LETSBuzz Book Club 20th April 2000
Up to about one-quarter to one-third through Seán was
already getting sick of the book and its verbosity. It felt very
much like it was written in instalments (which it probably was).
The characters are all extreme - extremely
good/bad/angelic/corrupt and not at all naturalistic. By about
halfway through the story suddenly bucked up though the various
parallel stories didn't come together until the very end of a
long 1000 pages. The writing was very good but Seán wasn't
always in the mood for the style. Dickens' irony was very
heavy-handed and tended to "beat the reader over the head."
Seán
A book of short stories, which Seán enjoyed very much. All
the stories are about a smallish Irish town where nothing
happens. It is the inner lives of the characters that indicate
their desperation to escape & the narrators all clearly
believe their own implausible stories. Very funny.
Seán
Seán bought this book by chance. A collection of
autobiographical essays by an American writer, originally written
for the Library of Congress magazine. All the essays are on the
subject of reading & collecting books. A slim volume but one
which Sean enjoyed.
Seán
Gill enjoyed this a lot and found it really compelling. She
thought it very emotional and felt for the main character.
Gill
Gill thought that this was not Bryson's best book, though it was
quite enjoyable. She felt that it tailed off towards the end and
it certainly didn't sell Gill the idea of walking the Appalachian
Trail (was it supposed to?) The book was very good at conveying
the sheer scale of America.
Gill
Set in an invented South American country. Gill first wondered if
she would get through this, as it was so violent. After a while
though the story picks up and the violence gets to the point of
caricature. The story gets another lift when the native Indian
characters appear and overall Gill enjoyed it and ended up
finding it quite humorous. Seán had read the book
previously and said that he felt that the violence was realistic
rather than over the top.
Gill
Gill was very pleased to find this book in a second hand shop in
Wendover. It's about a family living on a canal boat in the
1920s. The Author was an independent MP with a special interest
in water transport. The book is set in Hammersmith and the main
character (Jane) is a working class girl whose worldview is very
influenced by the movies, her Dad working in a cinema. The plot
concerns a journey taken on a barge up the Grand Union canal by
Jane & Dad plus friend Fred. The big drama in the book
revolves around a game of skittles in a local pub. A good
portrait of life & class in the London of the time.
Gill
Jean really enjoyed this. She doesn't know Gavin very well but
the book was so personal ("he puts a lot of himself on the page -
unlike many male writers") that she felt she had gotto know him
much better by the end. Jean wanted Gavin to slow down the pace
at which he got around the country and although he described the
places that he visited she wished for more descriptions of the
people that he met & stayed with. Unfortunately, the author
was not present to hear Jean's appraisal of his work.
Jean
A very light read. Jean got a bit fed up with it because it got
too silly & over the top.
Jean
Jean enjoyed this and found it very interesting, though there
were maybe too many twists & turns in the plot. Set in 17th
Century Amsterdam, at the height of the tulip boom. The book also
includes colour plates of various Dutch paintings of the era that
Jean found useful & welcome in helping her to visualise the
time in which the book is set.
Jean
Jean admitted that she is getting hooked on this author, though
she felt that she probably didn't get as much out of this book as
a reader raised as a Catholic would. The book comprises stories
of various Saints, which, she said, is not the turn off that it
sounds. Wonderful storyteller, wonderful read.
Jean
Andrew really enjoyed this and felt it was well up to the
author's usual high standard. Andrew urged everyone to read
Hiaasen's books and not be put off by the often trashy covers
("don't judge a book."). Doreen backed up this praise.
Andrew
Andrew was very familiar with Parsons' music journalism and felt
that he was someone who Nick Hornby's writing (and success) had
given the courage to attempt a novel. Andrew quite enjoyed the
book and had looked forward to the daily train journeys on which
he could read some more, his only criticism being that the author
had used a few unrealistic devices to move the plot along.
Andrew
This could never live up to the hype and although it had started
well enough (the descriptions of the school and Harry's home life
were good), Andrew found himself getting bored with it once the
adventure got going. He was disappointed to find that it all got
very "dungeons and dragons" with the characters having to go
through increasingly difficult tasks to reach the goal.
Andrew
An undemanding (middle-brow, even) page-turner about a mixed
American/Japanese community on a small island off the North-west
coast of the USA, set in the mid-50s. Part whodunit, part
court-room drama but the strength of the book is in the
description of the island's history and the racial tensions that
come about after the war.
Andrew
Andrew quite enjoyed this and conceded that it might be an
accurate portrayal of the lives of classical musicians. However,
he found all of the characters (bar one) very unlikeable,
especially the pompous leading man and this was an obstacle to
his full appreciation of the book.
Andrew
A book of non-fictional essays about literary marriages and
co-habitations, written from a fairly feminist angle. Doreen
found this absolutely fascinating.
Doreen
Doreen enjoyed this, the story of an American family in the
Belgian Congo in the late 1950s (though it reads like an account
of a Victorian family). Tyrannical father who is too arrogant to
adapt to the customs and ways of the Congo. The story is told
through the voices of the wife and children.
Doreen
Set in France. An easy read, about choosing between pleasure and
duty and how a little town is turned upside down by pleasure and
temptation. Full of sensuous lists of items available in the
local chocolate shop. Highly recommended.
Doreen
Terribly disappointing. More like a sketch for a novel or even a
parody of a Margaret Drabble book.
Caroline
The story of a woman in France with a small child. Very accurate
about the pleasures, trials and tribulations of bringing up a
baby but with little narrative thread. The book goes off the
rails by the end and becomes completely implausible.
Caroline
A book about literary journeys & exiles including Wordsworth
& Mary Wolstencraft in Paris and Shelley in Italy. The author
also deals with Robert Louis Stevenson's travels with a donkey
and discusses how obsessed an author can become when researching
such biographical material. Caroline described this as an amazing
read.
Caroline
An aquatic journey around Britain and a wonderful read. The
author is a film maker from Suffolk who decides to journey around
the country in order to swim in wilder and less orthodox places.
Caroline
An enchanting children's book written in the 1950s. Full of
idyllic and somewhat old-fashioned views of childhood.
Caroline
A novel about an Anglo-Irish family who seem unable to
communicate about really important issues and all the missed
opportunities that arise from this. Caroline enjoyed the book
enormously.
Caroline
The frames have gone all
funny - click to make it good.