A Confederacy of Dunces

When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in a confederacy against him.

Jonathan Swift - Thoughts on various subjects, moral and diverting

And so lies the premise of this book. The central character, Ignatius J. Reilly, is an obese socially inept and out of work college graduate who specialised in medieval history and despises everything of the modern world. He truly believes in his genius and derives great pleasure from raging against the immorality of the modern world. Others view him as socially inept and just one foot from insanity. In this story he lumbers his obese body from situation to situation coming across a range of characters who, like him, fall short of social acceptance - the policeman who is despised by his precinct, the octogenarian accounts assistant of a failing men's pants manufacturer, the exotic dancer who reads 'Life' magazine to improve herself, his own suffering mother and Mr Robichaux who is always on the look out for 'Communiss' to name just a few.

LJ chose this book after seeing it on the First Tuesday Bookclub on ABC1. In a first for our bookclub LJ brought along the vidcast of the show when the book was discussed by Jennifer Byrne, Augusten Burroughs, Germaine Greer, Jason Steger and Marieke Hardy. This was a great way to start off our discussion, especially as the panellists were very divided on the book.

A Confederacy of Dunces was written by John Kennedy Toole and published in 1980, 11 years after the author's suicide. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981 and is now regarded as a literary classic. Set in the French Quarter of New Orleans it is regarded as having one of the best depictions of that city's particular dialect - largely reflected in the language of Burma Jones, the black worker at The Night of Joy bar and strip joint.

The book, however, is difficult to read. The three of us who finished reading the book all agreed it was a slog and perhaps the low attendance figures at bookclub also reflected this. Despite this the book resulted in lively discussion about the characters, the themes, the (lack of) plot.

On the basis of pure reading enjoyment we each gave the book a low score but discussed how we were glad to have read it. The book contains extraordinary characters, a lot of rage and extreme complexity but it is also rambling and would have benefited from a good edit. The character of Ignatius J. Reilly is repugnant and while we agreed that one doesn't have to like a character to enjoy a book we also felt that the extremity of his repugnance never abated and made for a difficult relationship between reader and book.

Our scores were low: 5/10, 6/10 and 6/10 however we recommend that if you are the sort of reader who wants to understand the books that have become cult and mainstream classics then you should set aside the time to read A Confederacy of Dunces. But don't expect it to be easy.

Next month's book: The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman

Discussion: My Year of Meat by Ruth Ozeki

Meeting held: Monday 10th November

Location: Mosman

Thankfully, none of the meat products from the book were offered! We were on a vegetarian diet...

About the Author:

From her website:

Ozeki was born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, by an American father and a Japanese mother. She studied English and Asian Studies at Smith College and traveled extensively in Asia. She received a Japanese Ministry of Education Fellowship to do graduate work in classical Japanese literature at Nara University. During her years in Japan, she worked in Kyoto's entertainment or "water" district as a bar hostess, studied flower arrangement as well as Noh drama and mask carving, founded a language school, and taught in the English Department at Kyoto Sangyo University. Ozeki returned to New York in 1985 and began a film career as an art director, designing sets and props for low budget horror movies. She switched to television production, and after several years directing documentary-style programs for a Japanese company, she started making her own films.

Synopsis:

Japanese-American documentary filmmaker works for meat export company to make a TV show for Japanese audiences which highlights the lives of American wives, with each show culminating with the wife cooking a meat dish. So ensues a journey which changes the lives of many women and highlights the less savoury aspects of the American meat industry.

What we talked about:

• Authenticity as a concept is questioned in the book. We discussed what is authenticity?
• The cinematic style of the novel and the influence of the author's documentary-maker background on this.
• Experiences of mixed-nationality marriages in our own lives and the extent to which they face the same issues as those in the book.
• That the enjoyment of a particular book depends on the context of your life at the time of reading.
• That some stereotypes were challenged in the book - particularly that of the Texan Mama.
• The incidence of precocious puberty and whether anyone we knew had a child who has been through this.

We also chatted about:

• Trying a pre-rating system like the No1MelbourneLadiesBookclub. We did it and no-one altered their rating before and after the discussion.
• Buying meat in Australia. Whether or not poultry is our danger meat.
• Buying meat in the US.
• Walmart
• The printer now available in one Sydney shop that lets you print off out of print copies of books.
• The location of our Christmas dinner.
• One husband has suggested setting up a bookgroup for the other husbands: Blokes at the Oaks. We agree it would be great but they can't meet on the same night as us!

Ratings

"Loved the first half. Give it a 9 for the first half but didn't laugh in the last few chapters. Should've stuck to the story about making the TV show [and not digressed]. 7/10"

"Loved it. Laughed. Cried. Liked the Characters. 8/10"

"I thought it was going to be different than this, but I enjoyed it. 7/10"

"This was my second try at reading this. This time I enjoyed it. 8/10"

"A page-turner. It jammed so much in in relation to Japanese culture. A bit too neat at the end. 8 1/2 out of 10"

"Loved the humour. Was quirky. Wasn't sure what it was going to be about. A little chaotic. Needs a tighter edit. 7 1/2 out of 10"

"Read before. Scored it higher last time. Starts more coherently than it finishes. Perhaps too many characters? 8/10"

Average score: 7.7/10

November book: My Year of Meat by Ruth Ozeki

Our November choice is: My Year of Meat by Ruth Ozeki

Meeting date: Monday 10 November

Pre-Reading:

• Ruth Ozeki's website: http://www.ruthozeki.com/meats/conversation.html
• Amazon entry: http://www.amazon.com/My-Year-Meat-Ruth-Ozeki/dp/0330490443
• Penguin reading guides: http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/my_year_of_meats.html
• Australian feedlot peak body: http://www.feedlots.com.au/
• The Australian animal lib view: http://www.animal-lib.org.au/lists/feedlots/feedlots.shtml

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)

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

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?