A little more about Anthony Doerr's "All the Light We Cannot See"

I've had a look for some reviews of All the Light We Cannot See and found Light found in Darkness in Wartime from The New York Times which should whet your appetite. At 530 pages it is anything but light but certainly looks to be an intriguing read.

I thought it might be interesting to find out a bit more about Anthony Doerr and came across this somewhat unusual website.

Anthony Doerr's novel certainly promises to be an interesting read so I hope it lives up to the hype, especially as the last couple of reads have been somewhat disappointing.

Don't forget our MRCL Book Club Christmas Muster at Gordon White Library on Thursday 18 December from 6.00pm till 8.00 pm. Bring along some finger food and a beverage to satisfy your taste. If you have finished All the Light We Cannot See bring that along so that you can pass it on to someone else.

Looking forward to seeing you on Thursday 18 December!

Happy reading!

"The Rules of Inheritance" does not inspire

Claire Bidwell Smith's memoir which traces her self-destructive lifestyle following the loss of both of her parents at a relatively early age failed to inspire most of our readers. One of our readers tuned into her compassion and was able to empathise with Claire as she wisely concluded that never having been in Claire's shoes she could not predict what her grieving process would have been in a similar situation. Most of our readers found the length, self-destructive and repetitive nature of Claire's grieving quite frustrating and irritating.

Some found the non-linear structure confusing while others kindly pointed out that the book was structured according to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's five stages of grief: denial, anger,bargaining, depression and acceptance. Some found it difficult to differentiate between the supposedly different stages as it seemed to be just more and more of the same. Kubler-Ross herself is keen to point out that there are no rules for grief and that the five stages are just a cognitive skeletal framework which is prescriptive for neither time endured nor sequence.

Overall, it seemed that the most positive thing most could say was that it was printed in a manner that encouraged efficient reading. It was not the most pleasurable foray into non-fiction.

Despite a mostly negative reaction to this book, our members are still pleased to be reading outside of their comfort zone and experimenting with different authors and genres.

We return to fiction with our next novel "All the Light We Cannot See"" by Anthony Doerr.

 



We'll meet to discuss this title on Thursday 29 January, 2015 at Gordon White Library.

Don't forget our MRCL Book Club Christmas get together at Gordon White Library Community Meeting Room from 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm on Thursday 18 December. Don't forget to bring along some finger food to share and some beverages to suit your personal taste!

Looking forward to seeing you there and have the chance to talk more about books!

How are you coping with 'The Rules of Inheritance'?

Hello there,

Well it's nearly the last Thursday of the month already! I am still struggling with this book! I hope to get it finished by Thursday but am finding it quite a chore!

Have just realised I don't think I have a book selected for the Christmas break! Yikes! Something else to go onto my 'Got to be done by yesterday!' list!

Looking forward to hearing your views on this month's book.

See you at 6.00 pm on Thursday 27 November, at Gordon White Library!

Reading, reading, reading........

The Time we Have Taken apparently was time wasted?

Well Steven Carroll's Miles Franklin Award winning The Time we have taken did not seem to impress our members. Descriptors like 'slow', 'boring', 'dull' seemed to be in the majority. Many folks were quite dismayed when they realised that it was the third book in a trilogy and were quite relieved that at least they had only had to read one and not three books in a similar vein.

Folks agreed that the author had certainly captured the monotony of life in the suburbs well but they had difficulty finding any sympathy or empathy for the characters and therefore found it difficult to connect with the book.  Discussion on the novel was a bit restricted in that everyone seemed to be on the same page and in agreement which doesn't lead to that impassioned debate stimulated by one's desire for one's opinions to be seriously considered by the rest of the group.

I often find that if I have not enjoyed a book, listening to those who have gives me another perspective which encourages me to re-read it with a more positive attitude. As we did not have this variance of opinion in our group, I have included a copy of what the Miles Franklin judging panel had to say about the novel, as they were certainly impressed by it!



READ MORE

2008 Winner - The Time We Have Taken by Steven Carroll

Commenting on the winner’s novel, the Judging Panel wrote:
“In the spare, episodic style of the two earlier novels (The Art of the Engine Driver and The Gift of Speed) in this trilogy, Steven Carroll undertakes a parallel task of representation as his cast of characters reconsider their lives in and beyond the suburb that has been their crucible. Michael, son of the engine driver, moves to the city and falls in love with a girl beyond his reach – or so, poignantly, he believes. Vic, the father, has long since travelled north to a life of abstracted retirement. The mother, Rita, too well turned out to quite fit into the street, sells the house which has been her refuge, and makes an unlikely alliance with the widow of the industrial entrepreneur they called ‘Webster the Factory’. At night they drive together across the thistle-landscape in a sleek black car that is both comet and hearse.
What do they all make of their lives? Do they hear ‘the music of the years’? Or are they deaf, missing the wonder of it? Carroll’s novel is a poised, philosophically profound exploration of the question, a stand-alone work that is moving and indelible in its evocation of the extraordinary in ordinary lives.”


We are delving into the world of non-fiction with the memoir The Rules of Inheritance: a Memoir by Claire Bidwell Smith.

 

 



I'll include more information about this book in a later blog but I'll let you get started on your own views before I give you more to ruminate on.

Keep those pages turning and the grey cells firing!





 

Ready for "The Time we have taken"?

Hello everyone!

Well I'm physically back but the mental return seems to be taking a bit longer! I'm sure I read Steven Carroll's book before I left but am scratching to remember what it was about! Hopefully some of you will be able to assist in this. I know one of our regulars has been unimpressed so will be interesting to hear what the rest of you come up with.

I was quite excited to see Gone Girl being advertised in Swedish the other day and found Burial Rites in Icelandic. Certainly made me feel that our book clubs are connected to the rest of the world through what we read!

Looking forward to catching up with you all on Thursday 30 October at Gordon White Library at 6.00 pm!

Happy reading!

Linda Grant's "The Clothes on Their Backs" up for discussion tonight!

It's the last Thursday in August already! We'll be meeting at 6.00pm at Gordon White Library!

Looking forward to hearing your views!

A little more about Linda Grant's 'The Clothes on their Backs'

I promised I would provide more information on this month's book club selection, so I'll see what I can find for you.

Kamila Shamsie wrote this review for The Guardian.

The following are reviews and comments found on Linda Grant's website.

 

 

 

It certainly has a eyecatching cover which I guess reflects the colourful characters contained within.

 

 

I hope you're enjoying the read!