LETSBuzz Book Club 30th June 2002
It was similar to previous books by the same author, who seems to specialise in grotesque retribution. In this case, a frozen lizard is involved. He has good comic timing and excellent characters. An ageing rocker dies in a diving accident: the death is investigated by the main character, a news reporter demoted to the obituaries. Very entertaining.
Andrew
Andrew really liked this book, totally different from the previous (Headlong) by Frayn. set in Second World War London, the story is told from the point of view of two boys. Keith is the leader, Stephen the led. They suspect that they have caught a spy, look for signs to confirm their suspicions, and are misled. The atmosphere seemed genuine, muddling through in wartime England. Recommended.
Andrew
This is a comedy of manners set on a university campus. A male professor of cognitive science starts a relationship with a visiting professor of creative arts. Lodge crams a lot into his books and this one is no exception. Very insightful into relationships, didn't want the book to end - really enjoyed it.
Andrew
Andrew said this was the first and last book by her that he would read. The theme is that a wife discovers that the man (airline pilot, killed in crash) had not been as faithful to her as she had thought. The problem is that we never get to know the pilot. Disappointing.
Andrew
This was a totally believable story, not a distant reality. She enjoyed reading it but had to skip over some of the third part because Winston's fear was too awful to bear. Compelling but depressing.
Emily
This is a true story (American) that Emily saw reviewed in a magazine. The book is based upon the author's incestuous relationship with her father, driven by her dysfunctional relationship with her mother. She was brought up by grandparents. She seems weak and vulnerable; she mutilates herself and has eating disorders. Her father is a priest with a new family, but he manipulates and uses her.
Emily
The author was a violinist with the London Symphony Orchestra. He has written several books on the subject of UFOs and alien contacts, this being his latest. There are "photos of aliens" in this book - but they look like fakes and the author is careful to be sceptical. It is a sensible, well researched and unsensationalist account of alleged encounters with aliens. Timothy Good is clearly convinced by the evidence but doesn't expect that the reader should share his view.
Rory
This is an award winning "memoir" of the 70s and 80s in Poland, mainly during the emergence of Solidarnosc. The conditions of everyday life are awful. Political events happen but no-one is sure what they mean, and no-one knows if the Russians will invade. It opens a window into a well known but little understood part of recent history. The expose of Polish anti-Semitism was quite shocking. There are many printing errors, but Rory still enjoyed the book and recommended it.
Rory
A beautiful and very moving story in three parts. The central figure is the wife/mother of a family. The three parts are the different views of her from her husband and her two boys. You feel you are there.
Doreen
Doreen didn't like this one as much as the earlier William Maxwell. It was ponderous at times, perhaps reflecting the hot climate in which it is set. There is a clash of cultures between newcomers and settled folk. There is still much elegant writing, he expresses himself so well.
Doreen
Doreen lost patience with this and didn't finish it. It is very "experimental", too clever for its own sake.
Doreen
Originally published in 1942, this is a translation from Hungarian. The central character is a beautiful female - but you know very little about her, which is disappointing. It is an interesting and quite foreign book. It describes the morals and manners in a society far removed from here and now in an historical novel.
Recommended.
Doreen
Doreen didn't like this either, but read it all to find out the ending. It is written in a very brisk style with short paragraphs. The central character is an unpleasant young woman and it is not a "nice" story. She discovers the identity of her real mother and travels to see if she can murder her.
Doreen
In this book you meet everyone on a tube train that is going to crash. It is a clever idea and a very entertaining read.
Doreen
A woman is having a mid-life crisis. She married a man who thought she was a different sort of person and so she became this person. Now in her 50s and her husband long dead she speculates on how different things might have been, so contacts her teenage sweetheart. Things don't work out how you might expect. Very enjoyable.
Doreen
The frames have gone all funny - click to make it good.