Book Club - 30/01/13

I love book club! I always feel slightly hyperactive when I get home... Ok, so 'The Old Man And The Sea'.  Well to start off with a fight almost broke out between Kevin and Kelly as Kevin exclaimed he wished the old man would just die! (I hasten to add this was to invoke a reaction which Kelly provided)  It clearly wasn't Kevin's favourite book however the general consensus was positive and most people enjoyed reading it, thinking Kevin's review a little harsh! :)

It was nice to read a short story after the last one had been quite lengthy and personally I really liked it.  The language is quite simple and straight forward, not particularly descriptive but I was still able to build up a really good image in my mind of the characters and the story.  I sympathised with the old man and thought the relationship between him and the young boy who cared for him was really touching.  The old man seemed to be unlucky, for forty days he went out everyday and caught no fish.  He barely had enough food to live and slept on newspapers with his trousers for a pillow.  But his character was extraordinary.  He loved life, he was grateful for all he had and kept going out day after day with the hope of catching fish.  

He then encounters an enormous Marlin and so follows his adventure of capturing it.  I love the respect he has for the fish, for the sea, for everything around him.  There is an element of sadness but there is also hope throughout!  I like something Bill said tonight about how a lot of the story is unsaid.  It is short but there is enough to make you connect with it and it makes you think about the back story that could be behind it all.    

One of the main critiques was about whether he was a good fisherman.  He didn't have the right tools out with him, things he needed to survive, he talked to himself alot, was he mad? But to me I could see this old man had barely eaten or drunk in days, and he was a lonely man at sea, who wouldn't talk to themselves? He talked to fish and he talked to the fish! Maybe he was not prepared for a 5 day sea voyage but then why would he be? I think he certainly came back with his pride intact!

Great turn out tonight, it was lovely to see friends who haven't been for a while we missed you!! This time we thought we'd pick a book of a different genre that we haven't read before so we went for Science Fiction.  There were two on the list which we voted on but it came down to a tie so we flipped a coin and the result was:

'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins

'Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. But Katniss has been close to death before and survival, for her, is second nature. The Hunger Games is a searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. Welcome to the deadliest reality TV show ever...'

I put this one on the list last year at the very first book club so I am excited to read it! 

Because of the many weird drunk people who decided to join us at book club tonight (people who weren't invited by the way) we have decided to change venue for next time and go to 'Matthews Yard' off of Surrey street!

Next Book Club Meet:
Date: 27th February 2013
Time: 7.30pm
Location: Matthews Yard

http://www.matthewsyard.com/

Hide & Seek

Robert loved to play hide and seek.  Well, it was really hide without the seek and without me actually knowing we were playing.  Basically he used to hide and jump out at me to scare the hell out of me! His favourite hiding place was behind the bathroom door.  He knew I would go in there soon to brush my teeth before bed so he would stand and wait silently.  In I would go unsuspectingly, only to jump ten foot in the air when he roared 'Boo!' in my face as I went to close the door.  His second favourite was under the bed where the monsters live, just to make sure I didn't forget they were there.

I seem to remember when we were a lot older, my friend Colette and I were watching a horror film called 'Thirteen Ghosts' (yes she did MAKE me watch this).  We were both sitting there clutching cushions in front of our faces and peeping over the top of them, as you do.  There was a very tense moment where everything went silent.  Rob had meanwhile snuck up outside the front room and was watching us through the crack in the door.  He let out a blood curdling scream to which both Colette and I replied with a scream of similar pitch and then several expletives.  Some things never change.

A Couple of Spies

I would hide at the top of the stairs, nanny at the bottom around the corner.  I peek out.  I hear a voice from downstairs, I can see her curly hair.  'It is I' the voice says 'Eclair'.  I'd giggle, she would laugh.  We would both come out from hiding and laugh together.  We were spies from  Allo Allo.

The Bus Home

If I let my mouth relax, the vibrations from the bus make my teeth chatter.  
Constant rhythms pulse through my chest like a heavy bass line.  
A deep and low drone and the rattle of the old windows in their frames, where the draft seeps in the cracks on the cruel breeze.
As the bus swings left and right so do I.  Flung forward as it rolls to a stop with a sudden jerk.  The bell sounds, short and impatient.
Snakes of red tail lights out in front leading the way home.

Book Club - 03/01/13

First book club of the new year, and an interesting one it was too! We met to talk about 'The Slap' by Christos Tsiolkas.  I have to be honest this is the first book that I have really struggled to read within the month and this is mainly due to the fact that I just wasn't enjoying it.  I pretty much forced myself to finish it, if it hadn't been for book club I would have abandoned this by chapter 2.  But even though it wasn't overly popular, it sparked a lengthy discussion longer than many of the others we have talked about.  As always there was a mixed reaction to the book I'd say we were split down the middle with some sharing similar views to myself and others having a completely different stance on it which made for an interesting discussion!

From my perspective the main turn off for me was that I could not engage with any of the characters, in fact I disliked them, particularly in the first half of the book.  I felt the language and sex scenes were ugly and harsh, alot of it just seemed unnecessary to me.  I wouldn't consider myself a prude and certainly not averse to swearing but the coarseness only helped in disengaging me.  Others completely disagreed with me on this one but it was just not my cup of tea.

Each chapter was from a different person's point of view, their thoughts not just on what happened at the incident where the child was slapped but about their own lives and history.  I had expected the book to be written as each persons view of what happened at the same point in time however instead you heard from a different person as the story progressed through to court case and after its conclusion.  This was interesting because in certain chapters you formed strong opinions which you later began to question when characters are seen from another persons point of view.

Although the underlying story centres around a child being slapped at a family barbecue  by delving into the different peoples lives it becomes just as much about suburban Australia and society than it does about the event and its consequences.  I was surprised by not only the language and sexual content but by the open use of drugs (seemingly all characters of varying ages) and also race issues throughout the book but others were not surprised by this.  I think each person draws their own opinions based on their knowledge and life experiences.  As someone else stated 'I think I need to read some more history books' and I agree there's certainly alot to learn about the world! Perhaps my eyes need opening.

So there you have it a somewhat jumbled account of The Slap, but I never like to dissuade others from reading something because everyone has a different take.  Some will love, some will hate some will be undecided :) that's what book club is all about!

We added a few more titles today, here is our current compiled list of future reads:

Childhoods End (Arthur.C.Clarke) Science Fiction

The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) Young Adult Science Fiction

Me Before You (Jojo Moyes) Modern Romance

Of Human Bondage (Somerset Maugham) Autobiographical

Tess of the Durbervilles (Thomas Hardy) Classic

Bleak House (Charles Dickens) Mystery

The Woman in Black (Susan Hill) Horror

White Teeth (Zadie Smith) Literary Fiction

Tiny Sunbirds Fly Away (Christie Watson) African Literary Fiction

The Plague (Albert Camus) Philosophical

Life of Pi (Yann martel) Fantasy Adventure

The Great Gatsby (F.Scott.Fitzgerald) Modernist, Jazz Age Novel

The Colour Purple (Alice Walker) Epistolary Novel

The Book chosen for this month is...

'The Old Man and the Sea' by Ernest Hemingway

'The Old Man and the Sea was the last major work of fiction to be produced by Hemingway and published in his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it centres upon Santiago, an ageing fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream'

I have never read a Hemingway book so I am looking forward to this one and again something completely different.  I shall be running out to buy my copy tomorrow :)

Next Book Club Meet

Date: Wednesday 30th January 2013

Time: 7.30pm

Location: The Dog & Bull Pub Croydon

Book Club - 28/11/12

So... a bit of a low turn out last week but there were enough of us and we'd all read it which is a good start.  We were discussing 'The Colour of Milk' by Nell Leyshon.  It ended up being quite a short discussion on the book itself which kind of gives the impression that it wasn't one of our favourites.  Personally I quite liked it, but wasn't enthralled.  Its quite a short book and was split into 4 sections (seasons) instead of chapters.  Having no chapters always makes me read quicker because I usually tell myself I'll stop at the next chapter, so I pretty much read it in 4 bursts over a couple of days.  I liked the forthright farm girl Mary with her innocent straight forward view of life, but although there were some good characters (Grandad a favourite) I didn't really feel very connected or involved with it.

Some in the group didn't like the way it was written (in her own hand, not very well & without much punctuation) but I didn't mind this myself as it fit well with the story and the time period.  It was a bit of a curious one, the last season taking on a dramatic twist of events which some predicted, others thought unexpected but I think its safe to say all were equally horrified.  A very sad story which I found interesting to read but do agree with the others in that there's plenty of holes to pick in it.  I wouldn't read it again but I wouldn't dissuade others from reading it either! The scores out of 10 ranged from 2-5.5 I think, so not amazing, but again something totally different to everything else we have read so far this year!

So the next book.  We originally decided to pull a number at random,this resulted in a book which when looked up on the net looked like it may be the third in a trilogy! (So I will look into that for another time), we then picked another which was the same time period of the one we have just read...so in the end it was decided that I would read out the list and everyone would heckle me.  The result was this months choice:

'The Slap' by Christos Tsiolkas

'At a suburban barbecue one afternoon, a man slaps an unruly boy.  It's a single act of violence.  But this event reverberates through the lives of everyone who witnesses it happen.'

Winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize and long listed for the Man Booker prize.

I'm looking forward to this - I sense a bit of controversy!! 



So next Book Club is after Christmas and on a Thursday this time, I hope that's ok with everyone who couldn't make it last night! 

Next Book Club Meet
Date: Thursday 3rd January 2013
Time: 7.30pm
Location: The Dog & Bull Pub (Surrey Street, Croydon)

Book Club Christmas Outing/Day of Fun
Date: Saturday 12th january 2013
Time & Location: TBC

We were also talking about arranging a Christmas book club outing, because Christmas is looming rather quickly we have decided to do this after Christmas and have decided on Saturday January 12th! I haven't yet decided on a plan of events so if anyone has any ideas please let me know.  I am thinking along of the lines of something interesting (maybe a museum of some sort) followed by a tasty dinner, so I shall get my thinking caps on, but please put the date in your diaries :)

Book Club - 31/10/12

There are not enough hours in the day at the moment! (I know excuses, excuses) Last weeks book club was a spooky one due to it being on Halloween & it was also a pretty creepy book! Whilst stuffing ourselves with sweet treats (ok this was mainly Jen and I - you know which Jen you are) we had some very interesting discussions about last months read 'Before I Go To Sleep'.

I think everyone enjoyed reading it and it gripped us all to some extent, although certainly not a masterpiece and we did being to pick holes in it as the evening went on!  Most people didn't guess the twist at the end and although we had ideas about what was going on it did keep me gripped most of the way through as a good thriller should.

The story itself and the characters didn't take long to discuss but the whole subject of memory (and its importance) as well as betrayal and relationships kept us debating for hours.  It was interesting to think about how important memory is to us and also how many of our memories are not real memories at all.  Are some fictitious or exaggerated in our mind? How much is created by other people who desrcibe something to us from the past? Seeing an old photograph can lead us to invent new memories to replace the ones we have lost, which are are certain we believe to be true.

We talked about some of us who have kept journals in the past about memories past and present, or just simply writing down things that happen to us as a day goes by.  It was a really enjoyable evening as always and I am so pleased I got this book club going!

The next book, which I have only just got a hold of a copy myself is...

'The Colour of Milk' by Nell Leyshon

The year is 1830. Fifteen-year-old Mary lives a life of toil and cheerlessness on her father's farm. Outspoken, witty and bold, she has one bad leg and white hair "the colour of milk", a phrase used as a refrain throughout, along with: "this is my book and I am writing it by my own hand."




This looks like its going to be another completely different style book (certainly a different time period) to those we've read so far this year, so I am looking forward to getting started at lunch time!! Its actually quite a small book, so if you haven't started it yet you should still be able to read it before our next meet up!  Which leads me nicely to...

Next Book Club:
Date: 28th November
Time: 7.30pm
Location: The Dog & Bull Pub, Surrey Street, Croydon