Hard Times by Charles Dickens

Seven of our group met to chat about our Dickens experience and, once again, the table was split. Some loved it and loved the language, others didn't (on both counts.) We agreed to differ and gradually found an equilibrium in a mutual understanding kind of way. 

Read through the challenges of 'strangely' named characters and Victorian grammar (written to be read out loud) to find a rich description of social hypocrisy and cruelty at its very best. 

Take time to enjoy the gentle pace, fine detail and subtle humour (Boundersby was so like a Monty Python sketch) to do try to understand what the Dickens it's all about.

Even those who didn't really 'get it' agreed that the characters did come to life and the story is a wonderful depiction (albeit perhaps a little unbelievable) of Northern industrial town living in Dickens' time. We loved Stephen and Rachael, disliked Boundersby and Tom, had no opinion of Gradgrind, felt sorry for Louisa and enjoyed the circus folk. 

Would we recommend it? on this we all agree: It's not the best Dickens book BUT read more Dickens!

Our next book is Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo and we will meet to discuss our thoughts on this read on Thursday 13th November, 8pm at the Ashendon Hundred.

Book Choices - September 2014

Our Autumnal reading choices are:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

'Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'

A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. 

Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the thirties. 

The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age story, an anti-racist novel, a historical drama of the Great Depression and a sublime example of the Southern writing tradition.

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

Heroism or cowardice? A stunning story of the First World War from a master storyteller.

Told in the voice of a young soldier, the story follows 24 hours in his life at the front during WW1, and captures his memories as he looks back over his life. Full of stunningly researched detail and engrossing atmosphere, the book leads to a dramatic and moving conclusion.

Both a love story and a deeply moving account of the horrors of the First World War, this book will reach everyone from 9 to 90.

The Casual Vacancy by J K Rowling

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils... Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

NEXT MEETING: We will be discussing Hard Times by Charles Dickens on Thursday 18th September at 8.00 PM in The Hundred.