A step into the smoke and mirrors world of espionage

We move between Turkey, the UK and many places Middle Eastern in our next novel, Charles Cumming's A Colder War. We try to visit a variety of genres at book club and the spy, espionage genre rarely gets a guernsey, so for this month we'll take a walk on the wild side!

I'm sorry I have been having issues uploading photos of our book titles so am still not able to show the front cover.

Will find what some experts have to say about this novel in the next blog but can't wait to hear what the real experts think at our next book club!



Happy reading!



"A History of Loneliness" provokes much discussion

Most of our readers found  John Boyne's gift with the language to be extremely pleasurable even though the content was at times confronting. Our readers spoke of how Boyne's style was easy to read and of the book having an authenticity throughout. Readers spoke of returning to the cover blurb several times during reading, just to check that it was not a biograpy or a non-fiction as it had such a feel of reality and truth.

Many of our readers found Odran's naivete and innocence difficult to believe and comprehend. Some readers were quite frustrated with his interpretation of events. This provoked discussion how much public knowledge regarding child abuse has changed. There was much talk about having to consciously try to position ourselves in Ireland in the 1970's through to the present and how much attitudes to the Catholic Church and treatment of children have changed in that time. Children of the 1960s were not considered to be reliable witnesses and their complaints of abuse in any form were rarely given much credence. Children of that time were not taught to speak out either as adults and revered institutions were considered more infallible than today. So though there were observable behavioural changes in children, there was not the public knowledge or awareness of child sexual abuse to raise the alarm bells that would ring today. The Catholic Church in Ireland in particular was held in high esteem by the majority of the population. There was much discussion about the reader having to transport themselves into a different place and a different time when much information was considered very private and not for public consumption.

There was much discussion about Tom's character and the way his childhood experience of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of his father, followed by the repression of healthy sexual activity during his adolescent years at the seminary really set him up for dysfunctional behaviour as an adult. To add to this, he had no interest whatsoever in the priesthoood which was forced upon him by his father, thus creating a lifestyle for which he was unsuited in every way. Our readers sympathised with Tom's story but still found his behaviour unforgiveable. One reader had tried to find whether there were any statistics regarding the childhood experiences of Irish priests who had been accused of paedophilia, to see whether Tom's story was indicative, but had been unable to source relevant information. There was much discussion of the hidden, secretive nature of abuse and of its effect on future generations.

The novel's title evoked much talk about its aptness. Several readers spoke of their expectation that the origin of the novel's title be revealed in the book. Tom challenged Odran to see that he too had experienced 'A History of Loneliness' and there was much discussion as to how many priests experienced  'A History of Loneliness'.

Overall our readers rated John Boyne's novel between seven and nine out of ten, indicating how much they had appreciated his sensitive approach to a very difficult, emotive topic. He enabled readers to have a greater understanding of the causes of child abuse within the church and the extent of damage caused by both the deliberate and innocent ignorance of the issue. There are so many more victims than just those directly involved.

Overall our readers enjoyed and contributed to a very thought provoking discussion.

We will have a complete change of pace and genre for our next book club selection. More details on that to be found in the next post.

Keep on reading and keep those cogs moving!

Book club to discuss "A History of Loneliness"

Hello folks,

Thank you all again for being so considerate in sharing the book club set copies around so generously and promptly.

Hopefully this title will generate a lot of discussion especially in light of the enquiry here in Australia.

Looking forward to hearing about your experience of this novel,

Life continues, page after page....

Our next read is from John Boyne

We are going to Ireland for our next novel. John Boyne's A History of Loneliness explores the experiences of the people and the priesthood in Ireland during a time of turbulent change for the Roman Catholic Church.

JP O'Malley from The Observer had this to say about it while Helen Dunmore from The Guardian wrote this review.

No doubt this novel will ensure lively discussion at our next meeting.

Keep those pages turning!


Readers find Anthony Doerr's 'All The Light We Cannot See' enlightening

Ten avid readers attended our first Between The Line Book Club for 2015. Under discussion was Anthony Doerr's novel All The Light We Cannot See. This novel set in Europe has as it focal point the year 1944. It traces events both prior and post this point in time but as several of our readers commented it always returns to this pivotal point.

The novel tracks the lives of Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a blind French girl who lives with her father, the Master of Locks at the Museum of Natural History in Paris, and Werner Pfennig a German orphan whose aptitude for all things mechanical earns him a place at a brutal German military academy where his talents further radio technology. Their jouneys eventually intersect in a quietly satisfying manner although radio waves had already intertwined their lives for years.

Though a war-time novel, Anthony Doerr concentrates on the conflict's devastating impact on people no matter which side they are on.

One of our readers commented on the balance and parallels provided by the stories of the other characters. As the title suggests, light in a multitude of forms infuses the novel. Many readers commented on the precision and freshness of Anthony Doerr's language. While reading this novel many of our group found themselves stopping and re-reading a phrase or sentence just for the sheer pleasure of doing so.

One of our readers was reading the novel for the second time and the beauty of its structure really impressed her. She commented that the threads of the novel balanced and counter-balanced each other producing a graceful symmetry. Another of our readers thought it was slow in places and therefore jumped a few chapters sparking a spirited reaction from other readers.

Overall our group enjoyed this novel and generally rated the novel between 8 and 9 out of 10 which reflected  the genuine quality of this read. Some of our readers felt that they could happily read All The Light We Cannot See again as it was beautifully written, cleverly constructed and multi-layered thus offering new facets on further reading.

Overall it was a stimulating lively discussion which got our 2015 Between the Lines Book Club off to  an enjoyable enlightening start.

BTL BC kicks off this Thursday at GWL!

Happy New Year Everybody!

All those routine events are starting to kick back in and Christmas is relegated to the deep past!

Hope everyone is enjoying "All the Light We Cannot See"  - I'm still trying to dissect the title.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday. We might be a bit nomadic this year so if we're not in our usual spot, just go for a bit of a wander.

Looking forward to catching up! If you have any suggestions for further Book Club Set purchases bring those along too please!

Happy reading!

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!