Lerwick Book Group

2012-01-20T15:15:00.002Z

Peace is about war. It is about the moral choices which are made in horrible split seconds and about the men who are called on to make those decisions. In very spare but evocative prose Richard Bausch tells the story of four men who are on a scouting mission after an incident involving a German soldier shot at close range after he was discovered hiding with a prostitute in cart. The German shoots dead two American GIs before being shot dead himself. The sergeant summarily shoots the prostitute in the head.

Three of the men are young American GIs and one is an old Italian man who has been pressed into leading them into unknown territory. The young men from disparate backgrounds are thrust together and squabble, jeer and needle each other as they climb a seemingly endless hill in a deadly cold, winter. Can they trust their guide? Can they trust each other or even themselves to do what is right…or if not right at least what is necessary to survive their mission?

The setting is bleak and is so well rendered that you can feel the bone chilling cold as it saps the strength of the men. The weather and the prose are stark but the moral decisions the men must make are not. Where the right path lies is left an open question but the ending I found surprisingly hopeful, reaffirming a young man ability to do what is necessary to keep hold of his humanity in the face of the insanity of war.

The book group all agreed the book was an excellent depiction of men at war. The prose was described as “Hemingwayesque”. There was not much back story given about the characters but just enough to get a sense of their disparate background. The men “treat each other like many other men do” in the words of one member. They are rough and insulting but in the end committed to each other. Another member saw in the books the distillation of many war movies from the 1940’s and 50s.
The book made this reader and others in the group, interested in reading other books by Richard Bausch. Who is a well respected writer in the USA but not well known in the UK. .

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

2011-11-21T16:57:00.013Z

On my first visit to Lerwick Book Group I got myself in a fankle: I thought we were reading 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall', by Anne Brontë, in portions, but arrived to find that everyone else had finished the book. It's a testament to the novel and the discussion that despite the big spoiler, I was still really keen to read it, and spent the following weekend glued to it.

June introduced her choice, describing the two narratives that structure the novel. These are a letter from Gilbert to his brother-in-law Jack Halford in which he introduces the 'Tenant', Helen Graham, and his burgeoning 'regard' for her, which encapsulates the journal extract that forms the heart of the book, in which the Helen Graham describes her abuse at the hands of her dissolute husband. June also summarised the central themes – the independence of women, alcoholism and psychological abuse.

We agreed that Helen was a strong protagonist making the best of her unenviable lot, and noted that, like the heroine of 'Jane Eyre', written by Anne Brontë's sister, Charlotte, she addressed her plight with impressive pragmatism, in contrast to the young men in the novel, who largely seemed unable to entertain themselves if not drinking heavily or hunting.

Many of us were shocked – as was the audience of the time – that the darker side of the social life of the time was described so graphically, in particular disturbing scenes in which Helen's young son is taught to take hard drink with the men, and one in which the alcoholic Lord Lowborough, struggling to reform, is likewise forced to drink by dint of peer pressure and outright violence. Of the male characters, even the more sympathetic individuals, including the 'hero' Gilbert, were shown in an ambivalent light.

Whilst we all found the narrative structure slightly contrived, most of us got swept up in the book, and felt that it was a remarkable achievement for a writer of 28. It's heartbreaking to discover that Brontë succumbed to T.B. the year after it was published. Janet said that, compared to 'The Sea, The Sea', she felt refreshed after reading it. Most of us felt that we'd like to read more work by the Brontë sisters after 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall': their novels, daring for their time, and often suppressed because of it, continue to have relevance to our modern lives.

The Sea, The Sea

2011-10-28T23:46:00.005+01:00

Chosen by Karen, October's book of the month was Iris Murdoch's monumental story of love, jealousy and mystic powers "The Sea, The Sea".

The main character, Charles, decides to retire to the English coast and write his memoirs. Little does he know what a Pandora's box he's about to open... as the serpent foretells. There are many layers to the book; philosophical and classical references feature at various points (overwhelming the plot occasionally). Obviously a book of its time, Murdoch's theatre types make the dialogue seem dated - something that June thought was unlikely to improve with age.

Marghie liked Charles' humorous cooking insights: "We had ham cooked in brown sugar to a recipe of Gilbert's, with a salad of tinned tomatoes and herbs. (These excellent tomatoes are best eaten cold. They may be warmed but never boiled as this destroys the distinctive flavour.)"

Maybe Charles' insights on relationships were the cause of many of his troubles. In fact The Sea, The Sea could be viewed as the story of an insensitive and opinionated man coming to terms with the way he has treated his friends and lovers.

Murdoch's description of the sea was admired by Kathleen and June. Praised indeed from Shetland folk!

Overall, the group liked the book. Karen, who had read it before, found it harder work a second time: Janet and myself thought it too long. I skimmed many paragraphs of navel gazing and didn't seem to lose too much when it came to Tuesday's discussion. Jen, who was still reading and enjoying it felt she would definitely finish the book after the meeting.

A desert island choice, perhaps. But maybe you'd be too busy with your own demons?

Muriel Spark

2011-10-14T19:30:00.001+01:00

Radio 4 Book Club interview with Muriel Spark, from 2004, talking about The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00fc431

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

2011-09-26T09:31:00.007+01:00

Miss Jean Brodie is a short book, which - the group members agreed - seemed a lot longer. That's meant in a good sense - there just seemed to be so much in it, so much to discuss, and so much more to discover for the many of us who'd gone back and re-read it. This is in happy contrast to many a book we read, where often things could have been much improved by editting out at least 20% of a work.

This book was selected by Morag, who explained that it had made a big impact on her in her youth. One formidable teacher had actually used the phrase 'Creme de la Creme' to her and her A-stream classmates, and she suspected the teacher identified with the book. Morag said, interestingly, that she was more shocked now at the things Jean Brodie said to her pupils than she had been on reading it in the sixties. This perhaps illustrates a change in our culture - the Sixties was about experiment, rebellion and the pushing of moral boundaries. In the 2010s we are steeped in caution and procedure to the point of paranoia about what kind of behaviour is appropriate towards children.

What struck all the members was the interesting way Muriel Spark's narrative jumped back and forth in time. Another writer may have kept the revelation of which girl betrayed Jean Brodie as a climax, but we thought the curious structure was because she wanted to concentrate on the characters more than the plot.

My favourite bits of Jean Brodie are always her imperious, deliciously snooty, put-downs and remarks. I think there are a few similarities with Notes on a Scandal, one of my all-time favourite books. As the story progesses she becomes a less and less likeable character, manipulative and living life vicariously through her girls, but you still rather admire her, up until she starts to show her weaknesses and becomes rather an object of pity. Her treatment of Mary is cruel - its seems she picked her as one of the set merely as she thought it useful to have a 'whipping b0y' in the group.

We admired Jean Brodie's individualism, and her encouragement of her girls to dare to be different, but this was in marked contrast to her admiration of fascism. Frances pointed out that she admired merely the shallow glamour of fascism, and that in many ways she was all about style over substance.

There were many themes and characters to discuss: the excellent protrayal of Edinburgh, the love affairs, jealousies and subterfuge and the varied paths of all the girls. It did indeed seem like a much longer story. Finely honed writing at it's best, packing a fascinating and enduring story into 100 pages.

Islanders

2011-09-19T14:32:00.002+01:00

The group's read for August was Islanders by Margaret Elphinstone who visited the Shetland's book festival Word Play this year. The book is set in the Shetland islands during the medieval period although no date is stated. The community depicted in the story is on what is now Fair Isle. A girl arrives on the island as the only survivor of a ship wreck. The story revolves around her integration into a tight knit group of islanders over the course of a year.

While some of us found the book slow we felt the sense of history was good. As islanders ourselves, although not so cut off as those in the book, we enjoyed identifying places that were depicted in the book. The journey to Papa Stour and then back to Fair Island crossing the main island of Shetland by foot was very evocative. (I still look at the mountians to the west of Cunningsburgh as I drive by and wonder if there are "wild tribes" living up there.)

Some of us felt that certain issues and narative threads were introduced and then never really really went anywhere. For instance one of our group spent time investigating homosexuality in Shetland at the time of the books. She felt that it would not have been stigmatized as was depicted in the book. Others felt the priest was interesting as a character and lent another "outsider" perspective to the community but was introduced and then dropped out of the narrative. The group felt the characters were "flat" and hard to get to know.

We also read John Boyne's first novel The Thief of Time and found if to be a relatively good read although some found the bouncing back and forth across time in the narrative an annoying device. Mathieu, the 256 year old narrator was criticized for being an aloof and not particularly sympathetic character. The book has been described as a "picaresque hopscotch through time" by it's reviewer in Publisher's Weekly - a phrase I believe the group would endorse. As one of our group also said "it's a daft idea but does make you think about how people learn (or do not learn) through living." The book was published in the lead up to the turn of the millennium so perhpas gained some narrative traction from being read during that time period.

Room by Emma Donoghue

2011-07-20T13:23:00.008+01:00

Jen's choice for this month was Emma Donoghue's much acclaimed Room, which she had picked up in the local bookshop because it looked like an interesting read. The book is narrated by Jack, in his own words, with vivid descriptions of the room and it's contents. Jack lives by routine and rules despite his bizarre situation, and uses counting as a coping stategy.

June thought initially she wouldn't like the book but really enjoyed it. Janet loved the way Jack's mother maintained his innocence. Marghie pointed out that the book could have become bogged down in darker realms had it been narrated by the mother. Kathleen took a while to get into the story as there was little indication on the cover as to what the book was about. Denise observed that Jack only had one other person to share his experiences with. Morag found the escape plan alarming reading -so many things could have gone wrong. There was some discussion on how the book was based on several hostage situations rather than any particular one. Denise had come across a floor plan of Room when reading reviews. Janet and Karen loved the mother/child relationship -Jack gave his mother the will to survive. Jack's vocabulary shows a lack of outside influence and is very believable. Some discussion followed on life outside Room and the issues which interaction with other people raised. All in all, a good read and a book worth recommending to others.

Bel Canto

2011-06-06T14:40:00.001+01:00

Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto was Janet’s choice of book for May and she felt it was a love it or hate it book. Janet chose this book because she liked the idea of opposing interests and cultures and seeing what happened when the characters were isolated together.

‘Bel Canto’ means ‘beautiful song’ and it is opera that draws all of the characters together. With opera, kidnap and romance being the main themes of the book, the general consensus is that the entire group enjoyed it, with June enjoying all of the Spanish bits. The book has definite parallels to Big Brother with funny behaviours and the forming of relationships that would not normally have done so.

The book is written in an omniscient third person narrative which most of the group liked. However Morag and I have both recently read a lot of books with just a couple of central characters and this could explain our initial difficulties in getting into the book.

With no graphic details of violence it became a rather girly account. Karen said it appeared to enter a dream-like state with inept terrorists and their demands over time were just for the sake of going through the motions. Morag could imagine the rescue scene in a film being accompanied by loud and striking opera music and sweeping camera shots.

Generally, we felt the book was very improbable in the sense that they all eventually turned to culture, be it chess or music, and feelings of altruism dissipated. Their passions came across rather than their differences. Janet felt the terrorists died at their peak; none of them would ever become a top chess player or world-class opera singer. What was interesting to note was that all of the characters actually blossomed, with the exception of the Red Cross man. In terms of the love story between Roxanne and Mr Hosokawa, Morag did not find this plausible whereas Karen did.
Most of the group did not like the epilogue. Personally, I felt it showed the two characters were trying to maintain a connection to their captivity and those that they had loved and lost.

The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

2011-04-13T14:18:00.014+01:00

April's book was The Secret Scripture,which was chosen by Marghie. She chose this book because the blurb intrigued her -a 100 year old woman looking back on a past which contained scandal and mystery. Also the Irish setting appealed,as Marghie had spent some time in Sligo. She enjoyed the book although she felt the ending had been "a bit too neat".

Karen enjoyed the language and the dual narrative but found the book depressing. The fire in the orphanage was a strange episode! Comparisons were made to the Magdelen Sisters, in particular the suspicion of the clergy regarding a pretty girl in a small community. June has a good knowledge of 20th century Irish history and for this reason tends to avoid Irish fiction, because, like Karen, she finds it quite depessing. Jen wondered how correct the old lady's version of events was, when often we had conflicting accounts from other characters.

The complexities of Irish politics and religion shaped much of the story, and parallels were drawn with other cultures and religions. Morag was intrigued by the doctor -the author sometimes seemed to forget that this character had lived most of his life in England and at times he came across as "too Irish". Was his strange behaviour due to some hereditary form of madness? There was some discussion of the fact that the book's characters appear in other novels by the author, and the assumption that the reader will be aware of events which are touched upon but not explained. All in all, though, it was felt that this was a good read, with some beautiful passages of prose and a storyline which kept everyone guessing to the end.

The Power of One

2011-03-22T11:08:00.004Z

In Feburary the group enjoyed dicussing Andy's choice of book, The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. That's not the same as saying everyone enjoyed the book, but clashing opinions always enliven the discussion. Andy's the long-suffering 'token male' in the group and so we look forward to his 'man-book' choices as something outside our usual reading.

The Power of One is a big South Africa saga, the tale of one man's progression from a terrified and bullied bed-wetter in boarding school, to a young man of almost Messiah-like qualities. The early death of his only friend -a scraggy chicken called Granpa Chook - at the hands of the bullies seems to be a vengeful driving force. It could seem a bit odd for the death of a chicken to guide your life, but the life and death of Granpa Chook was genuinely powerful and touching, emphasising the loneliness of our hero, Peekay.

Peekay's life then proceeds, from a chance encounter with a boxer on a train, through a chain of events spurred on by his ambition to be Welterweight Champion of the World. He's a remarkable boy - excels at everything he does (well, at music he's merely 'good') - and people begin to be drawn to him. This high-achieving caused some dissension in the group - some found it unnatural and unbelievable, reckoned nobody is so good both physically and intellectually. Others though, found the story inspiring and epic - it was the story of a hero, a future leader perhaps, and of what you can do if you really try, body and soul. Apparently this is the favourite book of Ben Fogle, and of some of our top sportsmen, and you can see why it would be a memorable read for young men.

The book is set in South Africa in the 1940s and 50s, so race plays a big part in the story, and there are many powerful and upsetting scenes. The author doesn't shirk from showing the inbuilt racism of even the generally positive characters. On the other hand there is a lot of humour in the book too. At his best Peekay is a very engaging character. There are some very vivid descriptions - of a mining community for example - and a lot of the background seems to come from the author's own life.

The story is told in a completely linear style, and it's a long book. For some of the group, it dragged. For others, it was completely engaging from start to finish. Andy had gone on to read the 900-page sequel, Tandia. For some of the group this seemed like a form of self-torture, but on the whole Power of One was an enjoyable read leading to a robust and interesting discussion.

One Day

2011-01-19T13:09:00.007Z

The group read David Nicholls book One Day for the January meeting. Janet,who chose the book,bought it a few months ago without realising it had already developed something of a cult following. The influence of Thomas Hardy was apparent-missed chances, fate, the letter which is never received etc. The characters were believable and the dialogue sharp and witty. Nicholls has captured the feel of the era perfectly. The ending is quite devestating, but everything seemed to fall into place as the book came full circle.

Kathleen found it an easy read and Helen found the plot plausible, while Karen liked the fact that there weren't too many flashbacks. Marghie and Morag loved the book and found it impossible to put down. The Larkin influence was also apparent. The group were devided on the character of Ian, but felt he was memorable , as were all the other minor characters. Helen liked Emma's referral to Dex as being like a two piece jigsaw. Karen liked the way the final description of what happened at the beginning of the book made everything clear. The humour was what kept the book alive for everyone. All in all, a fantastic read. Some discussion took place of the forthcoming film and we all agreed that Jim Sturgess makes a perfect Dex!

Small islands

2010-12-19T14:49:00.033Z

For the December meeting a suitably Christmas feeling was provided by mulled wine, pumpkin cake, home made mince pies, vegetarian crisps, etc. Thank you everyone who baked and brewed!

Chosen by Helen, this month's read was Andrea Levy's award winning novel Small Island . It tells the story of Caribbeans coming to Britain during WWII to help defend the 'Mother Country' and their subsequent migration here in 1948 on the S.S. Empire Windrush. Told by four voices (two black and two white) the book has many themes: new beginnings; casual, and not so casual, racism; the British Empire; duty; and love.

Although a little slow to start, everyone in the group enjoyed the book. I found the war time experiences of Gilbert especially enlightening. The notion that the U.S. army's segregation applied to black G.I.s even though they were in Britain was maddening. As a black Caribbean Gilbert's treatment was in many ways much better (and maybe that was the reason he chose to return).

Karen judged Hortense snooty, high minded and naive; and found her experience with the interview and the broom cupboard both amusing and saddening. Possibly this was the point when the reader started to empathise with her...

Queenie was liked by June and Jen. Some thought the description of pork pie making too much, but it did introduce Queenie as a 'salt of the earth' no nonsense character who treats Gilbert without prejudice. Marghie enjoyed the vignette provided by the sweet shop owning auntie who encourages Queenie to talk to the respectable, reserved, Bernard.

Janet and Margaret felt Bernard cold and unfeeling; many in the group had no sympathy for the character or his adventures in the war. I surmised he was a vehicle for the feelings of returning soldiers who wanted their country and jobs back. Morag thought his story added little to the plot at that late stage and the reason for his stay in Brighton was amusing to say the least...

Helen said that the ending, with Queenie giving birth to Michael Robert's black child, was predictable. Maybe a twist too many, but overall the group felt it had been another in a series of highly edifying and pleasurable book group choices for 2010.

The Girl on the Landing

2010-11-27T15:12:00.003Z

In November, the group read Paul Torday's The Girl on the Landing. This was a novel we found to share comparisons with 19th Century sensationalism/ghost story novels. It was written in a style akin to that where we thought it may be set during an earlier time not that of a more contemporary time. The novel is original, not plot prescriptive and is suspense story more than a thriller, with a touch of Rebecca and Turn of the Screw to it.

To begin with we all found the characters to be unlikeable but then as time went on we did start to feel sorry for them. With the narration of the novel alternating between Michael and Elizabeth Gascoigne, it certainly aided in the character development throughout the novel as well as creating an atmosphere of suspense.

The novel covered very topical subjects including racism, schizophrenia/mental health issues and genetics. Issues that raised a lot of debate and discussion over them.

The novel sparked a great deal of discussion amongst all the members in terms of whether Michael Gascoigne was suffering from schizophrenia or was it the supernatural. It was a bit 'muddy' at times and, looking at it from a critical viewpoint, we felt it had to be more plausible at times. With the dog sensing the supernatural, it really was left open to the reader's own interpretation.

We debated the relevance of certain things, e.g. the linen press and the dog disappearing. Again, it seems to be left open to the reader's own interpretation.

The nature of the story led naturally into a discussion on mental health in the community and the question of how far do you go to medicate someone and change them completely? We also discussed the possibility of there being people who operate on a different level of sensitivity. There was varying opinion in the group on whether Michael was on a different level of extra-sensory sensitivity, mentally ill or just plain bad.

Several members of the group were disappointed with the somewhat rushed ending of the book. Overall, the general consensus was that this was an enjoyable novel with many of us considering reading more of Paul Torday's work.

On the Beach

2010-10-21T16:03:00.005+01:00

In September the group read Neville Shute's sombre fifties classic On the Beach. Janet, who suggested the book, explained that she had been prompted to go back to this book after recently reading another post-apocalypse story, Cormac McCarthy's The Road. She noted there are a great many tales of Armageddon, but On the Beach is the only one where all the characters die. Despite the odd glimmer of hope (a radio signal from the blighted northern hemisphere, a failed theory that the radiation is lessening) this is just a story of the people of Australia waiting, pretty calmly, to die of the inevitable radiation poisoning from a disasterous nuclear war in the North. Quite a brave thing for the author to do, to write something so bleak (get so scarily possible). This must have summed up pretty well the fears of people during the early Cold War, and fed into the consciousness that generation.

This was a book we all found fascinating and it gave us a lot to speak about. The submarine journey to North America is a compelling storyline, especially the moment when a crew member jumps ship to die in his home city - the only living being alive in that hemisphere for the few days he will last. There is the very occasional humourous detail, like the determined gentlemen in the club determinedly drinking their way through all the best port.

The group discussed how some of the characters were pretty wooden, but that this didn't detract from the book. It's power lies in the ordered suburban society being juxtaposed with the approaching nightmare, and since this was set in the conservative 195os in conservative Melbourne among a naval community, the stilted stiff-upper-lip behaviour of many of the characters is believable. People continue to go to work, to plant crops, to plan the future - and it's not as crazy as it seems. If you only have a few days to live, you may panic and go mad, but if you have months to wait you can't keep that kind of behaviour up for long. And if you must go, why not on a nice beach with a government-issue suicide pill and a bottle of brandy? Better -surely? - than the savage struggle for survival depicted in The Road? It is both seductive and terrifying how people in On the Beach accept the inevitable. A very powerful book.

The Book Thief

2010-09-27T12:13:00.003+01:00

Would you choose to read a story told by Death? Many of us in the book group were unsure until we were gripped by the story itself.
Death narrator of The Book Thief tells the story of a girl, Liesel, sent away from her family to be fostered during the rise of the Third Reich and the small town where she and her foster parents live. In many ways, given the prevalence of death during this period of Germany’s history, Death's a central voice in the novel makes perfect sense. What was surprising to the group was the fact that Death’s voice was both poetic and sympathetic. Death loves colour both the dark and the light. The story he tells is about both the vitality of life and love and the brutality of war and oppression.

Liesel is the book thief of the title and it is her relationship to words, particularly written words, which shape her understanding of the world. She picks up a handbook for grave-diggers at the gravesite of her brother and as she uses it to learn to read, builds a relationship with the foster father. Books become entwined in her life even though they are difficult to acquire. Liesel “steals” books from the mayor’s wife who not only turns a blind eye but aids the “theft”. When Liesel’s family hide a young Jewish man, he makes her a book by using the over painted pages of “Mein Kampf” a nod towards the destructive power of words.

The group particularly enjoyed the rich characters of Rudy (Liesel's rebellious and loving friend), Hans (her mench of a foster father), Rosa (acid tongued but loving foster mother) and Max (the Jewish fist-fighter who teaches Liesel how to write her own story).

The book led the group into a discussion of how ordinary people who lived in Germany during World War II have been depicted in the aftermath of the war and the discovery of the death camps. The Book Thief gives an even handed view of how the inhabitants of a German town might have reacted to Hitler’s master plan. Some bought into the plan and some resisted in various ways but all were affected.

Ferry across to Bressay

2010-08-16T16:23:00.014+01:00

A slight hitch in accessing our blog has meant that, in true librarian spirit, we have been silent for over a month, but all is well now! It has been left up to me to recall our annual night out on the 9th of July, when six of us braved the unseasonal cold and wet weather and headed to the Maryfield in Bressay to discuss Stieg Larsson's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
The book was my choice -mainly because I had recently read it and was onto the third book of the trilogy.
The location of our meeting may or may not have been influenced by the island theme of the book, but at least noone mysteriously disappeared! Over our starters of calamari and garlic stuffed mushrooms, we mused on how the lack of editing in the book meant that parts of it were overly long and in places there were sub-plots which were never fully developed.
As we moved onto our grilled steak and halibut courses, we debated some of the situations, primarily the disappearance of Harriet Vanger and the characters of Blomkvist and Berger.
Karen thought much of the violence was overdone, but was more upset about what happened to the cat! Everyone however,was intrigued by the character of Salander, finding her plausible and unique , and not be easily forgotten.
All in all,despite its length,we found this to be a good enjoyable read. After a couple of glasses of wine and an Ameretto and coffee, we headed off to catch the ferry home.

High stakes!

2010-07-14T15:59:00.007+01:00

I read this riveting book when it first came out, so I was a little worried that some of the magic would have worn off in the following 2o-odd years.

Back then I was living in North Wales, working and climbing in Snowdonia. I remember how the book was begged, borrowed and stolen by everyone in the climbing community and how the main issues were discussed long into the night.

So to the present and the climbing terminology didn't seem to dissuade the members of the book group. In fact the feeling was that the climbing was almost secondary to Simpson's epic struggle to get off the mountain.

There was a long discussion centered around the defining incident: would you cut the rope on your climbing partner as Simon Yates did? The feeling being a definite 'In the same situation...yes. He had tried to get Simpson down from the summit, knowing all the time that it was going to be a long shot'.

The author's description of his crawl back to base camp after the rope cutting incident and his escape from the crevasse is truly remarkable for an autobiography. June said it has the feel of a piece fiction where you don't know the outcome... you can't believe he is going to survive the ordeal. Could he surmount everything the mountain had thrown at him only to miss safety and reunion by minutes?

The group chewed over the nature of adventure, the need to find challenges and how people often invite danger by stacking the odds against themselves. Janet mentioned Simpson's own story of his horrifying bivouac in the Alps as a case in point. The group felt 'Touching The Void' had been a good 'Boys Own' choice for the group.

Another journey East - to Burma with a piano

2010-05-22T16:48:00.003+01:00

May's choice of book was The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason, the story of the journey (both physical and spiritual?) that an unassuming piano tuner makes to the remote Shan hills of Burma in the late 19th century. His mission is to tune a piano for a charismatic British military doctor who has created his own little kingdom up the Salween river - some parallels with Heart of Darkness here perhaps. The tuner becomes bewitched with the orient - and with a local woman - becoming almost fatalistically entwined in the colonial conflict.

The book is beautifully written with good characterisation, it's enticing and intriguing and the group all enjoyed it. But that's not to say we felt we understood it! What was all that about the Man With One Story? What exactly was the enigmatic Carroll up to? The book was at it's weakest when it trotted out the detail of the politics, and at it's best when it explored the hidden depths of the characters. More questions than answers, but we enjoyed the journey.

Fascinating look at a lost Afghanistan

2010-05-22T15:54:00.006+01:00

In April the group read my choice - Full Tilt by Dervla Murphy, the story of her cycle trip from Ireland to India in the 196os. I first read this book when I was a teenager and Dervla has been a favourite author ever since. She takes to the road with the minimum of baggage (well, she'll happily carry a load of books, and on this trip took a gun as well, but she takes so little clothes that she ends up with her backside literally hanging out of her threadbare breeks after awhile.

This journey took her through a lot of countries, but Afghanistan is the star of the book - Dervla falls in love with this magical and timeless place. It has to be said that she tends to be treated as an honorary male on her travels (barring some unfortunate tussles with dodgy pervs in Azerbajan) so she notices but perhaps doesn't fully appreciate the awful situation of women in Afghanistan. The author's cheery no-nonsense determination to go wherever she pleases, putting up with the most uncomfortable and hair-raising situations, make this an entertaining read. She is also a writer of great intellect and, I'm glad to say, is still going strong today - still travelling parts of the world that are strictly off the tourist trail, and getting ever angrier about the way we're screwing places up.

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden - my two cents (oops, I mean "pence")

2010-03-15T15:03:00.002Z

The book The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is very engaging read and I'm sorry to be missing the discussion.
Some things about the book which caught my attention:

I am fascinated by the way the author has created a sense that the book has been translated from German (as far as I know it was written in English and the author is English). The cadence of the language seems to me to be German rather than English.
The relationships are very well drawn particularly the friendship between Pia and Stefan. Pia's sometimes irritation with, but dependence upon Stefan reminds me of friendships I had at her age.
I will never forget the exploding Oma, a horrible image but somehow blackly humorous. I will use hair spray with caution from now on.
Great interweaving of German folktales and daily life in the book. As I write this I wonder if there isn't a flavour of magic realism instilled in the novel by the stories Herr Schiller tells and the actual events as they unfold.

I haven't quite finished the book but am looking forward to getting home tonight to read the ending. What did happen to the girls and what did Stefan see the night he went to castle on his own?....

The Poisonwood Bible

2010-02-17T23:11:00.007Z

A deep and dark novel set in a remote jungle village in Congo (at the time of the country's independence from Belgium in 1960). The story is told by the wife and four daughters of an evangelist minister sent out to convert the locals to Christianity.

The family arrives ignorant of local customs and finds a very, very different way of life to theirs back home in the states. The minister is rigid, ham-fisted, and over bearing (his keeness to baptise people in the crocodile infested river being a case in point). This sets the family apart and ostracises them - eventually leading them on a collision course with the local witch doctor...

The book was chosen by Janet, who commented on the natural division that occurs in the book when the minister is eventually left behind by the rest of the family. She felt that she would have liked this to be the end, feeling that the story stopped and the author took over. There was some sympathy for this point of view.

Everybody enjoyed the book. June liked the (extended) ending and felt she had learnt alot about the plight of Congo/Zaire since independence. Karen brought in an atlas and the group poured over the details: it is a third of the size of the USA, etc.

Marghie turned up and although she hadn't quite finished it was looking forward to doing so. She commented on the backward writing of Adah and wondered if the girls weren't a little bit stereotypical.

I put forward the point that all the family had lost their Christian faith, and that the bible had no relevance to the people of the Congo. In fact I surmised that it was losing relevance in this country. A heated debate followed... Although at home a quick search on Google (sorry to use a computer Janet) produced an article in The Independent 29.6.09 under the heading 'Britain knows little about Bible', stating "The National Biblical Literacy Survey has found that as few as 10 per cent of people understood the main characters in the Bible and their relevance".

Another thought provoking read, entertaining and enlightening in equal measures, although the meeting did remind me of that old saying "don't discuss politics and religion"...

North and South - Innocence Lost,Humanity Found

2010-02-17T08:55:00.008Z

We discussed Elizabeth Gaskell's novel North and South in January. As the title indicates, a major theme of the novel is the contrast between the way of life of the industrial north and the agricultural south of England in the early to mid-nineteenth century.

There was a mixed response to the book. June, who selected the book for the group, has read the novel several times and originally choose to read it after viewing the excellent BBC TV series. She likes the way Gaskell weaves philosophy and political and social commentary into the narrative. Many in the group felt the characters were well drawn and the sense of place in the novel was very evocative.

Some of us did not find the novel completely satisfying. The ending seemed a bit weak. I also felt that there was tension between Gaskell's desire to write a novel of ideas and to spin a romantic yarn. The forays into philosophical and religious commentary did not enhance the flow of the story for me. One of the reading group said that the novels of Jane Austen "seem frivolous in comparison"; Yet to me, Austen's social satire seems more finely crafted and piercing because it is not freighted with philosophical discourse and politics. Having said that the strong characters in the book, particularly the women have left an impression on me, as has Gaskell's descriptions of the English countryside.

A member of the group summed the book up in the following phrase "Innocence lost, humanity found" which neatly summarizes the spirit of the book.

Books of the year

2009-12-18T15:56:00.009Z

"Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry. When we consider a book, we must ask ourselves not what it says, but what it means" Umberto Eco

I agree with Karen - the book group pushes me to read outside my comfort zone. This year Mr Pip, Snow Falling On Cedars and What I Loved were up there for me; all three informed and entertained, their authors obviously having expertise/love of a subject they wanted to share through storytelling.

Notes from the Underground surprised me and shocked me. What a character Dostoyevsky created! And finally, The Key proved a great read a second time around. A much deeper piece of fiction than I first thought. Which takes me back to Umbert Eco's quote...

Struggling to find the Key

2009-12-18T09:33:00.002Z

This month's read was The Key by Junichiro Tanizaki, a short Japanese novel chosen by Andy, the long-suffering token male in the group. The narrative is constructed from the secret diaries of a husband and wife, who each assume the other is reading their diary, and the story revolves around their mutually manipulative sex life. But is it an erotic novel? Some of the women in the group found it deeply unerotic and, not for the first time, we fell into discussion about what sets men and women apart (both in literature and life?).

The book gave us much to talk about, and was, as Andy said, a multi-layered story of old and new Japan, family politics, jealousy, sexual dynamics - even a hint of murder. It was interesting to compare it with last month's read, Memoirs of a Geisha - this was a more modern setting(1950s) and the women had more control, but the contrast between public propriety and a certain alcohol-assisted looseness were similar. Andy said that the novel was most of all 'a vehicle for illuminating a marraige' and we agreed that the themes of deception and avoidance are common to many marraiges. The man's obsession with viewing his wife naked was maybe not that unusual, and June related a Shetland tale of a (drunk?) man mistaking a sow for his wife 'wi her goonie aff'! Someone commented on the loveless attitude to sex, and lack of foreplay - 'but did men do foreplay before 1956?' retorted Andy!

We also took the chance to look back at our reads over the last year. For me, the most rewarding are the ones I probably wouldn't have picked up had I not had to read them for the group. A Perfect Storm and Margaret Elphinstone's The Sea Road were two of those.

Memoirs of a geisha - even better on re-reading

2009-11-25T16:48:00.002Z

For nearly all the members at November's group meeting, this was our second read of Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a geisha. An exceptional debut novel - we wondered if he'd published anything notable since, and no, he seems to have published nothing at all! But there was general agreement that producing one really good book is better than a long list of mediocre ones any day.

It was most of all the authenticity of the narrative voice that impressed the group: how could it be that an American man could so convincingly write as a Japanese woman? It was dreamy and detailed. It was also a tremendous history lesson, and about a piece of Japanese life that was very little known.

Geishas were basically sold into slavery as children - this description was harrowing - but could attain a level of power and status. Men though, were fully in control and the sexism of Japanese society was notable.

Snowbinding!

2009-11-04T20:01:00.011Z

October's book choice was Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. A "whodunit" set in the 1950s against the background of Japanese-American immigration.

The quality of the prose, the multilayered depth of the plot and the new perspectives it explored meant that Guterson's book was enjoyed by all of the group and universally recommended. His characters were well drawn and had a humanity that you immediately empathised with.

Karen pointed out that the courtroom, which plays such a pivotal role in the novel, is a popular device in American literature/film. Margie thought that this was maybe due to it being one of the cornerstones of American life. Guterson seamlessly moved from story to testimony; handling the movement back and forward in time with deceptive ease.

Many of the group thought that the depiction of snow was especially well rendered and compared it to books such as The Tenderness of Wolves. Janet put forward the idea that the coldness it brought to the town was a metaphor for the effect the death of a local fisherman had on an apparently well integrated community.

A lot of discussion centered around the effect the war with Japan had on many of the characters and how Kabuo felt as a soldier fighting for a country that didn't really accept him. This then broadened out into a wide ranging debate on World War 2 - America's reaction to Pearl Habour, the cost in lives if nuclear bombs hadn't been used to end fighting, Shetland's Role of Honour, Britain's multicultural inheritance following the war and break up of the Commonwealth.

An enjoyable and thought provoking novel.

Felicia's Journey

2009-09-22T09:20:00.006+01:00

The group met on the 21st of September to discuss Felicia's Journey by William Trevor. Janet had chosen this book because it is by an excellent writer who provides great attention to detail i.e. Hilditch's small childish hands say a lot about his character.This is a novel of betrayal -Felicia is let down by her family,by her lover and ultimately by Hilditch, whom she initially trusts implicitly. Hilditch lives his life in constant denial -his fantasy life is as real to the reader as his mundane day-to-day existence, which is a life of lost and wasted opportunities. At the end of the book,Felicia achieves a degree of contol over her own life for the first time.
Karen felt that Felicia's father could be kind and caring as well as strict and that he sought only the best for his family.
June found the book creepy and almost unreadable at the start -the unhappy main character seemed one dimentional -but she was pleased that she persevered with it.
Margaret wished that the ending of the book had been more positive, and that Felicia had found a better life than the one she ends up with.
Janet commented that her lack of self esteem made the ending inevitable.
Morag found Hilditch's character fascinating and believable -it made her think of real life characters who were in denial over their actions.
Several of the group commented on the food theme which runs through the book.
Marghie felt this was one of the best books she had read and liked being drawn into the story.
The character of Miss Calligary is essentail to the plot, as she ultimately proves to be Hilditch's undoing,and also provides some much needed humour.
The plot break where the reader is left not knowing Felicia's fate also added to the tension in the story.
Marghie commented on the name Felicia,meaning happiness -were the other characters determined to destroy this?
The group agreed that this was a cleverly written book which had held everyones attention right to the final page.

A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust and Lunacy

2009-08-31T19:28:00.017+01:00

August's book, chosen by Anne, was the travelogue-cum-investigative "Orchid Fever" by Eric Hansen. It explored the fascination and beauty of these rare flowers together with the world of growers, collectors and exhibitors.

A major part of the book was the role of CITES (the worldwide organisation controlling the movement of rare species of plants and animals) and how they regulate the once free-for-all trade in orchids. Hansen portrays their role as inept, aggressive or obfuscating and there was an air of poacher turned game keeper with many former collectors turning turtle and chasing their partners of old.

Anne hadn't read the book before and although she enjoyed it she felt slightly let down by the quote on the cover claiming it to be laugh out loud funny. The group felt the book did have its humorous moments peppered as it was with interesting, oddball or even extreme characters and I certainly chuckled at a couple of their antics.

Marghie thought that the book was more like a series of articles for a magazine (which was the general consensus), many of us enjoyed different chapters as we felt an empathy with its subject. Karen thought colour plates might have brought the orchids to life a bit more for the reader. The black and white line drawings used for the chapter pages didn't set anyone's pulse racing - as Hansen suggested the form of particular orchids could do to enthusiasts!

Jean brought in Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach, a fictional book set in 1630s Amsterdam where fortunes were made and lost speculating on tulip bulbs. She felt that the books were similar in many ways. I thought that Eric Hansen's literary style would have suited many different hobbies or interests and each would have thrown up its fair share of characters and interesting stories.

"Stamp Fever" - now there's a title to whet your interest....

Colin Cotterill - recommended read

2009-08-03T10:16:00.004+01:00

This year, I got the chance to be a judge again for the Crime Writers Association Dagger in the Library Award. This involved reading an awful lot of crime books throughout the Spring, then meeting my fellow judges for a long lunch in London, where we thrashed out our shortlist. Writers for this Dagger are nominated by libraries and book groups, and all the judges are librarians. It's a good category to read as it's for writers who have already produced a few books, but are still 'up and coming', and every year we discover some gems.

This year's winner was the wonderful Colin Cotterill, who has set a series of books in Laos, 1975. His hero is a 75-year old state coroner. Not the usual recipe for a crime book, but the setting is very interesting and the main character's sardonic wit really makes the books special. Me and some of the other judges went to the awards ceremony in London in July. We wern't expecting our winner to be there, as he lives in Thailand, so we were thrilled when he appeared from the back of the room to pick up his prize. And he turned out to we an all-round nice guy into the bargain - here's a picture of me and my fellow judges mobbing him. (He's the one at the back holding his award).

2009-07-27T12:17:00.002+01:00

The Book Group met on the 23rd of July to discuss Siri Hustvedt's What I Loved. This was Laura's choice, which she picked up on her travels a couple of years ago and really enjoyed.
She felt it was a good comment on social relationships. Janet found it a book of two halves and felt that the relationships lacked raw emotion. She also found some of the descriptive art passages tedious, but enjoyed the intensity of the book's latter half, as did Margaret.
Andy found himself liking certain parts of the book more than others, preferring certain characters to others.
June was fascinated by the lives of the artists referred to in the book, and identified with the book's historical perspective. Morag also enjoyed the descriptive passages on art.
Laura felt that the female characters in the book were cold and that the reader could identify more with feelings of the male characters, and June agreed, although she liked Violet.
Andy pointed out how the characters ultimately end up on their own, and Janet saw the book as a study of human imperfection. Kathleen was the only member who had not read the book, due to a delay with her order, but following the discussion she said that she was looking forward to reading it.

Modern viking saga fascinates book group

2009-07-11T13:16:00.002+01:00

In June we all read The Sea Road by Margaret Elphinstone - very timely as this year's midummer Johnsmas Foy celebrations in Shetland had a viking theme. This is a modern viking saga - the story of Gudrid, the most travelled woman of the viking world - who went from Iceland to Greenland to North America and had somehow got herself to Rome near journey's end, where she told her life story to a young scribe.

This was based on several of the old viking sagas, and told in saga style (some of our group had got round to reading the originals). The descriptions of the land and the arduous climate rang true and the astonishingly dangerous sea journeys were thrilling. Some Shetlanders still claim we are a hardy Viking Race, but having to walk to the shops for a pint of milk is too much for most of us nowadays.

Margaret Elphinstone used to stay in Shetland and in fact Morag remembers working with her in the library. They used to discuss the great novels they were writing. We still await Morag's (with every faith it will come) but Margaret has written a great book here which the whole group enjoyed. Apparently her others are good as well.

Not the Orkney Way...

2009-07-11T13:02:00.004+01:00

Yes, The Stornoway Way is very real in it's depiction of the downward spiral of alcohol. Here in Shetland we're also unable to handle our drink, or our drugs for that matter. I await the great modern Shetland novel that tackles this dark side of our affluent society.

Kevin MacNeil is a great chap - made himself very popular in the year he stayed in Shetland, and I'm sure we'll see some good results from the creative writing classes he conducted.

But on the subject of books depicting the seamy underside of island life, were you aware of the scandal over this Orkney book? http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/shelved-the-book-that-outraged-the-orkneys-1712238.html
Chucking It All: How Downshifting To A Windswept Scottish Island Did Absolutely Nothing to Improve My Life has now been pulped by the publisher after an 'outcry'. Shame on Alistair Carmichael MP - a Lib Dem - for being instrumental in getting a book banned. OK, edit for any actual libels...but what are those folk scared of? We in Shetland are all dying to read it -as is most of Orkney, I suspect. Anyone got a proof copy?

The Stornoway Way by Kevin MacNeil

2009-07-09T14:16:00.005+01:00

I was in the library recently and this jumped out from the shelves - maybe it was because Kevin is on the list of authors for Wordplay. I remember it being one of a pair of books we read nearly two years ago on the subject of teenage island life. I enjoyed Venus as a Boy, but didn't get time to read The Stornoway Way.

Illuminating and entertaining in equal parts - it's not a book to read stone cold sober. The main thrust was how alcohol greases the wheels of social gatherings, blunts the harshness of humdrum life and lessens the cloying effect of net-twitching in a small community still heavily influenced by the church. Booze starts off as a sticking plaster, then becomes a crutch and finally a lethal injection. There's nothing, literally and metaphorically, at the bottom of a bottle.

It also reminded me of The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson - all three using the ruse that they were written by someone "else" with the author a mere conduit... A good pretense when the subject matter is tricky and/or the locale is small such as the Western Isles or Orkney.

Brave New World for the book group

2009-05-19T11:11:00.002+01:00

This month's read was Brave New World by Adlous Huxley, chosen by Andy. It was a book that already seemed very familiar because, like Orwell's 1984, there are ideas, images and phrases that have become part of our language and our culture. All the group members enjoyed reading it, even if most wern't entirely satisfied with the story. None of the characters were very strong - because they were just vehicles for the idea. Tellingly, one group member, John, commented that the only person he felt he knew was Linda - poor, imperfect Linda, who'd fallen out of the system and committed the sin of getting ill, fat and unhappy. Everyone else was a slave to ruthless conditioning and predestination, drugged up on soma to keep passions at bay. The way peoples role in life could be formed in the birthing jar was a really strong image. Morag obseved that she'd spotted a few Epsilons on Jerry Springer that very day.

The background to the book - published in 1932 -was eugenics, American consumerism, the Great Depression, and the notion that the problems of society could be cured by a grand Plan. Although a less brutal regime than that of 1984, the 'civilisation' of the Brave New World was repugnant. John pointed out how it sometimes mirrored today's society: the botox/slimming mania to keep folk young forever; ageism; sexualisation of children; disgust at breast feeding in public; the doling out of antideppressant drugs from an early age.

The argument for encouraging promiscuity made a weird kind of sense - chastity breeds passion, and passion causes instabilty. We had a society therefore where everyone was at it like rabbits but it was just yawningly unerotic. The society recognised and admitted the central flaw of our consumerist world, to quote the Controller: "Industrial civilisation is only possible where there's no self-denial. Self-indulgence up to the very limits...otherwise the wheels stop turning."

We loved Helmholtz's plea to be exiled to an island with a bad climate: "I believe one would write better if the climate were bad. If there were a lot of wind and storms, for example..." I thought they were going to send him to Shetland, but it turned out to be the Falklands! Should Shetland Arts use Helmholtz's quote to attract writers here though?

The Perfect Storm

2009-05-11T09:53:00.005+01:00

Our last discussion centered on the book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger. As a whole the group felt it was a interesting read and that depiction of the lives and deaths of a sword boat crew had particular resonance for us since we live on an island and see our share of storms. The detailed description of drowning was particularly harrowing.

I felt the need to see an image of the boat and easily found this image on the Internet. This is the style of fishing boat I have seen throughout my life on the shore of New Jersey which lent the story even more poignancy for me. What was more unsettling was finding images of the lost crew. There are more images of life on the Andrea Gail at http://www.andreagailhistory.com/.

The group felt the story arc of the book sagged a bit in the middle after the Andrea Gail went down but that the pace picked up again with the description of the rescue of the crew of the Satori. The lengths that the National Guard and Coast Guard went to rescue the crew from the teeth of the storm were quite extraordinary. Andy insightfully pointed out that the structure of the book mirrors the structure of a storm with the building of tension, violent weather, calm at the eye and more violent weather and finally a survey of the damage done by the storm.

If you liked The Perfect Storm you might want to read The Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw who was the captain of the Hannah Boden, the sister boat to the Andrea Gail. Her book describes life on a a sword fish boat. She is one of the few female boat captains in the sword fish fleet.

Notes from the Underground

2009-03-29T21:24:00.010+01:00

For our first Friday night meeting, Karen's choice was Dostoevsky's short novel 'Notes from the Underground'. Apologising for her second choice (after ditching 'Don Quixote') Karen led the discussion off.

In the first third of the novel Dostoevsky's introduces his anti-hero, "I'm a sick man... I'm a malicious man. An unattractive man, I am". No-one disagreed with this statement (and many thought it was tough going and had to skim read the first portion of the book).

The main character is a (very) petite-bourgeoisie official, educated but poorly paid; constantly thinking about himself and his actions, withdrawn and socially inept. The group thought that maybe he was too much of a thinker: "the direct, legitimate, immediate fruit of consciousness is inertia". Anne and Karen thought he was more like someone suffering from mental illness and there was some discussion whether this was Dostoevsky's state of mind at the time the book was written...

Yet the character's ramblings reflected many of the issues of the time. Was he a man or an organ stop? Was he a mere functional creation? Did he have freewill? Were the laws of physics and maths set in stone? Two twos is always four, but it would be nice if two twos were five! Morag and I thought that if Dostoevsky's hadn't based the character on himself, then it was a very accomplished portrayal, setting the scene for the later vignette 'Apropos of the Sleet'.

This second part of the book relates to the dinner-party with his old "friends" (but of course he has no true friends, as he cannot act with spontaneity and without self doubt or paranoia) and what happens when they leave him behind and he goes to a brothel. There are passages of black humour, especially when he believes he has been slighted and cannot bring himself to reply, but paces the room for hours whilst ignored by the other guests. I'll leave the ending a mystery, but he acts dreadfully to type in the final pages and I was speechless with him! Nearly all the group read this part and enjoyed it. As an aside James Joyce said Dostoevsky was the writer who "created modern prose, and intensified it to its present day pitch"...

Finally there was a discussion centered on who could play such a tortured soul on film: a gaunt Hugh Laurie was my vote, a manic Johnny Depp was popular and Christian Bale also received votes from our two newest members.

These are the events of the book group that cold night, yet you may think otherwise. There are those of you that experienced it for what it was and thought nothing more. Yet there maybe others amongst you will think more deeply, belittle my write up and join me in thinking it despicably self-satisfying... :) Notes from the laptop

February read – The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards.

2009-02-28T23:28:00.009Z

The February meeting of the book group was well attended, with nine keen readers making it to the Old Library Centre, despite the rawness of the weather. We all enjoyed a leisurely discussion of The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. Jean, who had selected the book, introduced her choice with an outline of the story.

Questions of morality and responsibility occupied a great deal of the discussion – was David’s decision the night his twins were born simply morally repugnant or was it understandable, forgivable, even, given the prevailing attitude of the time?

We talked a lot about the likeability of the main characters and the extent to which that might affect our judgements of their actions and attitudes. Most of us found merit in Kim Edwards’ writing, especially her descriptive passages and her evocation of a strong sense of place. There was less enthusiasm about the narrative aspects of this novel, some of us admitting that we gave up on the characters and their troubles long before the end of the story. In particular, quite a few were frustrated by David’s sudden death before the issues raised by his actions had been resolved and felt that, although his life had been deeply affected by the snap decision to send Phoebe away, and to lie about it, he had never really had to face what he had done.

As is often the case, our discussions wandered off topic, perfectly enjoyably, onto quite unrelated subjects – New Zealand, emigration from Shetland, what drove people to leave, recent and upcoming films at the Garrison Theatre, Shetland during the Second World War, food security and traditional farming in Shetland (sorry, my fault, but thanks to all for your input).

On the tasty treats front, Marghie saved the day, and my tum from rumbling all the way through, by bringing some delicious biscuits for us all – big thanks!

you must read this!

2009-01-22T13:38:00.003Z

For those of you who enjoy short stories with a dark twist,can I recommend Stephen King's latest collection,Just After Sunset.
I have to admit that, being an avid fan of Stephen King's early writings, I have been a bit disappointed with some of his more recent works. But I am glad to report that this latest offering is both gripping and chilling -the kind of stories which stay with you for a long time.
Perhaps this is because most of these stories were written in the aftermath of 9/11,and therefore focus on the unimaginable becoming real,and normality transforming into terrifying abnormality.
Many of the stories prey on our worst fears,and for me,the most disturbing was the final story, A Very Tight Place.
All in all,I would say this Stephen King back on top form and well worth a read.

Book Group 20/01/09

2009-01-21T11:56:00.002Z

Tuesday's meeting was well attended,with ten regular and two new members coming along.
The book under discussion was Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones,which was my choice. My reasons for choosing this title were from other readers' recommendations and also from reading very positive reviews. I felt this was a book which would keep me hooked to the end, and it did not disappoint in that respect.
Most of the group enjoyed the book,although Janet felt that the ending wasn't in keeping with the rest of the story,and some people agreed with this.
There was some discussion on the setting of the story and the politics which influenced the plot,which led to further comments on colonialism and how authentic the details of the rebel activity were. Andy said he believed that the story was loosely based on actual events.
Further discussion followed on Dickens,the composition of Great Expectations,how well the story adapts to film,the parallels between the plot of Mr Pip and that of Great Expectations and the significance of certain aspects of the plot which don't become clear until the final chapter.
We also considered how the story would have worked without the link to Dickens,and agreed that this was what made the story stand out from other stories of oppressed communities.
On the whole,most of the group had found this a worthwhile read,despite one or two admitting to having skimmed the later chapters once the story shifted from the main plot!
Everyone is now looking forward to reading the Memory Keeper's Daughter and Silent in the Grave,which are next month's choices.

Mister Pip

2009-01-05T16:08:00.002Z

Wow! What a wonderful book. It is the best book by a contemporary writer that I've read in long, long while. I sat and thought about the book for about an hour after finishing it and began to re-read it immediately....I'm really looking forward to the discussion on this one! Now I need to buy my own copy because I have to return the library copy which naturally has a waiting list.

Dubliners discussion

2009-01-05T13:55:00.003Z

Well after some gentle prodding by Karen….here are my recollections of the discussion of James Joyce’s Dubliners. (I am sure my memory is imperfect now that the holidays have taken their toll…so chime in folks and add to or correct me.)

I choose Dubliners because it is a book I have read several times. I also like to re-read the story The Dead during the Christmas holidays because it seems to me to capture the melancholic but also sweet memories of the passing of one year into another.

As I re-read the stories this time I noticed that they seemed inter-linked with similar characters appearing on several stories. (Andy compared them to a book of stories by Will Self where characters from one story crop up in another.) I can see that there is a sort of narrative arc moving through the stories depicting youth through middle to old age. Joyce wrote in a letter about seeking to describe a Dublin that he saw as the “centre of paralysis” and indeed many of the characters of Dubliners are trapped by their circumstances, fears or belief.

Several people in the groups mentioned that Joyce’s language made them fell they could really “hear” the characters. Others felt his descriptions are “dead on”. For instance the description of Maria in the story “Clay” as a “very, very small person indeed but she had a very long nose and a very long chin,” allows us a clear picture of her physical character.

We discussed the fact that Joyce had difficulty in getting the stories published and that there were elements, particularly about the church and sex, which would have riled the average Irish reader of his time.

I also quite clearly remember someone mentioning that the stories “didn’t go anywhere” and indeed the stories are less concerned with describing an event or series of events than describing an interaction between people or describing a situation. Many of the stories seem to trail away and come to no real resolution…I imagine this is another way to indicate Dublin’s “paralysis”.

Update from the Book Group

2008-12-11T10:22:00.003Z

Many thanks to Andy, for reviving our badly neglected blog. We had a good discussion about Madame Bovary - I think everyone had very much appreciated it, and would enjoy Andy's comments. We talked a lot around how Emma was really a selfish and horrible person, but yes, we couldn't help rooting for her a bit too. We also appreciated the humour in the book. I particularly liked Flaubert's delicious sarcasm about the pompous bore Homais.

Other things we discussed at the November meeting: a promo by Mira publishers offering us free books! They sent us 5 sample novels and we had to choose one. We picked what we hope is a jolly historical crime romp called Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn. Copies have now arrived so we'll have them as light reading in tandem with our other choices.

We also decided to try and choose books a couple of months ahead. So January is Morag's choice: Mr Pip, and February will be Jean's choice The Memory Keeper's Daughter. March will be my choice but I've still not decided...

For our December meeting we are having Secret Santa, and maybe I shall concoct some mulled wine. I am also going to try and persuade a different member each month to write up a meeting report for this blog, so that it doesn't slip back into the doldrums.

Madame Bovary 2

2008-12-01T20:32:00.000Z

I'm reading Alexander McCall Smith's "Love Over Scotland" between books and came across this nugget:

"...it's so refreshing to see a male writer having a go at a truely nasty woman; male writers don't dare do that these days... You wouldn't get a modern day Flaubert punishing Madame Bovary as the real Flaubert did. Oh no. By the way, did you know that Flaubert wrote terribly slowly? He managed five words an hour, which meant that on a good day he wrote about thirty words. Now they were good words, of course, but even so..."

Madame Bovary

2008-11-26T21:41:00.008Z

Missed the meeting due to a serious dose of man flu... I had even read Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary well in advance. So thought I would try this blog thing.

Well, I really enjoyed it! The story built and built, and I couldn't put it down once I had got into the last third. I found the book true to it's times, but with gloriously readable passages of descriptive prose that gave it a more contemporary feel than a classic nineteenth century text. The theme of self-destructive pursuit of happiness is one that resonates with us now; but no matter how we view Madame Bovary's sad demise I wonder how many of us hoped for a miraculous cure or a rising from the dead as she slipped away...

More hob-nobbing

2008-09-22T15:48:00.002+01:00

Sorry for neglecting you, blog. Realised I have opportunities for much more name dropping since Wordplay, our splendid Shetland book festival. Met the rather dashing young writer Alan Bisset in the pub and he likened me to Scarlet O'Hara! (we were out on a henny party in our ball gowns- shall try to source a photo from somewhere). Three really good sessions I went to: John Hegley - extremely entertaining, great at working a crowd; Adrian Mitchell - lovely, touching, personal poetry; Will Self - very clever & witty. Heard him on the radio talking about how our book festival was all good and real and locally-grounded etc whereas in most other places they were just 'Nuremberg rallies of the bourgeoisie'. Have just read an excellent couple of short stories by him, bit grim but enthralling, I think I'll make more effort to get into some of his writing.

Book group's been interesting since we started a democratic dictatorship scheme where one member wins a draw to dictate the book we'll read. Jean's choice last month was Peacocks Dancing by Sharon Maas - enjoyable, exotic and melodramatic tale set in Guyana and India. This month is my choice and something totally different - the misery of 1930s England through Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell. I've really enjoyed re-reading it, but not sure what the rest of the group will make of it!

Just a bit of gentle name dropping....

2008-07-17T09:30:00.006+01:00

I am doggedly ploughing through C.J. Sansom's Winter in Madrid, a tale set against the backdrop of WW2 and the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. I thought I'd really like this but it's failing to set me alight. Historically interesting - and this author's a pretty serious historian - but it just seems to be plodding a bit too slowly and ponderously along. Or maybe it's just me, not in the right frame of mind for it.

C.J. Sansom (who really is a great writer notwithstanding my slight whinge) was our runner-up in the Dagger in the Library Award, which I need to name-drop here since I'm just back from the swanky awards dinner in London. Guest of honour was Gyles Brandreth, who gave a faintly insane but entertaining speech. I think he's writing something where Sherlock Holmes and Oscar Wilde form a crime-busting duo, if I understood right?! Our winner was Craig Russell, an author I'd never read before the Dagger. He's Scottish but sets his books in Hamburg. The setting is really interesting, the characters good and the stories gory, so I commend him to this blog! And he was a nice man, and let us hold his Dagger. This is him in the middle, with me and my fellow judges.

book group choice

2008-07-16T09:39:00.002+01:00

Have just finished reading The Second Husband and don't want to say too much about it here because I am hoping to be at the next book group meeting to discusss it. Just want to say,though,that this is another of these books (remember Housewife Down)? that had I been writing it I would have taken a completely different and less predictable approach! Perhaps I should start writing my alternative versions of popular fiction!
I am also reading Russell Brand's My Booky Wook and a self help book callled the Four Day Win which Aileen recommended -I can't seem to get the hang of this book though -I understood the message to be that if you can be good for four days you can treat yourself with lots of chocolate,but Aileen says this is not the case unfortunately! Must read beyond the twenty pages I've covered so far....

Mixed procession of reading matter

2008-06-30T15:22:00.003+01:00

Welcome to the blog Marghie! I am very glad I was born in the UK as I don't think I'd ever pass the test to get in.
I've finished The Second Husband and have returned to A Time of Gifts - classic travel book recommended by Janet. He's walking through Germany in 1933/1934, a world that will never be the same again. Also waiting in the 'to-read' pile is Winter in Madrid by C. J. Sansom, which has come highly recommended to me. I read one of his 16th Century crime books for the Dagger in the Library, and loved it, unexpectedly. He seems to be a very thorough historian who also knows how to write a good tale. Winter in Madrid is set in Spain about 1940 I think, in the aftermath of the civil war. I have a morbid fascination for the 1930s and 40s so expecting to like it.
Despite trying to have a change from crime, I had t0 read Flesh House, the latest from our old mate Stuart MacBride. Cannibalism and butchery in Aberdeen! Strangely enjoyable...

Signed on at last

2008-06-27T14:51:00.002+01:00

Well I have finally done the deed and signed onto the book group blog. I've even ask to have an RSS feed to my email so I can keep up with the activity...nice feature that.

I'm sorry I missed the Thuesday meeting which sounded like a good one. I'm traveling back to the US for a visit so I will miss the next meeting as well but I will read some Will Self and whatever Jean chooses for the August meeting. I have a pile of books to get through before I leave not the least of which is a biography of DuMaurier. I will no doubt indulge myself by reading "cheap, trashy novels" while I'm on the beach in the US; The sort of books I won't mind staining with sun tan lotion and dropping into the sand. Unfotunately I also will be reading a turgid tome by the name of Life In The UK in order to prepare for taking the LITUK exam when I return from the U.S. I've read the first two chapters and have already identified a piece of incorrect information about the testing of school children in Scotland. The LITUK authors seem to be unaware that there are differences between the Scottish and English school systems. I think, I'll wait until I've gotten my "long term leave to remain" visa before I point that out to the powers that be.

Let's kick this blog back to life...

2008-06-27T11:06:00.004+01:00

Oh dear, our blog has been sadly neglected again. Everyone should sign up or this RSS feed so at least we might be reminded about it when someone does a post. But then we'd probably fall into the 'OMG, LOL, u r soooo right!!!' kind of responses. (na, surely not, there aren't many OMG LOL-types in our group)
Anyway, a good group meeting was had this week, the book being discussed being Jamaica Inn. Folk all really enjoyed it and discussion led on to other classics, and I scandalized everyone by admitting I'd never read Wuthering Heights (or indeed the vast majority of classics, I blame it on the comprehensive education system). I am trying to wean myself off crime as I've had several months of total immersion, what with judging the Dagger in the Library Award. The short list is now in the public domain but I got into bother for publicizing the long list, which for some strange reason is kept secret?!
Started our book group's next read which is a publisher freebie by Louise Candlish called The Second Husband. She seems to be a popular author, and the story so far is a good read. The books came with a list of discussion points and questions so we're going to try going through them and have a more structured discussion than we sometimes manage. We're also going to read a bit of Will Self, though our pals in the Whalsay Book Group have been tackling him and don't seem hugely impressed! (He's coming to Shetland in September, hence our interest).

Blog alerts

2008-05-19T11:46:00.002+01:00

Gosh Morag you will need to tell me what this magic book is. My house is looking very grubby just now, all dust and empty wine bottles...

Just wanted to say if you would like to get email alerts telling you when there is a new post on the book group blog you can go to www.rssfwd.com, enter the web address of the site (http://lerwickbookgroup.blogspot.com) and your email address. This should also work for other blogs you are interested in.

Speed cleaning rules!

2008-05-17T16:15:00.002+01:00

Having digested the rules for cleaning your entire house in 15 minutes, (see previous post), I managed to zip through six rooms yesterday evening, and by 7pm I had five hours in front of me to do whatever I wanted! So I finished Lost Horizon (still no answers!) and started Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama. I now feel my reading is getting back on track. This weekend I have to read several European fairytales in preparation for a multi-lingual storytelling session on Monday - Karen,what have you got me into??

Crime fest

2008-05-16T13:45:00.003+01:00

Me, I've been up to my eyes reading the 15 authors on this year's CWA Dagger in the Library Award longlist. It's an onerous responsibility, I can tell you. A big variety of writing styles. I'm off to the judging lunch in London next week, and then I have to keep my mouth shut about it for another two months until the winner is announced. I will be very pleased to read something that's not crime-related when this is over. Had no time for Patricia Highsmith yet, which is a pity, though I did previously read The Talented Mr Ripley, which is one of my favourite books.

reading all over the place.....

2008-05-16T13:06:00.002+01:00

Yes, I must admit I have been neglecting the blog lately on the grounds that I can't seem to settle to any one book these days. I took a Sophie Konsella with me to Glasgow last month as it wasn't too demanding and it kept me laughing on the plane, even when we hit fairly severe turbulence which would probably have had me screaming otherwise!
My bedtime book at the moment is James Hilton's Lost Horizon. Sadly,the only reason I am reading this is because it's supposed to be the original inspiration for the TV series Lost,so I'm looking for deeper meanings and explanations! So far I haven't found any,but it's actually a really good read and I should finish it this weekend. Then I'll be reading some Patricia Highsmith - I'm not sure which one to choose as I have two set aside,but I'll no doubt find something to speak about at the next Bookgroup meeting. Oh,and I'm also reading a book on how to clean your entire house in 15 minutes -yeah,that'll be right!

Dagger in the Library

2008-04-28T17:29:00.006+01:00

Well done Laura for kicking the blog back into life. We had been neglecting it a bit. Thoroughly recommend The Talented Mr Ripley - great book, very tense, strange ammoral central character. Made an excellent film too. I did read one of the follow-ups and wasn't so sure he's the sort of character who should have been followed up! I think Patricia Highsmith is an interesting writer, and hope I get a chance to read some before the next meeting. But until the 21st May I have all my reading mapped out as I plough through 15 authors for the Dagger in the Library award for which I am a judge.
Am really enjoying the process, if not necessarily all the authors. I think me and the other judges may have different tastes so it will be a long hard-fought judges lunch, but I've never been one to complain about a long lunch!

Catching up

2008-04-28T16:22:00.002+01:00

Well the last time I sat down to type up a new post on the blog I was going to have a rant about Sacrifice, but then I saw that one or two others really enjoyed it, so I quietly slunk away! Actually it wasn't that bad and as a crime novel it read quite well.
It was great to get back to a book group meeting again after a gap of several months. Unfortunately meetings tend to clash with work on ocassion, but I have to say that I feel mightily privileged that my tardiness has been forgiven and I have been asked to continue as the chair of the group. I hope to make up for past meetings missed by putting in a much better attendance over the coming year.
Having said that, I wont be able to attend the next meeting - Arrgghh! As I shall be away, but I am going to read some Patricia Highsmith and will take one or two of her books to read whilst I am away, and possibly a biography as well as I see there have been several written about her.
I was checking out Patricia Highsmith on Amazon and though I knew she had written a fair few books, I had no idea she was so prolific -and reading the synopsis of various titles, a lot of them look quite good, so hard to choose really, though I shall read the 'Ripley' series. I remember attending a lecture in Bristol a few years ago all about Patricia Highsmith, it was very interesting and she was a pretty eccentric character -kept siamese cats and wrote about those too.

Dead Man's Fingers

2008-04-02T09:58:00.005+01:00

Daniel Craig most definitely - I think Ewan McGregor's too pretty though. Who's that guy that played the monk in the Da Vinci Code? He could be a minor baddie.

Reading-wise, I've gone back to finish Death in Breslau after a diversion to read a few other things. Has a strange style but is rather good, kind of jaunty and not as mournfully philosophical as some of the Central European books we read.

I've also just read Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour. In this book he heads off round the world trying local dishes in exotic places (and the UK). Some time ago I read his first book, Kitchen Confidential, a tell-it-like-it-is account of being a chef in New York's kitchens. It struck a chord as I used to be a chef, and his writing is amusing and gritty, his voice (I imagine) is a New York-too-may-cigarettes-snarl. Describing a horrible meal he's forced to eat in France, watched by his apalled brother: "He looked at me as if I was gnawing the flesh off a dead man's fingers and washing it down with urine...".

Bad Blond Men.....

2008-04-01T14:04:00.002+01:00

I think you're onto something here Karen,with you casting suggestions ...... There are several bad blond men in the Bond films and Die Hard films who I'm sure would appreciate the work!There are also some very nice blond men such as Daniel Craig,Ewan MacGregor and Kiefer Sutherland who might relish the opportunity to play the baddie. I'm not totally decided on the female lead yet though,but I am working on a shortlist.
I'm half way through Stephen King's Misery right now - hey,how accurate was the casting for THAT film???? The first time I read the book the film hadn't been made,but when I saw the film I thought,yes,this is exactly how I imagined them. You can't beat early Stephen King for a good read,though I've not been overly impressed by his later writing. Duma Key wasn't one of my favourites.

Hurrah, it's a Sacrifice fan club!

2008-03-26T11:00:00.004Z

Glad you liked it Morag. I agree about the film - I thought as I was reading it that it was a bit like a 1970s sinister thriller with Susan George, Donald Sutherland, Christopher Lee. Not sure who I'd cast nowadays. Oh yes, how about Rutger Hauer for one of the ugly blond men? I might like that woman called Lynette from Desperate Housewives as the lead.

I regaled the last book group session with my opinions on how it was great to see a big larger-than-life story in a Shetland setting, and how I'd love to see a vampire or aliens novel set here. The group then suggested I write the ultimate Shetland Vampire Sheep novel!? Perhaps we could do this as a serial on the blog?

Sacrifice

2008-03-26T10:12:00.003Z

I too have now finished Sacrifice by S.J. Bolton. This was a really good read,despite the magpies,wild strawberries and the puffin on the windowsill - yes,apart from those minor annoyances which seem to have irritated quite a few folk,the book is well written with strong characters and a plot which keeps you hooked right up to the final page. A lot of research has obviously gone into the people,places and folklore of Shetland and the author has captured the general feel of the place. When I finished the book last night I couldn't help thinking what a great film it would make,as it has all the ingredients - murder,secret cults,romance,action,mystery....
Suggestions for lead roles please!! (I have already chosen mine).

White and Red...

2008-03-18T16:33:00.002Z

Hmm, yes. My "lucky dip" for the Eastern European reading choice didn't really inspire me to continue with this genre,but maybe it was the theme that put me off. White and Red by Dorota Maslowska is a somewhat demanding piece of writing,but the drugs and the politics finally did for me and I'm afraid to say that I did not make it to the end of the book. Interestly,this is the first book I have failed to finish since my initial attempt at the Da Vinci Code,although I did succeed with that when they brought out an illustrated version. Perhaps a graphic novel of White and Red would work! I have,however,borrowed a book of Polish short stories,but it's too early on for me to comment on them. Meanwhile,I have finished the superb Madness of a Seduced Woman and am about to re-read Schaeffer's Anya. Also reading Stephen King's Duma Key,so well done Karen for getting some free Stephen Kings for the group!

And light relief with a stonking good yarn

2008-03-18T10:14:00.004Z

But, off on another tack entirely, I finished Sacrifice by S. J. Bolton and still think it's a well-written thriller. Really entertaining, slightly over-the-top sinister tale set in a larger-than-life Shetland. There have been quite a few curly-lipped comments cos she's got details about Shetland birds etc wrong, but I think if folk get hung up stuff like that, they're rather missing the point of a good thriller. Anyone can bore us with the correct minutiae of puffin behaviour, but not everyone can write a decent yarn. I also liked the way she gave us extra coffee shops, boating clubs etc - made Shetland seem a much cosier place (despite the murder and conspiracy), and I was hoping she'd invent a decent pub for us as well. In fact I'd really like to read more books that put extraordinary tales in a Shetland setting. I remember seeing Muriel Gray speak at last year's Orange Prize seminar, and she made a plea for women to drop that old chestnut of 'write what you know', because, she said, the details of your little life are not! fascinating, no she said, women should Make Things Up More. Hear hear!
And on the subject of good yarn-spinners, I've just taken delivery of some free Steven King books for the group, so it could be that next month we're reading something completely different.

Mired in crime and Nazism

2008-03-18T09:40:00.003Z

Looking back, I feel I was probably a little harsh on Stanislaw Lem - no, I haven't gone back to read his book, but I think "It's me, not him" as the saying goes. It's just the kind of book that makes my eyes glaze over. I was maybe a bit harsh on Pavel Kohout as well, because thinking back it was a pretty interesting book but maybe just needed better editing in the second half. I'm reading another - Death in Breslau by Marek Krajewski - which is a bit of a classic Polish crime book, and I'm kind of liking it as it's got quite an individual style and unusual hero. Also it's set in 1933 so lots going on there as the Nazis consolidate power - kind of the opposite end of the regime from Pavel Kohout's book. I maybe should have tried to find a book which was based in more recent history, and I should also have picked something that wasn't crime, but will get to them in due course. Meanwhile, after the book group's discussed this Central European literature tonight, I am going to launch the promo on the Shetland public. Possible with recommendations from the group, if opinions are kind...

Phillip K. Dick

2008-03-11T14:36:00.001Z

Yes, if we were going to be forced to read sci-fi I could probably just about cope with Phillip K. Dick.
I made an attempt at something that was both sci-fi and Polish - one of Stanislaw Lem's books - and found it one of the most tedious and over-wordy things I'd had the misfortune to encounter in a long time. Now reading Sophie Hannah, who was at the Glasgow book festival and writes wonderfully absorbing psychological crime. And still finishing off Sacrifice!

A Scanner Darkly

2008-03-11T14:16:00.003Z

By the way, I happened to pick up a copy of Philip K Dick's A Scanner Darkly (ok I know it's not East European), it's an amazing book and a bit controversial, maybe we should read it for the book group at some point. Don't think we have tackled any science fiction apart from Ian M Banks.

coincidence

2008-03-11T13:34:00.001Z

Hey, how weird, me and Aileen were just trying out the very same thing at the same time and we're in different cities!
Hi Aileen! We can now do email feeds for our blog!

2008-03-11T13:31:00.002Z

Just trying out some stuff with the blog as I'm on a training course just now, I apologise if the blog goes a bit wierd.

Handling the Pace

2008-03-06T11:14:00.003Z

I got fed up with The Widow Killer - the first half was OK but it became apparent during the second half that the author just wasn't handling the pace well. There was so much going on - last days of German occupation of Prague, Russians approaching, Nazis retreating, massacres, sadistic murderer on the loose pursued by police - and it was actually boring! Because he just seemed to plod on and on - this happens, that happens, but I lost interest and though I struggled on to the end I had stopped caring all that much.
In sharp contrast to the latest 'local' book which I'm now reading - Sacrifice by S. J. Bolton. Only local in that Shetland is a backdrop, and she wrote it before she'd even visited the island, but this is a writer who handles pace splendidly. It's a great old yarn that I'm devouring avidly, and it's quite witty in parts too. Off to the Glasgow book festival this weekend by the way. In my bag for reading on the train will be Sacrifice (unless I finish it tonight) and my lastest attempt at Central European fiction, one of Stanslaw Lem's books.

Brain Drain

2008-02-29T14:08:00.004Z

On reading a couple of the Central European books which we found to be a tad on the intellectual-navel-gazing side, Morag and I agreed maybe they were "the sort of books we would have liked when we were younger". This probably indicates that our capacity for intellectual reading is draining away with age. Soon we'll be harrassing the library staff to find us 'nice' stories.
However, I have moved on to Pavel Kohout's The Widow Killer, which is a more straightforward narrative, a crime story set in wartime Prague. Very interesting background as it's a period of history I'm morbidly drawn to. My 'book I might have liked when I was younger' was the very well thought of Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal. I must say that although I did get a little impatient with it at times, and just think, 'Oh, get over yourself, will you!', it was worth a read and there are a lot of strong images I was moved to write down. Some amusing bits - for example the narrator describes how he was once set upon by a man who pushed him into a corner at knifepoint, took out a slip of paper, read him a poem, then apologized and said it was the only way to get folk to listen to his verse! I think we should maybe do a version of this next National Poetry Day?

So many books....

2008-02-26T12:40:00.002Z

So little time! I thought I must post a blog on the Lerwick book Group website, I haven't checked in for a few weeks - Last October Arrgghh!! Where does the time go?

When I last posted on here we had just moved house -now living in the 'da redd up' that is Erlangen. The place doesn't look too bad if you ignore the pots of paint, plaster, scaffolding (!) etc., etc, but we seem to be getting there slowly, very slowly at times.

Books? Oh yes, thank you to everyone on and off this site who congratulated me on my successful 'book rescue' last October, many of my old friends are now safely returned to me and esconced in the new ( very old actually!) house.

We have just finished decorating the dining room and I now have a whole wall lined with book cases wahey! A real dream come true, I never thought I would see a day when I had spare book shelves -but probably not for long.

Books since last October? I'm still on the Gavin Maxwell thing - I managed to get a copy of Douglas Botting's biography of Maxwell through a web search and the book has been a really good read, I've enjoyed it immensely.

At new year I, like lots of others, started on a pile of self help, diet, spritual development books etc. etc but the best one by far is the 'Barefoot Doctor's Guide for the Urban Warrior' this is an excellent book which looks at spirituality in a wry way by saying yes, we all want to live our lives in this wonderfully spritual way rising above all the cares of the world -but life is not like that is it? And it looks at lots of lifes problems and woes in a quite humorous way. I like the Barefoot Doctor. You can open the book at any page and it will give you a little reading for the day which may or may not be apt for the way you are feeling at any given time. It seems to be uncannily accurate -this morning the book fell open at 'Self Pity' I'm saying nothing!

I've got a pile of books by the bed all waiting to be read but I have borrowed a couple of books from the European collection at the library and I will read those and I will try my hardest to get long to the next book group meeting - its been a while.

Right, that's a very brief catch up, I will try to drop in more often from now on - honest I swear!

A Big Wide World of Books

2008-02-20T15:27:00.004Z

Yes Morag, we are all fading a bit. But news to tell is that Kevin MacNeil, author of The Stornoway Way, joined our book group session last night, and we had a most convivial session discussing literature local, Hebridean, Central European and worldwide. He's up here for a month doing a Writing Residency for Shetland Arts, and was very impressed with some of the stuff he's seen from local authors. We think someone still needs to write the Great Modern Shetland Novel.
Next project for the book group is translated Polish, Czech and Hungarian fiction, which might be more intellectual than some of the stuff I've been reading of late.
Have read some interesting stuff though, including The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio, which is a memoir of a family which survived on the mother's competition wins in 1950s USA. Charming book. Also read something a bit different - a crime book set in North Korea. It's The Corpse in the Koryo by James Church. A bit confusing but an interesting depiction of life in that country. And a nice book of poems by Sophie Hannah: Pessimism for Beginners. And Shetland Saga - a play I'd never heard of before, based round that time when the Bulgarian klondyer crew were stranded here for months.

Finally, I'd like to send international greetings to the book group at Crawford County Library, Michigan, USA, who we were delighted to hear follow our blog! Now we know someone's reading it, we shall be encouraged to write more.

Where is everybody??

2008-02-19T13:18:00.002Z

Here I am,feeling very guilty because I have not contributed to the blog for some weeks now,and I discover that there has only been one other posting since my last one. Come on guys,share your reading experiences with me,especially since I am yet again having to miss the Book group meeting in favour of my belly-dancing class,but I will be along at the end,if only to sample Aileen's amazing Guinness cake!
Well,I finally finished my e-book,althuogh by the final chapter the reader's voice was beginning to annoy me to a point where I just wanted it to END!!! Mental note -next time I choose a talking book, make sure I can endure the reader's voice for 12 hours!!
Anyway,I'm back with a real book -Madness of a Seduced Woman -second time round and every bit as good as when I first read it all those years ago. If you're stuck for a really brilliant book,this is the one to choose.

Travel books

2008-02-04T15:51:00.000Z

I seem to be having the same problem with travel books as I have with biographies, ie losing interest half way through and giving up. There just isn't the same amount of suspense as with fiction. I tried reading Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks, which was funny but after a while I just stopped caring if he got round Ireland with a fridge or not. Think I will try Dervla Murpy's Full Tilt next and see if I get on any better.

I will really need to have another go with the biographies as well at some point.

Clash of interests

2008-01-16T16:23:00.000Z

I must say I am fairly miffed that the bookgroup now seems to have permanently moved to Tuesdays,which is no use to me because it clashes with my nightclass! However,I will keep reading according to the chosen themes and hopefully I'll get back to the group later in the year.
The biography I was going to recommend was Pamela Stephenson's "Billy" and for travel I would go with any of the Bill Brysons as I loved them all and would re-read if I didn't have so many other things to get through.
I borrowed my first e-book a couple of weeks ago,so I listen to it while doing all that boring stuff around the house. Won't say what the book is till I finish it,but yes,once again I'm reading,or rather,listening to crime. Not sure if I'm going to become a fan of talking books,as you can't just flick back a few pages to check stuff like you can with a "real"book! Anyway,I'll write more on it when I finish it,which should be this weekend.

History and biography

2008-01-11T16:51:00.000Z

We've just got a book into the Library called 'Get off your Arse and Lose Some Weight' which is the kind of thing I should be reading!
But I'm reading about explorer and writer Freya Stark for the group's biography phase - she seems like an impressive woman and the history of the Middle East that it involves is interesting too. Baghdad was a beautiful and important city until the Mongol hordes invaded, and it's been pretty much downhill ever since, it seems.

New Year reading

2008-01-04T10:04:00.000Z

Well I started the New Year with the proof copy of Ann Cleeves new book and finished it last night and all I can say is wow!,what a brilliant book. I won't give anything away,but this was a really good read with a well-paced,exciting storyline. Well done Ann,yet again. I'm glad it's only fiction though,otherwise I might be getting a bit wary now about lone hillwalking,especially around the cliffs!!
Anyway,it's back to the self-help/life improvement books for January -am currently reading one on how vinegar,honey and garlic can improve virtually every aspect of your life! As well as handy tips for cleaning your household appliances and making your hair shiny,there are also some amazing recipes. I made a casserole last night involving all three ingredients which came really good - big thumbs up from the whole family. But the flavour may have been down to the bottle of red wine I added!
Oh, and I'm starting on Peter Kay's book tomorrow,as my chosen biography for the Book Group.
Hope it's as funny as everyone says.

Happy New Year

2008-01-03T09:53:00.000Z

Happy Newerdy to fellow book groupies not to mention the millions around the world who read this blog! Thank goodness we've turned the corner of the long dark days. Things can only get better. Not read anything earth shattering lately though I have ploughed through a few books just to keep suicidal thoughts at bay. One was Library Confidential by Don Borchett - claims to tell the full story of life in a (Californian) library. ("Puts the Shhh in Shocking!") Though he's an amusing writer at times it has to be said that he reveals himself as just another library nerd as he spends more time describing their system for e.g. overdues or donated books than he does on anything vaguely shocking. For fellow library anoraks it is interesting to see just how similar the whole library experience is round the world. We - and any library I guess - could supply our own tales of 'gangstas, geeks and oddballs' to rival his, should we dare break confidences. It's ultimately quite an affectionate book too.
Have also been treated to an advance copy of Ann Cleeves' White Nights, her second in the Shetland... quadrilogy?! (series of 4 anyway) and it's really pretty good. It's rapidly changing hands round the office and I still harbour hopes that ITV will buy the TV rights and we'll wipe the floor with Bergerac.

Not as good as the book....

2007-12-19T16:43:00.000Z

I was SOOO looking forward to The Golden Compass last week,only to be hugely let down by the film and the worst bit was I had recommended it to some other people before actually seeing it and now I feel really bad. Maybe it's better if you haven't read Northern Lights,but I would imagine it would be more confusing. Anyway,I was not impressed by the casting of Nicole Kidman as Mrs Coulter and the film skipped over so many of the plot essentials. So,I had to re-read the book,just to restore my faith in the story as one of the best books I've ever read. And now I realize that Lyra was probably about the only thing the filmmakers got right. Ah well,maybe the sequel will be better,but I'm not holding my breath!

Christmas fare for mind and body

2007-11-30T16:06:00.000Z

Can I recommend Marks and Spencers Milk Chocolate Covered Toffee Butter Popcorn? Yum.
Meanwhile, the book group is doinng local poetry this month - we're all reading Jim Mainland's book A Package of Measures then whatever else we want, dialect or non-dialect, so it will be interesting to see what folk find. Last month's discussion was good, hearing about the varied Latin American authors that folk picked up on. A theme like a country is quite a good idea sometimes. Think we should bring appropriate food into the mix next time though. A smorgasbord of Norwegian food and literature?

The Christmas Mystery

2007-11-25T12:14:00.000Z

Ok I know some of you probably aren't really that keen on Christmas, but if you are not in the mood for heroin addiction and prostitution can I suggest as an alternative the Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder. This is the best time of year to read it because it is like an advent calendar, one chapter for each day in December till Christmas. Last year I read one chapter a day on the corresponding day, and I really enjoyed it. Get your copy now!

Sex and Drugs

2007-11-19T11:13:00.000Z

Just read a memoir called In My Skin by Kate Holden. It's the story of how a nice educated middle-class girl falls into heroin addiction and prostitution. I liked the fact that she wasn't pitying herself or blaming anyone else - she had a good stable loving family who never gave up on her. She describes very matter-of-factly how heroin gradually got a grip on her and inexorably messed up her life so much that she found herself streetwalking. She had chances to give up, she did occasionally give up, but the pull of addiction was too strong to resist. Interestingly, it was managing to get off the street and into better class brothels that ultimately empowered her and gave her the self confidence she needed to kick the drugs. She describes her work - all the sex with all the men - in unflinching detail, and some of it is horrible, as you'd expect. But she also acknowledges that there were some times that she enjoyed her work, even found great joy in it. This is a really well-told story. I avoid the rash of 'poor me' memoirs like the plague normally, but this was a different sort of tale.

Hooray!!

2007-11-12T15:51:00.000Z

I was reading some reviews of forthcoming titles in the Sunday papers yesterday,and was overjoyed to see that at last Susan Fromberg Schaeffer's Madness of a Seduced Woman is to be republished in January. Those of you who know me will probably have heard the woeful tale of how I was given a copy by a friend many years ago,read it,loved it,passed it on to a less reliable friend who left the country with it,never to return! By the time I'd given up waiting for it to to appear back by post (ever the optimist!),it had gone out of print. Yes I suppose I could have tracked down some battered secondhand copy, but I do like my books to be in pristine condition,and so from time to time I have clicked on Amazon in the vain hope that a reprint was imminent. So now I'm really happy -roll on January!!

Mixture of mercies

2007-11-12T14:29:00.001Z

Good luck with the ipod Lesley. I never quite get round to listening to audio books, probably because I don't have a car and don't do much ironing. It's being forced to 'read' at the pace of the speaker that's frustrating. I'll sometimes listen to a story if it comes on Radio 4, but I think the answer is indeed to take up knitting, you have to have something else to do at the same time. Having said that, I've got a couple of long train journeys next week so I'll take along an Ian Rankin and my old chuggy Walkman (belatedly become a Rankin fan so lots of catching up to to) .

Been dipping into a complete mish-mash of reading lately. Working through Midnight's Children, and it's really an OK read but I've allowed myself to think of it as worthy and dense which gives me false justification for conntinually putting it down to read something light. Dipped into a bit of Latin American stuff for our next meeting. Read Nigel Slater's new one Eating for England which is a collection of snippets - some which really hit home - about the British way with food. Like the bit about the ghastly person who always insists on totting up exactly what they've eaten rather than just splitting the bill on a group meal. His memoir Toast is far better though: all based round food, a bittersweet - or sometimes just plain bitter - look at family life. What else - oh yes, more nostalgia new to the library - a book of classic British camper vans which is gloriously anoraky and copiously illustrated. Another one is Britain's Lost Cities, a book of photos illustrating how we carried on ruining our cities where Hitler left off. There's a picture of an astonishing ornate arch which used to grace Dundee harbour till it was gratuitously demolished. It was actually hideous, but having said that it was the prettiest thing in Dundee. Interesting book but would be better if it had 'after' photos to compare with the 'before'. Also dipping into a new illustrated Kama Sutra, just need to check it's suitably tasteful before loosing it on the public. (It's printed by Dorling Kindersley, no less, with the excellent full-colour illustrations one comes to expect from them...).

Audio adventure

2007-11-06T10:19:00.000Z

I thought it was time I started posting to the blog. (Karen has been telling me it was time for a few months now!) I have managed to read quite a bit lately. I really liked 'In the Woods' by Tana French, about a detective investigating a murder in woods next to an estate in Ireland. He doesn't admit to it, but he and his friends were abducted there when he small, and he moved away and changed his name after he was the only one to make it out alive. He remembered nothing at the time, and still doesn't, although the case brings back some echoes of memory. It was like your usual crime thriller, but with a lot of thoughfulness added in.
I have also been reading my usual teenage fare, two diares, one a hilarious modern 'adrian mole' type (My so called life) and one more of an 'I'm fat and sad becuase nobody loves me' type (my fat, mad, teenage diary). I liked the first one best. I finally got around to the latest Kevin Brooks 'The road of the dead' which was, like all Kevin Brooks, fantastic. I really like his style of writing.
I am off south on a school trip tomorrow and will be taking my dinky little ipod shuffle and two audiobooks with me. I have subscribed to an audiobook service, and I will be getting one book a month (and the ipod was free!). I have never had much experience of audiobooks, so I am hoping I will like it. Now that I take the car to work I really miss my time on the bus - two half hours a day of guaranteed peaceful reading time. I am hoping to play audiobooks in the car to get nearly the same effect, although I will have to remember to pay attention to the road!
I am also hoping to knit while listening to audiobooks, since it is not possible to knit and read normally (yes, sadly I did try!). I have only recently started knitting and I am very slow at it, so need to do something else at the same time. I have started with 'On Chesil Beach' and 'The God delusion'. I will let you know how I get on with them.

Poetic leanings

2007-11-05T14:48:00.000Z

Next month the book group's going to get into a bit of local poetry, which I'm looking forward to.

I'll bring the Scottish Poetry Library's resourse box along to the meeting for us to delve into. I thought I'd share this 'novel approach' idea from the Scottish Poetry Library, which has a nice new 'reading room' section on their website - www.readingroom.spl.org.uk. Novel approach is an idea that pairs up novels with poems, and there are examples on the site, e.g Sarah Water's The Night Watch teamed with Vicki Feaver's Book of Blood. However, I think we should think of some of our own - can anyone suggest a poem that sums up a book we've read?

Or maybe we should try writing poems to sum up the books we've read? Can anyone do Housewife Down in a haiku?...

The Red Tent, ah, for the good old days

2007-10-30T18:03:00.000Z

Well, I know you have all long since moved on from The Red Tent, but I have only just finished it. At first I thought boring..., as one or two others said 'It's a bit repetitive' and as for the motherhood bit, well being a mother of five myself, I don't really need to be reminded of the agonies of childbirth on every second page. But as the book went on, I really began to enjoy it and apart from the bloody massacre bit, I liked the peacefulness of the daily routines and a much simpler way of life. Hmmm...

I've read half of Salman Rushdie's Midnights Children, heavy going but I will get back to it.

I'm into all things Gavin Maxwell at the moment, having seen the play at the Garrison the other week, it prompted me to do a bit of research on the guy - a fascinating character, totally eccentric of course, but that's what made him so absorbing. Tried to get hold of Douglas Bottings' biography of Maxwell, but alas out of print and no longer avaliable through Amazon. Shame.

Has anyone read Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson? I love the style of it, a quick read too, might be worth thinking of for future book group reads.

Good news! Maybe my previous wailing on the blog about the loss of my beloved books stirred some guilt pangs as I've recently been able to retrieve a large percentage of my book collection! It was a happy day when I went to collect them. Now those books combined with the books I've gathered in the past twelve months amount to a fair few books as you can imagine...

We are about to move house, to a very old house in Mossbank (it's a listed building). My plans for my study (library) in the upstairs attic rooms have been scuppered. Paul says the 150 year old floor will not cope with the weight - back to the drawing board, or should that be floorboards?

Red Tent again. And Hairy Men.

2007-10-30T12:58:00.000Z

Good June, glad you enjoyed it - for those who didn't make the meeting, The Red Tent caused a schism in the book group, with about half of us liking it, the other half not - partly, if I'm understanding this right, because it was too repetitive and uneventful. I'm in the first camp - if you'll pardon the pun - like June I really enjoyed the description of day to day life, and in fact when the real action did come, in the form of a very biblical massacre, I was quite aggrieved that the rhythm of the story had been disrupted.

On a different matter entirely, I was recently browsing through a 1983 edition of The Joy of Sex, for reasons I won't detain you with. Those of you familiar with this work will recall that the illustrations - rather fine and very graphic - unfortunately feature a model universally refered to by readers as 'that dodgy bearded guy'. He does kind of put you off a bit - but I'm pleased to report that I've checked Amazon and there's a new updated version with photos, and no bearded man. The end of an era.

The Red Tent: a late opinion

2007-10-28T20:08:00.000Z

28th October.

I enjoyed the story and the detailed description of the way of life, so typical of rural societies the world over until quite recent times. June.

What next?

2007-10-20T11:38:00.000+01:00

You would think that during a two week break I would have managed to get through at least some of my bedside book collection,but no. I have read magazines,newspapers and watched daytime TV,not to mention a lot of evening TV. I have been down to Aberdeen and onwards to Glasgow and Edinburgh,and still nothing more intellectually challenging than Puzzle Monthly to pass the time! Still,we did win the pub quiz in Frankenstein's on Tuesday night,despite there being absolutely no literature questions for me to show off with!
OK,I am going to pick up a book this weekend -the third Denise Mina in the Garnethill trilogy - if only to find out what happens to everyone, and then that's me right off crime for the rest of the year. Think I'll move onto humour -it seems ages since I read a book which made me laugh out loud so any suggestions would be welcomed.

Literary fatigue

2007-10-16T13:33:00.000+01:00

I seem to have developed some kind of terrible medical condition which is preventing me from finishing any book I am reading. I couldn't get into Venus as a Boy at all, then I started reading Iain Banks' The Steep Approach to Garbadale, which is good but it's taking me ages to read, now I have managed to get hold of the Red Tent so I am hoping that this will cure me of my current Chronic Reading Fatigue. First impressions are good anyway so here's hoping.

By the way, has anyone read Ian McEwan's Atonement? I am thinking this might be a good book group film trip/read as it is on in the Garrison next month. I saw it in Glasgow last month and it was pretty good. Although I can't approve of what Keira Knightley and James McAvoy were doing to the bookshelves in the library.

Holiday reading

2007-10-04T16:44:00.000+01:00

Oi, someone else write something on this blog, its turning into my own sad diary! Just off on holiday, taking Ian Rankin with me - Black and Blue, the one where he comes to Shetland. Never read any of his books before, believe it or not, and it's very good I have to say, think he still holds his own against most of the tartan noir brigade. Also taking Salman Rushdie with me, just in case I've to spend a long time in airports.
Apart from that, I did of course read a bit of the Bible, which was interesting! And managed to read another of the Bookler shortlist books, which have come into the library at a really miserable trickle - The Reluctant Fundamentalist - really liked it, topical and menacing, oh and short too which is always a bonus. Been glancing at what this year's Booker book groups are making of the selection and they seem to like Mr Pip a lot, and find The Gathering utterly miserable. Bye for now!

It's driving me to the Bible!

2007-09-30T13:25:00.000+01:00

Red Tent was a jolly good read, and now I feel obliged to go and read the book of Genesis. Shame on me, I don't think I have a bible anywhere in the house, though I assume we must have one in the library.
I was moved by the poignant tale of Laura's lost books, though I have to say I kind of deliberately try not to collect too many books due to lack of space and aversion to dusting. When I first worked at the library and got first crack at all the withdrawn stock, I used to go off home with armfuls of the things, till a couple of years later I realised they were just sitting there and I never read them. I work in a library, for goodness sake, I don't need to fill my house with books too. So I dragged them all back to the library and stuck them on the 10p shelf, where the y got doubly recycled. There are probably a couple of shelves of my books I wouldn't let go, and don't trust the library to hold in trust for me - they are mainly George Orwell, Arthur Koestler and Dervla Murphy, plus some cherished cookery books.

Loves and losses

2007-09-28T09:34:00.000+01:00

There is a house in Stanegarth that is home to several thousand books. In each room most of the walls are lined with what I guess will now have to be called my 'former' book collection.
I became a serious bibliophile about ten years ago and quickly amassed a large book collection, and then in 2000 I moved house and many of the books were taken to second hand book shops. When I told people what I had done, many of the true book lovers were shocked, horrified, scandalised even and I felt castigated, I had become a pariah lurking among the real bibliophiles.
I vowed never to part with my books again and when I came home to Shetland two years ago, the whole lot came with me, (Nearly 4000 books!) by this time the book collecting bug was deadly serious, all my books had my name in them and where and when purchased.
But circumstances change and sacrifices have to made. When I hurriedly left the Stanegarth house I was able to grab a few of my most precious books, including the signed collection which is something, but looking at the reading list for the book group, I think to myself 'There is a hard back copy of The Stornoway Way at Stanegarth, A copy of The Red Tent, Several Salman Rushdie books including Midnight's Children of course. Could I retrieve these books? Not without a lengthy legal process I'm told.
All these books can be replaced and many have been, but some how 'Purchased amazon.co.uk - Sept '07', doesn't have the same romance as; "Child's second hand book shop, Okehampton Devon, - holiday August '03".

Red Tent: do a wall chart!

2007-09-27T10:40:00.000+01:00

Got well into our next book The Red Tent last night due to insomnia: great book but I have a Top Tip: photocopy the family tree from the front of the book before you begin, so that you can glance at it to see who's who without constantly flicking back and forth through the book!

Was sorry I missed the start of last night's meeting, I felt addled by my two hours of belly dancing by the time I got there (this Shetland social life is just a bit much at times...) and it was hard to concentrate on the books. I thought the two were interesting to read in tandem. The Stornoway Way will stick in my mind more, even though it annoyed me at first - I thought it's description of alcoholism was very haunting in the end. I sometimes note down phrases that grab me - one from this book was the hilarious description of a 'quiveringly ambitious carry out', the other was nearer his demise - 'drinking is like filling yourself up with emptiness'. Think I'll stay off the gin for a wee while.

McIllvanney and the power of reading

2007-09-25T13:41:00.001+01:00

Just read William McIllvanney's Weekend, not perfect but I loved it, he seemed to have a great tenderness for his characters, one bullied woman was described as 'living in the corners of herself that he'd left to her'. This is a nice bit from it, about why reading is good: "The book makes heavier demands on us [than television]...A scene in it's pages doesn't appear ready-made before our eyes, so that all we have to do is lazily record it. We have to construct it in our imaginations. It is a much more participatory medium, more our own creation. It's a DIY experience, he thought. The practice of it empowers us with a sense of ourselves by demanding our own individual interpretation be earned by decodifying it." So there we are, reading is a highly developed intellectual activity!

I've also been reading a second book by Arnaldur Indridason - Icelandic crime - stars a tough cop who seems quite a cool guy, but to my horror the author insists on describing him, revealing that he's thick-set with bushy red hair!!! I've gone right off him, I have to say.

Venus as a Boy

2007-09-20T18:27:00.000+01:00

I have grudgingly put down Iain Banks' new book The Steep Approach to Garbadale in order to read Venus as a Boy for the next meeting. Venus as a Boy is a strange book, I really liked the first two pages but then it got extremely depressing, I'm not sure if I can keep reading it without slitting my wrists or chucking myself out the window but I'll have a go.

Back again!

2007-09-17T12:30:00.000+01:00

Arrived back from Glasgow on Friday afternoon,amid the kind of turbulence which didn't unduly alarm most Shetlanders on the flight but must have been highly scary for anyone not accustomed to the semi-vertical approach and drop-from-the-sky-like-a-ton-of-bricks landing!
However,I'm sure it was less alarming than the previous night's boat journey! Anyway,still savouring "Exile" and in between I've also read "Venus as a Boy",which took up most of Sunday afternoon. Hmm.. I'll leave comments till the next meeting,but I do feel that Luke Sutherland might be an interesting candidate for a future Wordplay!

Wordplay: how was it for you?

2007-09-14T12:24:00.000+01:00

So did anyone have interesting times at Wordplay? It was nice to see Denise Mina, she seems like an out-and-out nice person, though I'd have rather have seen her read her own stuff and I think some others in the audience were less than impressed by her and Iain Banks thinking it was a jolly wheeze to read each other's work. Twice Iain Banks has been up and he's still not read a bit of his own fiction. Really enjoying the last of the Garnethill trilogy, Resolution, and hope Morag is having fun in Glasgow with Exile. Just dinna wander into any dodgy places Morag!

On our book group reads, I've decided I quite like The Stornoway Way after all, though it irritated me at first - kind of sorry I never saw Kevin McNeill read at Wordplay, but the writing workshop ain't my thing, and from what I hear about the joint poetry reading he did, he didn't get the time he deserved. Venus as a Boy is a good read too, by the way, and very short!

One of the best things I heard at Wordplay was a poem called Mam's Chair by our very own Laura Friedlander - hurrah for Laura! There was a lot of good stuff at the festival but there didn't seem to be so many folk about and lots of good things clashed, not to mention clashing with the films, hope the book festival gets it's own weekend next year.

A weekend of excess....

2007-09-10T13:23:00.000+01:00

Well,that's Wordplay by for another year - too many authors and not enough time to fit them all in, and now I'm thinking I should have made a bit more effort to hear them all. Still,Debi Gliori was brilliant as usual and Keith Gray was excellent. Just a pity more boys didn't turn up to his first session,but hopefully the school visits will address that. I'm off on the plane tomorrow with Denise Mina (the next book,not the author!) although who knows,she might be on the plane as well! Anyway,I'm back in Glasgow with my copy of Exile,which I've been saving for this occasion,to read "on location",as it were. Will report back soon if it lives up to expectations!

Bookermania without books...

2007-09-06T16:26:00.000+01:00

High excitment! The Man Booker Shortlist is announced.
High irritation: hardly any library copies have arrived yet, so my plan of having a short-loan frenzy for folk who wanted to read the six books before the prize is announced has all gone damp squib-like. (hoping some will be here in a few days...)
Don't you wish we were reading them all again this year? If you navigate your way to the 'debate' section of the website you should find that this year's chosen groups have started blogging already. I guess they'll all be dancing on the streets of Piccadilly tonight...
On other matters, grappling with Kevin McNeill and not sure whether to like him or not, shall finish him off tonight and prepare to debate the finer points of the Gaelic language with Morag.