The French Exit

This November, we read The French Exit  by Patrick DeWitt. Just about everyone loved the novel.  Frances, the main character was admired for her fearlessness and gutsiness.  We found the scenarios ridiculous, bizarre and funny.  Frances was a complex character who just did not think about the effect she was having on others except to get her immediate needs met.  There were scenes of her lighting a table on fire in a restaurant to get the bill or leaving her deceased husband in her apartment and keeping with her plan to ski, reported his death when she got back from her week-end.  

French Exit or the Irish Goodbye is a term many of us did not know.  Ghosting is also a more modern term for leaving a social gathering without saying your 'goodbyes.'  One moment you are the life of the party and then next, you are gone.  Key to the concept is that the other members of the social occasion do not notice that you have left.  Patrick DeWitt creates the perfect French Exit for Frances.  Saying any more will give away the story!

Next month we planned on December 23rd (whose idea was that) and rescheduled due to holiday craziness for January 11th at 7 PM.  Zoom of course!  We are reading Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips.

We generated a list of books we wanted to read that I placed in the Books to Consider page.  

Also...as a bonus activity, Tim offered to organize a reading and book discussion with Elizabeth Shackelford, who is the author of The Dissent Channel.

The Vanishing Half

 Guess what?  We are still on Zoom and hanging in there on month 7 of COVID 19 pandemic precautions!  We read The Vanishing Half  by Brit Bennett for October.  We had a good discussion revolving around twins, white privilege, identity, biology and sex.  We agreed that it was easy reading.  Overall reactions were mixed.  We thought the author did a great job describing the power of shared memories.  

Next month we are reading French Exit by Patrick De Witt and meeting via ZOOM on November 23rd at 7 PM.  Invitations have been sent!

Love

 

In September, we read Love by Roddy Doyle.  This was my choice and I had already read it when I proposed this novel.  I read Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha a number of years ago and there is just something about Roddy' Doyle's Irish pub drinking conversations between men that strikes a chord with my Irish/English ethnicity and my childhood culture surrounded by beer drinking men having stilted conversations that seemed so meaningful to them, yet confusing to me as a spectator.  Some of our group liked the novel and thought it a good rendition of how some men talk about their feelings with other men (albeit under the influence of many pints!)  While others found it tedious and did not see the point.  Alan aptly described the two main character's relatedness as being witnesses to one another from early adulthood to the present as they reconnect in their 60's.  One man has recently left his wife and family for a woman he was attracted to at 19, while the other man is caring for his father who is dying.  They recount their lives to one another over countless pints and then sit with one another thought a parental death.  In the NY Times Review , the review is entitled: The Language of Friendship as Heard in a Dublin Pub.  I think that says it!

In October, we are reading The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett.  We will meet via Zoom on October 22nd at 7 PM 

American Dirt

 This was a powerful and controversial book.  The author was accused of cultural appropriation.  That aside we learned alot.  The novelist had done some excellent research and her description of the Cartel and of the journey of getting over the Mexican-American border was well done.  We spent some time talking about Lydia and Javier's relationship which is the central event that is at the foundation of her family's massacre, her escape and the journey for her son, her fellow travelers and herself.  

Next month is Love  By Roddy Doyle on September 24th via Zoom!

Girl Woman Other

 On June 3rd, we met to discuss Girl, Woman, Other.  Bernardine Evaristo won the Booker Prize for her work.  We all agreed that just at the point that we were tired of reading a series of short stories, we became intrigued with how she wove the stories together, culminating with the last story.  We all were fascinated by the lack of punctuation and agreed that it felt a bit like reading poetry and that it did not interfere with the flow of the novel.  We had fun discussing the characters we liked and maybe didn't like so much.  Overall we gave this novel a thumbs up.

We are meeting next on July 20th to read American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Redhead by the Side of the Road

During this month of May, we read Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler. Our members had mixed reviews.  Mindy said it best when she said that Anne Tyler writes a simple story with characters who struggle with some challenge and in the end, they resolve that conflict with a bit of a limp.  I don't know if I took some liberty with her words, but I think I captured her thought.  We had wanted to choose something during this heavy time of COVID-19 pandemic and now, sadness and grief over racial inequities that would be light and readable.  Some of us took it at that...a simple read for a complex time of uncertainty.  While others felt that it was more of a novella and perhaps did not meet the 'bookclub book' standard.  Others just enjoyed having a simple story about a man whose life was set up and predictable and what happened when two major disruptions to his routines occurred. 

Bernardine Evaristo

Other discussion centered around how much people enjoyed reading about Micah's family, his interactions with those seeking technology advice, but not wanting to pay for it, and his tendency to make meals and percolate coffee whenever someone came to his house in distress. 

We have chosen Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo to read for June 3rd on Zoom at 7 PM.

Sea of Poppies

In February, we read Sea of Poppies by Amitar Ghosh.  We could not meet on March 26th because the Governor of Vermont issued 'Stay at Home' guidelines for Vermonters.  We decided to read the Dutch House by Ann Patchett for this month of April.  However, communication was not well done by this blog author and not everyone got the message about the new book.

We meet via Zoom, a first for the Greater Westford group.  We had everyone except Terry-again, most likely due to my poor communication!  We attempted to talk about Sea of Poppies, which was not fresh in anyone's minds.  I think we mostly liked it, although had a difficult time grasping everything because of the heavy usage of dialect from pidgin, Chinglish, Hinglish, and seafarer's slang. There was a 30 page glossary of definitions and referencing it frequently interrupted the reading flow.  Members also liked having a book that felt original in language and character development and decidedly representative of India,opium and  opium factory workers, American sailors, French runaways, lascars, coolies, convicts, rajas, and sahibs. We liked learning about the Opium wars and found the character development of some characters to be interesting, but had a bit of disappointment in the main character development.  This is the first in a trilogy and just one of us is going on to read the second book.

The Dutch House was warmly received.  Ed had not know about it until a week before and he thought he would read a few pages and then could not put it down.  Mindy also could not put it down.  We talked about how well the dysfunctions in the relationships were described through Patchett's writing.  The house was also an interesting focal point for discussion.  The main character's mother was a source of enigma to most of us with some interesting speculation about her mental status.  Overall, we gave it a thumbs up.

Next month we are reading an Anne Tyler's Redhead by the Side of the Road.  We are hoping to meet at Chrysanne's on June 3rd at 7PM.  If not, Cindy will set up a Zoom meeting!

NY Times Review

Manhattan Beach

January 2020 brought us together to discuss Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Eagan.  We had read A Visit from the Goon Squad and thought we would give her a try with a newer work.  Most of us enjoyed reading this novel.  We thought that she had captured the time and the technical details of diving during the late thirties, early forties.  She covered many of the challenges of that time period post depression and early World War II in New York City.  She wrote about being a woman during that time from the main character's perspective.  Also, living with a sibling with a significant disability and a father who disappears.  Her descriptions of being a single woman and the struggles to assert oneself into meaningful work was excellent.  We all wondered if it was a bit too long, but for the most part, we were glad we read it and had a good discussion.

Next month, we are meeting at Tim's house on a Sunday night, February 9th and we are reading North of Dawn by Nuruddin Farah.  We are meeting at 6:30. 

News Flash
We are meeting on March 24th at Chrysanne's Home at 6:45 for the following Book Club Meeting!

Swimming Home

 In December, we read Swimming Home by Deborah Levy.  Swimming Home is a short novel about a group of friends going on a vacation and encountering a strange person in the swimming pool of their villa.  She is invited to stay and the novel is about how her influence changes the dynamics and relationships between the characters.  We had mixed reviews.  Some of us liked it.  I was fascinated by the changes within the group.  Others of us did not like it at all.  And some of us didn't really get the point of the novel. 

Terry, on the other hand, read another book with the same title which he recommended to those of us who did not enjoy Deborah Levy's work.  We all had a pretty good laugh.  Especially because Mindy is always saying to Terry, "Just look up the title of the book and you will find it.  You don't need the author's name!" 

Next month is Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Eagan at Mindy's on January 5th at 6:30.