Book Club - 19.03.14

We went back to Matthews yard for this months book club to talk about 'The Great Gatsby' which we have since re-named 'The Mediocre Gatsby'.  Having such high expectations for the classic due to general hype I think its fair to say we were all expecting a little more excitement.  Don't get me wrong its not a bad book and the general consensus is that we enjoyed reading it, but personally it just didn't seem to grab me and pull me in.  I didn't really feel much for the characters who all seemed a bit naïve and ridiculous at times.  I liked the 1920's feel but Gatsby didn't seem to live up to his greatness as the title suggests.  Yes he had a great mansion and great parties but he himself was not really the life and sole.  I'm not sure whether seeing the film first put me in a good or bad position as I found the film disappointing being a huge fan of the director Baz Lurrman it just didn't have the magic of his other films, but then maybe that was due to the story - as someone pointed out after reading, it didn't exactly scream out to be made into a film, which often great books do.  Although this all sounds very negative if you haven't read it yet don't let this put you off, its definitely still worth reading, its a classic for a reason and I liked reading the book, particularly the 1920's jazz era it describes.  Some people did feel more emotionally involved with the characters particularly toward the ending.  Overall it gained a rating from the group between 5 and 6 out of 10.

We had a new member this month Jenny brought her colleague Brenda along, and it was great to have a newbie, I hope she will come back! We initiated her into the club by a few rounds of the famous giant wasabi peas from Matthews Yard. 

We have added a few titles to the book club list of choices in the last few months so this is the new list that we have to choose from.  The book voted for out of 3 plucked from the wasabi bowl was actually one of the new additions and it was my suggestion (a tad extra pressure)

The List:
Childhood's End (Arthur C Clarke)
The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow (Rita Leganski)
Bleak House (Charles Dickens)
Of Human Bondage (William Somerset Maugham)
Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Book Store (Robin Sloane)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers)
Shopping, Seduction and Mr Selfridge (Lindy Woodhead)

And the choice of the month was... 'My Life in France' by Julia Child

 
 

 

'When Julia Child arrived in Paris in 1948, a six-foot-two-inch, thirty-six-year-old, rather loud and unserious Californian, she spoke barely a few words of French and did not know the first thing about cooking.  As she fell in love with French culture, buying food at local markets, sampling the local bistros and taking classes at the Cordon Bleu, her life began to change forever.  Bursting with adventurous and humorous spirit, Julia Child captures post-war Paris with wonderful vividness and charm.'

I am really looking forward to this and I hope it is a good read.  I have seen the film about Julia Child (called Julie and Julia) in which Meryl Streep portrays a funny, loud and lovable character, it will be interesting to find out more about this fascinating woman and also different to read something factual rather than fiction for a change.  I hope everyone enjoys it!

 

Next Book Club:

 

Date: Wednesday 23rd April

Locations: Matthews Yard

Time: 7.30pm

 

Please feel free to bring new people along and we need some more men - get recruiting! Also any new additions to the book list are very welcome, any genre, fact or fiction.