This is Happiness

 

Related Correspondences!

Niall, our Vermont book club, the Greater Westford Literary Society (pompous name for a fun group of oldsters, 4 men, 4 women), just read "This is Happiness" and adored it. Because we have your email I can tell you that we loved the story, the characters, Faha, and all the universal truths you explore. I think you are now one of our favorite authors, and if you googled our blog you'd see we have been at this for a long time. Like all great authors, your work will enhance other's lives for generations to come..thank you for this gift of a book..

--Tim Jerman

Dear Tim & the Greater Westford Literary Society,

Hello from County Clare in a damp and breezy July. Thank you for the kind response to 'This is Happiness.' I have always felt that a book finds its reader, the meeting needs to happen at the right time and for whatever reason, so I am grateful that this one seems to have been well met by your group of Oldsters. O Now! Says Ganga, who does not consider himself an oldster, but in the new novel he certainly is one. 

Thank you once again. Happy reading days ahead to you all. 

Niall   

Tom Lake

 Tom Lake by Ann Patchett was the book choice for June.  I should really remember to write the blog post right after our meeting.  At the moment I can only remember how great the grilled salmon, asparagus and potatoes with fresh greens we had for dinner was.  Oh, and the blueberry crisp for dessert in keeping with the fruit theme of the book.  I think overall, everyone had something positive to say about this novel.  Ann Patchett definitely captured the feelings of emerging adulthood and adventure, paired with lessons learned in youth. We saw how the main character's  narrative took on different meaning with time.  

Patchett captured that feeling of uncertainty brought on by the  precautions of the Covid 19 shut down and families making the best of an unusual situation.  We liked the character development overall.  And we liked the theme of how small, simple, basic lifestyle won out over notoriety and money.  Definitely dinner at Chrysanne's beats a five star Michelin dinner any day of the week!

We are meeting on July 15th at Terry's House at 5:30.  We are reading This Is Happiness by Niall Williams.

Great Expectations: A Novel

 

In April, we read Great Expectations: A Novel by Vinson Cunningham.  Our group saw this novel as a coming of age story based on Vinson's work as a young adult on Obama's campaign.  He  pulls together the experiences of a young man's work as part of a major political campaign that promised hope and change with the main character's experiences as a young parent, lover, and friend.  He weaves in the influences of religion into the narrative in an interesting way.  We agreed this was a work that captured a time and an experience at a pivotal time in history.  Where it might have been better for our experienced crowd would have been to have a narrative that could have had more of a universal connection to a broader experience.

For May we are reading Tom Lake by Anne Patchett.  Tom Lake is a modern day rendition of Our Town by Thornton Wilder.  For extra credit, we can either see a rendition of the play or read the play for our discussion. We are meeting at Chrysanne's at 5:30 on June 5th.

The Prophet Song

 

In March, we read Paul Lynch's Booker Prize winning novel, The Prophet Song.  This was a dystopian novel that was inspired by the Syrian refugee experience.  The novel is set in Ireland and from the start, things go from troublesome to trouble to tragedy.  Members of our bookclub thought it was an important work, however, so tough to hang with it through all the hopelessness.  There was little hope left at the end and we all felt the themes of being torn about when to recognized the time to leave and weigh the cost of leaving one's home. Hard read, but important work.

in April we will read Great Expectations: A Novel by Vinson Cunningham.  Our new member Jeffrey suggested this novel.  We will meet at Alan's at 5:30 on May 1st.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

In January, we read The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.  We had read Deacon King Kong previously and loved it.  This was a notable recommendation by Lexi who we finally let choose a book.  And now that we have read her pick, she gets to choose from now on. This was a great novel with excellent character development.  We had a good discussion around each reader's favorite characters.  This novel was an excellent rendition of a time and place, of the politics of the time, and social issues set in Chicken Hill.  

We spent time talking about Ed Amidon who had been in our bookclub for 33 years.  He died on December 26th and we can hardly believe it.  He loved Confederacy of Dunces. by John Kennedy-so much so that we had to read it twice!  He loved the Rabbit series by John Updike and I think we read Run Rabbit Run twice as well.  He will be remembered for his great laugh and sense of humor.  He was our literary friend.  We are planning to put together our thoughts and stories about Ed and will find a place on our blog to honor and perhaps roast him a bit.  

We are meeting at Mindy's on March 18th at 5:30, hoping to finally have some of her famous turkey chili. We will be reading Prophet Song by Paul Lynch.

The Glass Chateau

 We read The Glass Chateau by Stephen Kiernan in November.  We met in December via Zoom, missing Mindy's turkey chili and left to our own devices for our dinners.  Stephen Kiernan is a local author and journalist.  We had read A Universe of Two earlier this year and had liked it.  The Glass Chateau had some similarities in terms of themes of trauma associated with war-both managing that pain within the turmoil and later during healing.  Mixed with this theme is the story of blowing glass and creating stained glass as an art form.  We learned from the epilogue that the author had been inspired by an exhibit in Montreal by Chagall.    She shared photos with us which really put some of the novel into perspective for us around the artistic style of the characters.  

There were mixed reviews and a great discussion.  Alan, Mindy and Tim found the novel to be timely and a good reflection on the senselessness of war and the subsequent healing and hopefulness of the novel.  Others enjoyed the novel as a story, however were not able to connect with characters.  We had a great discussion and look forward to our next meeting.  We are hoping to meet at Mindy's but since I am writing this so late after our meeting, that I know that we also have the next meeting via Zoom at 7Pm (so Chrysanne can join) on January 23rd. We will read The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride.

 

October 2023 –

This month we met to discuss “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh” by Michael Chabon.  This is his first novel, written in 1988, and is a coming of age story that takes place during the summer after the protagonist finishes college.  None of our group members loved this book – a rarity since usually at least one person proclaims to love each book that we read!  As a group, we appreciated Chabon’s beautiful language and sentence construction.  We were disappointed with the lack of character development and the pace of the first half of the book.

However, we had a fabulous meeting – beginning with Chrysanne’s incredible cooking - baked chicken with lemon and garlic, roasted potatoes and green beans, fresh bread, salad and finished with an incredible fall apple dessert. Terry updated the group on his new agri-business, which lead to an interesting recounting of his business ventures over the last 50+ years.  Tim had recently returned from Kansas City where a private collector has a painting by Lemeul Wilmarth and Tim’s grandmother was the model for the painting when she was 16 years old.  After a series of communications with the collector, Tim visited and saw the painting, which is the collectors favorite piece of art!  Cindy also shared a Doug Nap painting that she is the model for.  We shared much laughter, conversation, and comradery – now that’s a successful book group!

Next meeting is on December 11^th at Mindy’s house to discuss The Glass Chateau by Steven Kiernan.