Unexpectedly disturbing read for most of us.
Supplemented by Christmas quizzes.
Tuesday 22 December 2015
October 2015 The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
...with an interview of Sarah Waters discussing the book.
September 2015 A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler and Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee
Two books after the summer break, plus a review of our summer gifted books.
Tuesday 21 April 2015
April 2015 The Lie by Helen Dunmore
Helen Dunmore's World War 1 story of a returning veteran suffering the effects of post-traumatic stress in the trenches was well-received amongst the group; many of whom are already fans of the author. The novel questions the notion of what it means to have 'survived' the war through the experience of Daniel Branwell -who seems unable to fit back in to the community in which he grew up.
Discussion centred on the power of Dunmore's poetic language to evoke both the Cornish setting and the French mud - but also considered ways in which the narrative seemed to offer a very contemporary perspective of a soldier's tragedy, beyond the war itself.
"Dunmore has wreaked tenderness out of tragedy, so that the reader is left with the sense that something beautiful, however fleeting, has been salvaged from the darkness."
Guardian Books
Score = 8
Discussion centred on the power of Dunmore's poetic language to evoke both the Cornish setting and the French mud - but also considered ways in which the narrative seemed to offer a very contemporary perspective of a soldier's tragedy, beyond the war itself.
"Dunmore has wreaked tenderness out of tragedy, so that the reader is left with the sense that something beautiful, however fleeting, has been salvaged from the darkness."
Guardian Books
Score = 8
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