LETSBuzz Book Club 12th September 1999
Mostly harmless - just another good life travel book. Would probably get
more out of it if you knew the area. Interesting people - and animals!
'Learnt more than I needed to know about sheep...' Interesting to read about
the water irrigation system: channels cut by hand. Liked the section about
'walking the water' - i.e. walking in front of the water as it flows through
the irrigation channels. Author a typical self-deprecating Englishman abroad.
Doreen
Non-fiction. 'South' is a filmed version of this story. Shackleton crosses
the Antarctic. A disastrous but heroic expedition in 1914. The author was
a member of the expedition, acting as the navigator, and the book is based on his diary. Their ship 'Endurance' is stuck in the ice for months and
gradually crushed. The men get into smaller boats and sail through dreadful
conditions. Some stay at a bay, 12 set off for S. Georgia in a small open
boat. Miraculously they get there but find it very difficult to land. They
have to trek across the island, again in very difficult conditions. They
survive on a diet of seals, penguins and oatmeal. Doreen found this a
fascinating story, particularly the apparent calmness of the expedition
members.
Doreen
Doreen had been put off previous books by this author because of their covers, which were often a bit absurd. A long book, over 600 pages. The novel
shouldn't work - lots of the characters are writers, it could easily be very
self-indulgent - but it does. The author cleverly draws together the threads
of the different stories. Each character tells a different story, in their
own way. The main character is Ruth, who appears first at the age of four
and then in her 30s and her 40s. Both her brothers are killed in a car
accident. Ruth's father, Ted, writes terrifying children's stories which are
included in the book. The characters, while not likeable are entirely
believable, you understand why they behave as they do. A very humane book.
Doreen
The story of a young boy growing up. He starts off as a likeable scallywag
but by the time the story finishes he is a psychopath, able to commit
violence without feeling anything. His life is completely wasted, with a
tragic inevitability. The author seems to suggest that the circumstances of
the boy's life have led to his end: he has a dreadful father, terrible things happen to him, he is sent to a reform school and is abused while there. A
very believable, shocking and sad story. Not as brutal as he had expected it to be. The murder, when it happens, is cold and clinical but over very quickly. Seán found this a very affecting book, couldn't put it down, 'have never read anything like it - highly recommended'.
Seán
Seán usually enjoys Rushdie's books and enjoyed this one very much. It describes the lives and relationships of a female Indian singer, a male
guitarist and a photographer, the storyteller. The title refers to
earthquakes; people's sense of solidity of who they are; the ground shifting.Half-way through it becomes clear that Rushdie is writing not about this
world but a parallel world where some things happen differently (e.g. Kennedy is not assassinated). The two worlds then start to overlap.
The names of the main characters are very strange, for a reason which becomes clear later, and this is off-putting at first but. A huge story, very detailed. Rushdie is a great storyteller. 'Love, death, drugs - it's all there'.
Seán
Caroline really enjoyed this book, which was Charlotte Brontë's first novel. However, it is very much a first novel and has its weaknesses. It tells the story of a young man, an orphan who falls out with his wealthy relatives because he wants to go into trade rather than into the church. He works in
the mill then as a teacher of English in Belgium. An interesting attempt by
a woman to write as a young man but this doesn't quite ring true. By the end of the book the narrative has lost its drive and it gets a bit boring, though still has some nice touches.
Caroline
This is the true story of two people who buy a small-holding in the 1980s.
An entertaining read. They didn't know much about looking after animals.
They don't really think things through and everything they try goes wrong.
After ten years they finally give up. The book is not that well written -
mainly of interest to potential small-holders. Caroline would have liked to
have seen more details of the personal side - e.g. what was it like for his
partner?
Caroline
A light read but well written. The story of a woman coming to terms with the end of a relationship. Mostly drawn from her perspective rather than that of her partner.
Caroline
Ghost stories set in Victorian England. Would never know that James was
American. Probably not as frightening as when first written. The stories
fall into a formula. The title story has a sexual element that couldn't be
made explicit in that era. One of the ghosts is a paedophile but this wasn't something that was written about at that time, even though it was happening. The main tension of the book is this evil that cannot be spoken about. Gill found the stories formulaic - it was easy to predict the ending of Turn of
the Screw from reading the previous three stories. Interesting as a piece of social history. A good ghost story for Christmas time but not as good as she had expected.
Gill
Good in parts - particularly enjoyed some of the descriptions of the events
along the trail, including the horrendous but all too believable woman who
attaches herself to Bill and his companion for several days. Put off by
Bryson's journalistic writing style, particularly his fondness for reeling
off statistics about the Appalachian trail and various bits of environmental
information. Varying opinions of this book among the group: Andrew thinks it
is Bryson's best book; Doreen thinks it's his worst; Seán and Andrew both liked the statistics.
Jean
A book about jazz and jazz musicians written in an improvised style. The book is made up of a series of vignettes of different jazz musicians, held
together with a running theme describing Duke Ellington and his driver
travelling through the night from one performance to the next. Some of the
book is true, some of it imagined. Harrowing in places, with descriptions of the drug abuse, alcoholism, and poverty that played a part in most of these
lives. An interesting book - particularly for anyone who likes jazz.
Jean
A modern novel about a very urban 'Islington' set. All the characters hate
and despise each other, even when they're having sex. At first the book is
tiresome; it becomes funnier as it progresses but still a bit off-putting.
It's intended to be funny but written in a very bilious way, full of anger.
Two characters stand out just because they don't hate everyone. The book is
not witty but nasty. The author has no affection for his characters. Not
recommended.
Andrew
This starts at the end of the nineteenth century when an Italian builds 'the
little green accordion'. The book is the story of this accordion and the
various people who own it. There is a vague connection between the
characters; the accordion sometimes disappears for large sections of the
book. The book is basically like a series of short stories spanning a
century. Some work better than others but most are very involving. Proulx
writes especially well about people who play music, and are serious about
music, but don't play for a living. Interesting snapshots of people's lives. Recommended.
Andrew
The frames have gone all funny - click to make it good.