping. For some it's affairs, for others it's the bottle, and for Simon it's serial murder, mass slaughter and professional assassination.

The Speed of Dark - Elizabeth Moon

In the near future, disease will be a condition of the past. Most genetic defects will be removed at birth; the remaining during infancy. Lou Arrendale, a high-functioning autistic adult, is a member of the lost generation, born at the wrong time to reap the rewards of medical science. He lives a low-key, independent life. But then he is offered a chance to try a brand-new experimental “cure” for his condition. With this treatment Lou would think and act and be just like everyone else. But if he was suddenly free of autism, would he still be himself? Would he still love the same classical music—with its complications and resolutions? Would he still see the same colors and patterns in the world—shades and hues that others cannot see? Most important, would he still love Marjory, a woman who may never be able to reciprocate his feelings? Now Lou must decide if he should submit to a surgery that might completely change the way he views the world . . . and the very essence of who he is.

Thoughtful, provocative, poignant, unforgettable, The Speed of Dark is a gripping journey into the mind of an autistic person as he struggles with profound questions of humanity and matters of the heart.

See you Thursday.