‘The Catcher in The Rye’ resulted in some very mixed opinions this month. There appeared to be a direct split between the men and women in the group. The men all giving it a 5 out of 5 rating and the women between 2.5-3. I enjoyed reading the book to some extent but it really didn’t grab me, I couldn’t get involved. I started to find a new depth to the characters as others in the group talked about their take on the meaning of Holden’s actions and personality but on a first read it didn’t translate to me. It was interesting to hear the controversy and see how it had affected some in a personal and emotional way whilst others were left a little confused thinking it a bit lacklustre. Could it be that to understand the complexity of the character you had to have once been a sixteen year old boy? Everyone agreed there was no doubt that it was very well written but not everyone could agree that it deserved its status as a ‘classic’.
Instead of voting on the next book we decided to number the list and pick one out of the hat and the result was…
'The Witch of Portobello' by Paolo Coelho
'A fiction work by Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho published in 2007, The Witch of Portobello is the story of Athena, a mysterious young woman born in Romania, raised in Beirut and living in London. The central question posed by Coelho is how do we find the courage to be true to ourselves - even if we are unsure of who we are?'
Sounds intriguing, I've not heard of the book and not read anything by Coelho before although I had heard of one of his famous books 'The Alchemist'. I'm looking forward to delving into the book to see what I find!
Next Book Club Meet:
Date: Wednesday 25th July at 7.30pm
Location: Half & Half Bar, South Croydon
