LETSBuzz Book Club 23rd November 2003
Winner of the Orange prize for fiction. Main character was an
opera singer, which was why Doreen thought she might be
interested in this. The plot revolves around a siege in unnamed
South American Country but is spoiled by a daft twist at the end.
Doreen
A very bad book. Set around the music business in North London.
Very artificial and bad dialogue, long explanations of the
machinations of the music industry, in a way that people really
never actually talk. The way that the character of ann rea (all
lower case) is very annoying in the way that she is always
referred to in full. It also involves a very contrived murder
method.
Doreen
Doreen is normally allergic to this kind of historical novel but
found this a very good book. Very well done and fascinating
stuff. All characters speak Modern English even though they are
the familiar ancient Greek characters. There are parallels with
modern manipulation of media in the way that Homer is provided
with material to disseminate via his songs.
Doreen
One of the few in the group who hasn't read White Teeth, Bob
didn't like this book but found it hard to say exactly why. The
characters didn't grab him and he found himself skimming over
large parts of it.
Bob
A travelogue along Ermine Street and Fosse Way. Funny and
interesting, though hardly life changing. Written some while ago
now so Bob wonders how much has changed from what the author saw.
Bob
The best book of the three. Bob thoroughly enjoyed this but
wondered of how much interest it would be to anyone else in the
group (except Andrew of course, who'd lent it to him). Bob
thought that Hornby's choices were a bit too obviously right on.
Bob
Translated from the German. The first book takes place on the
French Riviera and both books' plots revolve around secrets
revealed at the very end.
Christine
Mrs Fytton is one of those people who has it all under control
and is right about everything until her husband leaves her having
fallen in love with a younger woman. Light and trivial but highly
readable and Christine enjoyed this very much, especially the
epigrams at the heading of each chapter.
Christine
A compilation of pieces about living abroad with pieces by such
famous names as Paul Theroux and Chris Stewart.
Christine
About a man sent away from Zanzibar by his parents to get a
British education. His experiences in England and what he finds
in Zanzibar when he returns. Okay but not very compelling.
Seán
Really unputdownable. A thug from Sheffield comes down to London
to avenge the wrongs done to his girlfriend. Very enjoyable.
Seán
Seán had enjoyed previous books by this author but felt
that he'd got a bit carried away with himself with this book.
It's written in an English version of Homerian prose, quite
difficult to read and with the added distraction of overlong
footnotes. Even when the story comes up to the present day, it
remains quite tedious and not really worth persevering with.
Seán
Although he'd enjoyed this author's book "The Stone Raft",
Seán couldn't get on with this at all.
Seán
Conspicuously very well written. A great opening scene, with a
Halal butcher averting central character Archie's attempted
suicide. Seán did think that the story was taking a bit
too long to tell, maybe not meriting the length of the book. And
the ending's a bit of an anti-climax.
Seán
Really good, very enjoyable. A thriller set in the world of
antiquarian books, the main character is a book finder who gets
two commissions, one concerning a part of the original manuscript
of "The Three Musketeers" and the other about a very rare book on
the occult. The conclusion involves the character of a fallen
angel. Seán would definitely read other books by this
author.
Seán
Gill's going through the second Thomas Hardy phase of her life.
This book is supposedly a comedy but she could detect no real
laughs in it. The book is obsessed with class, Ethelberta rises
through the social classes, desperately trying to keep her lowly
background secret. Quite an easy read and without much of the
depressing stuff that's often in Hardy (maybe this is what
qualifies it as a comedy).
Gill
Plot based around astronomy and the romance of an older woman and
younger man. A sad ending because of the unacceptability of their
union.
Gill
Another Dorset writer, Cowper Powys was oft compared with D.H.
Lawrence. Gill imagines that most people in the group wouldn't
like this book. It's hard to pitch in which era it is set, but
Gill finally settled for the 1930s. There are lots of characters,
all quite lonely in their own ways. Morally, Gill found some of
the book hard to deal with, even though it's set 70 years ago. A
lot of the action takes place internally, involving what each of
the characters are thinking (about the others, mostly).
Gill
First novel by the highly thought of poet. It's a mixture of
Friends Reunited and the film Shallow Grave, the lead character
gets back in touch with his four best friends from school and
they embark on a series of dares and challenges with the promise
of a huge reward at the end for the one who stays the course.
Inevitably it all falls apart through mistrust, betrayal and them
ganging up on each other. It's a brutal, nasty, rather unpleasant
book but Andrew found it an easy read and he could well be
tempted to read Armitage's second novel.
Andrew
A book about someone deciding to take on an allotment, so much of
this was familiar to Andrew, as an allotment holder himself. A
light read, made irritating by a lack of necessary editing and
the author's unwillingness to give many important characters
names ('my friend' or, worse 'the partner' - is this any worse
than 'the missus'?) or flesh them out with any kind of
personality.
Andrew
Booker nominated first novel about the Bangla Deshi community in
East London with comparisons made to the life endured by the
sister of the main protagonist back in Bangla Desh. It's quite a
sobering, even depressing read with no one having a very good
time and some people having a very bad time indeed. Trapped in
unsympathetic surroundings and a mostly loveless marriage, the
main character shocks even herself by embarking on an affair with
a local political activist and getting interested in the causes
that he espouses.
Andrew
The frames have gone all
funny - click to make it good.