Great discussion and merriment last bookclub! The Dinner provided alot of gasps and consternation from many.
This month's pick is from The State Library of Queenslands book club collection....
You can find the reading notes here
The book has a string of prizes, it was published in 2004 and went on to win the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for the South East Asia and South Pacific region, The Age Book of the Year (Fiction) and the Courier Mail Book of the Year Award. It was also shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards that same year.
Happy reading, Lorel will be facilitating the discussion and drinks at the next book club on the 27th June, 2013 at 6-8pm at Gordon White Library.
It is interesting to note that Andrew McGahan himself has commented that he intended this book to be entertaining. I did not really find it to be entertaining, but it was certainly provocative, informative, cleverly structured and relevant to Queenslanders - the Darling Downs and Mabo being familiar to us. The book is deep and has many levels of meaning, even in just its title, and I am glad I have added it to my list of "books read", even though I probably wouldn't have picked it off the shelves. I like to be able to relate to the characters, and I didn't feel able to do this except perhaps with young Will.
ReplyDeleteI read The White Earth last year & agree that the characters were hard to warm to. I cannot come to bookclub again but wanted to say thanks to Carole for recommending The Absolutist by John Boyne. I like the way he develops his characters through dialogue. Let's the reader get to know them. Have fun.
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