Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

Six of us sat down to discuss this lovely story at our book group this month and focused conversation flowed for quite a while (i.e. we usually deviate from the subject far more!).

We read this book alongside the media run up to the remembrance day for the start of the Great War. Our timing made the story even more profound than it already is.

The story is of a rural family to whom more than a fair share of life challenges had already been presented. Two sons leave to fight in WW1 and one of them finds himself in a situation that commands reflection on his life and relationships.

Michael Morpurgo writes for young people and his outstanding talent has produced a beautiful simple story. The reader experience will depend on their personal life experience but the basic story is one that will appeal to any age from young teenage upward. 

We questioned how the generation of young men, that Tommy and Charlie represent, were able to trust anyone in authority ever again after the experiences they had in this war? (With reference particularly to The Colonel and Sergeant Hanley who fail to meet the expectations of responsible authority that most ordinary people would reasonably have had.)

We  reflected on how strong the women were in the story and how their influence was brought to bear. The brave, open-minded, mother; the wicked, self-interested Grandma Wolf/Wolf Woman, Molly’s mother with her fixed views and closed mind, Molly who despite her mother held on to what was important to her and the feather bearing old woman whose one comment defined Tommy’s destiny.

Many adult readers will have their own handed down family stories of this terrible conflict and we wonder if that is why Michael left an open ending. The reader can choose to decide for themselves what happens next for the characters in the story. 

Would we recommend it? That's a unanimous ‘oh yes’ and we do so without hesitation. This is a must read and we will all read it again (and again!)  

Our next book - Every Day is For the Thief by Teju Cole - is set in Lagos, Nigeria. We will meet to discuss our thoughts on this read on Thursday 15th January 2015, 8pm at the Ashendon Hundred. So why not make more reading a New Year resolution and come and join us?

Book Choices - November 2014

As Winter draws in our fireside reads will include one of the following three choices:

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a love story unfolding over half a century between a doctor and his uncle’s wife.

Taking its title from one of the most famous books in Japanese literature, written by the great haiku poet Basho, Flanagan’s novel has as its heart one of the most infamous episodes of Japanese history, the construction of the Thailand-Burma Death Railway in World War II.

In the despair of a Japanese POW camp on the Death Railway, surgeon Dorrigo Evans is haunted by his love affair with his uncle’s young wife two years earlier. Struggling to save the men under his command from starvation, from cholera, from beatings, he receives a letter that will change his life forever. 

Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2014. 

Every Day Is For The Thief by Teju Cole

A young Nigerian living in New York City goes home to Lagos for a short visit, finding a city both familiar and strange. In a city dense with story, the unnamed narrator moves through a mosaic of life, hoping to find inspiration for his own. He witnesses the “yahoo yahoo” diligently perpetrating email frauds from an Internet café, longs after a mysterious woman reading on a public bus who disembarks and disappears into a bookless crowd, and recalls the tragic fate of an eleven-year-old boy accused of stealing at a local market.
 
Along the way, the man reconnects with old friends, a former girlfriend, and extended family, taps into the energies of Lagos life—creative, malevolent, ambiguous—and slowly begins to reconcile the profound changes that have taken place in his country and the truth about himself.
 
In spare, precise prose that sees humanity everywhere, interwoven with original photos by the author,Every Day Is for the Thief—originally published in Nigeria in 2007—is a wholly original work of fiction. This revised and updated edition is the first version of this unique book to be made available outside Africa. You’ve never read a book like Every Day Is for the Thief because no one writes like Teju Cole.

The Playmaker by Thomas Keneally

Keneally's magnificent story of a young officer in a penal colony during the founding days of Australia transports readers through layer after layer of life in Sydney Cove, Australia. 

With the colony a little over 12 months old, the Governor commissions a play to celebrate George the Third's birthday in 2 months hence. The young protagonist, Ralph Clark, is given the responsibility of staging the play using convict actors. The stage is set for a clash of cultures - the respectable middle classes of the officer class and the underbelly of London represented by the convicts. The story opens the day after the hanging of a marine.

The characters and incidents described are based on fact, and is an excellent snapshot of Australian history.

We will make our book choice on Thursday 13th November, 8pm at the Ashendon Hundred when we will be discussing Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo.

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. 

The Letter Bearer by Robert Allison

The Group met on 10^th July at The Hundred to discuss The Letter Bearer. 

There were mixed feelings about the book; all agreed that it was well written with beautiful descriptive passages although one needed to concentrate to fully appreciate the quality of the language.  It would make a great film.

In many ways it was felt to be an essay on the anonymity of war – the nature of war is the huge number of anonymous people who are no longer individuals, just a mass of humanity.

Some readers found it interesting but unsatisfactory especially its conclusion, as the book seemed to fizzle out at the end and the main character's identity was never resolved.  Was the protagonist deliberately not remembering his name, or could he really not remember?  Because it is set in wartime do we need to know who he is?

The Group had the most sympathy for the Italian POW, but for most, the favourite character was Umpty, the nickname given to the protagonist.

It was decided it was an enjoyable read but one which engenders many questions for which any new reader should be prepared.

The next meeting is arranged for Thursday 18^th September at 8 pm. in The Hundred when we shall be discussing 'Hard Times' by Charles Dickens. 

Book Choices - July 2014

I am doing this from my phone so please excuse any typos, the lack of pictures and bad layout. 

Books choices for our next read are:

Solo by William Boyd

A seasoned veteran of the service, 007 is sent to single-handedly stop a civil war in the small West African nation of Zanzarim. Aided by a beautiful accomplice and hindered by the local militia, he undergoes a scarring experience which compels him to ignore M's orders in pursuit of his own brand of justice. Bond's renegade action leads him to Washington, D.C., where he discovers a web of intrigue and witnesses fresh horrors.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. 

This is a terrific urban fantasy police procedural in which the two cops make the unbelievable believable; especially the inexperienced Grant. The fast-paced yet meandering story line is loaded with action from the onset as the mentor and mentee work a challenging investigation in which an ancient has arisen to stir the troubled waters. Sub-genre fans will enjoy Ben Aaronovitch's view of London in this witty well written riot. 

Hard Times by Charles Dickens

In Hard Times, the Northern mill-town of Coketown is dominated by the figure of Mr Thomas Gradgrind, school headmaster and model of Utilitarian success. Feeding both his pupils and family with facts, he bans fancy and wonder from any young minds. As a consequence his obedient daughter Louisa marries the loveless businessman and 'bully of humanity' Mr Bounderby, and his son Tom rebels to become embroiled in gambling and robbery. And, as their fortunes cross with those of free-spirited circus girl Sissy Jupe and victimized weaver Stephen Blackpool, Gradgrind is eventually forced to recognize the value of the human heart in an age of materialism and machinery.

Next meeting is on Thursday 10th July at The Hundred (8.00pm) when we will be discussing The Letter Bearer by Robert Allison. 

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 ...