October 2013 - A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison

Unfortunately this book wasn't received well at all, with the exception of just a couple of the members (who really liked it) we found the book irritatingly unbelievable and couldn't connect emotionally with any of the characters, which given the difficult subjects covered in this book (child prostitution and loss of a child), could only be put down to the authors lack of descriptive writing, and character development.

We all started out, wanting to be engaged and educated by the subject matter but either found it hard to get into with the story swapping or were immediately put off by the writing style. Right from the beginning the characters were extremely cold, without emotion, making it hard for us as the readers to care about them, even though we understood the impact the events would have had in the real world. It almost felt as though Addison was writing a journalistic piece, just stating the facts rather than "showing" us a story. Addison seemed torn between wanting to write a legal thriller and a shocking story about two girls lead into the child trafficking world in India after the devastating effects of the Tsunami; one or the other would have sufficed. Many times at our meeting the "hero" was thrown in with regards to Thomas, every hunch he had seemed to pay off, and all the clues fell nicely together... This just wouldn't happen in the real world, let alone within three months of a child going missing and trafficked across the world into the "undergrowth".

Many of the members failed to finish the book, which is uncommon for us as a group, due to mainly his writing style, convenience of plot progress and lack of emotional connection with the characters. Even the quotes that were added at the top of each chapter seemed out of place, and irrelevant to the chapter ahead, as though they were there to make the book feel a more intelligent read.

It's a shame that as a group we found the plot unbelievable, Addison would have done better to keep to one or other of the genres (child trafficking or legal thriller) and also to one country to avoid the "Jet-Setting" that took place far too often in this book! The poor girls Sita and Ahalya went through a lot, but the details were too sanitary and just didn't get gritty and descriptive enough to make us believe or do justice to the very, very real issues of child exploitation. Thomas seemed to always "tag along" and kept saving the day, it all moved far too fast and should this have been a true story it's very unlikely that Sita would have been found at all, let alone in three months and without being hooked on drugs or sexually abused. It may seem as if we wanted to read a horror story, but in truth, all we wanted was a realistic novel, were the author had done their research, this did not seem the case.

Many members also stated how the writing was poor, non-descriptive making it difficult to place the surroundings, even though you knew the scene was in Bombay, or Paris, the writing done nothing to spark up our imagination. The couple of members who did enjoy the book, found it an eye opener, page turned and would read other books by Addison.

There were far too many characters in the book, the bad guys didn't seem as bad as they should have and the main characters were not developed well. Thomas was annoying from the beginning, self involved and thought himself a hero, who wasn't even really sure if he wanted to win his wife back at the beginning and if the convenience of a job opening in Bombay didn't arise, we're not sure he would have ever tried. Poor Tera, was a stereotypical office fling gone wrong and in general women were portrayed badly, never giving women in these horrendous situations enough justice.

The only parts that stuck with us, were how Sita managed to keep escaping but then getting caught - Never really enduring any harsh punishment and their pre Tsunami life was memorable. An eye opening passage, once mentioned by one member jogged the memory of others was the swallowing of large grapes, preparing Sita to be able to swallow the drug packages without chocking.

The ending was far too happy and unrealistic, all the ends were tied up and the only bit of sadness came in the form of an earlier side story of a young girl in the USA being found dead... It was as though that was thrown in to make sure the readers had mixed emotions towards the end. It would have worked much better as one story instead of two and set in one country. Both the girls were accepted back into society, even though Ahalya was unclean and was a single mother, sadly this would unlikely result in the happy ending portrayed.

Only 4 out of 17 would read another book by Corban Addison, making him one of our least popular authors. Interesting subject matter, just not written particularly well. The book is probably better suited to those who like "have a go hero", legal thrillers with a happy ending, which as it seems, is not really us.

We had 15 people give their score out of 10, resulting in an average of 4/10 (lowest score 2, highest 7)

Write up by Vicki

Ghost World - Daniel Clowes *graphic novel*

This months book is:

Ghost World by Daniel Clowes *this is a graphic novel and a first for our book club, *

Meeting:

Monday 11th November, 19:30 - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).

Description from Amazon:

1998 Ignatz Award Winner, Outstanding Graphic Novel: The inspiration for the feature film and one of the most acclaimed graphic novels ever.

Ghost World has become a cultural and generational touchstone, and continues to enthrall and inspire readers over a decade after its original release as a graphic novel. Originally serialized in the pages of the seminal comic book Eightball throughout the mid-1990s, this quasi-autobiographical story (the name of one of the protagonists is famously an anagram of the author's name) follows the adventures of two teenage girls, Enid and Becky, two best friends facing the prospect of growing up, and more importantly, apart. Daniel Clowes is one of the most respected cartoonists of his generation, and Ghost World is his magnum opus. Adapted into a major motion picture directed by Terry Zwigoff (director of the acclaimed documentary Crumb), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. This graphic novel is a must for any self-respecting comics fan's library. Two-color comics throughout

Link to Amazon:

Buy on Amazon

September 2013 - The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

This book follows Tony Webster from his school days through to retirement. It explores the idea of memory and it’s imperfections when Tony’s life and perception of events is turned around by the arrival of a lawyers letter that throws up surprises.

Overall most of the members were unsure if they liked the book, they found the writing often beautiful and the central theme of memory to be interesting and well explored, however found the main character irritating and difficult to like and that it was a bit repetitive and that they felt the author was showing off. It was discussed that this was a literary book and it was felt that this was the reason many members found it lacked storytelling and many found it a “sad story” and a “passionless book”.

Many members found the narrator to be dull and that he showed a lack of emotion and they would have liked him to change in some way through the course of the book. He showed denial around the main incident in the book and seemed to have created his own history, which he had to confront and reflect on towards the end of the book. As this was a single narrative many felt that the other characters were sketchy and that they were not in the book enough to get to understand them properly. The members found Veronica to be complex but humourless and that the hatred she felt towards Tony was not explained. She was meant to be aloof and many found that this took away from her character. It was felt that Adrian was well drawn but again his role was more as a device for the narrator’s story to unfold around.

We spent very little time discussing the plot as it was felt that the book was built around the themes not the story. The main theme being memory and how this can be distorted, this rang a bell with many members and they felt that it had been very well done. Another theme that ran through the book linked in with the theme of memory was the idea of what is history. These were discussed during their school days in a somewhat pretentious way and the idea about evidence and interpretation wove through the book. This led to a discussion on the nature of perception and facebook. We also discussed the theme of suicide at some length and the way that the first suicide was felt to be weird and received with a lack of empathy by the school boys and the idea of it being a “blaze of glory” was a bit uncomfortable. It was felt that overall this theme was not well developed and was shown as being more about intellectual reasons and philosophy which didn’t hold true through the book.

There were mixed views of the writers style. Overall it was felt to be too factual and dry and therefore not very moving, some didn’t finish the book as didn’t feel inclined to care. The letters were seen as a good device which grabbed the reader however the writer style was lacking in peaks and troughs and this meant that the book didn’t grab many of the members. It was felt that the book evocated the sense of the period it was set in. Some members would read another short book by this author but not many would bother with a longer one.

The ending was shocking but because it was dealt with in such a factual manner many felt that they had missed something and had to check back to make sure they had understood. Some felt that they weren’t sure they got the ending either, while understanding it they didn’t understand why veronica kept saying to him "you still don't get it". There were felt to be too many questions left hanging that people just didn’t care enough about. There was manly relief at it being tied up and done and there was a general apathy towards the book.

There were 16 members who gave a score and the average was 4.6 out of 10 with the highest being 8 and the lowest 0

Write up by Vicki R

A Walk Across the Sun - Corban Addison

This months book is:

A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison

Meeting:

Monday 14th October, 19:30 - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).

Description from Amazon:

Ahalya Ghai and her younger sister Sita are as close as sisters can be. But when a tsunami rips through their village on India's Coromandel coast, their home is swept away, and the sisters are the sole survivors of their family. Destitute, their only hope is to find refuge at a convent many miles away. A driver agrees to take them. But the moment they get into that car their fate is sealed. The two sisters - confused, alone, totally reliant on each other - are sold.

On the other side of the world, Washington lawyer Thomas Clarke is struggling to cope after the death of his baby daughter and the collapse of his marriage. He takes a sabbatical from his high-pressure job and accepts a position with the Bombay branch of an international anti-trafficking group.

Thomas is now on a desperate path to try and save not only himself and his marriage, but also the lives of the two sisters.

Link to Amazon:

Buy on Amazon

Kindle Version:

Buy Kindle Version

The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes

This months book is:

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Meeting:

Monday 9th September, 19:30 - The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Richmond Hill, BH2 6EN (please ask at reception for our exact meeting location).

Description from Amazon:

Winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2011 and a Sunday Times bestseller - this is a brilliant novel from a writer at the very height of his powers

Link to Amazon:

Buy on Amazon



Kindle Version:

Buy Kindle Version

August 2013 - The Fault in our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars is the story of Hazel, a teenage girl who has terminal cancer. Hazel meets cancer survivor Augustus at support group and romance blossoms!

Overall the group was very positive about this book. We were a little apprehensive to read a book about cancer as we were worried it would be depressing but we felt that the author’s writing style and way of dealing with the topic really worked well. It wasn’t overly sentimental or romanticised, it dealt with cancer in a very matter of fact way. A lot of the group found that they got into the book as it went along and ended up liking it despite themselves.

The characters felt very real, both the teenagers and the adults. It was commented that in ‘young adult’ books the parents are often not developed as characters but they were in this book, some of the exchanges between Hazel and her parents were very moving. Some felt that the dialogue was a bit affected, with the teenagers trying too hard to use big words and coming across quite pretentious. But we then realised that that is the way teenagers do speak, they are not very self-aware and are trying to sound cool in everything they say! Some felt that the children were too mature for their age. Most of the characters though, had real depth. For example, it was interesting we (as readers) could tell that the author in Amsterdam had had someone close to them die of cancer, we actually knew before the other characters realised.

Everyone felt that the plot was believable. Meeting a cancer support group is likely to happen, with children being much more pragmatic than adults at dealing with illness. Some felt that the story of the author in Amsterdam wasn’t very believable and didn’t really fit into the story, but others really liked it and gave the teenagers a purpose, something to live for. One part that a lot of us found unbelievable was when the author turned up at the funeral and in the back of Hazel’s car. It might have been more realistic if the author had just corresponded through email or post, not very likely he would have come to America considering he was a very self-centred person and an alcoholic!

One passage that someone found particularly interesting was when Hazel got the call to tell her Gus has died. One member of book club had been through a similar experience so really related to it and felt that the author portrayed it accurately. A lot of us liked the concept of Hazel thinking of herself as a “grenade”, ready to explode at any moment and ruin the lives of those around her. Another passage that was mentioned was when they held Gus’s pre-funeral so he could hear what they would say about him – a bit gratuitous but played to many people’s secret desire to hear what people would say about them at their funeral. Another person mentioned the part where Hazel looked at Gus’s Facebook page and saw loads of comments from people that didn’t know him.

Considering mostly we are very critical of the endings of books, the comments about this one weren’t bad at all! We felt it was emotional and were all glad it didn’t just end mid-sentence, mirroring the end of Hazel’s favourite book! A lot of us liked the authors writing style, we found it bold, honest and just the right amount of descriptiveness. Many people would read another book by the author (one already has!).

The book received an average rating of 7.6/10, with 9 being the highest and 6 being the lowest (13 votes).

Write up by Sarah.

July 2013 - One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus

One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus was fictitious with a vein of truth at the beginning.

It tells the story of how the U.S government made a deal with the Cheyenne tribe in which they would give them one thousand white women as brides with the purpose of making lasting peace between the two of them.  And that is where the truth ends.  This deal was never arranged but the story that follows is a fictional account of what would have happened.

There were mixed feelings about this book, with most of the group acknowledging that although this was an interesting period of history, the story of May Dodd was so unbelievable that it spoilt the book.  As this book had only been published in the USA and France, we wondered why it had not been published in UK but then decided that it was so bad that was the reason!! 

We found this book easy to read, maybe a good choice to take away on holiday or to read at the beach where you would just enjoy some frivolous fiction but because it was unrealistic that made people irritable, as they could not connect with any of the characters. 

Some readers thought it was a bit of a Mills and Boon novel, with no real meaty stories, with the characters skipping from one adventure to the next and not in any sense like real life.  With the journey the characters seemed too stereotyped and most parts were too idealistic and this made the story weaker.  Even the rape that took place was glossed over and never talked about again and this is not a true portrayal of what would happen in a real life situation.

No body thought the plot was believable as May Dodd seemed to be too modern a character as the book was written in the ‘Wild West’ days. We didn’t think that anyone would have volunteered to go with the Cheyenne to be their brides in those times. Although we realise that some women might have wanted to escape their situation, ie. the ones who were locked in asylums for instance but then most probably those women might have not even been sane. 

The part about the white baby being accepted as special in the Cheyenne tribe was unbelievable because that was the whole point of the women going to be brides, to mix the races, and yet May Dodd has a pure white baby and the Chief is obviously not the father, yet he accepts the baby as his own. 

The characters were unconvincing and no one really felt any empathy towards them.  The characters were too stereotyped even down to the Vicar.  The fact that the Irish twins were regarded as something special and then managed to find twin Cheyenne boys to marry just made you realise that the whole story was just getting out of hand. 

The book was sympathetic to the Indian cause but was very patronising to the women. 

The prologue was quite good but other than that, the style was immensely irritating and it would have been better to have read something like Anne Frank rather than reading the diaries of May Dodd. 

The ending did tie up loose ends but that’s not always a good thing with a book.  When May Dodd was hit in the shoulder, that should not have been a fatal shot, but she just seemed to die straight away.  Most of the group thought that the Chief should have died in battle like he would have in real life, as he would never have run away from the battle.  The group all felt that the Cheyenne would have been ready for battle but the government troops were able to surprise them and massacre all of them, except the Chief!

The ending did disappoint most of us but on the plus side, there won’t be a sequel!  We felt that the ending was a bit rushed.

Most of the group felt that they would not read anything else by the author except maybe out of curiosity to see if the first novel might just be better.

The rating of the book varied tremendously with the following scores between 2 and 6.

Average score: 4/10

Write up by Joy.