Books & Gossip

Tuesday, 21 October 2008

Discussion: Half a Life by V.S. Naipaul

Book chosen by: Fe

Meeting date: Monday 13th October 2008

Meeting location: Newtown

About the author:

Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul was born in 1932 Trinidad and has both Hindu and East Indian heritage. He now lives in the UK.

Knighted in 1990 for his contribution to literature.

Has won the Booker Prize in 1971, Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001 and the David Cohen Prize in 1993.

Comes from a family of published authors.

Book synopsis:

From wikipedia:

Willie Somerset Chandran is the son of a Brahmin father and a Dalit mother. His father gave him his middle name as a homage to the English writer Somerset Maugham who had visited him in the temple where he was living under a vow of silence. Having come to despise his father, Willie leaves India to go to 1950s London to study. There he leads a life as poor immigrant and later he writes a book of short stories and manages to publish it.

Willie gets a call from Ana, a mixed Portuguese and black African girl and admirer of his book, one day and they arrange to meet. They fall in love and Willie follows her to her country (an unnamed Portuguese colony in Africa, presumably Mozambique). Meanwhile Willie's sister Sarojini marries a German and moves to Berlin. The novel ends with Willie having moved to his sister's place in Berlin after his 18 year stay in Africa.

What we said about the book:

Poetic
Lovely language but it stopped and started.
Many readers experienced a level of discomfort with the book. Was it the sudden stop/starts in the narrative or the jumps in time, or the gaps in time not filled in?
Despite discomfort many would like to read more of V.S.Naipaul for the quality of the writing.
Some felt there was quite a negative spin on women and that men were more "vividly described" in the book.
Some readers wondered was there something they didn't get about the book, the author, the story? He is so highly regarded yet many of those present didn't enjoy the read.
There is a sequel to this book: Magic Seeds which starts from when Willie returns to Berlin.

Then we got sidetracked onto the following:

Bad drivers.
That E-tags make travelling over the 'great divide' (the harbour) so much easier. As we get older it is too hard to remember to ring and pay each time we use the bridge.
Where to have our Christmas dinner this year - to BYO or to not BYO that is the question.
The importance of Font choice in different formats: news vs novels vs internet
What will be in the London Olympics opening ceremony... our guesses.

Overall rating: 6.5/10 (8 reviewers. Highest score: 9 Lowest score: 5)

Tuesday, 23 September 2008

October book: Half a Life by V.S. Naipaul

Our next book is Half a Life by V.S.Naipaul, chosen by Fe. Our discussion will be held on Monday 13th October.

Click here for pre-reading:

From the publisher
Review from The Guardian
Exerpt from ReadingGroupGuides.Com
About the author from Wikipedia

Melbourne Writers Festival

2008 marked the Melbourne Writers Festival's move from its old digs at The Malthouse in South Melbourne to Federation Square (or FedSquare as it is more colloquially known). I have always been a big fan of this particular festival and try to make an effort to spend a weekend there each year. However, this year I was a little disappointed with the atmosphere by comparison with the old location, however my views were not shared by all and certainly ticket sales were up.

Check out the views of these bloggers of this event:

Mark Savas at The Elegant Variation

Fairlie at aroundthetraps

M at EasternMax

Perry Middlemiss at Matilda

Tuesday, 9 September 2008

Discussion: March by Geraldine Brooks

Meeting date: Monday 8 September 2008
Quorum: 7/11
Rating: 7.6/10 (Range 7-8)

Why the book was chosen

*Alternative to the original choice (Middlesex) which was deemed a bit long.
*Had read author's other books Year of Wonders and Nine Parts of Desire and loved them
*Topical issues surrounding African Americans considering that the US has their first African American nominee for President
*Everyone read and loved Little Women so would be interesting to see how this book dovetails to that one

What we discussed about Geraldine Brooks

*Born 1955 in Australia
*Worked as a journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald before heading to Columbia University, NYC
*Worked as a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal
*Won the Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for this book
*Married to an author with a keen interest in everything to do with the American Civil War

What we discussed about the book/author

*Geraldine has written about the Middle East, Britain and the US but not about her home country, Australia. Would we accept a non-Australian writing about points in Australian history? For example, the Ned Kelly story? Perhaps her absorption of Civil War history via her husband places her in a unique position to write about US history? Perhaps her ability to distance herself from the issues helped?

*Is the character of Grace, a strong African American woman, really possible in this context and this time? Was reportedly based on a composite of real characters.

*Did this book change anyone's opinion of the US Civil War? No, we are exposed to many resources about the war including many good quality documentaries which detailed the true horror of the times.

*Is this book an allegory for conflict in the Middle East? Most felt it was. The purpose being to reflect on the many interwoven, complex and conflicting reasons why individuals and countries go to war.

*That Geraldine was clever to interweave this story in with the story of Little Women so cleverly and so believably.

*Was March a vegetarian? Could we recall whether the March girls were vegetarian in Little Women. One member thought not as she recalled that they mentioned eating sausages in the book.

*At an author event a couple of years back some of the members recall Geraldine Brooks showing a Civil War era buckle she found at a battle site and how it made her wonder who it belonged to and what their story was. Had she mentioned this as the inspiration for the story?

*Some members felt that there was an interwoven theme of "Hair" throughout the book. With a genesis in Jo March selling her hair in Little Women there was much mention of hair - grabbing hair, locks of hair etc throughout the story.

*Did we like the character of March? He was described by one member as "idealistic" and by another as "pious". One member found herself falling in love with him while another was put off by his relationship with Grace. Overall his character was viewed positively.

We also digressed to these topics:

*We enjoyed hearing about Fe's recent trip to Europe and asked after our former bookclub member Wikke who has recently returned to her native Holland.
*Why people can discuss whether or not they like a book without getting into a heated discussion but not politics. We then had a luke-warm (rather than heated) discussion about US politics.
*Knitting bags for orphaned and ill wildlife.
*Why don't vegans use wool? It doesn't harm the animal to shear it. Is it about the treatment of the animal?