Less

 In December, we read Less by Andrew Sean Greer.  This was my pick, because after Who is Rich, I wanted something lighter and funny-which is how it is described.  Well, one should not always judge a book by it's descriptors, because although it was very witty and some scenes were very funny, overall it was not a book full of spontaneous belly laughs.  Overall the group gave it not a thumbs up, not a thumbs down, but somewhere it the middle.  The development of the main character was brilliant and we were in agreement that we were glad we read it.

Next time is Ed's choice, Washington Black by Esi Edugyan and we are Mindy's at 7PM!  February 4th, 2019.

Who is Rich

This October 2018, we read Who is Rich by Matthew Klam.

For one of the first times ever, the men in our group loved the book and the women did not.  There were some wonderings around why the group was split.  Was it the way the author able to understand the workings of the mind of men.  The women felt that the female characters were not as well developed and that we were only seeing the male side of things.  Ed compared this work to Updike and Tim to Philip Roth.  This novel falls in the genre of sorting out the confusion of infidelity.  Klam writes: ” About Amy, he thinks, “I didn’t really love her, I wasn’t even sure I liked her, although maybe I liked her. But did I like her because I was lonely and she was hot and rich? Or was it because I didn’t get any sleep and had brain damage from speaking baby language? Or because Robin’s booty had snapped back into shape but touching it was still a no-no?”  We had a good discussion about relationships and how intimacy moves from partners to children to others and where that leaves the individual.  Great discussion and Great dinner.  Lexi's Chili recipe was fantastic!


Next month we will meet at Alan's House and read Less  on December 4th at 6:45.

Us

September brought a rounding discussion of Us at Tim's  house.  We had a great discussion about relationships, our own and the characters in David Nicholls' book: Douglas and Connie.  Who can explain the nature of our relatedness-how we pair up, when we decide to commit and to whom and how we weather the storms of life's twists and turns in parenting, friendships, work and passions.  We had a great time trying to analyze Douglas and Connie-their motivations for being together and a good discussion on the nature of love.  We missed Mindy's input! 

For October, we will read Who is Rich by Matthew Klam and we will meet at Alan's house on October 9 at 6:45.

Circe

During the summer month of August, we read Circe by Madeline Miller.  Everyone gave the novel a thumbs up in approval.  We discussed our collective and respective knowledge of mythology and realized that this is not an area of expertise for any of us.  We thought that Madeline's writing was great.  We agreed that it was a great summer read.

We will read Us by David Nicholls and meet at Tim's on September 5th at 6:45.  Terry promises that it is a laugh out loud kind of book!

Lincoln in the Bardo

 July brought us together to discuss Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders.  We had a very lively discussion with some members loving this work and others finding it challenging to get through.  Our discussion was interesting in that what some members loved about the book others did not love.  For example...the 100 plus voices...some readers rode along with the stream of consciousness of the many different voices while others became frustrated trying to keep track.  Some found the novel to read like poetry and others, a disjointed series of short stories.  Some found the variety of conditions and voices important while others felt that the author was somewhat formulaic in the representation of different points of view.  My take away insight was from our historian (or one of our historians), Tim describing how Lincoln was grieving the significant loss of his son and at the same time realizing how he had to increase the intensity of the war and realizing that other sons would be lost as a consequence.  For me, this gave the book a different meaning, which is what I love about our discussions!


We will gather at Terry's new house on July 31st to discuss the novel, Circe by Madeline Miller.

The Night Inspector

In May, we read The Night Inspector by Frederick Busch.  Written in 1999, this novel was commended for being one of the few novels that accurately portrayed the dehumanizing effects of the Civil War.  The New York Times Review describes some of the contributions of the novel to the field of literature.  A fictionalized, yet based in historical fact, Hermann Melville is a major character in the book and much of what we learn about the main character is in relationship to Hermann, Melville, the Night Inspector.  William Bartholomew, the main character,
is a sniper who wears a mask to cover his injured face.  Through his experiences, we learn about the Civil War, early New York City as he visits the five Boroughs and of Melville. 

I don't think that anyone from the bookclub embraced the novel as a great read.  While respecting the topic and various pieces of the novel, as a whole, it was not one of our favorites.  The discussion, however was lively and covered topics of the civil war, war in general, injury and recovery, and intimacy. 

This month we are reading Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders.  We are gathering at Chrysanne's at 6:45 on June 27th. 

Pachinko

April 2018
We read Pachinko by Min Jin Lee this month.  Everyone loved this epic novel.  We all learned more about what it felt like to be Korean in a Japanese dominated culture through the generations of characters in this novel.  Chrysanne referred to the work as a Korean War and Peace!  There was a great discussion around the choices the characters had to make to be a good person in a challenging world.  Everyone loved the writing and the characters. 

We are meeting at Cindy's on May 30th and we are reading The Night Inspector By Frederick Busch.

Transatlantic

February 2018
We read Transatlantic by Colum McCann this month.  Having read Let the Great World Spin, we were interested in his next novel.  This one took historical characters such as Jack Alcock and Arthur Brown and Fredrick Douglass and fictionalizes their transatlantic flight and fight for civil rights respectively and intermixes their stories with fictionalized characters.  The characters across the generations have connections which are not always easy to keep track of.  We had mixed reviews from our club members.  Frederick Douglass was our favorite character and seeing the African American struggle through his eyes was a topic of discussion.

In March, we plan to read Pachinko by Min Jin Lee and meet at Ed's on April 9th.

News of the World

The Greater Westford Literary Society read News of the World by Paulette Jiles.  We had a number of folks who were unable to join the discussion, however, the news from those in absentia (Tim and Ed) that they loved the book.  Of those attending, Chrysanne loved the book and gave rave reviews.  Others had not finished the novel and I was the lone person who was not in love with the novel.  Since I am also the author of this Blog review, I had strict instructions to accurately describe the accolades.  The main character was loved and admired.  The psychological aspects of children who are taken from one culture and immersed in another and the effect on their development was a unique contact.  The dinner was lovely. 

Next book is Transatlantic by Colum McCann.  We are meeting February 12th at Mindy's House.