Book club 1 reviews 2017
THE SIEGE BY HELEN DUNMORE, reviewed January 2017
John Mullan, writing in the Guardian in 2011, said that realism of the senses is at the heart this book, which imagines the experience of enduring the siege of Leningrad during the Second World War. Also, he wrote that it is an agonising read, but a numbing one, where, “Characters themselves seem buried under the thickening snow, with all sense of time, beyond the difference between night and day, lost to them.”
We, of course, really enjoyed it and this review looks at the discussion about the book, rather than looking at the plot, the context or the characters. The meeting was particularly interesting, with all in attendance agreeing it was a great novel, achieving a rating of 4.78 out of 5, our highest ever. Right from the first comments, there was spontaneous positive reactions to the book.
Some members not attending expressed difficulty in identifying with the story or the people as it was so far beyond experience but others relished the focus on characters, the story as an example of people pulling together and the excellent descriptive writing. The novel highlighted an important historical event and generated further interest in the subject, including the tight control on communist society even in a siege context. Despite the story-line, the story is uplifting rather than depressing.
Group members thought the story informative, a brilliantly written depiction of contrast that allowed the reader to almost experience the cold, smell the decay and relate to the human qualities expressed.
The group could feel as though riding beside the narrator on her bicycle and sledge. It was a book people wanted to keep reading, couldn’t put down and that impressed by historical accuracy and description. It gives insight on the country and its history, provides first-class descriptive writing and sheer, uplifting emotions.
Because of the great interest aroused by the book it was agreed to add the follow-up "The Betrayal" to our future list.
THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold, reviewed Thursday 9th February 2017
This was a book that divided opinion among the 15 members attending. There was a general lack of enthusiasm, with the feeling that it was morose and miserable, simply unenjoyable, whilst a minority thought it well-written. Particular and strong criticism was registered concerning the ending, variously described as a “shambles” and having “killed off” the story. “Going into the other body” was seized on as a particularly bad feature.
3 or 4 members present said that they liked the book but commented on the “bizarre” section involving the “body transfer”. Another 2 sent in their reactions and enjoyed the book.
An earlier Guardian review of this book found it “timid and sentimental”, which seems surprising in a novel about child murder, narrated from heaven and inspired apparently by the author’s rape experience as a teenager.
“The victim, whose bones are shut in an old safe and discarded by her neighbour, spends the book watching and narrating, from her adolescent heaven, the tale of her loss and the rupture her murder brings about in the lives of her family, her killer and her friends. However, after the first 50 pages the energy dissipates and something much blander than the opening has promised starts happening both in the writing and in the narrative. It deadens the narrative.
“The Lovely Bones is so keen in the end to comfort us and make safe its world that, however well-meaning, it avoids its own ramifications.”
Alternatively, the New York Times said, “In spite of the horrific act at the centre of the story — the rape, murder and dismemberment of a 14-year-old girl — the novel is not depressing or assaultive but rather, somewhat perversely, warm, hopeful and even occasionally funny.
“The author pushes the dead-child narrative to an emotional extreme, and at the same time undermines its exploitive tendencies, by means of a simple and radical formal device. She makes the victim, an omniscient, beyond-the-grave narrator, with a comfortable perch in the afterlife from which to survey the doings of her family, her friends and the neighbour who killed her.”
In our meeting, the scores ranged from 2 out of 5, up to 4 out of five, so not one of our best-received offerings. (2 non-attenders gave a score of 5). Comments included, “some bits implausible, left me cold / enjoyed overall but the ending was bizarre / not up to the highest standards / didn’t enjoy it at all / enjoyed but didn’t like the ending / had lots that is good but the ending killed it / not for me / description of family dynamics good but didn’t like ending / too morose, unsatisfactory / disappointed by ending / enjoyed it / family dynamics interesting.
Our average rating was 3.2, compared to the Amazon score of 4.1.
Next month’s book is “the Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year by Sue Townsend – copies are available at the library. Sheila has agreed to introduce that book and lead the discussion.
The Woman who went to bed for a year,by Sue Townsend, reviewed 9 March 2017
This was not a book that divided the group members – nobody was inspired by it, which was a pity as we had looked forward to reading something, “hilarious and totally Townsend”, as suggested by the Daily Mail, whose reviewer, “laughed until I cried.”
Some group members thought the story superficial, with characters that were not attractive or interesting and, although there were funny parts, some didn't think the book was as rewarding as the Adrian Mole series. Alternatively, others enjoyed it as a light book with quirky humour and found it an enjoyable, amusing novel.
Whereas the publishers described the work as a funny and touching novel, some thought the characters rather pathetic and very sad, somewhat unbelievable. Perhaps we should end with the Sunday Times review, “Something deeper and darker than comedy.”
The overall group score was 2 out of 5, with a smatter of 3.5s being the highest mark awarded
Sue Townsend, the bestselling author sadly died in 2014.
"When God was a Rabbit", by Sarah Winman (reviewed 13 April 2017)
Despite referring to this book as, “bleak childhood, dark comedy” the reviewer also considered it, “ the most amusing and emotionally satisfying work of rabbit deism to come down the pike in a long time. “
Similarly, the book club members found plenty of aspects that delighted and uplifted but nobody considered it the highlight of the year. We generally gave it three or four out of five, a good mark. There was a mark of two out of five.
There were plenty of characters that amused and spread joy: Arthur Henry the guest that stayed on, in the forethought he would die through coconut strike; Aunt Nancy, the “sexually fluid” actor and film star; Ginger the Shirley Bassey impersonator. Also, there were funny moments such as when the narrator, hoping for a lead part in the nativity play, is awarded the role of a blind inn-keeper. Her friend plays the part of “ the octopus, non-speaking.”
Beneath this, the book is full of trauma, including suicide, murder, illness and terrorism. The author manages to focus on the family incidents and personal moments so that the traumatic content is woven comfortably into the tale.
Book club members considered that the coverage of the twin towers tragedy of September 11th, 2001 was well developed, with the appropriate feeling of loss, uncertainty, bravery and realism.
Other recent historical events are built into the story and form a network that the family story is bonded with.
(Our April-May book is Betrayal by Helen Dunmore).
"The Betrayal" by Helen Dunmore (reviewed May 11th 2017)
Sir Antony Beevor, the military historian, said of this book, “A beautifully written and deeply moving story about fear, loss, love and honesty amid the demented lies of Stalin’s last days. I literally could not put it down.”
Our group were of the same opinion, even those of us reluctant to start another book about Russian intrigue. 85% rated it as 4.5 or above and 15% rated it as 3, out of five. Nobody gave it less, making it a stand-out book for the group.
One element of the story involves the relationship between Dr Andryusha “Andrei” Mikhailovich Alekseyev, a young doctor who originally comes from Irkutsk in Siberia and Anna Mikhailovna, a nursery school teacher. Andrei treats Gorya Volkov, the son of a senior secret police officer in the Ministry for State Security. It includes Andrei’s journey through Shpalerka jail, his transfer to the Lubyanka in Moscow and on to Siberia.
Quote (from one of our group)
I read this immediately after finishing another Helen Dunmore book, “The Siege” and found it to be just as moving and absorbing. The characters were well drawn and believable. I felt huge sympathy for them and the dilemmas they were presented with. How would we have coped with Anna and Andrei’s life I wonder? The tension was increased slowly but surely - I was dreading the knock on the door! You could fully understand why people kept themselves to themselves - you had to look out for your own family.
The character of Volkov was what I guess we expect of a Russian official and yet we were shown that he loved his son - so in that way he became a more rounded person.
I thought the descriptions of Russian bureaucracy, what went on in the hospital and life in general in Leningrad in the 1950’s were beautifully written - although I think the adverb is perhaps wrong in the circumstances!
As you can probably guess, I thought the book was a brilliant follow-up to The Siege, I just couldn’t put it down.
So - a full 5 stars from me!
Unquote
Soon after Stalin’s death, 1,200,000 prisoners serving less than 5 years were released from prison. A senior official said it would be, “Impossible to declare at once that all former “enemies of the people” were innocent as it would make it clear the country was not being run by legal government but by a group of gangsters.”
(our May-June book is "Instructions for a Heatwave").
"Instructions for a Heatwave" by Maggie O'Farrell (reviewed 8th June)
(The Guardian) - The weather isn't the only thing that's oppressing the family in Maggie O'Farrell's taut, compelling sixth novel
During the heatwave of summer 1976 a devoted husband and father of three gets up from the breakfast table and goes out to buy a newspaper. He doesn't come back. Robert Riordan was recently retired, but still there was nothing to suggest to his wife Gretta that he was unhappy or about to do a disappearing act. Gretta is adamant that she has no idea where he is or why he has gone. Robert and Gretta's grown-up children descend upon the family home to scratch their heads and console their mother.
All the hallmarks of an O'Farrell novel are here: a family with secrets in its past and words left unsaid years ago, relatives long since forgotten, a claustrophobic atmosphere of uncomfortable emotional closeness. This is an accomplished and addictive story told with real humanity, warmth and infectious love for the characters. Highly recommended.
(The Telegraph) - A beautiful portrait of family life amid an unravelling crisis
(The independent) - This humorous, humane and perceptive domestic saga broils with the resentments left behind by an absent husband and father
(New York Times) – The author has made her mark by combining the elements of good old-¬fashioned drama with a modern lightness of touch in language and a deft freedom in moving her narratives forward through juxtaposition rather than -linear plotting.
This was another book we enjoyed reading, with most of the group awarding 3.5 or 4.0 out of five. There was no 5.0 given but one score of 2.0.
As one member of the group said, “I loved the book - although I’m not too sure about the ending, it seemed a bit inconclusive. I wanted to know more about this shadowy character who suddenly re-appeared. However, I’m prepared to overlook this as I thought the rest was so well written and convincing. What a family!!!”
The Hare With Amber Eyes, by Edmund de Wall (reviewed July 14th, 2017)
Edmund de Waal is an artist whose porcelain is exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. His bestselling memoir, 'The Hare with Amber Eyes', won the RSL Ondaatje prize and the Costa Biography Award. In 2015 he was awarded the Windham-Campbell prize for non fiction by Yale University. He lives in London with his family. (Source: amazon.co.uk)
‘The Hare with Amber Eyes’ (2010) is a family memoir. De Waal tells the story of his family, the Ephrussi, once a very wealthy European Jewish banking dynasty, centered in Odessa, Vienna and Paris, and peers of the Rothschild family. The Ephrussis lost almost everything in 1938 when the Nazis Aryanised their property. Even after the war, the family failed to recover most of its extensive property, including priceless artwork, but an easily hidden collection of Japanese netsuke miniature sculptures was miraculously saved, tucked away inside a mattress by Anna, a loyal maid at Palais Ephrussi in Vienna during the war years. The collection has been passed down through five generations of the Ephrussi family, providing a common thread for the story of its fortunes from 1871 to 2009. (Source: Wikipedia).
Our group rated the memoir with marks from one to four out of five, with an average of three. There was division about the vocabulary, with some enthusiasm but others disliking the complexity of the language. Several people commented that they had to consult a dictionary (e.g flaneurial) to make sense of the text!
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (reviewed August 10, 2017)
We really enjoyed this book, with nobody giving less than 3.5 marks out of 5.0
“One to lift even the most cynical of spirits.” The Times.
“A sparkling epistolary novel radiating wit, lightly worn erudition and written with great assurance and aplomb.” Sunday Times,
“The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is an epistolary novel about Juliet Ashton's association with a fascinating literary society.” Bookrags.com study guide
“The novel is set in January 1946 as London emerges from the Second World War, with many London neighbourhoods in rubble. The novel's protagonist, Juliet Ashton, is a moderately well-known writer who has lost her home.
The novel unfolds through a series of correspondences. Juliet receives a letter from a man named Dawsey Adams on the island of Guernsey. He writes to her because books are so rare on Guernsey, and he would like to gain more — particularly for the island's book club, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
The most central character that the islanders speak of is Elizabeth McKenna, a young woman who, during the German occupation of Guernsey, was deported to a concentration camp. When German soldiers controlled Guernsey during the occupation of the Channel Islands from 1940 to 1945, the islanders were severely oppressed. When a pig died, several farmers would pass around its carcass, each reporting the death of their own personal pig. Farmers could then slaughter one of their pigs in secrecy and eat with neighbours.
After corresponding, Juliet decides to visit her new friends. Upon her arrival, she quickly develops strong relationships and comes to realize that her old life in London no longer holds appeal. Most importantly, she grows exceedingly close to Kit, Elizabeth McKenna's daughter, and eventually applies for her adoption. Juliet also falls in love with Dawsey and proposes marriage. Finally, Juliet realizes what she wants to write about in her next book: the life of Elizabeth McKenna. “ Cliffnotes.com
The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern (reviewed 12 October 2017)
This book is possibly the most opinion-divergent book we’ve read as a group, with some rating it 4.5 out of 5, others 1. Not a bad response for a book that spent so long on the bestseller lists.
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two magicians, Celia and Marco. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.(penguinrandomhouse).
“Magical. Enchanting. Spellbinding. Mesmerizing.” —Associated Press
“Erin Morgenstern has created the circus I have always longed for and she has populated it with duelling love-struck magicians, precocious kittens, hyper-elegant displays of beauty and complicated clocks. This is a marvellous book.” —Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveller’s Wife
“Echoing the immense pleasure of Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, The Night Circus presents a sprightly version of 19th-century English magic. A love story for adults that feels luxuriously romantic.” —The Washington Post
The Night Circus is a sprawling historical novel about magic and the circus. Highly whimsical, it is a narrative so wilfully contrived that contrivance is its raison d'être. It is intensely visual, so much so that what remains in its wake are almost exclusively images – The Guardian
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak (reviewed 14 September)
In 1939 nine year old Liesel is taken, by her mother, to live with foster parents in Molching, a town outside Munich on the road to Dachau. The story tells of her life with the Hubermann’s, her friend Rudy and Max,a Jew who spends much of the story hidden in the Hubermann’s cellar. The story is narrated by Death.
Most of us enjoyed the book finding the characters well drawn, especially Hans who we felt held the story together. We thought it was informative to read a story set in WW2, from a German perspective, although one member did point out that we seem to have read quite a lot of books set in wars recently!
It was suggested that the story might have been better without using Death as the narrator. One member found it difficult to connect with the story, feeling that it didn’t quite gel but the majority thought it was a good read and awarded it a score of 3.5
The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion (reviewed 9 November 20117)
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion explores the romantic and comedic errors of a man with undiagnosed Asperger’s Syndrome, Don Tillson, as he looks for a wife. As a professor of genetics, Don lives an orderly, predictable life in a protected academic setting. Trouble ensues when he decides that he is ready to find his life’s partner. Set in Melbourne, Australia and New York City, the novel is told in the first person from Don’s perspective. (www.supersummary.com)
At our book group meeting this book was well received. The lowest score was a 3 and the overall mean average for the book was a 4. We reviewed the book club questions at the back of the book which led to a lively, purposeful discussion.
Most people felt it was a good read - a ‘laugh out loud’ type of novel, which reflected the opinion of many reviewers – “exuberantly life-affirming” (Sunday Times), “sublime, pitch –perfect, extremely funny” (Independent), “brilliant, important, light-hearted” (Guardian).
One to savour, then.
The Miniaturist, by Jessie Burton (reviewed 14 December 2017)
It is 1686, and in Amsterdam, 18-year-old Nella Oortman arrives at the grand house of her new husband, the wealthy merchant Johannes Brandt. The marriage is more arrangement than love match, and for Nella, a country girl, Johannes and his household are an alarming prospect: his waspish sister, Marin, terrifies her half to death, and she fbrinds it hard to lift her eyes from the startling sight of his manservant, Otto, a former slave. (The Guardian review introduction).
“Utterly transporting. Burton’s prose beguiles the reader, while a riptide of plot takes hold with an unrelenting grip of suspense. My first instinct on finishing this book was to immediately read it again (Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites).
Similarly, the book group valued this debut novel (a Waterstones book of the year), with a resounding group score of 4 out of 5.
One of our unresolved questions was “Do you think the miniaturist is a magical force or a human one?” Considering how pivotal the character is in the tale, the question had supporters of either suggestion.