The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

This month we decided to go back to the classics. "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" is precisely the sort of classic that all members had heard of, but none had actually read. It also had the advantage of being quite a short book, important in the busy pre-Christmas time (as it turned out, most agreed after having read it, that while the book was short, it was by no means a "quick read").

The discussion of the book with its focus on a teacher very quickly took us on to a discussion of education and whether we'd like our children to have a teacher like Miss Brodie. the general consensus was: "No way!" Most of us felt that she played favourites, discouraged a team spirit even amongst the "chosen" girls, and neither her methods nor the content of her teachings inspired us much.

Another big topic of discussion was what makes this book such a highly-regarded classic. Most felt that whilst this was a very well-written book, it perhaps fell a bit short of greatness. We wondered if perhaps, since Edinburgh features so prominently in the book, it could have been better appreciated by those with a more intimate knowledge of that city.

The average score for the book was 7.3. The scores given showed a remarkable consistency, being either 7.0 or 7.5.

All in all, everyone agreed that it good to have read the book.

Before I Go to Sleep by S J Watson

This month we read a psychological thriller, Before I Go to Sleep by S.J.Watson.

A sub-genre to the thriller genre, psychological thrillers rely on the protagonist resolving the issues in the plot by using the processes of the mind, rather than by physical strength. Features of this style are often a first-person narrative and access to the protagonist's thought processes.

Thrillers of all types rely on holding the reader's fascination by slowly revealing the 'truth' and that that 'truth' is not too easy to guess within the first half of the book. The reality is that readers are used to this device and often try to guess the truth at the outset as a kind of game rather than let the story unfold. The prize going to the reader who was "least fooled" by the author. In addition thrillers provide an opportunity for people to look for inconsistencies in the plot.

In this book the author had a great plot idea with a protagonist who could not hold memories from beyond her mid-twenties for more than about 12-16 hours and thus was the ultimate in the unreliable narrator. Many of our bookgroup, however, still found that despite this device the story twists were too easy to guess and found many holes in the plot.

The publisher asks us

Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep?

The Sydney Morning Herald says

Christine has a problem with her memory: most mornings when she wakes she thinks she's 20; other days she's a child; then there are the days when she has no idea who she is at all. If the handsome, middle-aged, married man sleeping next to her comes as a bit of a surprise, it's nothing compared with the shock of seeing her forty something face in the mirror.[..]the novel is so good in fact, its use of point of view so extremely accomplished, it's easy to overlook Watson's literary shortcomings, minor as they are: the fashionable but these days overused short,crisp sentences; and the absence of literary experimentation, always disappointing in a debut.

However the proof of the novel is in the reading and this bookgroup received mixed ratings despite most agreeing it was a page-turner. For some it was because the genre simply doesn't appeal, for others it was because the twist was, for them, too easy to guess and for yet others it was the lack of literary style which meant they were kept interested for half the book but not the second half. For those who liked the book it was because it was a page-turner and was the right book to read at the right time.

Our scores range: 5.0-8.5
Average: 6.95

A Tiny Bit Marvellous by Dawn French

Linda chose A Tiny Bit Marvellous because she loves Dawn French (who doesn't) and had read her memoir Dear Fatty.

It was a small bookgroup gathering with only half of our membership attending. Three of us had read the book, two didn't quite finish and one had read a completely different book (Dear Fatty) by mistake! One other member had read the book and emailed comments in.

Nevertheless it was a great discussion. Starting with watching the youtube videos uploaded to advertise the book we discussed whether people would read the book just because it was written by Dawn French? We decided yes, such is the good feeling about her. However, we also noted that the cover to the book is extremely appealling; and given that covers are very important in attracting people to books a % of people would likely have chosen the book this way.

It fascinated us that Dawn French doesn't own a computer and that she still writes out longhand. Simone said this is quite common for writers as the slower process of longhand gives the author more time to consider his or her words than modern keyboard typing.

We then digressed to a discussion about the teaching of touch typing in schools. We argued that if cursive writing was going to be eliminated from the curriculum because our children were going to grow up using computers then touch-typing should be a compulsory element of the school curriculum. We all lamented that while our children were reasonable typists they had poor technique which will trip them up later on. Many of us had tried to teach our children touch-typing but no matter the program used it was like learning an instrument - unless they practise and are prepared to go through all the boring repetitive bits they soon lose interest.

Back to talking about the book we universally disliked the Dora's 18 yo character. Many of us are mothers of teenage girls and secretly hope that our daughters are nothing like Dora in a few years time. Does Dora represent a composite of the teenage girls we know - we didn't think so. If this is a composite of teenage girls in modern Britain then we were horrified.

Largely we decided that this was not a book we would recommend others to read and this was reflected in the scores which ranged from 5-6 with a single outlying score at 8.

Average score: 5.9

Our next book is Before I Go to Sleep by S J Watson. Some pre-reading to get you started:

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/in-memory-of-a-working-mum-20110721-1hpg9.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/apr/16/before-i-sleep-sj-watson-review

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Kate chose this book because she was about to move to Prague and Milan Kundera is a Czech author.

On the whole we found the book to be misogynistic.  The theme of heaviness and lightness was well thought through but the vehicle was not. The same themes could have been illustrated around the subject of the Prague Spring - the time during which the novel was set - but instead we felt the author chose this book as a vehicle to justify his own existence.  His assumptions about women were annoying.

Our side discussions about our teenagers, Facebook, social development and the demise of our children talking face to face in light of social media and texting were far more interesting.

Eight members scored the book ranging from 0.5 to 6.

Average score: 4.4

Death of a Red Heroine by Qui Xiaolong

Chinese crime novel set in the mid 1990s at a period of reform in China.

1991 First McDonald's in Beijing
1997 Hong Kong handover
1997 Deng Xiopeng dies

7 out of 14 members finished the book and gave a score: Score range: 6 - 7.5.

Average score: 6.8

April Book - Bereft by Chris Womersley

This book was chosen because it was set in Australia and because "it was short, with big writing" - always elements of a promising bookclub book! There was a general murmur of appreciation for this. The blurb:

It is 1919. The Great War has ended, but the Spanish flu epidemic is raging through Australia. Schools are closed, state borders are guarded by armed men, and train travel is severely restricted. There are rumours it is the end of the world.

In the NSW town of Flint, Quinn Walker returns to the home he fled ten years earlier when he was accused of an unspeakable crime. Aware that his father and uncle would surely hang him, Quinn hides in the hills surrounding Flint. There, he meets a mysterious young girl called Sadie Fox, who encourages him to seek justice — and seems to know more about the crime than she should.

Early on in the book we learn what "the unspeakable crime" was. We agreed that we were grateful that this was dealt with early in the book so the reader can concentrate on the core of the book which was the return of Quinn and his defence of his innocence. Discussed:

• The author believes the book has definite musical themes, one of which is Chopin's "Nocturnes".


• We discussed whether Sadie Fox was real or imagined? None of us considered the possibility that she was imagined but agreed it was possible.


• The book is set in a real area of NSW - Hillend, near Bathurst - the site of early gold rushes.


• The book was full of spiritual themes - seances, witchcraft.


• It was well edited. Apparently the (female) editor cut the book by about a half.


• The imagery of NSW countryside was beautiful and compared in power to that in Breath by Tim Winton.


• One member, who was born overseas, didn't like the imagery in the book and the book didn't interest her which makes us wonder if the book would really only appeal to Australians who know or like the country.

In general, a very well-liked book. Scoring: Range: 7-9

March Book: Teacher Man by Frank McCourt

We discussed this book on Monday 21 March.

J chose the book because her daughter started high school this year so a book about high school teaching was very topical. She feels that teachers are often underrated.

Frank McCourt (1930 - 2009) was an irish-american teacher who wrote Angela's Ashes - a misery memoir about his impoverished childhood in Ireland. This book was written in 2005 and is a memoir of his thirty year teaching career in NYC.

Our views on the book:

Captures the hopeless atmospher of New York in the 1970s
Has lots of good bits but doesn't really hang together.
McCourt is good when telling stories but comes across as very needy. He writes like he needs to move on from his past.
McCourt focusses solely on the bad things.
No common thread pulling it together - as if his publisher demanded a third book and he threw it together.
The book reads like it is for the fans of Angela's Ashes and T'is (his second memoir) and has a lot of assumed knowledge.
Some enjoyed the Irish accent that seems to come through the writing. Others enjoyed his gritty honesty in writing.
Expected a less bleak story than Angela's Ashes
It rambled. Liked some of the lesson techniques but didn't get the point of the book.
Enjoyed the other books more.
An indulgent book about a needy author.
Lacks structure. Has some good comic points and some inspiring elements.

Score range: 5-6.5

Average: 5.6/10