APPEARANCES are often misleading in Louis de Bernieres's racy, mischievously brilliant first novel. For starters, the nether parts of the title neither declare war on others nor quarrel among themselves. Instead, they provide the name for a small, fantastic revolution in an imaginary South American country. And then there's the matter of the book's provenance. From its style, one would assume that "The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts" is Latin American magical realism, expertly rendered into English. Yet the author is British, and his book is a riposte that merits translation into a Romance language.
I wish I could write like that as I try to remember something brilliantly articulated at our meeting. Chrysanne loved the whole book. She found it hilarious and very representative of the struggles of many third world countries. Tim enjoyed the satirical aspects of the novel. I think the rest of us enjoyed parts, but not all. There were so many characters and it was fun to talk about our favorites. There was some disagreement over whether the cat action worked at the end of the novel. All in all, we agreed that this novel was a brilliant first novel and the discussion brought us back to a connection with the Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander which we read in a previous book club meeting.
We are meeting next at Cindy's House on July 22nd. We are reading The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. Mindy suggested this novel as a great way to start the summer-with a book about baseball. I must admit that I have finished it already and loved it! Can't wait to discuss it and am considering protein drink for dinner!
