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