November 2010 - The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

This was our second book by Sarah Waters, with our first book of hers  The Little Stranger being enjoyed by most members. We all enjoyed her writing style in the first book, and many had already gone out and bought The Night Watch.

The book was very easy to get into, there were a few different stories with different characters, but they all tied in nicely together. Each member had their favourite story and characters, and loved reading especially about that particular part. 

The book is set in War time London, something that we were all fascinated by, and Waters description, in many cases forced us to read up on factual parts of what she had written. At the back of the book, there is a reference, which proves just how interested the author is in the history of London, and also how much time she spent researching. Many of us would like to read some of these books as a result of reading The Night Watch. There were three parts to the book, starting in 1947, and working back to 1941.

The main characters were generally well liked, with the exception of Reggie, Vivs love interest, who we found to be a bit of a creep. Vivs brother was a debatable character, many people sympathised with him when they found out why he had been in prison, but for others it just confirmed his wimpish manner.

For many people we found the descriptions of the bombings terrifying, but the spirit of the Londoners shone through. One passage where Kay and Micky find a man with his leg missing, is particularly funny, as horrible as that description sounds! The setting of the book being in War torn London, definitely made it an interesting read, especially for those who know London well.

  

The ending is difficult to comment on, as the book is written backwards, we were already aware of the outcome before we read the final pages. The book slowly tied up how certain events happened, and answered a lot of questions asked by the reader within the 1947 part of the book at the start. We all agreed, that we would have liked and extra chapter, maybe only 10 pages long, based in 1950 or later, to see how all the characters are at a later date, we felt this would have been a better ending.

  

For this meeting, 5 members attended, giving the book an average score of 7 out of 10. Lowest score 5 and highest was 9.

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October 2010 - Out of the Dark by Linda Caine and Robin Royston

Most members really enjoyed this book, however, all of us felt extremely let down by the ending.

Linda Caine, writes her part of the book, based around her real life experiences. She should be a happy woman, she has the house, the family, and her husband has a successful and well paid job, however, Linda finds herself, spiralling into a severe case of depression, not knowing what is causing it.

As most people have experienced some form of depression in their lives, this makes the first half of the book a compelling read. Everyone wanted to find out why Linda was so depressed, and the job of unravelling the details fell on Dr Robin Royston.

The writers take it in turns to write about Lindas life and history, slowly delving into her subconscious to discover some very dark secrets, most of which came as no surprise to our members, knowing that to behave the way Linda had, her repression must have been the product of some very bad events.

The family and Dr Royston were well liked, especially Lindas long suffering and mostly supportive husband (although he didnt always understand the extend of her depression). Linda on the other hand, gave us cause to debate amongst the group. Whilst we appreciate the severity of depression, we found her story (and although real life it is still something that is read), a bit repetitive, especially during the second half, and didnt need to be quite so long. We also thought that publishing this book was fairly selfish, considering all her family have already been through.

The one thing we could all agree on was the ending. The majority of the book took us along a very long and drawn out road to recovery, with the ending being very short and almost seen as a quick fix. We felt cheated, by the way the book lead us in the wrong direction and ended up wondering why Dr Royston would put his name to such a book.

  

The beginning of the book made up for the ending and everyone enjoyed hearing about the culture and political themes of Rhodesia and Lindas horse riding days.

Six members attended, scoring this book an average of 7 out of 10.

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September 2010 - The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan

The majority of our members felt that the book was a well written and easy book to read. Set in rural Wales in the 1950s, Mari Strachan projected the day to day life around the village superbly.

The book is written in first person, the narrator being an adolescent girl named Gwenni. She is at first portrayed as a strange, but intelligent girl. Many members felt that she could have been autistic, with the lack of understanding that her mother and older sister gave her.

An enjoyable book to read, and compared in parts to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, with its plot and simple sentences - describing Gwennis every thought, but also containing a lot of intelligence.

Following the disappearance of one of the villagers, Gwenni sets out to uncover the truth, annoying many of the villagers along the way. As Gwenni uncovers certain truths, she is forced to grow out of her innocence and think like an adult. The plot was fairly predictable, however we felt the author did this on purpose, to enable us to know ahead of Gwenni, what was happening and watch her work out the answers for herself.

The characters were well liked, with the exception of the mother and sister. The villagers all held a great part in setting the scene and way of life for the 1950s.

The ending was expected by many but still enjoyed and most of us would read another book by Mari Strachan again, although not putting it to the top of our lists.

7 Members attended, giving this book an average score of 6.5 out of 10.

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August 2010 - Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

Well, this months book was certainly a mixed bag - It was a very easy read, with the exception of there being so many foreign names to keep track of.

The group was more in favour of the book than against it, but those who didn't like it felt the characters were weak, boring and only interested in men. The author came across to them as arrogant and very confident in her writing, although that may have been more to do with the translation, or even the idea that the author of the emails was an entirely different person to the real author.

Most of the group found the book an eye opener into the reality and culture of Saudi "upper class" relationships. The male characters in the book were weak, usually giving in to the demands of their families, but also showing an insight into how family life and traditions play a part in choosing a suitable wife.

Certain characters were on the whole disliked, such as Gamrah (and a lot of the men), many were a tad too naive (Sadeem), and others were either not featured as much as we would have liked (such as Lamees and Um Nuri). We all wanted for Michelle to up and leave, be a bit more of an independent woman.

The quotes were another favourite, even members who didn't enjoy the book enjoyed the witty and meaningful intro's to each chapter.

Although the book was easy to read and was gave an insight into the Saudi life, some of us felt the ending was a bit too abrupt, lacking drama and the book as a whole could have included a bit more general Saudi background (although the book was originally intended for a Saudi audience).

We had a total number of 10 members tonight and our average score was 6/10. Lowest score of 2/10 and highest 8/10.

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July 2010 - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

This seemed to be an unpopular book as many of our members didn't turn up for the meet, and the members who did turn up weren't overly impressed with the hype surrounding this book.

Firstly I'll comment on a point most did agree on; that the idea was good, however it seemed as if Mitchell over complicated the theme. The six stories were weakly linked, and there were no big revelations. The first story felt as if he was using complicated language for the sake of it, although as you progress you begin to see the evolution of his plan.

The overall theme was believed to have been based on reincarnation, but none of the characters had a lot in common (other than the birth mark) and hardly any of them had any likeability.

Some of the six stories crept back some score for some members, we all liked different stories but did agree that the stories we favoured would have been better on their own than as a part of six. Perhaps the author should have concentrated his skills on developing one good story as opposed to six average ones.

The ending was disappointing, leaving us all feeling hard done by, having read 500 pages. It is understandable why some members didn't turn up to this meeting, in fact many didn't finish the book. It was not only hard to read at first but fairly boring.

This book has been rated by 7 members and the average score is 5/10.

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June 2010 - Hector and the search for Happiness by Francois Lelord

This book was a nice easy break from our previous reads, only 160 pages long and written in a very simplistic, almost childlike manner. The author has created the short story utilising the use of fables, to express the lessons in happiness. The idea of the main story purposely being childlike, so that the more grown up fables stick out, was also pointed out by one of our members.

Most of the group liked the fact that the book never usually mentioned the country/city that Hector visits, and with his brief description of his destination, allows the reader to create their own version of happiness/unhappiness in their head.

The book created many smiles, especially lesson number 18. Members felt sorry for the unaware Clara, and found Hector to be a bit contradictory between being an intelligent psychiatrist and a very naive man, who also came across to many as sleazy. There wasn't a plot as such, but certainly the fact that a slightly fed up Hector wanted to go travelling and compile an investigation into happiness certainly wasn't far fetched.

The ending let us all down, there were no big revelations into the key for happiness, and the characters seemed to be living happily ever after, a very easy way out for the author. Hectors own unhappiness (being his promlems in love) may finally come to a close in Lelords next novel, "Hector and the secrets of Love", due out in 2011, the group are probably split on reading this one.

Overall the book was seen as uplifting, educational but also slightly patronising. A book which is like no other and described as being random. As the book was written by a psychiatrist, we felt that the writing style was a bit too simple and not meaty enough. Although the book had been translated from French, we felt the translation was not a reflection in the language used.

12 people have discussed this book, and gave us a score of 6/10.

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May 2010 - 1984 by George Orwell

George Orwell's 1984, only our third discussion but likely our most heated so far. Plenty to discuss from how accurate his predictions were, to how unrealistic certain themes were received (such as the thought police).

Many who found the book quite hard going  continued to read it due to its classic status, some were pleased they persevered others still not quite understanding it fully at the end.

One thing we did agree on, was that if you were reading the book, pre 1984  with a growing whiff of insecurity about whats just hiding around the corner, it must have been quite chilling. The growing political strains, the aftermath of WW2 and the uncertain rising fear over the Cold War all a real and sensitive subject for many, but how Orwell was able to engage fear into the reader, about just how bad things may become before the year 1984. Although reading the book as either Sci-Fi or political propaganda, much of Orwell's predictions became extremely real for many in the real World.

The concept of the novel was fantastic, the ideas were great, although some of us found the writing style very monotone and sterile (which may just be a reflection of the novel itself). The group were 50/50 on the characters, either loving them or hating them. Everyone could describe a profound part or theme in the book which grasped them such as room 101 and the torture scenes, and the similarities between the themes in the book and the Nazi reign of terror.

I myself admit that the thought police was a silly idea (seriously, controlling your thoughts??) but after speaking with the group, one member with first hand knowledge of what its like growing up in another country, it became clear that actually the idea wasn't so silly. If people were brought up to think a certain way, told that they cannot think anything bad against their leader or else a family member would lose their job or worse, the fear would sink in, and you would refrain from thinking against the majority. Although the term thought police is a bit extreme, punishment for thinking out of place under communist regimes was very real.

The book was very good for its time, and with a great concept, Marmite characters, and an understandably (although not liked by all) dull tone throughout. It does certainly deserve its classic status.

This meeting was attended by 10 members and scored an average of 7/10.

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April 2010 - The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

This book was a great choice for a book club - It created plenty of discussion.

The general consensus was that Sarah Waters is a magnificent, beautifully detailed author and the majority of us are now planning on reading some of her other books such as Tipping the Velvet, The Night Watch and Fingersmith (all of which seem to get better reviews than The Little Stranger). Her writing style could perhaps be the reason this book scored fairly high on our marks out of 10.

However there were points which drag the review down, namely being far too long (about 150 pages too long) and a poor ending. The group felt 500 pages was a lot to plough through for the ending we were given. A few members found that the final paragraph was conclusive, others felt frustrated by the lack of answers.

The characters were all generally pretty cold - Whether that was the aim of the author due to the book projecting a cold atmosphere to the reader or just the audience being unable to empathise with them. The lead character was Dr Faraday - The narrator, the majority of the group felt that Faraday was an unreliable narrator, having to trust his word for all the events and disturbances that happened. We hear of Caroline and Rod's experiences for example, through the eyes of Dr Faraday, without hearing directly what their version of events were. I think we all agreed that the house itself became the central character, just like an classic horror movie.

The group discussed the possibility that Dr Faraday himself was the perpertrator, the poltegiest, the mad man or however else it should be put. The final paragraph confirming that fact:

" I'll imagine that the secret is about to be revealed to meat last; that I will see what Caroline Saw, and recognise it as she did. If Hundreds Hall is haunted, however, its ghost doesn't show itself to me. For I'll turn, and am disappointed - Realising that what I am looking at is only a cracked window pane, and that the face gazing distortedly from it, baffled and longing, is my own."

It makes you think back, and also reconsider that these distubances only seemed start or increase once Faraday came back to "his" Hundreds Hall. He seemed to be more in love with the house than Caroline. People say if you read the book again, you will understand it better from the point of Faraday.

Some people are still unsure of the spirit/person/thing responsible for the events, even after the final paragraph, either undecided, confused or torn between Faraday, Susan or even... all of the characters!

We had an attendance of 11 and we gave it an average rating of 7 out of 10.

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March 2010 - Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

This book was met with mixed feelings. Most of us felt that it was an easy book to read with an easy, poetic style in short chapters. Many were able to complete the book easily in one day.

However, the general consensus was that the book lacked substance  several story lines would begin but failed to lead anywhere, which became frustrating at times, one being Owens love for his wife Emily.

Some found the book light hearted and comforting, whilst others found it depressing, but that may have been due to the main character Liz rather than the concept itself.

The majority of the group felt the characters lacked any depth and description. Many characters appeared in the book but the only one we felt we knew was Liz. Liz came across well as a typical teenager, a little stubborn and spoilt (but that may be her grief process).

The ending, although acceptably predictable from the beginning was quite poor. We felt it would have been made better if the entire concept wasnt given away from the beginning  allowing you to consider for yourself what would happen when rebirth occurred. The reappearance of Lucy the dog was welcomed though.

Although the group picked out many negative points, it most certainly has poetic elements to it, the concept is very good but just needed better development of the plot and characters. The religious slant on the theme did shine through in patches (being an afterlife) but was very ambiguous with no direct references. The book is very easy to read, and if you like easy going books (especially those with different takes on the afterlife) you should read this. The book is typically for young adults which may explain some of its simplicity.

12 members turned up, and we rate this book an average of 6 out of 10.

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