For July, we go Transatlantic

This month we'll be reading Transatlantic by Colum McCann an Irish writer who has certainly lived the Transatlantic experience as he was born in Dublin and now lives in New York. It should certainly be a change of genre from last month's Gone Girl.



Michiko Kakutani had this to say about Colum McCann's Transatlantic.

I thought it might be rather democratic for the author to have his say about what he has written as well. I would have preferred if he sounded more Irish but there's still a touch of lilt there which to my mind makes the story sound more interesting.

Hope you are enjoying the slower pace of this novel as well as the changing scenery as we go Transatlantic.

Happy reading!

Gone Girl gets us going!

Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl really provoked a reaction! Our readers were so amazed that they could read a book, enjoy it (enjoy is not really the right word) maybe be enthralled by it (?) and yet not like one single character in the book! The tight structure really was a major source of admiration for the book! The way the author manipulates the reader's emotions and pulls one first one way then the other is almost disturbing in itself.

Our 'moral reader' surprised us all by admitting to appreciating the novel even though she was quite upset that there was no retribution for the one of the main characters. In hindsight, come to think of it, there was no glimmer of justice mentioned anywhere. Some found the ending a bit weak while others, despite their misgivings could not really imagine an alternative.

Our lover of all things pyschologically thrilling enjoyed it immensely and immediately found another novel by Gillian Flynn to read! Our reader extraordinaire had read the novel twice and was able to detect some well-hidden clues early in the novel that had eluded the rest of the first-time readers.

Time flew as Gone Girl was ruminated over. A late-comer declared passionately that she 'hated' it! As discussion continued, it was revealed that she really preferred linear fast-paced novels so this one was certainly outside of her comfort zone! While a couple of our other readers who had been busy dealing with life's curve balls decided they might be able to give Gone Girl another go even though they had felt it had been slow to rivet the reader previously, our late-comer couldn't wait rid herself of its poisonous presence!

A novel like Gone Girl does make one wonder how much of an author's experience goes into their creation. One hopes in this case that it is 100% imagination!

A couple of our readers had been able to catch up Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being and were eager to revive discussion on this novel which had been enjoyed by most.

Often after animated discussion at book club one wants to read the book again as this time you can read it with more than one set of eyes and mindset!

For July, we will be reading Colum McCann's Transatlantic which spans stories, times and lives from both sides of this turbulent ocean. Compared to Gone Girl so far it seems a much gentler read but still requires a great deal of one's attention as it moves back and forth in time and place.

I'll investigate what some reviews have to say and will include them in a future post.

Hope you continue to enjoy reading between the lines!

It's Between the Lines Book Club Week!!!!

Just a reminder that Between the Lines Book Club will be meeting this Thursday at Gordon White Library at 6 pm. We'll be discussing Gillian Flynn's rather dark Gone Girl.

This novel certainly makes me appreciate how wonderful the people I associate with are!

Looking forward to hearing what you thought of Gone Girl!

Happy reading!

"A bit sick, but chick lit and melodrama' for June

Our book for June is Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. I know a couple of you have read it but some folk so enjoyed it, I thought it would be a worthwhile read for the whole group.

Peter Craven from 'The Sydney Morning Herald' titled his review 'A bit sick, but chick lit and melodrama make it a winner'. It certainly sounds like a different read from last month. Many folks join book clubs to read outside of their usual genre and this one certainly sounds outside of my comfort zone.

Here is a YouTube clip featuring the official trailer from the soon to be released movie based on the book. The film stars Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike and Neil Patrick and is directed by David Fincher. (Please excuse the before and after advertising on the clip, I was not sure how to get rid of this so thought it safer to leave it in.)

Here is what Gillian (pronounced with a hard 'G') Flynn had to say about Gone Girl.

I can't say I'm looking forward to this read and have already found a number of 'must-read-right-nows' to ensure the delay of starting it. Certainly sounds like a novel which must be read between the lines and with the lights on......

Our next book club will be at Gordon White Library at 6.00pm on Thursday 26 June.

After all of that, all I can say is keep those pages turning......

Discussion brought us closer to the heart for the time being

Everyone was keen to share their experience of the last two months' books.

We decided to first discuss each book separately and then discuss their differences and similarities.

We began with Simon Cleary's Closer to Stone. Many readers questioned the motives of the father with some finding it impossible to understand his actions. Some thought the father was intending to try to 'man up' his softer second son. Some enjoyed the mostly linear structure of the story. One reader was very upset with the desert terms being used incorrectly. Most found several scenes upsetting and quite shocking. Very clever structure lulled the reader into a false sense of security which was very abruptly shattered.

Most readers were glad they had read the book. One reader found her second reading of this book far more satisfying than her first. It seemed it was a book of two brothers' spiritual journeys both as a response to a traumatic event in their lives.

Leaving the desert inspired spiritual passage, we moved to Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being which was set in a much damper Tokyo and on an even wetter island off the coast off British Columbia. Our readers thought that Ruth Ozeki captured both the adolescent voice of Nao and the more mature voice of Ruth very well. Some readers found jumping between the two stories confusing while others really enjoyed it. When one of our readers used the quantum physics aspect to tie the two tales together, it revealed the true beauty of this novel's structure. The notion of parallel universes clarified the ending wonderfully for one reader who had been struggling with the ending. One avid reader declared that this particular novel would rate as the best of the book club selections she had read as it was cleverly constructed, beautifully written and told a captivating tale.

At first glance these two novels seemed quite different: one a desert setting with the main characters being male while the other was set both in metropolitan Tokyo and the desolate British Columbian island and the two main characters are female. However the settings for various reasons develop a feeling of isolation for our main characters. Various events are catalysts for our main characters to embark on seeking answers as to their own existence. Thus both of these novels are really spiritual journeys.

Opinions were divided as to which was the preferred book. Overall it seemed to be a successful couple of months of reading. Sharing one's experience of a book really enhances the whole reading experience and adds another dimension of enjoyment.

Thank you to everyone for your enthusiastic input and sharing!

I'll talk about our June book club selection in another post!

Hope you enjoy getting between the lines of our next read!