My Policeman

Tonight's group sitting down for some nice grub & a chat about 'My Policeman' consisted of Anna, Caroline, Chris, Carole & I.  Anna who chose it was not particularly swept away by it, but did get talked up as our discussion went on.  She thought Patrick's diary worked well, but that the device of having Marion's diary written 40 years later was a bit clumsy at times.  Carole was also slightly underwhelmed, enjoying many of the individual scenes, but feeling that she had read more interesting books covering the subject of being gay in the '50s.  She also felt the plot was fairly predictable.  She drew a comparison with 'A Line of Beauty' which she felt was a more complex / interesting view of attitudes in the 80s.  Caroline really loved the book, finding the story really engaging, and the characters and setting poignant and beautifully described.  I also really enjoyed it, particularly the conflict between Patrick and Marion, both of their relationships with Tom and the evocation of Brighton and '50s society.  Like Carole and Anna, Chris felt that the story line had been done better in other books, and did not feel particularly enlightened by the descriptions of life in the '50s.   We spent quite a long time debating the credibility of Tom and Marion continuing to be married, and Tom's decision to break off all ties with Patrick once he is arrested.  On balance we decided that in the context of the times and Tom's struggle to come to terms with his sexuality, it was believable that they should have continued in a loveless relationship (and we could all come up with our own examples of similar modern day marriages).  Marion's journey from being angry and bitter to being remorseful and attempting to bring Tom and Patrick together seemed to some of us to have taken rather a long time, but again can be explained by her infatuation with him.  While clearly a gorgeous hunk, neither Marion nor Patrick's description of Tom really explained why they both fell in love with him - their characters were both much more interesting and intelligent.  We all agreed that there were some great individual scenes: Chris loved the police box, I loved the spam sandwich marriages, and Caroline enjoyed the descriptions of how they dressed up for special occasions.  At the end of an excellent mutual 'chewing over' of the book are scores are:

Anna: 7
Caroline: 8
Annie: 7
Carole: 6
Chris: 6

quote:  'my tough beautiful sea creature'

The Dinner

We had a very interesting discussion about this Dutch family drama played out over the dinner table in a posh restaurant.  While most of us had quite a few reservations, about the plot and the central characters, George continued to make his mark in his capacity as new book group member - he really loved the premise - the veneer of middle class respectability hiding violence just under the surface, the characters and the plot.  He also found a lot of it very funny, especially the bits where Paul is giving someone a thrashing... He thought the characters were refreshingly direct (fairly typical of the Dutch in his experience) and the dilemma of loyalty to family vs social conscience cleverly balanced.  Carole also enjoyed the book quite a lot, how the unreliable narrator's dark nature was gradually revealed to the reader and the tight narrative style (ugh, 2 hours on and I'm already sketchy on the discussion..!)  She also really enjoyed the sibling rivalry, and Paul's obvious resentment for his more successful brother.  Caroline and Anna both started off enjoying it, but became disillusioned as the story unfolded.  Chris found the characters and story thoroughly unconvincing and unengaging throughout.  She wondered whether the translation was part of what turned her off it.  Jill had not finished it but was not very impressed so far.  While most of us agreed that the dinner was a useful device to pace the story, some of us found the references to the meal and how everyone behaved at it repetitive or 'clunky' at times, and some of us wondered whether they would really have chosen such a public setting to discuss their sons' involvement in murder.  The more we discussed it the more we accepted that you had to suspend disbelief about that, along with the details of Paul's mental illness, the lack of any sign of police / criminal justice intervention, and see it as a piece of theatre populated by very sinister caricatures.  Depending on how attached we are to having empathetic characters in a book, the total lack of them effected some of our enjoyment.  Those which probably were sympathetic in reality (Babette, Beau) were tarnished by Paul's  twisted view of the world.  There was an interesting debate as to whether Paul's reaction to seeing the Youtube videos of what we later knew to be 'follow up' violence to the original crime against the homeless woman, was motivated by genuine concern that his son was serially violent or just anger/worry that they had been made public.  Claire's character was particularly sinister, her true nature not being revealed til late in the book, but then made responsible for orchestrating Beau's disappearance and voicing the most overt hatred of homeless murder victim.  

Judith's notes:

So here are my hastily-typed thoughts on the Dinner. It wasn't quite what I expected, really. The device of the dinner was quite good in terms of pacing things, and the revelation of the main character's past worked initially, but I was expecting more psychological tension and less actual violence. I wasn't sure that giving Paul a specific 'condition' was necessary to explain his instincts, though I guess it did serve to raise questions about Clare and what she did or didn't know (everything and more, as it turned out). 

The other characters i found harder to read, especially Babette, who i couldn't work out at all. The mysterious figure of Beau raised some interesting questions, particularly about attitudes to race, though I thought the episode of Michel's essay was a bit inconclusive, hard to say whether he was just trying to impress his father or expressing some sort of actual belief system. Once again, all the main characters were so unsympathetic that I didn't really want to dwell on their motivations!

Having said that, it was clever on some levels and it did keep me reading. Also always hard to judge a book in translation.

Scores:

Judith      6.5

George    9

Chris       5

Jill           6.5

Anna       6.5

Carole     7.5

Annie      6.5

Caroline   6.5

'The wave and the smile were meant to show that from out there, it probably all looked worse than it was.  That I'd had an argument with the Principal about his, Michel's, essay, but that in the mean time everything had come closer to being sorted out'

Under the Same Stars

It is over a month since we met to discuss this book, I didn't keep any notes, have returned my copy of the book to the library and we've had the Christmas festive season in between to further addle my brain.  So expect even less accuracy and insight than you normally would...  As I remember it, Carole who had chosen the book was relatively positive about it, although obviously knocked off a point for the violent death of an innocent pooch.  She felt that it was a fairly accurate portrayal of a depressive character (based on the author himself) and enjoyed the narrative style as well as the content.  Anna & our new book group member George were deeply unimpressed - they both felt that the language was over indulgent and had no sympathy with the main character.  In view of this, Carole put her score up a bit...!  I quite enjoyed the book, largely because it was so rude about Americans, but felt frustrated about the father's character, that seemed so contradictory and unrealistic.  Chris found the story very turgid, and again felt little empathy with the characters.  Judging by her score, Caroline liked it (but, so sorry Caroline, I can't remember why...!) I vow to be more timely with next month's write up...Please add stuff in the comment box to make it a more accurate record

Judith's write up
Personally I was a bit prejudiced against it from the start after realising that the author was the same guy who writes a column I really hate in the Saturday Guardian! I didn't hate the book, just felt a bit indifferent to it and felt it didn't know quite what it wanted to be - some moments of pathos, some humour, but nothing very definite (although arguably that was all part of the slightly wishy washy 'British' persona it was trying to convey). I found the main character (his depression notwithstanding) just so unlikeable, though, that I didn't really care about his 'journey'. thought the writing was poor (over-descriptive and a bit indulgent) at the start although it improved as the book progressed. Also thought it was all tied up too neatly at the end.

Scores

Carole         8
Chris           5
Caroline       8
Annie           7
George         3
Anna            6
Judith            5

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

An entirely  kindle based reading pose gathered to review this drama set in rural Mississippi.  I chose it and was really besotted.  I thought that the narrative was beautiful, the characters and their relationships fascinating and the plot, if not gripping on every page, very pacey.  The opening chapter encapsulated Larry's world, his loneliness and his basic goodness in a few tightly written paragraphs.  There was general agreement that the story was enjoyable, and that the setting was evoked with eerie clarity.  Carole argued that the narrative style was a bit trashy, (but this was strongly contended by those of who thought otherwise!) She also felt that some of the characters (eg Wallace Stringfellow) were rather stereotyped, and not so believable.  Chris also wasn't very caught up in it - she didn't feel gripped by the story or characters, although she didn't have difficulty picking it up as she did with 'incredibly close...' Both Anna & Judith enjoyed it and felt that the 'murder, mystery' element was well balanced with the unfolding of Larry & Silas' relationship as boys, and later adults.  Judith was surprised that it ended so happily, expecting a much gloomier outcome for Larry.  Carole pointed out that a dog died, but didn't dock a whole point as it was a rather nasty dog...

Scores

Annie     8

Carole    5.5

Judith      7.5

Anna       7

Chris       5

quote:  'Occasionally as he drove past Silas had seen Larry leaning on his push broom watching cars.  Silas would front his eyes as if he had someplace important to'

Spreadsheet updated

The scoresheet for the books that we've read (66 and counting) has been updated and is available as usual as a Google spreadsheet ...

Click here to access it
As per usual, let me know if you have any trouble reading it. As before, 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.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

This provoked a lively discussion between the four book group attendees.  Chris, who had chosen it, found it very heavy going.  She thought that Oskar himself was reasonably endearing and enjoyed his story, but found the grand parents' sub-plot an unwelcome distraction.  The rest of us agreed that Oskar's story was the most gripping, and I particularly found it almost unbearably sad at times.   We discussed how Oskar's humour (often seemingly unintended) helped dispel the worst of the gloom and horror created by his father's death, and the awful secret he has hidden under his bed.  Jill also felt that the grandparents' story didn't 'gel' with the main plot, although she did accept that some interesting analogies were being drawn between the Dresden and Twin Towers experience.  Both Anna and I thought that their story did add both to the plot, and to our ability to understand Oskar's 'quirky' personality.  Again though I found a lot of it incredibly intense and arduous to read.  There was a debate about the extreme personality traits - e.g. the grand father's muteness and the upstairs neighbour who was 'over 100' and hadn't heard any sound for years.  Was this an annoying affectation on the author's part, or a powerful comment on the impact of tragedy/loss? Our views on Oskar's mother varied - Chris found it difficult to understand her attitude towards Oskar and her lack of intervention.  Some of us argued that she was allowing him to deal with his grief (and consequent anger towards her) by keeping him safe 'from a distance' - it all made much more sense when it became apparent that she'd been in touch with all the Blacks in advance of his visits.  We thought the correspondence with Stephen Hawkings was very sweet and uplifting, and wondered whether the man himself had been consulted in advance.  I certainly felt that our discussion helped me to understand and like the story more, although both Anna & I would still contend that Everything is Illuminated is even better!  Amazon is in big trouble with us kindle readers for making some sections unreadable and missing out loads of photographs

Caroline wrote....

I confess that I had found his previous book, Everything is Illuminated, a little heavy going. When I read the first couple of pages here I was worried that there would be the same tricksiness in the prose, which seems more about dazzling the reader with the author’s skill than entertaining and engaging them. However, I quickly became very endeared by Oskar as a character. There is always a danger with split narratives that the reader will prefer one above others, and I did find myself enjoying the sections in Oskar’s voice more than others. I found his sense of loss very poignant indeed and although there have been criticisms that he doesn;t sound like a boy of that age, he is a unique character. I think it’s missing the point to quibble about how realistic he is in terms of what he knows of the world and how he expresses himself.  One thing spoiled the experience a bit though; poor formatting meant a large section at the end is illegible on a Kindle. I actually emailed and then phoned Penguin(because the buggers never responded to my email). This incensed me! I have just discovered that Amazon are in charge of how the book is formatted. I’m going to try and get a refund because it’s basically not fit for purpose if you can’t read the bloody book!  I have been reading a lot of manuscripts quickly recently for work, and I think I’ve read five or six books since this one. I confess I can’t remember why I have bookmarked certain pages now! Wish I could be there this evening to discuss, as I know some of these thoughts would come back.  I’m going to give it a seven because I found it to be a lovely and very moving book

Carole had read the book when it came out in 2005, and although she remembered liking it, not enough to read it all again. She gave it a 6, but said she might be talked up by the discussion!

quote: 'it made my boots lighter to be around his things, and to touch stuff that he had touched'

scores

Chris      5

Anna      7

Annie     7

Jill          7 

Caroline  7

Carole     6

Heartburn

Heartburn was not greeted with wild enthusiasm by the group: Caroline nearly attempted to retrospectively change her choice after starting to read it soon after we last met. She was annoyed by it constant anecdotal diversions. She warmed slightly to the 2nd half of the book, where she felt there was a little more of a plot. Judith felt it compared unfavourable to a book she'd recently read on a similar subject: 'A Summer without Men', Jill found the gossipy tone, and insular high class life style, infuriating and Chris was similarly unimpressed, particularly towards the end of the book where she felt the humour and cookery tips she'd enjoyed early on got much thinner on the ground. I suddenly decided to feel protective towards it, despite my frustrations when I read it (what was fact and what was fiction? why didn't she ever seem to have to do any child care? why was she so calm about having a gun pointed at her head?). We did all agree there were some quite funny scenes (key lime pie throwing, telling Betty Thelma had herpes, mother returning from dead and going off with Mel who was God), and that some of the recipes sounded quite interesting. It was probably also quite ground breaking in its day: she was very much a career woman, the notion of children as grenade in the marriage, challenging men's attitude to fidelity etc etc. Caroline had seen and enjoyed the film years ago, and we all thought it might have been more easily digestible in that format!

Scores:

Caroline: 5
Judith: 5
Jill: 4.5
Chris: 4
Annie: 6.5

quote: 'If I had it to do over again, I would have made a different kind of pie. The pie I threw at Mark made a terrific mess, but a blueberry pie would have been even better'

Ancient Light

A few weeks back, I posted about the new John Banville which Waterstones had sent me a copy to review.  Anyway, though my review's up on their website, I thought I'd post it here too.
 

“Billie Gray was my best friend and I fell in love with my mother”. This is the third novel that Banville has written about Alexander Cleave, now an aging actor reflecting on his coming of age. I haven’t read the previous novels but this book stands on its own and has enough references to previous events to give context.

The novel focuses on an affair that Alexander had with a married woman, Mrs. Gray, when he was 15 and she 20 years his senior. Recollections of this affair are interspersed with a contemporary story of a role he is asked to play.
 

The stronger elements of the book are the descriptions of this relationship, his boyish reaction (often sulky and petulant) and Mrs. Gray’s response (sometimes lover/sometimes mother). The relationship is described as wholly positive, and is in fact the benchmark against which his subsequent relationships are measured. This, despite the negative impact on his friendship with Billie, the potential response from his community (unspecified but clearly a small town where scandal would be both welcomed and ruinous) and the impact on his academic achievement. I couldn’t help but wonder if a similar story could be told with the genders reversed, though to be fair, Banville, through Alexander, raises this question himself.
 

The characters are strongly drawn, not just the main players but also peripheral characters. My favourite was Trevor the Trinity man, a drunk who’s on and off the wagon, an “aristocrat of the species”. This is perhaps an idealised version of a street drunk but it’s written with tremendous warmth. This does, however, highlight one of my criticisms of the book, namely that parts of it are idealised and unrealistic. For example, the impact of the relationship with Gray would surely have had negative aspects, while the description of Trevor is more that of an eccentric than the alcoholic he clearly is.
 

The physical descriptions of people are very visual which really brings them to life – Billie Stryker “might have been assembled from a collection of cardboard boxes of varying sizes that were first left out in the rain and then piled soggily any old way one on top of the other”.
 

The language throughout the book is elaborate but can be diverting. I found myself occasionally losing track whilst being taken down a rather lengthy descriptive passage. That said, this forces you to re-read certain passages and to understand the atmosphere that the author is no doubt seeking to create. Once you get used to the style, there are some absolutely beautiful turns of phrase - it’s definitely a book where you occasionally stop to re-read a section just for the pleasure of the language.
 

There are clear references to loss, both people and places – a daughters suicide, Mrs. Gray a mere memory, the past a place where things were simpler.
 

Overall, a beautifully written book for old friends of Alexander Cleave and fans of characters – both flawed and quirky.
  

If This is Home by Stuart Evers

Hot off the press....conspiracy theories abounded at tonight's discussion of 'If This is Home.' Caroline introduced us (well, me at least) to the literary tool of the 'unreliable narrator.' After 20 minutes of attempting to defend the book against Anna & I's accusations that it was a load of old tripe, she advanced the interesting theory that the entire thing was a figment of Mark's imagination and that he is in fact the murderer. This made her like it a lot more than when she had read it to start with! Jill and Judith both professed love/hate relationships with it, enjoying the descriptions of frustrated teenagers in a small town near Manchester, but finding some of the characters either under-developed or very unlikeable. The American locations were generally felt to be unconvincing, although Caroline thought that the men's behaviour at Valhalla was depressingly realistic. Anna & I remained entrenched in our positions that the plot was full of holes, the characters were horrible and the relationships made little sense. Unresolved questions include: why did Mark need to change his identity? Why did he change from fairly normal to undiagnosed psychopath? (unreliable narrator theory helps here...) Why did Bethany's father react to his return so angrily (if he was just the innocent boyfriend) or so evenly (if he was his daughter's killer)? What was the deal with Ferne getting all over intimate after 1 chat in the bar? Why did he keep going on about O'Neill as if he was in love with him, or at least suffering from an extended teenage crush? why did Mark's mum leave? do his parents seriously think his resentment at the prospect of another baby caused a miscarriage & ended the marriage? Jill, Judith & Caroline, feel free to balance out my very negative spin on it all!

2 other contributions by e-mail....


Was a bit underwhelmed by the book. Felt the jumping about only masked a not very gripping story. Who was o'neill and what exactly was their relationship? Did I miss how they got together? Why would she have gone with daniel other than to set up the red herring and, not wishing to stereotype, would anyone but a saint, which he wasn't portrayed as, really have walked away that calmly? Otherwise I did think her voice in his head was well done and the relationship with Ferne perhaps better drawn than that with O'neill and realistic. After all the agonising the end was a bit rushed with the actual murder very sketchy. Would like to know what everyone thought of the episode in Vegas considering they were offering 'anything you desire' what did they expect? None of this is very coherent or grammatical when I'm criticising other writing so I'll give him 5.5 for being able to string a sentence together!



I am afraid I did not like it at all. The main problem I had was that it just did not hang together for me. What was the big mystery he was trying to find out? If this was that she was not going to New York after all it was all very poorly executed, as her own narrative clearly states that she was. Did she let him find out she wasn't going to go so that he could move on with his life - if so why did the friend think she wasn't. Also, to follow this line you have to believe it ghosts and i don't.
Other questions I had -
Why did he change his identity? Was the author tried to kid us into thinking that he had more to hide? (there is also some hint, never explained, that the police officer thinks more than he is saying)
What on earth was all that rubbish about the blind eating?
Has any stranger rapist ever just laid down beside the victim and waited for the police?
I thought the description of his relationship with Oneil was unconvincing and I am not sure I ever really understood what they were doing in Las Vegas. In fact I thought that section was just tacky and over complicated. The idea that someone with a PHD in group behaviour would be interested in how men behave when in the company of women dressed in bunny suits is just nonsense - I think we already know that one.
On the plus side I thought the description of his relationship with his father and the couple of scenes between the two of them were poignant and nicely written as were some of the early descriptions between Mark and Bethany and between Bethany and her father. Also some nice descriptions of the town.
So for me - not well written, poor plot, unconvincing characters and interplay between them, and elements that were not believable.
I am afraid I am going to give it a paltry 4. Be interested to hear what others think - perhaps I would have been talked up?

Our scores
Jill - 5
Anna - 5
Caroline - 7.5
Annie - 3
Judith - 6
Carole - 4
Chris 5.5

Case Histories

If I can shamelessly intrude, I just wanted to report on having thoroughly enjoyed something that you all probably read years and years ago, Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. It was interesting to see a literary fiction writer cross over into crime fiction and do a great job giving the genre some proper emotional weight. It reminded me, on this point, of Atwood's "transgressions" into science fiction (am I allowed to speak of this genre here?). Anyway, I wrote a bit more over here ...

Link to Strange News