The Transit of Venus

A transit of Venus across the sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth (or another planet), becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun. The duration of such transits is usually measured in hours (the transit of 2012 lasted 6 hours and 40 minutes).  Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena. They occur in a pattern that generally repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years. The last transit of Venus was June 5th and 6th 2012, and was the last Venus transit of the 21st century; the prior transit took place June 8th.  The previous pair of transits were in December 1874 and December 1882. The next transits of Venus will be December 10–11, 2117, and in December 2125.


This month we read the Transit of Venus, or should I say, most of us attempted to complete the very complex and ornately written novel.  acceptance of larger patterns beyond the individual's fate.  The title implies an While we found Shirley Hazzard's sentences to be each a piece of artwork, the reading was tedious at times.    We all appreciated what an incredible novelist Shirley Hazzard is, having spent 7 years writing the Transit of Venus, however, it was, nonetheless wanting for many of us.  We had difficulty identifying with or being taken in by the characters.  While the romantic intrigue kept some of us going, most of us had difficulty understanding that at the end, Carolyn and Ted actually do become a couple, albeit for about an hour.  I think it is safe to say that we all agreed that Shirley Hazzard's novel was a great piece of literature-just not a preferred style of writing by our members.  But in the wise words of Mindy, this is why we love The Greater Westford Literary Society Bookclub-the choices of novels sometimes stretches us to read books we would not have reached for on our own.  We are all glad to have met Shirley Hazzard's prose and are duly impressed. 


For next month, Ed suggested a classic adventure novel, The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.  We are anxiously looking forward to a venison stew or perhaps one of Ed's famous Lasagnes on February 13th.  Since it is over 500 pages, I am on it already!

Update!!!  We have moved bookclub to the 18th at Ed's due to some very important legislative activities for Tim.   Now that I have finished the book, I am really hoping that Ed does not serve raw deer meat!

Night Circus

We read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern this month.  Reviews on Wednesday night were mixed with, I would have to say, great variability within the group.  Two of us rather enjoyed the writing about circuses, magic and love and were able to enjoy slipping into a bit of fantasy.  Others found some merit but found the novel a bit of a chore to wade through.  While others arrived armed with the condemningly a negative NY Times review-you know who you are.  One of us had actually read the book the year before and found it so unforgettable that they forgot they read it until we decided on it as our choice this month.

One thing we all agreed on was that the ending was confusing and didn't seem to fit. The resolution of the forbidden love story set in a fantasy world was not well developed and didn't seem to work.  We wondered if the author got a bit stuck with the ending.  Others wondered about a sequel in the works-thus the ending.  We also pondered what the author's inspiration was for the novel.  While we each found some characters who were interesting, we agreed that character development was weak and the plot was lacking.  For some of us the magic was enough-for others that was not the case. 

For next month, we are reading Shirley Hazzard's The Transit of Venus.  Chrysanne had read a novel by her and made the suggestion.  We are meeting at Terry's, hopefully on January 9th at 7PM. 

A Farewell to Arms

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway was our book this month. Having had to present to the School Board, I missed most of the meeting, but Ed was able to send some thoughts:

 The group with some ambivalence liked the book.
 The story line was a bit corny but the writing style of short, direct
expository sentences was very effective in creating a sense of place
and relationships. People felt the war descriptions were particularly
good, giving a sense of the tedious, uncomfortable boredom interspersed with moments of terror.

The idea of making intense literature out of ordinary events.
The constant sense of impending doom but interspersed with calm
spaces like the recuperation in Milan and the B & B in Switzerland.

Lexi did a great job of facilitating. We found out that the book is
at least partially autobiographical- Hemingway volunteered as a Red Cross ambulance driver on the Italian front when he was 19, was wounded, fell in love with a nurse at the American hospital in Milan.  Hemingway's love for alcohol and food comes out in the book.

Failure to develop Catherine Barkley's character as much as Henry's who is changed from being a bit of a whoring, macho type to some degree of maturity by the end of the book.
 Lexi said there were 15(?) different endings considered by Hemingway.
Some people thought this ending was moving and effective.
 Literary effect of ordinary details of people and places: mountains,
and forests and fountains and trees; eating cold spaghetti when the
Austrian shell hit, etc.
 Some liked Sun Also Rises or the Old Man and the Sea better than
Farewell.
 Hard to follow dialogue (who said what?) but effective in putting
the reader in the room.


Thanks, Ed!!

Next month is Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  I have already started it and love the magic of it.  I might be accused of not suggesting a 'bookclub book,' but I will take my chances with this one.  Tim's house on November 28th is the venue and hopefully we will be toasting Tim on his victory!