Andrew started by commenting that he did not know what to say about 'To the Wedding'. He said that he found it difficult to read and could not see where the novel was leading to. He said that he found it 'opaque'. Doreen was surprised and said that she found the wedding scene in particular heart-breaking. She also commented that there was the odd pretentious sentence in the book. Andrew described himself as unmoved and could not see the point of it. There was some discussion at this point as to whether there was a male/female divide on certain books and as to whether this book was such a case. Seán agreed to read To the Wedding and then to pass it to Gavin. Seán commented that he thought it would be interesting to see whether other men got anything out of the book.
Andrew 26/4/98
In common with Andrew's view of the book, Seán found this too opaque ("...I just couldn't work out what was going on...") and thus didn't finish it.
This book is becoming indicative of the male/female divide in the group as
Caroline & Doreen had both really enjoyed it.
Seán 21/3/98
This got better as it went along. Description of the wedding at the end of the book was very good. Gill was confused by the style, and also confused about which country the story was taking place in - this was not clear. Quite liked it. Nice story but irritating style.
Seán agreed on the sense of dislocation and had given up on the book for this reason.
Gill 11/4/99
Jean absolutely loved this book - she thought it was like reading poetry.
She wanted to turn the pages slowly and relish every page. The story was
very moving, but beyond that the writing was very beautiful - the
description of the wedding preparations, and the event itself, were
highlights. She loved the whole flow of it.
Jean 13/6/99