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.

Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole

Seven of us sat down to discuss this 'epistolary' (there is always a learning outcome for me at book group and this time round that is: a book written in letters). 

Anyone 'listening in' would be forgiven for thinking they were at a Dibley Parish Council meeting as the 'yes but', 'no but' discussion unfolded. 

We passed the baton back and forth as we tried to describe our feelings toward this book." It was bitty, but good to read in short chunks." "I wanted more about Skye, but got to know it as the book progressed" (and, after all, the author is American and only spent a week there herself). It was easy to dip in and out of, but "it felt rude to read other people's letters" (that means it must have been well written to feel so real, came the retort). "The first half wasn't very real, but the second half was so". "It was a bit too 'Captain Correlli's Mandolin' but if you haven't read that book you wouldn't notice". And so on...

The beauty of a book group is that the simple act of sharing the experience often helps one to realise how much value has been taken from the simple act of reading a book even when, perhaps, you did not realise that at the time. As our discussion continued our sheer enjoyment of this book, the characters and the story that unfolds became apparent to us all.

The little snippets of the harsh reality of island life were enough to support the story and our craving for more will have to be fulfilled through another story of Skye. Here, in this book, we found (when Margaret visited) that Skye is bigger than we might have thought. We learned that the women of Skye were hardy and independent (through the descriptions of Elspeth's roof blowing off and her trouser wearing) as they were often left on Skye as their men left to fish or (at this time) went to war.

We also rediscovered the beauty of letters. These days of text and Facebook and email have led us to forget how wonderful it is to get a letter and the anticipation of receiving a reply to a letter sent. We did feel the letters between Elspeth and David were delivered back and forth surprisingly quickly. 

Of the characters we thought:

• Elspeth was witty and intelligent and we wanted to know more about her e.g. how was she educated? what was her financial situation? 
• Finlay had a fabulous sense of humour
• Harry was a supportive friend throughout and 'the socks' were an inspiration
• Margaret meddled but that was OK as it turns out
• David (Davey) was a bit immature
• Iain could have handled things better

So, would we recommend this book? a resounding 'YES' and when you read it find someone to talk about it with. 

Our next book and meeting dates is on Thursday 20th March 2014 when we will be discussing Knots & Crosses by Ian Rankin. We will meet at 8.00pm in The Hundred of Ashendon and Felicity has kindly volunteered to 'host'.

And finally a recommendation from member's experience: give AbeBooks a try as a good and often less expensive alternative to Amazon for used books: www.abebooks.co.uk 

January 2014 - Meeting Venue

The pub is closed tomorrow evening so Julia Sallabank has kindly offered to host at her house.

For those of you who don't know, Julia lives in The Bakehouse which is behind the pub in Lower End.

I will hover around the pub at 8.00 PM to catch anyone who is unsure of where Julia lives. Or email me: sian@impetus.co.uk and I will give you better directions.

See you tomorrow and many thanks Julia.

January 2014 - Book Choices

Happy New Year - we start off early with our first meeting on Thursday 9th January at The Hundred of Ashendon - 8pm. We will be discussing 'Letters From

Skye by Julia Brockmole and Julia Sallabank is 'hosting'. Watch this space as we may need to change venue if the pub is closed. 

Here are our book choices for Jan/Feb 2014 read: 

Knots & Crosses by Ian Rankin

In Edinburgh of all places. I mean, you never think of that sort of thing happening in Edinburgh, do you...?'

That sort of thing... is the brutal abduction and murder of two young girls. And now a third is missing, presumably gone to the same sad end. Detective Sergeant John Rebus, smoking and drinking too much, his own young daughter spirited away south by his disenchanted wife, is one of many policemen hunting the killer. And then the messages begin to arrive: knotted string and matchstick crosses - taunting Rebus with pieces of a puzzle only he can solve.

 

This is the first book in the Inspector Rebus series.

 

Burnt Norton by Caroline Sandon

1731: When his youngest son is killed in a tragic accident, Sir William Keyt, master of Norton House, buries himself in his fortune. He builds a second vast mansion on his grounds, squandering money he does not have on luxury his family does not want. Keyt has long been blind to the desires of others. His eldest son has fallen in love with their young maidservant, Molly Johnson, a ray of light in a household dimmed by tragedy. Keyt wants Molly for himself and, driven mad with lust and jealousy, he will do anything to have her...

The Railway Man by Eric Lomax

A naïve young man, a railway enthusiast and radio buff, was caught up in the fall of the British Empire at Singapore in 1942. He was put to work on the 'Railway of Death' - the Japanese line from Thailand to Burma. Exhaustively and brutally tortured by the Japanese for making a crude radio, Lomax was emotionally ruined by his experiences. Almost 50 years after the war, however, his life was changed by the discovery that his interrogator, the Japanese interpreter, was still alive - their reconciliation is the culmination of this extraordinary story.

Apologies if this post looks odd it's my first done via my phone app - progress it may not be. 

Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K Jerome

Eight members of our group enjoyed a convivial evening at The Hundred of Ashendon pub, discussing (among other things) our recent read of this highly entertaining classic.

Three Men in a Boat has never been out of print since it was first published in 1912 and, as with all the older books we have read, we had an impressive array of different editions. These ranged from a 1956 115th edition through to the 2004 Penguin Classics publication, a badly proofed version that had come free with a magazine, and, one of our members even read the book on her Kindle. The latter was genuinely surprised to find that it was written so long ago.

We all understood the 'Kindle surprise' as, despite being over 100 years old, this is a timeless tale.

Jerome meanders through a series of events and incidents that were experienced by him and two friends (young men) during a (camping)'lads' holiday in a (small) river boat on the Thames! The story is told with much use of authors licence and oodles of Victorian sentimentality.

The era is only given away by references to lodging houses, land ladies, tradesmen's delivery 'boys' and steam trains. Oh and by the disparaging comments about women that illustrate a time when women must surely have been quite dim! So dim in fact that they sat around looking pretty while the boys did the work!

We all agreed that this book is absolutely hilarious. Even the somewhat graphic descriptions of river reality are funny: a dead dog floating by, a dead water rat delivered by the dog, rogues collecting money for 'trespass' and so on. The genuinely funny stories are usually of little happenings that could only happen to 'them' such as getting lost in Hampton Court Maze, inappropriate laughter (the German song), making Irish Stew, opening (well failing to open) a tin of pineapple, losing one's shirt to the river etc. What's clever is that JKJ manages to get the humour across without the usual requirement of 'having to have been there' to find it funny.

Did we enjoy it? Yes and we loved the characters who, despite the crisis' and the discomfort they encountered, had a jolly good time.

Would we recommend it? Absolutely yes and the school teachers in the group are already trying to work out how to fit it into the national curriculum! This is a must read for anyone of any age.

Some of us felt we enjoyed this book even more because we know the area and recognise the places they visited. For anyone who would like to see a river camping boat similar to the one our three men travelled in I recommend a visit to the Racing and Riverboat museum in Goring. 

We will be meeting on Thursday 9th January 2014 at 20:00 at The Ashendon Hundred (pub). Julia Sallabank has kindly offered to 'host'. We will be discussing Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole AND our planned book group trip to Paris.

I am often asked to describe our group and I tell people we are very relaxed and enjoy our bi-monthly meetings as an opportunity to get together to chat and share a common love of reading. Tonight a gentleman sat on the table next to us during our meeting backed that up with his comments as we were leaving: "What an entertaining evening I've had listening in - you spent almost as much time making plans as you did discussing a great read."

The Pure Story!

Back in the Summer (it seems so long ago now) we read Pure by Andrew Miller. Sue Lewin has kindly done some research to find out more about the story behind the story and here it is.

During the eighteenth century the burial grounds of Paris were as appalling as those of London; in the case of the Cimetière des Innocents in the Halle district, perhaps even more so. Since the fourth century this ground was the main burial place in the city, particularly for the poor. During the fourteenth century huge pits holding up to 1500 bodies were left open until full. It is estimated that over the centuries between two and six million bodies were buried here.

By 1780 conditions at les Innocents had become intolerable. Around 90,000 corpses had been added in the previous 35 years, the whole area stank, and the soil was incapable of decomposition. In the district, it was claimed that meat rotted within hours and wine turned to vinegar. In May, following heavy rain, The weight of the dead in a burial pit had caused a collapse in nearby cellars and people were asphyxiated.



The ground was closed for burials around 1782, and cleared during the winters of 1785-6. The charniers were emptied and the ground cleared out to a depth of 6 feet . The remains were carted across Paris and deposited in the catacombs.



The Square of the Innocents today.


Thanks Sue - I am feeling a Book Group outing coming on!

Book Choices - November 2013

A Nightingale Sang–  Sally Anderson

The year is 1943. American GIs are pouring into England, bringing with them romance and heartache... 

An American army unit has set up base outside a small Hampshire town in preparation for the D-Day landings. Lieutenant Jack Webster is focused on preparing his men for battle and has no intention of getting involved with a woman while there is a war to fight. But then he meets Samantha Mitchell, a beautiful English nurse whose life has already been shattered by four long years of war, and almost at once his resolve begins to weaken… 

Set against the backdrop of the Second World War and its aftermath, A Nightingale Sang is a heart-warming story that celebrates the triumph of love over the separation of war.

Letters from Skye – Jessica Brockmole

A sweeping story told in letters, spanning two continents and two world wars, Jessica Brockmole’s atmospheric debut novel captures the indelible ways that people fall in love, and celebrates the power of the written word to stir the heart.   

March 1912: Twenty-four-year-old Elspeth Dunn, a published poet, has never seen the world beyond her home on Scotland’s remote Isle of Skye. So she is astonished when her first fan letter arrives, from a college student, David Graham, in far-away America. As the two strike up a correspondence - sharing their favorite books, wildest hopes, and deepest secrets - their exchanges blossom into friendship, and eventually into love. But as World War I engulfs Europe and David volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western front, Elspeth can only wait for him on Skye, hoping he’ll survive.   June 1940: At the start of World War II, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, has fallen for a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Her mother warns her against seeking love in wartime, an admonition Margaret doesn't understand. Then, after a bomb rocks Elspeth’s house, and letters that were hidden in a wall come raining down, Elspeth disappears. Only a single letter remains as a clue to Elspeth’s whereabouts. As Margaret sets out to discover where her mother has gone, she must also face the truth of what happened to her family long ago.

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

 "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view  ... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." 

Tomboy Scout Finch comes of age in a small Alabama town during a crisis in 1935. She admires her father Atticus, how he deals with issues of racism, injustice, intolerance and bigotry, his courage and his love.

We will be meeting on Thursday 14th November 2013 at 20:00 at The Ashendon Hundred (pub). Sue Lewin has kindly offered to 'host'. We will be discussing Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K Jerome.