The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

There was universal affection for Harold and his unlikely pilgrimage. Some of us (particularly Anna & Jill) feared that it would be mawkish, twee and sentimental, but we all agreed that it managed to steer clear of the many such potholes it could have fallen into. Its descriptions of loss and desperation hidden away behind very English domesticity were beautifully written and often almost physically painful to read ('I know it wouldn't have made any difference in the end but I should have let her see how much I wanted to keep her. I should have raged, Maureen'). Most of us (except me) guessed, or at least had an inkling that David was dead, but we were still all deeply moved by the last chapters covering Maureen and Harold's reconciliation and the ending of the pilgrimage at Queenie's bedside. On the journey up, we loved the characters he met - brilliantly bought to life often in just a few sentences, and for the most part, very credible. The descriptions of the weather, the countryside and the pleasures and pains of walking 500 miles in yachting shoes were all brilliantly done. Most of us felt that it was only in danger of losing its momentum during the scenes when the other 'pilgrims' started tagging along, but even this part had some great humour ('If you had the wherewithal you could follow his journey on twitter. Maureen hadn't the wherewithal') and was the plot vehicle which allowed Harold to arrive at the hospice without fanfare. Loss, redemption and flawed characters you could feel deeply attached to - what more could you want?

Caroline couldn't make it to the meeting, here are her comments:
thought this was a lovely, gentle and rather old fashioned story. I found it extremely moving (quite embarrassing to finish it on a crowded Victoria Line train...there was definitely some snuffling!) and although I did guess the storyline about his son being dead very early on (interested to know whether everyone did. Think the similar technique used in ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ re the husband being dead has meant I’m more likely to pick up on this than previously) it was very well handled and extremely moving. I did find myself wondering at the midway point whether it was going to start to drag a bit soon, but somehow it just continued to bubble away and keep my interest.
I think it was very quietly skilful and although I’m not sure whether I’d rush out to buy another by this author, I did enjoy it. I’d give it a seven.

scores:

Anna: 8
Carole: 8
Annie: 8.5
Chris: 7.5
Jill: 8.5
Caroline: 7

Quote: 'he felt the sun on his shoulder, watched a kestrel on silent wings, and all the time the ball of his foot pushed his heel from the ground and weight shifted from one leg to the other and this was everything'

Ancient Light

Got back from holiday to find that I have won in the Waterston's draw to review a new release. I have been sent an advance copy of John Banville's new book, Ancient Light, which says on the back  "Limited Edition Proof Copy". I am very excited because, even though it's not an iPad like some people win, I never win any raffles or anything! I have to post my review on their website by 5th July so read the breaking news first on Annie's Book Group blog!

The Help

Have just read The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. It's getting close to my birthday and I am not allowed to buy any books in case they are on my present list, so am combing the bookshelves for the odd not-yet- read. I think my mum read this and gave it to me. I was a bit wary of it - a white author covering the experience of black maids. In fairness to the author she covers this in notes at the back of the book and obviously had some concerns herself. She grew up in the American South and her family had 'help' so she does have direct experience.

On the plus side it's an easy read and a page-turner. The story is told mainly from the perspective of a black maid and a white daughter-of-the plantation though there are other first person narratives. The style is that each have their own chapters, giving their perspective of the same time and events. The characters are engaging and colourful but perhaps a bit stereotypical. The characters are all women with men playing only walk-on parts and to illustrate how strong, resilient, moral the main women characters are.

It tells a story worth telling - the white women are just dreadful (except our white heroine). They are bigoted, snobby, dim. The treatment of the maids is awful. However, I think it is still a much sanitised version of the reality.

The civil rights movement is getting going and Martin Luther King has come to prominence - this is lightly covered, as background.

It's not a challenging read and perhaps that's a bit strange for such a challenging subject. It's all very lightly done and you always feel its all going to work out. I am not surprised its been made into a film - I can also see it as a waltonesque television series - its a tough life but full of good people and the good people win in the end!

It does avoid a a Spielberg ending though - I don't know if the film does.

I did enjoy reading it and I liked the characters but don't expect depth. One for the beach perhaps.

Every Contact Leaves A Trace

  Right, I am turning over a new leaf ... I have learnt how to use this blog and will be writing 'hot off the press' summaries soon after the meeting so I actually remember what people have said. While all of us had our frustrations with 'Every Contact Leaves a Trace', Caroline was most passionate about hers: she had high expectations of something billed as a literary thriller, with a beautiful cover (leading her to shell out for the hard cover version) but found it a maddening read. A lot of the group agreed that it was often rambling and confusing, with constantly shifting timescales and perspectives. Some people found the 2nd half of the book, with Harry's story particularly tortuous, others preferred that to the early part which focused on Alex and Rachel's relationship and his bereavement. The thriller element didn't work very well for most of the group (I was probably the most positive about it, feeling that it involved quite a lot of 'cliff hangers' that kept me hooked into the story) - largely because of the tangents that kept being taken, and the denouement which didn't come as any surprise to most people. We did agree that it evoked the ivory tower atmosphere of Oxford very well and the London scenes, e.g. in his penthouse flat and the flat on Judd Street were beautifully described. The dysfunctional relationship between Rachel, Cissy and Anthony seemed really reminiscent of Secret History to me. The characters were for the most part very unsympathetic, some of us found it particularly difficult to understand the motivations and behaviour of Evie, Rachel and even Alex (content to not ask much at all about his wife's background). I thought that the 'lawyer voice' was very authentic (I hadn't realised that the author is a Worcester trained lawyer), but it was pointed out that Alex is a corporate not a criminal lawyer, so would be unlikely to think like that anyway! We also felt that there were numerous implausible parts to the plot: why didn't Alex just go straight to the police? why didn't Harry tell the truth when he heard she'd been murdered? Anna and Carole couldn't make it, and wrote these excellent reviews, which we all agreed with ...

Anna:

Still not finished Every contact...

But, comments so far ... I was interested by the premise of the book, having just a week before had a conversation with a colleague, who discovered when his mum died that she had 100 grand (or something like that - can't remember exactly) stashed in a off shore account. Neither he nor his father (who she'd been married to for 40 years) could account for how she obtained it, or why she kept it secret, and for a long time it really marred her memory of her. For a long time neither of them would touch the money, but eventually decided to use it for big annual travels together.

So, intrigued by the idea, but despite this have found myself losing patience with the book. Whilst it evokes very well the confusion Alex is facing, and you get a real sense of his emotions, the little side alleys it keeps turning into, and the minute detail of what he thinks/feels at every point, and every memory that is evoked, just really interferes with the thrust of the story. It doesn't help that I'm completely knackered, but I'm afraid it has sent me to sleep quite rapidly each night ...

At this point I score 6.5 (it gets the extra 6.5 as it is very eloquent, just lacking in pace and direction) - I guess that might change when I finish it, but ...

Carole:

Some thoughts from me, based on reading about 75% so apologies if its all changes in the last quarter!

There was something about this book that did not work for me. I want to say that it was too well written for a thriller. The writing style was just wrong for the the genre which meant that instead of being a plot driven page turner, the plot kept getting interrupted by streams of consiousness or coming of age diversions or something else. I also struggled a bit with the delivery of the plot - I nearly lost the will to live sitting in Harry's room listening to it being dragged out (I suppose that gives some feel of how the narrater feels though) I also struggled a bit with the behaviour being thought to be so bad (perhaps they get worse in the last 100 pages ot maybe I am a bad person), it was not nice but was it scandal level? I have only just got to the bit where anthony reappears so not sure what he has been up to??

I found some of the characters and their behaviour intensely annoying - why would you send the wallet off without having a bloody good look through it, would a tutor really end up with a student living in, would they really dress up to police the ball, why did'nt harry tell rachel that anthony was stalking her??????? I thought some of this was a lazy way of sending the story in the direction the author wanted it to go but it felt clunky.

I think there are some a number of differnt books in this that could have been good - the childhood story/family falls apart/relationship, the thriller/murder, the love story, the mystery (who was she really) - not sure throwing it all in one book works though.

I hate to say it but the thriller/murder plot lacks a wily detective (with own issues) to keep it moving!

I am keen to see how it ends though and keen to see what others make of it.

I think I would be going for either 5 or 6 and could probably be swayed up or down by others - probably a 5 though.

The Earth Hums in B Flat

This is (shamefully) written 5 weeks after our discussion, so its completeness and accuracy are very much in question ...

Overall, the reaction to this book was lukewarm: we liked the authentic Welsh village atmosphere that it evoked, and some of the characters who Gwenni encounters. Many of us felt that the 13 year old naïve but worldly wise Gwenni character was a bit well worn, and written better by other authors. Some of us also struggled with the sheer awfulness of her mother and the laissez-faire approach of her dad who was meant to love her but didn’t protect her. Her mother’s vitriol didn’t really ‘fit’ with the story that is revealed, eventually, about her previous relationship. The flying theme had the predicted reactions (those who don’t like magical realism relieved that she couldn’t; those that do disappointed that it comes to nothing ...). Some of us thought the premise that Gwenni, despite being extremely bright about some things, failed to recognise what ‘black dog’ actually meant, was a bit unbelievable. We discussed the fact that it was interesting to read about a Welsh village in the post-war era, and Anna pointed out that she’d just read a more interesting take on it from another author ... until she realised that it was the same author!

Including Andrew's enthusiastic score of 7.5, the average rating was 5.9 / 10.

The Earth Hums in B Flat

Hello. As me giving the thumbs-up only 50 pages in is (in part) responsible for this month's book group selection, The Earth Hums in B Flat, I thought that I'd better feed back my opinion of it now that I've finished it. Particularly so since I won't be able to attend your get-together in London. The link below takes you over to my "review" over at my (rival) blog - but it contains spoilers, so best hold-back on reading it until you're done.

The Earth Hums in B Flat

Spreadsheet

The scoresheet for the books that we've read (60 and counting) is now available as a Google spreadsheet ...

Click here to access it

Let me know if you have any trouble reading it. It's been converted from MS Excel, and I've not quite sorted out all of the charts yet. Consider it a work in progress.

The Sisters Brothers

Hi everyone

The week has completely run away with me, so here’s a very belated book report:

No-one at the get together (in nice new venue, worth another trip we think) felt that passionately about The Sisters Brothers, either in terms of loving it or hating it. Carole, Jill & Judith enjoyed it the most, especially the sparse but highly descriptive narrative and the relationships between the central characters. I appreciated the book’s style, and ability to bring 1850s ‘wild west’ to life in a very innovative way, but it was just too ‘male’ to be a real favourite. Anna & Chris both found themselves feeling very indifferent (it even took Anna a while to realised that she’d already read most of it before she’d read Human Skin!). Chris thought it could be adapted for screen by the Coen brothers. Most of us enjoyed the ‘vignettes’ e.g. the tooth brushing scenes, the book-keeper ‘romance’ & the healthy eating attempts by Eli. We also loved the description of San Francisco – its chaos and the rollercoaster fortunes of its residents. There was an even split about the plot line involving Warm & his gold seeking invention, some people getting much more into the book because of it, and others feeling it detracted. The role of the horses was also controversial of course ...

Here’s what Caroline thought:

I quite enjoyed it but generally, as that suggests, feel a bit lukewarm about The Sisters Brothers. I think it was a very slight story and did find myself getting into a bit of a mental rant about why it was short listed. I think this is because it was a macho book by a male author. This sort of literary fiction seems to get taken more seriously, whether it warrants it or not. Something of a comparable standard of skill by a woman, with less violence, probably wouldn’t have made the Booker shortlist*. I found the violence off putting in a way that I really didn’t with the Book of Human Skin (would love to know how you find this, Anne). It had the air of a Quentin Tarantino movie for me and left me with the same aftertaste. Nasty violence done stylishly and with humour can be entertaining. But it is still nasty.

I thought the characterisation was pretty good – Eli was a great mix of psycho and good guy!

I found the storyline with the Warm invention a bit daft and it lost my interest a bit.

Overall, this was okay but I wouldn’t read another by this author. It deserves a six out of ten because it’s well written but the whole business of the Booker short listing irritated me so much it has knocked off points! And while that isn’t Patrick De Witt’s fault of course, it doesn’t change the score!

... and Jacqui

Would give the book 8.5, didn’t enjoy the middle section! Loved the ending, all the tragedy and sibling rivalry. Would like to know why called Sisters’ brothers – is it him being a bit of a sissy, the power reversal in the brothers as they went from one being the strong to the other one weak, or the oneness of humanity & we’re all sisters and brothers man!

All this will be entered on the blog when I apply myself to learning how to use it…

Our next month’s book, chosen by Carole is The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan, and our next date is Tuesday 17th April, back at Waterloo Bar & Grill on Waterloo Road. Look forward to seeing you all there

Annie x

PS Carole was the winner of the 60th book anniversary quotes quiz, she didn’t get a prize.

The Book of Human Skin

Hi everyone,

Thanks for a fun evening, but I still can’t believe you all liked The Book of Human Skin! Consequently I may not be the most objective reporter of the discussion….anyway Chris, Jill, Caroline & Judith all found it a gripping read and enjoyed the plot twists, the romance and the sadistic villain. Caroline was particularly surprised that she liked it as it involved lots of elements that normally turn her off: historical setting, lots of different narrator voices & dialects but at some point it suddenly became compulsive reading for her. Jill loved all the grisly bits! I think my deep dislike of it was based on feeling that the characters and plot were immediately predictable, and that there was going to be no redemption (despite its formidable length). I also felt there was a distasteful implication that ‘ugly’ or gay people are evil ... Carole, Anna & Jacqui – I need your scores! (Judith & Jill can you send me yours again too please, think I wrote them down wrong). Updated nerdy spreadsheet to follow.

Next month’s book, chosen by me is The Sisters Brothers by Patrick De Witt (available at Amazon).

We’ll meet on Tuesday 13th March – look forward to seeing you all then

Annie

The Memory of Love

Hi everyone,

Carole, Chris, Anna & I met to chew over The Memory of Love last night. It was probably fairly telling that we’d all finished it rather close to the start of the discussion ... Anna felt it was beautifully written and had some interesting reflections about the impact of war and trauma on the main characters. I swung between enjoying some of the writing, and finding other parts clichéd and overblown. Carole felt it was quite ‘light’ and whilst easy to read, not particularly memorable. She took off an extra .5 from her score for the dog death! Chris was even more unimpressed with it – finding it difficult to picture the setting or individuals (perhaps partly ‘kindle’ related). None of us felt particularly engaged with the characters, although we all obviously rather fancied Kai, and liked some of the minor characters e.g. Julius, Agnes, Adrian’s mum, Abass (Carole thought he was a bit precocious mind you..) We did find the commentary about Sierra Leone interesting, and would have liked more about the wider context of the civil war etc. There were some very powerful scenes e.g. the ‘sensitisation unit’, the descriptions of the coast. Most of us felt that the plot dragged a bit, and were frustrated (as well as shocked) by Nenebah’s death which seemed like a cheap way out of a tricky story line. We thought that it was a silly & unlikely coincidence that she was the connection between the men, although surprisingly Carole had predicted that Mamakay might turn out to be Nenebah! We would have liked a more dramatic/interesting resolution to Elias’ story. Although the book was clever in its description of how the war made people reserved / indifferent / self seeking / psychologically tortured, this often made the characters difficult to ’bond’ with, especially when there were so many lengthy descriptions which didn’t seem to lead anywhere ...

So, as usual I should have taken some notes because I can’t remember very
much already….

Here are Caroline & Jill’s comments:

Caroline –

Overall, I enjoyed this book but it took me a fairly hefty chunk before I got properly into it. It did make me feel that a drawback of a Kindle is when you find a book hard to engage with...you can’t turn it over in your hands, look at the cover, look at the author info...do those things that for me, can help make a connection with a book. I like the Adrian character and loved Kai [was I alone in thinking he sounded extremely fanciable? !] I loved Abass too! Was very very endeared to him and think she was very good at drawing characters. The different voices were good too. You got a very strong sense of Elias Cole making excuses for things he did and I had a strong image of a fussy little, selfish man. Details on characters were great – I loved Attilla, Adrian’s boss and his physical detail. Also the creepy small hands of Johnson! [think was called Johnson?]

Didn’t see the twist coming about Mamakay being the person who linked all the men. Was very shocked when she died. Thought the revelation about Cole’s lack of action causing death of Julius was a very good one. Some of the writing was stunning. I can’t give a page number because I’m not sure the Kindle ones coincide with actual book, but the paragraph about Westerners being on modern Crusade was just fabulous for eg.

But for all this, I was never really gripped and I think her quite cool, or slow burning style was the reason for that. I do like a strong story and for me, this could have done with a bit more of a narrative backbone maybe. Dying to know what others thought!

Jill (by text) -

Loved it. Slightly misogynistic, Elias reminds me of an Ian McEwen character – tricky at times, but persevere and it makes sense. Reminded me of Gift of Rain but not so melodramatic. Really engaging read.

Updated spreadsheet attached with all our scores

We’ve decided not to try and meet before Xmas, so our next get together is Tuesday 10th January – hope you can all make it.

Caroline’s up next, and she’ll circulate her choice in the next couple of days

Have a lovely Christmas if I don’t see you before

Annie xx

The Age of Innocence

Hi everyone,

Thanks for a lovely evening pondering the literary worth of The Age of Innocence - most of us enjoyed it more than we thought we would, but no one’s going to be rushing out to buy her other titles! Scores on the doors attached. We also mobbed our resident famous children’s author for her autograph and learnt a very, very shocking fact or two about Desert Island Discs.

Next month’s book is The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee (available at Amazon) chosen by Carole – start it soon, it’s very long! Next meeting date is Tuesday 7th June. Jill is the next to choose, followed by Judith in July.


Lots of love

Annie x

PS Jill has snuck in to lead as most generous book scorer ...