Film release 4th July

The One Hundred Year Old Man..... film releases in 4th July and we are meeting on Thursday 10th July 2014 so I'm wondering if we could change our venue to a convenient cinema location and before/after film have a short discussion about current book. Please email me what you think ... 

Real life (nearly) 90 year old man who ..... And disappeared

I love this story so much because this man was having no-one tell him what he could and couldn't do, but also because of the striking similarities to the book we recently enjoyed telling the (fictional) story of a 100 year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared. 

In real life, an 89-year-old D-Day veteran who was reported missing from his care home was found at the 70th anniversary commemorations on the sands of Normandy.

Sussex police received a call from a nursing home in Hove at around 7.15pm on Thursday 5th June to say that the pensioner had gone out at 10.30am but had not been seen since. 

It seems he had disappeared! In fact he had followed a well thought out plan:

Hiding his medals under his grey rain coat, he swore his wife Irene to secrecy, picked up two Iceland carrier bags and calmly walked out of The Pines retirement home where they both live, as if he was just off to the shops. Instead, he walked to Brighton railway station, boarded a train for Portsmouth Harbour and bought a one-way Brittany Ferries ticket to Caen, Normandy.

He told only his wife about his plans to join in with D-Day anniversary events. He later returned to a hero's welcome in Portsmouth on a cross-channel ferry. 

Mr Jordan says of his one-man expedition 'I can be very secretive... and when I set my mind to do something, I do it.'

Click here for the full story.

Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

8 members of our group met to discuss our first 'Sci-fi' read. Until it was described as such, I hadn't given this book a genre and hadn't spotted that it was an 'in the future' story of what 'could' happen. The more observant members of our group had noticed this but it was very subtle.

The group discussion started with the usual exchange of what we thought of our choice. 3 members had not finished, but intended to do so (me included) and one had not started it but thought she would. So only 50% of our gathering had knowledge of the ending and they smiled knowingly as the other 50% tried to guess. Clearly, there is a twist.

My excuse is that I started reading this book too late, I wasn't inspired by the cover, it just didn't excite me and I had to stop reading Wild Swans (another of our choices from last month) which I struggled to put down. The cover though does not do this book justice and, from the very start, the pages were turning and I found myself enjoying the read. Others had also not quite found the inspiration necessary to start reading but eventually had and agreed with Vanessa who declared this book 'one I would not have chosen to read but found I really enjoyed it, it was really interesting.'

It's really well written in the style of a functioning autistic adult man but it is a book that can be skimmed without losing the plot or stories (even I, an avid 'read every word and read it again' type of reader, skimmed my way through) this is because much of the detail is repetitive and revisited. The concept of the story is uncomfortable and forces the reader to consider the morals of changing a person. We debated where to draw the line and we were all of different opinions.

Of the characters, Tom and Lucia are genuinely kind and the police were admired for their understanding of autism and for their careful way with words. We disliked Crenshaw (a particularly horrible and nasty man) and the jury is still out on Emmy, Marjory and even the main man Lou (because for 50% of us it all hangs on the ending!)

Would we recommend this book? we were inconclusive but ... probably...

Now, it's back to Wild Swans for me until our next book arrives on the doorstep.

Our next book and meeting date: Thursday 10th July 2014 when we will be discussing all 272 pages of The Letter Bearer by Robert Allison. We will meet at 8.00pm in The Hundred of Ashendon.

May 2014 - Book Choices

Our next book and meeting date 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 - if you dash straight from work/other activities remember there will be no nibbles!

Here are our choices for next book:

The Lake District Murder - John Bude

A classic mystery novel from the 1930’s, set amidst the stunning scenery of a small village in the Lake District. When a body is discovered at an isolated garage, Inspector Meredith is drawn into a complex investigation where every clue leads to another puzzle.

Was this suicide or something more sinister? Why was the dead man trying to leave the country? And how is this connected to the shady business dealings of the garage?

Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls - David Sedaris

The latest book from the acclaimed American writer David Sedaris, full of funny autobiographical essays that will take you on a bizarre and stimulating world journey. From the perils of French dentistry to the eating habits of the Australian kookaburra, the squat style toilets of Beijing to the particular wilderness of a North Carolina Costco, we learn about the absurdity and delight of curious traveller’s experiences.

Sue Lewin says - "I’ve listened to this guy lots of times on the radio and he is hilarious!"

The Letter Bearer - Robert Allison

A remarkable debut novel, this looks at an aspect of the Second World War which has often been neglected. In North Africa, in 1942, a man wakes up in the desert with no memory of who he is. The only clues to his identity are the letters in the bag he was carrying before he fell off his motorbike.

The rider is soon discovered by a ragged band of men who put him on a stretcher and carry him away in a truck. Living in their makeshift camp he realises that the men are deserters from the British Army…but can any of new companions be trusted?  

Date for your diary: 

Parish Annual Meeting - Monday 19^th May 2014, 8pm - Book Group has been asked to be represented, can anyone volunteer to write a short summary of our year and present it please. 

World Book Night - Community Giving

If you love a book so much you want others to share it, then here's a perfect opportunity. Sign up to be a World Book Night Community Book Giver and then give any book you want to, to anyone you want to give it to on 23rd April 2014.

As a Community Book Giver you choose - and provide - the book you give. You can choose to give any book you want - one you already own, or one you buy specially, new or second-hand.  

You can also choose whoever you want to give the book to – a friend, a member of your community, a complete stranger.  What we ask is that you give your book with the aim of helping someone develop the same love of reading that you have.  And if you want to give more than one book, that’s amazing. 

For more information and to register: http://www.worldbooknight.org/about-world-book-night/be-a-community-book-giver

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.