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Book: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Discussion:
We had an excellent turnout this month to discuss an excellent book. Twenty-one readers attended this month’s discussion of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the majority of the group enjoyed it. Eighteen Page Turners gave the novel a thumbs up vote, two voted thumbs sideways, and one abstained. This bodes well for next year, as we will be reading the second in Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire, in July.
Though most of the group members thoroughly enjoyed the selection, a few shortcomings were identified. One was the overabundance of coffee and cigarettes. One of the Page Turners remarked that our European counterparts still smoke more than we do, which may account for the frequent tobacco references. A second drawback was the superfluity of content. More than one group member thought the book could have been streamlined, although it was said that the final hundred pages were much easier to get through. This brought up the oscillation of pacing in the book. At some points the story would move very quickly, only to slow down, and then suddenly speed up again, depending on the action. Some of this action struck a chord with a few readers as well, there being a proliferation of sex and violence in the story.
As the voting on the book demonstrates, this month’s readers found a lot to like about the book, in spite of the enumerated shortcomings. Most of these had to do with the characterization, although one group member commented that she enjoyed the translation of the book despite not normally being a fan of translated works. The Page Turners also found the statistics communicated at the beginning of each section of the book interesting. We wondered if those statistics were accurate and decided that since Larsson was a journalist they probably were. Yet, it was the characterization that made the book, the character of Lisbeth in particular. Though the group hated the violence directed towards Salander, they loved how she fought against it. One reader called her punishment of guardian Bjurman “wonderful”. We also discussed the idea of Lisbeth having Asperger’s syndrome. It has been suggested in several reviews and summaries that this was the case. One Page Turner related her experience with Asperger’s and based on that felt confident that Lisbeth exhibited several signs of the syndrome, in addition to many other gifts.
We also commented on the characters of Gottfried and Martin, the father-son homicide team. Readers were surprised that there was not just one murderer spanning a period of fifty years, but two, the latter being initiated into killing by his father. We all agreed that both of these men were pretty sick, and the group members did not judge Harriet too harshly for pushing her father into the lake.
The final character we discussed in-depth was Mikael. Mikael was a strong character, in fact, readers frequently question who really serves as the protagonist of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, him or Lisbeth. Based on the later novels, I would say it is Lisbeth, although the first book does an excellent job of solidifying the two as a team, which provides the basis for their interactions in the later works. One Page Turner commented that she thought Mikael was a little over done in his role as a ladies’ man. Every female in the book seemed to want him, but she doubted he was “that sexy”. She hypothesized that Mikael represented Larsson’s fantasy for himself, the dashing journalist turning heads with every scoop.
We could not end a discussion of this book without talking about Larsson himself. By now almost every reader knows that he had planned to make Millennium into a ten book series, but died after only turning in the first three books. The circumstances surrounding his death are also widely known, Larsson collapsed from a heart attack after running up several flights of stairs at his office while the elevator was out. Due to the delicate nature of some of his journalistic work, some question whether or not there was more to the story. Many readers also know that Larsson had a long-time partner who he lived with but never married. It is rumored that the partner has a fourth or fifth book in the series in her possession but may not release it due to issues with the estate. Whatever the real story is, we were certain that either a fourth or fifth novel would find a huge audience.
As the meeting concluded, we discussed the film versions of Larsson’s books. A few of us had seen one or more of the Swedish versions, and with the library ordering copies of the DVDs many more are sure to view them as well. We await the American version of the first movie with wonder and bated breath.
As usual, flyers for upcoming programming and copies of next month’s selection, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, were made available. The reading list for 2011 was also revealed. Copies of the list will be available at all upcoming meetings.
Friday, November 12, 2010
September 23, 2010: Page Turners 7 p.m.
Book: Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson
Discussion:
We had a good turnout at this month’s discussion of Erik Larson’s Isaac’s Storm. The book received a warm reception as well, with eleven of the thirteen members attending giving the book a thumbs up vote. The remaining two readers voted sideways.
Isaac’s Storm is the third work the Page Turners have read by Larson. We read Devil in the White City in 2004 and Thunderstruck in 2009. The general consensus was that Isaac’s Storm was a good read, but not quite as good as Devil in the White City. The only drawback mentioned was the book’s somewhat choppy flow. However, one Page Turner suggested that this flow mirrored the choppiness of the storm itself and its trajectory.
In addition to the book’s style, we also commented on its characters, Isaac Cline in particular. As the title character, I expected Isaac to play a large role in the book and to be a benevolent character. Instead, he seemed a bit conceited, and Larson pointed out more than once that Isaac exaggerated about the amount of people he warned about the storm and the number of lives he saved. One of the group members remarked that Isaac always appeared concerned over whether he did the right thing by leaving the weather station and going home to his family. With so many people taking refuge in his house, it seemed that he did in fact make the right decision.
We also discussed the resentment between Isaac and his brother Joseph. The book made it sound as if most of the problem was Joseph’s jealousy of Isaac. It was unclear to me whether that jealousy was justified, if Joseph had a case of “sour grapes”, or if his contributions were under-appreciated and disregarded. I actually preferred Joseph over his brother. Whereas Isaac seemed to mention the number of people he saved who were not members of his family fairly frequently, Joseph was the one who grabbed his two nieces and jumped out the window with them as Isaac’s house collapsed.
Many of the group members stated that the book inspired them to do research on the events we read about, which is an admirable goal of any good work of non-fiction. Several readers went online and to print resources to look for pictures of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. Some of these Page Turners brought this supplemental material to the meeting with them. One of the items we passed around was a newspaper that contained photographs of the hurricane’s destruction.
I must confess I also did some research after reading the book. I finished my reading near the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Afterward, I wanted to compare the strength of these two hurricanes and a third, 1992’s Hurricane Andrew. According to the National Hurricane Center, the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 remains the deadliest storm in the United States since 1851, with an estimated 8,000 fatalities. Hurricane Katrina ranks third on this list with 1,500 deaths. I was unable to locate Hurricane Andrew on this list, which cataloged all storms between 1851 and 2006 that caused over twenty-five deaths. The accompanying article did, however, mention Hurricane Andrew as the second costliest hurricane in the United States during that timeframe.
We could not avoid touching on the topic of Hurricane Katrina after reading this book. It seemed as if almost everyone in the group knew someone who was affected by that storm directly or indirectly. We also discussed the government’s involvement during and after the storm. One group member said she hoped many lessons were learned as a result of the levy situation, the events at the Superdome, and general reaction to the storm.
We also discussed tornadoes, since we see those more frequently here in the Garland area. One Page Turner brought up the Jarrell tornado, a powerful F5 cyclone, which hit the Central Texas town in May of 1997, in addition to two F2 tornadoes which touched down in the same area on the same day.
We concluded the meeting by discussing the effect the hurricane had on Galveston. At the turn of the century, Galveston and Houston were vying with each other for recognition as the premiere port city in Texas. After the hurricane, Galveston could no longer compete with Houston and has since never recovered the prestige it once enjoyed. It did, however, gain its famous seawall as a result of the storm of 1900.
As usual, flyers for upcoming programming were distributed at this month’s meeting. Group members also turned in their ballots for voting on selections for next year’s reading list. The list will be revealed next month, at which time we will be discussing Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Discussion:
We had a good turnout at this month’s discussion of Erik Larson’s Isaac’s Storm. The book received a warm reception as well, with eleven of the thirteen members attending giving the book a thumbs up vote. The remaining two readers voted sideways.
Isaac’s Storm is the third work the Page Turners have read by Larson. We read Devil in the White City in 2004 and Thunderstruck in 2009. The general consensus was that Isaac’s Storm was a good read, but not quite as good as Devil in the White City. The only drawback mentioned was the book’s somewhat choppy flow. However, one Page Turner suggested that this flow mirrored the choppiness of the storm itself and its trajectory.
In addition to the book’s style, we also commented on its characters, Isaac Cline in particular. As the title character, I expected Isaac to play a large role in the book and to be a benevolent character. Instead, he seemed a bit conceited, and Larson pointed out more than once that Isaac exaggerated about the amount of people he warned about the storm and the number of lives he saved. One of the group members remarked that Isaac always appeared concerned over whether he did the right thing by leaving the weather station and going home to his family. With so many people taking refuge in his house, it seemed that he did in fact make the right decision.
We also discussed the resentment between Isaac and his brother Joseph. The book made it sound as if most of the problem was Joseph’s jealousy of Isaac. It was unclear to me whether that jealousy was justified, if Joseph had a case of “sour grapes”, or if his contributions were under-appreciated and disregarded. I actually preferred Joseph over his brother. Whereas Isaac seemed to mention the number of people he saved who were not members of his family fairly frequently, Joseph was the one who grabbed his two nieces and jumped out the window with them as Isaac’s house collapsed.
Many of the group members stated that the book inspired them to do research on the events we read about, which is an admirable goal of any good work of non-fiction. Several readers went online and to print resources to look for pictures of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. Some of these Page Turners brought this supplemental material to the meeting with them. One of the items we passed around was a newspaper that contained photographs of the hurricane’s destruction.
I must confess I also did some research after reading the book. I finished my reading near the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Afterward, I wanted to compare the strength of these two hurricanes and a third, 1992’s Hurricane Andrew. According to the National Hurricane Center, the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 remains the deadliest storm in the United States since 1851, with an estimated 8,000 fatalities. Hurricane Katrina ranks third on this list with 1,500 deaths. I was unable to locate Hurricane Andrew on this list, which cataloged all storms between 1851 and 2006 that caused over twenty-five deaths. The accompanying article did, however, mention Hurricane Andrew as the second costliest hurricane in the United States during that timeframe.
We could not avoid touching on the topic of Hurricane Katrina after reading this book. It seemed as if almost everyone in the group knew someone who was affected by that storm directly or indirectly. We also discussed the government’s involvement during and after the storm. One group member said she hoped many lessons were learned as a result of the levy situation, the events at the Superdome, and general reaction to the storm.
We also discussed tornadoes, since we see those more frequently here in the Garland area. One Page Turner brought up the Jarrell tornado, a powerful F5 cyclone, which hit the Central Texas town in May of 1997, in addition to two F2 tornadoes which touched down in the same area on the same day.
We concluded the meeting by discussing the effect the hurricane had on Galveston. At the turn of the century, Galveston and Houston were vying with each other for recognition as the premiere port city in Texas. After the hurricane, Galveston could no longer compete with Houston and has since never recovered the prestige it once enjoyed. It did, however, gain its famous seawall as a result of the storm of 1900.
As usual, flyers for upcoming programming were distributed at this month’s meeting. Group members also turned in their ballots for voting on selections for next year’s reading list. The list will be revealed next month, at which time we will be discussing Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
August 26, 2010: Page Turners 7 p.m.
Book: The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
Discusssion:
This month’s selection, The Given Day by Dennis Lehane, received a very positive response from the group. Of the ten members attending, nine gave the book a thumbs up, and one went sideways.
The main detractors of this novel were the frequent change in viewpoint and the choice language. The story was told alternately from Danny Coughlin, Luther Lawrence, and Babe Ruth’s points of view, and all of these sections sported colorful language, which, considering Danny and Babe’s occupations of policeman and ball player, was not completely surprising.
As usual, the group spent quite a bit of time discussing the book’s characters. In particular we discussed Babe Ruth. Many of us could have taken him or left him. He was not very likeable, but his situation with his baseball career provided an interesting correlation to Danny and the other police officers’ struggles. The description of Ruth’s salary prompted a discussion about the cost of seeing a baseball game. One group member remembered when it cost about ten dollars to take her children to a game and eat hot dogs. This in turn led to many comments on the rise in cost of many things these days, such as movie tickets.
We also talked about some of the members of the Coughlin family, specifically Nora, the housekeeper who marries Danny, and Joe, Danny’s youngest brother. With Nora, we mainly discussed her first marriage in Ireland, the arrival of her husband on the Coughlin family stoop, and her resulting bigamous marriage to Danny. One group member pointed out that it was common for immigrant men to remarry once in the United States, but fairly uncommon for a woman, such as Nora, to do so.
Despite her less than glamorous past, Nora was very good to Joe while she worked in the Coughlin household. The group unanimously expressed their horror concerning his father’s beating of Joe, particularly since it was punishment for saying a word Mr. Coughlin frequently used himself. We discussed how different each of the Coughlin brothers were, Danny and Joe perhaps being the most similar. We could never pin down Joe’s exact age though, which bothered us. Some of us thought he was quite young, maybe eight or ten, whereas others pictured him older, about twelve or fourteen.
In addition to the characters, we also discussed some historical themes in connection with the novel. The first of these themes was corruption in government, which is actually not exclusively historical. We talked about immigration in relation to corruption, the melting pot expression, and the idea of there always being an underdog in the U.S. population, such as the Irish and Italians in The Given Day.
We also discussed diseases, such as the Spanish Influenza outbreak detailed in the book, the Swine Flu, and the recent salmonella scare. One Page Turner did some research on the flu epidemic of 1918 and found that millions were attacked and approximately fifty million were killed by it.
We also mentioned the change in the perception of police officers from workers forced to buy their own uniforms and weapons while being paid an extremely low wage to essential public servants.
We ended the meeting by talking about some of Lehane’s other books, the movies based on them, and the reading list for next year. Flyers for upcoming programming and next month’s selection, Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson, were also made available.
Discusssion:
This month’s selection, The Given Day by Dennis Lehane, received a very positive response from the group. Of the ten members attending, nine gave the book a thumbs up, and one went sideways.
The main detractors of this novel were the frequent change in viewpoint and the choice language. The story was told alternately from Danny Coughlin, Luther Lawrence, and Babe Ruth’s points of view, and all of these sections sported colorful language, which, considering Danny and Babe’s occupations of policeman and ball player, was not completely surprising.
As usual, the group spent quite a bit of time discussing the book’s characters. In particular we discussed Babe Ruth. Many of us could have taken him or left him. He was not very likeable, but his situation with his baseball career provided an interesting correlation to Danny and the other police officers’ struggles. The description of Ruth’s salary prompted a discussion about the cost of seeing a baseball game. One group member remembered when it cost about ten dollars to take her children to a game and eat hot dogs. This in turn led to many comments on the rise in cost of many things these days, such as movie tickets.
We also talked about some of the members of the Coughlin family, specifically Nora, the housekeeper who marries Danny, and Joe, Danny’s youngest brother. With Nora, we mainly discussed her first marriage in Ireland, the arrival of her husband on the Coughlin family stoop, and her resulting bigamous marriage to Danny. One group member pointed out that it was common for immigrant men to remarry once in the United States, but fairly uncommon for a woman, such as Nora, to do so.
Despite her less than glamorous past, Nora was very good to Joe while she worked in the Coughlin household. The group unanimously expressed their horror concerning his father’s beating of Joe, particularly since it was punishment for saying a word Mr. Coughlin frequently used himself. We discussed how different each of the Coughlin brothers were, Danny and Joe perhaps being the most similar. We could never pin down Joe’s exact age though, which bothered us. Some of us thought he was quite young, maybe eight or ten, whereas others pictured him older, about twelve or fourteen.
In addition to the characters, we also discussed some historical themes in connection with the novel. The first of these themes was corruption in government, which is actually not exclusively historical. We talked about immigration in relation to corruption, the melting pot expression, and the idea of there always being an underdog in the U.S. population, such as the Irish and Italians in The Given Day.
We also discussed diseases, such as the Spanish Influenza outbreak detailed in the book, the Swine Flu, and the recent salmonella scare. One Page Turner did some research on the flu epidemic of 1918 and found that millions were attacked and approximately fifty million were killed by it.
We also mentioned the change in the perception of police officers from workers forced to buy their own uniforms and weapons while being paid an extremely low wage to essential public servants.
We ended the meeting by talking about some of Lehane’s other books, the movies based on them, and the reading list for next year. Flyers for upcoming programming and next month’s selection, Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson, were also made available.
Monday, July 26, 2010
July 22, 2010: Page Turners 7 p.m.
Book: Dilly of a Death by Susan Wittig Albert
Discussion:
The reaction to this month’s book, Dilly of a Death by Susan Wittig Albert, was rather varied. Three group members voted thumbs up, two gave it a thumbs down, five voted thumbs sideways, and one abstained from voting.
One of the main objections to the book was that it was the twelfth book in a series of eighteen. Many readers dislike starting in the middle of a series because they do not feel acquainted with the characters or their histories. One Page Turner, who happens to be an Albert fan, gave the first book in the series, Thyme of Death, a ringing endorsement.
The characters presented a problem for some readers, too. While several group members commented that they found China and McQuaid to be interesting characters and Ruby an original sidekick, others thought they felt a bit stereotypical. Our Albert fan reminded the group that since this was the first China Bayles book for many of us we did not have the opportunity to get to know them over time. Readers of the entire series would probably feel comfortable enough by the twelfth book to be able to focus more on plot than characterization.
We also learned about the character of Brian from this group member. Brian was McQuaid’s son from an earlier marriage. One Page Turner commented that he was mentioned several times in the book, but seemed to have no one to look after him with China and McQuaid involved in investigative pursuits. Apparently, in the first few books of the series Brian lived with his mother, a woman typified as a flake. However, by the time Dilly of a Death takes place he has more or less moved in with China and McQuaid.
Another sticking point was the relationship between Amy and Kate. Some group members felt like the relationship between the two women did not jive, particularly with Amy’s list of former boyfriends. At one point in the book, China did wonder if Amy had embarked upon the relationship for reasons of a non-romantic nature, such as security, convenience and companionship, which could be correct. We would have to read the later books in the series to find out.
As in the novel, we engaged in quite a bit of discussion before talking about the mystery aspect of the story. One Page Turner remarked that it was not until page one hundred and thirty-six that we had a body. It seemed as if this installment in the series focused more on the domestic portions of the characters’ lives than on a crime, which again would not be such a drawback were we reading the entire series.
Many of the elements of a good mystery were present in Dilly of a Death; the celebrity of the victim, an original, yet characterized manner of death, several suspects, some with dubious connections, and romantic affiliations. However, it seemed to me, as if there were not many clues as to the killer’s identity. Once I finished the book, I could not look back and identify any thing I might have picked up on earlier to help me figure out who killed Phoebe Morgan.
There were several things we did enjoy about the book, the foremost being the Texas setting. Many Page Turners have travelled to the Texas Hill Country and enjoyed reading about a recognizable place. We all identified with the rainstorm that pre-empted the Pickle Fest. Quite a few of our group members came to Texas from other states, several from Michigan, but in their time here have come to appreciate the weather, making the deluge in the book no unfamiliar event.
One Page Turner really enjoyed the metaphysical elements of the book and identified with the character of Ruby. As a result, we spent a bit of time discussing various herbs that are known to have medicinal properties and others that are just unique. We all wished we could have sampled some of the tea shop’s lavender scones!
The discussion of herbs led into a talk of health and healthcare which took us to the end of the meeting. We also took suggestions for next year’s reading list. At the August meeting we will distribute an annotated list of selections and a voting ballot. Group members will select the twelve books they are most interested in reading and bring that list with them to the September meeting, after which the votes will be tallied.
We also passed out flyers for upcoming programming and copies of next month’s selection, The Given Day by Dennis Lehane, as the meeting concluded.
Discussion:
The reaction to this month’s book, Dilly of a Death by Susan Wittig Albert, was rather varied. Three group members voted thumbs up, two gave it a thumbs down, five voted thumbs sideways, and one abstained from voting.
One of the main objections to the book was that it was the twelfth book in a series of eighteen. Many readers dislike starting in the middle of a series because they do not feel acquainted with the characters or their histories. One Page Turner, who happens to be an Albert fan, gave the first book in the series, Thyme of Death, a ringing endorsement.
The characters presented a problem for some readers, too. While several group members commented that they found China and McQuaid to be interesting characters and Ruby an original sidekick, others thought they felt a bit stereotypical. Our Albert fan reminded the group that since this was the first China Bayles book for many of us we did not have the opportunity to get to know them over time. Readers of the entire series would probably feel comfortable enough by the twelfth book to be able to focus more on plot than characterization.
We also learned about the character of Brian from this group member. Brian was McQuaid’s son from an earlier marriage. One Page Turner commented that he was mentioned several times in the book, but seemed to have no one to look after him with China and McQuaid involved in investigative pursuits. Apparently, in the first few books of the series Brian lived with his mother, a woman typified as a flake. However, by the time Dilly of a Death takes place he has more or less moved in with China and McQuaid.
Another sticking point was the relationship between Amy and Kate. Some group members felt like the relationship between the two women did not jive, particularly with Amy’s list of former boyfriends. At one point in the book, China did wonder if Amy had embarked upon the relationship for reasons of a non-romantic nature, such as security, convenience and companionship, which could be correct. We would have to read the later books in the series to find out.
As in the novel, we engaged in quite a bit of discussion before talking about the mystery aspect of the story. One Page Turner remarked that it was not until page one hundred and thirty-six that we had a body. It seemed as if this installment in the series focused more on the domestic portions of the characters’ lives than on a crime, which again would not be such a drawback were we reading the entire series.
Many of the elements of a good mystery were present in Dilly of a Death; the celebrity of the victim, an original, yet characterized manner of death, several suspects, some with dubious connections, and romantic affiliations. However, it seemed to me, as if there were not many clues as to the killer’s identity. Once I finished the book, I could not look back and identify any thing I might have picked up on earlier to help me figure out who killed Phoebe Morgan.
There were several things we did enjoy about the book, the foremost being the Texas setting. Many Page Turners have travelled to the Texas Hill Country and enjoyed reading about a recognizable place. We all identified with the rainstorm that pre-empted the Pickle Fest. Quite a few of our group members came to Texas from other states, several from Michigan, but in their time here have come to appreciate the weather, making the deluge in the book no unfamiliar event.
One Page Turner really enjoyed the metaphysical elements of the book and identified with the character of Ruby. As a result, we spent a bit of time discussing various herbs that are known to have medicinal properties and others that are just unique. We all wished we could have sampled some of the tea shop’s lavender scones!
The discussion of herbs led into a talk of health and healthcare which took us to the end of the meeting. We also took suggestions for next year’s reading list. At the August meeting we will distribute an annotated list of selections and a voting ballot. Group members will select the twelve books they are most interested in reading and bring that list with them to the September meeting, after which the votes will be tallied.
We also passed out flyers for upcoming programming and copies of next month’s selection, The Given Day by Dennis Lehane, as the meeting concluded.
June 24, 2010: Page Turners 7 p.m.
Book: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Discussion:
We had a record vote this month at Page Turners. Of the twelve group members attending, ten readers gave this month’s selection, Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, a thumbs up vote. The two remaining members abstained from voting pending completion of the book.
We began the discussion by talking about the author. As her biography from Barnes and Noble stated, Lisa See does not immediately come to mind when readers think of Chinese-American authors. With her bright red hair and freckles it is easy to understand why that is. However, See is one-eighth Chinese. She grew up in the Chinatown area of Los Angeles and has even written a non-fiction book about her Chinese ancestors. One Page Turner heard See speak at the Dallas Museum of Art’s Arts and Letters Live program, and another provided us with an article on the event.
When asked what they liked best about the novel the group members responded that they enjoyed the historical fiction genre. They felt like they really learned something about China, and more specifically Shanghai, just before the Second World War. Several group members also thought the novel was easy to read. One read it in only three days, and another finished it in five days.
One thing the group members did not like about the book was the ending. The novel concluded with Joy running away to China and Pearl deciding to follow her, even though she would risk not being able to return to the United States. This seemed like a cliffhanger to some of the group members, who felt a sequel was in order. The article one member brought suggested that See’s next project is such a sequel.
We also discussed a few major events in the book and some of the characters. First, we talked about May and Pearl’s time on Angel Island, the concealing of May’s pregnancy, and the fabrication of Pearl’s pregnancy. We were a little surprised that the women managed it so well. I, personally, thought manufacturing a pregnancy for Pearl would be more difficult than hiding May’s. After Joy’s birth, and as she grew up, we wondered about May’s connection to her biological daughter. When she was little May would take her to the movie sets to make money, but otherwise seemed to have little to do with the girl and few maternal inclinations. Pearl, on the other hand, fully embraced her role as "Joy’s mother" and proved herself to be a much better parent than May probably would have been. When May revealed who really fathered Joy, we did question why Pearl had never previously considered the possibility of her being Z. G.’s child.
As the meeting concluded, we discussed a few more topics, such as many societies’ preoccupation with having sons, the death of May and Pearl’s mother, which revealed her to be more maternal than we had imagined, and Joy’s politics and Communist leanings.
A few group members also brought their suggestions for next year’s reading list. Suggestions will be collected next month as well, with ballot distribution at the August meeting. Flyers for upcoming programming and copies of next month’s selection, A Dilly of a Death by Susan Wittig Albert, were also provided.
Discussion:
We had a record vote this month at Page Turners. Of the twelve group members attending, ten readers gave this month’s selection, Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, a thumbs up vote. The two remaining members abstained from voting pending completion of the book.
We began the discussion by talking about the author. As her biography from Barnes and Noble stated, Lisa See does not immediately come to mind when readers think of Chinese-American authors. With her bright red hair and freckles it is easy to understand why that is. However, See is one-eighth Chinese. She grew up in the Chinatown area of Los Angeles and has even written a non-fiction book about her Chinese ancestors. One Page Turner heard See speak at the Dallas Museum of Art’s Arts and Letters Live program, and another provided us with an article on the event.
When asked what they liked best about the novel the group members responded that they enjoyed the historical fiction genre. They felt like they really learned something about China, and more specifically Shanghai, just before the Second World War. Several group members also thought the novel was easy to read. One read it in only three days, and another finished it in five days.
One thing the group members did not like about the book was the ending. The novel concluded with Joy running away to China and Pearl deciding to follow her, even though she would risk not being able to return to the United States. This seemed like a cliffhanger to some of the group members, who felt a sequel was in order. The article one member brought suggested that See’s next project is such a sequel.
We also discussed a few major events in the book and some of the characters. First, we talked about May and Pearl’s time on Angel Island, the concealing of May’s pregnancy, and the fabrication of Pearl’s pregnancy. We were a little surprised that the women managed it so well. I, personally, thought manufacturing a pregnancy for Pearl would be more difficult than hiding May’s. After Joy’s birth, and as she grew up, we wondered about May’s connection to her biological daughter. When she was little May would take her to the movie sets to make money, but otherwise seemed to have little to do with the girl and few maternal inclinations. Pearl, on the other hand, fully embraced her role as "Joy’s mother" and proved herself to be a much better parent than May probably would have been. When May revealed who really fathered Joy, we did question why Pearl had never previously considered the possibility of her being Z. G.’s child.
As the meeting concluded, we discussed a few more topics, such as many societies’ preoccupation with having sons, the death of May and Pearl’s mother, which revealed her to be more maternal than we had imagined, and Joy’s politics and Communist leanings.
A few group members also brought their suggestions for next year’s reading list. Suggestions will be collected next month as well, with ballot distribution at the August meeting. Flyers for upcoming programming and copies of next month’s selection, A Dilly of a Death by Susan Wittig Albert, were also provided.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
May 27, 2010: Page Turners 7 p.m.
Book: The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry
Discussion:
This month’s Page Turners’ selection, The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry, received a pretty positive reception. Eight group members gave it a thumbs up vote, two voted thumbs sideways, and one voted thumbs down.
The main detractor from the book was its hokiness. There were a few incidents in the book that seemed very unlikely. One of these was the idea that Alexi Romanov was the antecedent of the new heir instead of Alexi’s sister Anastasia. With Alexi’s hemophilia, Anastasia seemed like the more realistic choice to produce an heir, yet Berry killed her off as a young woman. Another example of hokiness in the book concerns the two would-be assassins Droopy and Cro-Magnon. It does not make a great deal of sense for the people who wanted Lord dead to use the same gangsters every time, especially after he learned to indentify them. Nor would it be realistic to continue employing them after they failed to dispatch their target so often.
One Page Turner found this hokiness and some of the invented fictional details a little too much, and even discussed some of the authentic historical facts in a blog post which she read to us. She commented that reading history as opposed to historical fiction is often more interesting.
Several of us really enjoyed the historical bits in the novel. Many of the group members confessed to having long-held interests in the Romanov family, as well as Fabergé Eggs which played a small part in the book. We thought the description of the Romanovs concealing their jewels on their bodies was particularly realistic, and enjoyed the parts concerning Rasputin too. At the meeting we learned about the legend of his death. Apparently there were many attempts on his life such as a poisoning and a stabbing, before he was finally shot and drowned.
A few readers brought related clippings with them. One was an article that described some DNA testing done in 2008 which confirmed that all the Romanovs had been killed in 1917. The other clipping was a review of the book George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I. Interestingly all three of these royal men were related through England’s Queen Victoria. George V was her son Edward VII’s son, Nicholas II married Alexandra, daughter of Alice, Victoria’s second daughter, and Wilhelm was the son of Princess Victoria, the eldest daughter of the English Queen.
We also discussed the bad guys’ practice of taking on the names of previous politicians such as Lenin and Khrushchev. We liked this because we did not have to figure out too many difficult Russian names, having already been familiar with these men.
We wrapped up the evening by talking about a few of Berry’s other books. One Page Turner had read The Charlemagne Pursuit and recommended it to the rest of us, and another mentioned The Third Secret. We also touched on a few other enjoyable historical fiction series, Gabaldon’s Outlander and Auel’s Clan of the Cave Bear.
Flyers for upcoming programming and copies of next month’s selection, Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, were distributed as usual, and group members were encouraged to bring suggestions for next year’s reading list to the June and July meetings.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
April 22, 2010: Page Turners 7 p.m.
Book: In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
Discussion:
We had quite a varied reaction to this month’s book, In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. Since we read his A Walk in the Woods last year I expected more thumbs up votes, but we only had three. Aside from those three, three other Page Turners voted sideways, and the final third abstained from voting.
We began the discussion by talking about Bryson in general. We wanted to know what exactly his occupation was before he began writing full-time. Some thought he had been a teacher. I read the biographical information I had brought with me but it did not properly address the question. After the meeting I looked up Bryson’s official site through Random House, which suggested that he had previously been a journalist in England. He wrote for both The Times and The Independent while supplementing his income with travel articles. In this respect Bryson seems similar to Dave Barry, a humor columnist and author we had already been comparing with Bryson.
Once we had dispensed with Bryson’s biography we moved on to his Australian trip. Throughout the book he takes different mini-trips, some by train, some by car, and he also references previous trips to the island continent. A few readers found it difficult to keep all these trips straight. It also reminded us of his piecemeal expedition on the Appalachian Trail. In that book, Bryson would hike a large portion of the Trail for many days at a time, then he would leave to fulfill other obligations and return when he could, sometimes only for a day.
We also discussed the numerous museums Bryson visited while in Australia. Some of them were quite surprising, like the Lambing Flat Museum, while others were just plain odd. In the latter type Bryson would often be the only visitor in them!
From here we digressed into recounting some of the funny anecdotes in the book. One we particularly enjoyed was the tale of a married couple out in a rented boat on a popular waterway. They were hoping to find some good fishing and noticed a small inlet where no one else was. They rowed down a bit and got their gear together only to realize they had steered right into alligator central. After about ten very disconcerting minutes they managed to return to safe waters, in tact and with an amusing story.
This story brought us to the topic of how many unique creatures there are in Australia, many of which could kill you quite easily. Some of these creatures include spiders, snakes, sharks, caterpillars, and jellyfish. With such a large amount of killer species several Page Turners questioned why anyone would choose to live in Australia. Thanks to some history provided by Bryson we know that Australia was originally established as a penal colony. Thus, those poor souls had no choice but to live among these animals. As to the current population, we can only assume that, having been born or raised among these creatures, the Australian people have grown used to them and as a result do not live in daily fear of them. Now Bryson presents a totally different question. I have always considered Bryson to be a fairly fearful individual. Yet, despite more than one encounter with a few of these creatures, our author continued to walk around quite a bit of Australia. Perhaps we misjudged him.
In regard to Bryson’s personality we did decide that we enjoy his adventures more when he shares them with other people. Part of the fun of reading A Walk in the Woods was discovering what kind of person his next hiking buddy would be. Reading about the different sites he visited in Australia was interesting but many of the more comical parts came when he was interacting with another person.
At this point we were nearing the end of the meeting and diverged into the topics of the World War II bombings in Darwin, immigration during that war, internment camps, and the 2008 film Australia. We also agreed that we learned many facts by reading this month’s book and are glad we did so, though we may think twice before making a trip to the land down under.
Flyers for upcoming programming and copies of next month’s selection, The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry, were also distributed as usual.
Discussion:
We had quite a varied reaction to this month’s book, In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. Since we read his A Walk in the Woods last year I expected more thumbs up votes, but we only had three. Aside from those three, three other Page Turners voted sideways, and the final third abstained from voting.
We began the discussion by talking about Bryson in general. We wanted to know what exactly his occupation was before he began writing full-time. Some thought he had been a teacher. I read the biographical information I had brought with me but it did not properly address the question. After the meeting I looked up Bryson’s official site through Random House, which suggested that he had previously been a journalist in England. He wrote for both The Times and The Independent while supplementing his income with travel articles. In this respect Bryson seems similar to Dave Barry, a humor columnist and author we had already been comparing with Bryson.
Once we had dispensed with Bryson’s biography we moved on to his Australian trip. Throughout the book he takes different mini-trips, some by train, some by car, and he also references previous trips to the island continent. A few readers found it difficult to keep all these trips straight. It also reminded us of his piecemeal expedition on the Appalachian Trail. In that book, Bryson would hike a large portion of the Trail for many days at a time, then he would leave to fulfill other obligations and return when he could, sometimes only for a day.
We also discussed the numerous museums Bryson visited while in Australia. Some of them were quite surprising, like the Lambing Flat Museum, while others were just plain odd. In the latter type Bryson would often be the only visitor in them!
From here we digressed into recounting some of the funny anecdotes in the book. One we particularly enjoyed was the tale of a married couple out in a rented boat on a popular waterway. They were hoping to find some good fishing and noticed a small inlet where no one else was. They rowed down a bit and got their gear together only to realize they had steered right into alligator central. After about ten very disconcerting minutes they managed to return to safe waters, in tact and with an amusing story.
This story brought us to the topic of how many unique creatures there are in Australia, many of which could kill you quite easily. Some of these creatures include spiders, snakes, sharks, caterpillars, and jellyfish. With such a large amount of killer species several Page Turners questioned why anyone would choose to live in Australia. Thanks to some history provided by Bryson we know that Australia was originally established as a penal colony. Thus, those poor souls had no choice but to live among these animals. As to the current population, we can only assume that, having been born or raised among these creatures, the Australian people have grown used to them and as a result do not live in daily fear of them. Now Bryson presents a totally different question. I have always considered Bryson to be a fairly fearful individual. Yet, despite more than one encounter with a few of these creatures, our author continued to walk around quite a bit of Australia. Perhaps we misjudged him.
In regard to Bryson’s personality we did decide that we enjoy his adventures more when he shares them with other people. Part of the fun of reading A Walk in the Woods was discovering what kind of person his next hiking buddy would be. Reading about the different sites he visited in Australia was interesting but many of the more comical parts came when he was interacting with another person.
At this point we were nearing the end of the meeting and diverged into the topics of the World War II bombings in Darwin, immigration during that war, internment camps, and the 2008 film Australia. We also agreed that we learned many facts by reading this month’s book and are glad we did so, though we may think twice before making a trip to the land down under.
Flyers for upcoming programming and copies of next month’s selection, The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry, were also distributed as usual.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
March 25, 2010: Page Turners 7 p.m.
Book: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
Discussion:
The meeting of the Page Turners book discussion group was a little different this month. Due to a professional conference I was unable to moderate the meeting. Luckily, another librarian, John Reid, was willing to fill in. The overall opinion of this month’s selection was rather divided, as shown by the group members’ votes. Two readers voted thumbs up, two voted thumbs down, three voted thumbs sideways, one abstained from voting and another had not yet finished the book. For a complete description of the discussion please see John’s summary below:
The group opened with a discussion of the fact that the book won a Pulitzer Prize and whether it had been worthy of the honor. More people disliked the book than liked it. The most unpleasant aspect of the book for the group was the nature of "time-jumping" in the book, where the author would refer to the future lives of characters in sometimes the same paragraph where they were introduced. The technique gives the reader a sense of being all-seeing and all-knowing. It is also perhaps designed to show off the impressive amount of research the author had undertaken. The huge amounts of (often tangential) detail, related to both the characters and the setting, detracted from a smooth reading. Consensus was strong that the book was a tough read and at many points easy to put down.
There was also a discussion of tone. The book was written in a very dry, historical fashion, almost as though it was a legitimate history itself and not a work of fiction. It was suggested that perhaps the book was trying to serve as such a history, though the details of the book are not historical.
The meaning of the title drew some debate. "The Known World" was taken to mean the small world which the characters in the book knew and understood. Because slavery was so pervasive and normal in that world, the slaves in the book have little context for the extent of the evils perpetrated against them. In that vein, one patron commented how some slaves were actually well-fed and well-treated by some masters, further muddying the moral picture. On the other hand, claimed another patron, such good treatment came at the expense of their liberty. The brutality of the period was well-reflected in the book.
We touched on the character of Alice briefly. Was she truly insane or deranged, or merely faking it to make her way out of slavery? The consensus was that it was all a put-on, as demonstrated by the intelligence displayed in her creation of the Townsend Plantation mural discovered at the close of the book. We also discussed a possible plot hole regarding Caledonia: why did she turn to Moses for comfort? It was perhaps unease with the plantation she had inherited from her dead husband Henry, and an unwillingness to draw the hard line between master and property.
FINAL VERDICT: The book covers an important and novel subject, but it is a shame it was not more readable. Many people who would find the story enlightening and engaging would probably be turned off by the author’s incredibly dry writing style and unwillingness to focus on the immediacy of the characters’ actions.
Discussion:
The meeting of the Page Turners book discussion group was a little different this month. Due to a professional conference I was unable to moderate the meeting. Luckily, another librarian, John Reid, was willing to fill in. The overall opinion of this month’s selection was rather divided, as shown by the group members’ votes. Two readers voted thumbs up, two voted thumbs down, three voted thumbs sideways, one abstained from voting and another had not yet finished the book. For a complete description of the discussion please see John’s summary below:
The group opened with a discussion of the fact that the book won a Pulitzer Prize and whether it had been worthy of the honor. More people disliked the book than liked it. The most unpleasant aspect of the book for the group was the nature of "time-jumping" in the book, where the author would refer to the future lives of characters in sometimes the same paragraph where they were introduced. The technique gives the reader a sense of being all-seeing and all-knowing. It is also perhaps designed to show off the impressive amount of research the author had undertaken. The huge amounts of (often tangential) detail, related to both the characters and the setting, detracted from a smooth reading. Consensus was strong that the book was a tough read and at many points easy to put down.
There was also a discussion of tone. The book was written in a very dry, historical fashion, almost as though it was a legitimate history itself and not a work of fiction. It was suggested that perhaps the book was trying to serve as such a history, though the details of the book are not historical.
The meaning of the title drew some debate. "The Known World" was taken to mean the small world which the characters in the book knew and understood. Because slavery was so pervasive and normal in that world, the slaves in the book have little context for the extent of the evils perpetrated against them. In that vein, one patron commented how some slaves were actually well-fed and well-treated by some masters, further muddying the moral picture. On the other hand, claimed another patron, such good treatment came at the expense of their liberty. The brutality of the period was well-reflected in the book.
We touched on the character of Alice briefly. Was she truly insane or deranged, or merely faking it to make her way out of slavery? The consensus was that it was all a put-on, as demonstrated by the intelligence displayed in her creation of the Townsend Plantation mural discovered at the close of the book. We also discussed a possible plot hole regarding Caledonia: why did she turn to Moses for comfort? It was perhaps unease with the plantation she had inherited from her dead husband Henry, and an unwillingness to draw the hard line between master and property.
FINAL VERDICT: The book covers an important and novel subject, but it is a shame it was not more readable. Many people who would find the story enlightening and engaging would probably be turned off by the author’s incredibly dry writing style and unwillingness to focus on the immediacy of the characters’ actions.
Monday, March 8, 2010
February 25, 2010: Page Turners 7 p.m.
Book: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Discussion:
Many of our regular members returned this month to discuss Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate. The majority of the group liked the book, six readers gave it a thumbs up, four voted sideways, and one gave it a thumb down. The major complaint about the book was its fantastic nature. There are several elements of magical realism and mysticism in the novel, which may not be to everyone’s taste.
The translation was also remarked upon. One member has seen the movie four times, both in the original Spanish and the English version. She told us she had heard that the translation was not exact and that a bit of the story’s power may have been lost. Another Page Turner has read the book in Spanish and English and said the original version was much better.
In spite of this, more than one group member found that some of the book’s scenes were very humorous. One particular scene involved the sister Gertrudis getting very agitated after eating some of Tita’s cooking and trying to cool off in the shower, only to have the water evaporate from the heat and end up running around the farm naked.
In addition to Gertrudis, we discussed Tita’s sister, Rosaura, quite a bit, especially the bodily issues she suffered from after marrying Pedro. No one seemed to particularly care for her, perhaps because she married Tita’s boyfriend, though one Page Turner did mention that she did not have much of a choice considering how the girls’ mother Elena was.
At this point we began to discuss the mother in detail. Elena was a traditionalist, which was why she singled out one of her daughters, Tita, to care for her until she died. The other girls were allowed to marry in order from oldest to youngest. She often repeated the phrase hasta el muerto to Tita, reminding her that they would be together until she died. Several group members said that the remark resembled a kind of threat and probably made Tita wish her mother would pass on sooner than later. One Page Turner slyly mentioned that this threat could have put Elena in grave danger.
We also discussed the rivalry between Pedro and John Brown for Tita’s love. Although we knew Tita and Pedro were the star-crossed lovers of the novel, a few of us were rooting for Doctor John, even if we knew he probably would not get the girl. The wedding at the end, where Tita’s niece marries John’s son threw some of us off a bit. I personally was hoping the wedding in question would be Tita’s and John’s.
We soon strayed into talking about food and cooking. I told the group how I had heard that most of the recipes included in the book did not really work out when made, but that after reading the book I wished I had something fancy to eat, such as the quail with rose-petals described in the story. One Page Turner said that if she had to cook like Tita did her family would never eat!
From here the conversation segued into families in general. We talked about the roles families play in different cultures and in our own.
We ended the meeting by discussing the significance of the title of the novel. Apparently, chocolate has to reach a certain boiling point when made. If it does not get hot enough it does not turn out well, but if it gets too hot it boils over. We decided that the chocolate represents Tita and her emotions, and that her feelings often boiled over!
As usual, flyers for upcoming library programs and next month’s selection, in this case Edward P. Jones’ The Known World, were distributed at the close of the meeting.
Discussion:
Many of our regular members returned this month to discuss Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate. The majority of the group liked the book, six readers gave it a thumbs up, four voted sideways, and one gave it a thumb down. The major complaint about the book was its fantastic nature. There are several elements of magical realism and mysticism in the novel, which may not be to everyone’s taste.
The translation was also remarked upon. One member has seen the movie four times, both in the original Spanish and the English version. She told us she had heard that the translation was not exact and that a bit of the story’s power may have been lost. Another Page Turner has read the book in Spanish and English and said the original version was much better.
In spite of this, more than one group member found that some of the book’s scenes were very humorous. One particular scene involved the sister Gertrudis getting very agitated after eating some of Tita’s cooking and trying to cool off in the shower, only to have the water evaporate from the heat and end up running around the farm naked.
In addition to Gertrudis, we discussed Tita’s sister, Rosaura, quite a bit, especially the bodily issues she suffered from after marrying Pedro. No one seemed to particularly care for her, perhaps because she married Tita’s boyfriend, though one Page Turner did mention that she did not have much of a choice considering how the girls’ mother Elena was.
At this point we began to discuss the mother in detail. Elena was a traditionalist, which was why she singled out one of her daughters, Tita, to care for her until she died. The other girls were allowed to marry in order from oldest to youngest. She often repeated the phrase hasta el muerto to Tita, reminding her that they would be together until she died. Several group members said that the remark resembled a kind of threat and probably made Tita wish her mother would pass on sooner than later. One Page Turner slyly mentioned that this threat could have put Elena in grave danger.
We also discussed the rivalry between Pedro and John Brown for Tita’s love. Although we knew Tita and Pedro were the star-crossed lovers of the novel, a few of us were rooting for Doctor John, even if we knew he probably would not get the girl. The wedding at the end, where Tita’s niece marries John’s son threw some of us off a bit. I personally was hoping the wedding in question would be Tita’s and John’s.
We soon strayed into talking about food and cooking. I told the group how I had heard that most of the recipes included in the book did not really work out when made, but that after reading the book I wished I had something fancy to eat, such as the quail with rose-petals described in the story. One Page Turner said that if she had to cook like Tita did her family would never eat!
From here the conversation segued into families in general. We talked about the roles families play in different cultures and in our own.
We ended the meeting by discussing the significance of the title of the novel. Apparently, chocolate has to reach a certain boiling point when made. If it does not get hot enough it does not turn out well, but if it gets too hot it boils over. We decided that the chocolate represents Tita and her emotions, and that her feelings often boiled over!
As usual, flyers for upcoming library programs and next month’s selection, in this case Edward P. Jones’ The Known World, were distributed at the close of the meeting.
January 28, 2010: Page Turners 7 p.m.
Book: The Private Patient by P. D. James
Discussion:
We had a smaller group for our first meeting of the new year to discuss P.D. James’ The Private Patient. The book garnered only a lukewarm reception. Of the readers present, five out of six gave it a thumbs sideways vote, and the sixth gave it somewhere between an up and sideways vote.
We all wanted to like the book, but we could not quite do it. One reason for this may be the extensive vocabulary James employed. One Page Turner relayed her vote by email, saying that it reminded her of her children’s homework which required them to find a certain amount of big words and look up their meanings. Other members shared this view, even pointing out specific words they had never before encountered. One such word was "uxorious", which I have since discovered means to dote upon one’s wife, perhaps to a foolish extent. The term was used to describe Dean, the clinic’s cook, who constantly worried about his wife and her ability to cope with the stress of restaurant work.
The subplot of Dean and his wife Kimberly was actually one of many extraneous plotlines and another possible reason for our tepid response to the book. There were several of these types of subplots such as Marcus’ desire to go to Africa, Sharon’s obsession with the occult, Robyn’s etiquette business, and Candace’s father’s will. Perhaps James was using these storylines to keep us on our toes and prevent us from figuring out the killer’s identity too early, however they just did not make a lot of sense.
We did not find too many of the characters, aside from the detectives, likeable either, which may be another reason we were not too interested in their individual storylines. Rhoda, in particular did not strike us as an enjoyable person. James gives us several early chapters focusing on our victim, but in the end we still did not feel as if we really knew her. We learned about the history of her scar, her relationship with Robyn, who seemed a bit of a mooch, and her feelings about her mother, yet we did not really care that much that she was killed.
Having read a summary of the book we did know that the murder was coming. I personally felt it took a long time to get around to it. However, there were a few twists in the story that we did not expect, such as Sharon turning out to have been a murderer as a child, the reappearance of a man she had been obsessed with for approximately ten years, and Robyn’s uncomfortable death in the freezer.
In spite of these twists the ending did not seem to have the requisite British mystery twist to it. Candace had been against Rhoda coming to the clinic from the beginning and is identified as the killer almost fifty pages before the novel’s end. This seemed a bit anticlimactic to me, but I suppose the fire at the end was intended to make up for it.
Another surprise came at the end, the engagement of Dr. Chandler Powell and Helena Cressett. Powell had been previously involved with Sister Flavia, which made this into a strange sort of love triangle similar to Rhoda’s obscure relationship with Robyn.
A couple of Page Turners had read a few of the books in this series before, but no one present had read them all. We discussed a few of them and the television series before moving on to other favorite mystery writers and crime programs. Some recommended authors included Janet Evanovich, Charles Todd, Deborah Crombie, Clive Cussler, and Anne Perry. The television shows discussed were crime mysteries like The Mentalist, CSI, and Bones.
As usual flyers for upcoming library programs and next month’s selection, in this case Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate, were distributed at the close of the meeting.
Discussion:
We had a smaller group for our first meeting of the new year to discuss P.D. James’ The Private Patient. The book garnered only a lukewarm reception. Of the readers present, five out of six gave it a thumbs sideways vote, and the sixth gave it somewhere between an up and sideways vote.
We all wanted to like the book, but we could not quite do it. One reason for this may be the extensive vocabulary James employed. One Page Turner relayed her vote by email, saying that it reminded her of her children’s homework which required them to find a certain amount of big words and look up their meanings. Other members shared this view, even pointing out specific words they had never before encountered. One such word was "uxorious", which I have since discovered means to dote upon one’s wife, perhaps to a foolish extent. The term was used to describe Dean, the clinic’s cook, who constantly worried about his wife and her ability to cope with the stress of restaurant work.
The subplot of Dean and his wife Kimberly was actually one of many extraneous plotlines and another possible reason for our tepid response to the book. There were several of these types of subplots such as Marcus’ desire to go to Africa, Sharon’s obsession with the occult, Robyn’s etiquette business, and Candace’s father’s will. Perhaps James was using these storylines to keep us on our toes and prevent us from figuring out the killer’s identity too early, however they just did not make a lot of sense.
We did not find too many of the characters, aside from the detectives, likeable either, which may be another reason we were not too interested in their individual storylines. Rhoda, in particular did not strike us as an enjoyable person. James gives us several early chapters focusing on our victim, but in the end we still did not feel as if we really knew her. We learned about the history of her scar, her relationship with Robyn, who seemed a bit of a mooch, and her feelings about her mother, yet we did not really care that much that she was killed.
Having read a summary of the book we did know that the murder was coming. I personally felt it took a long time to get around to it. However, there were a few twists in the story that we did not expect, such as Sharon turning out to have been a murderer as a child, the reappearance of a man she had been obsessed with for approximately ten years, and Robyn’s uncomfortable death in the freezer.
In spite of these twists the ending did not seem to have the requisite British mystery twist to it. Candace had been against Rhoda coming to the clinic from the beginning and is identified as the killer almost fifty pages before the novel’s end. This seemed a bit anticlimactic to me, but I suppose the fire at the end was intended to make up for it.
Another surprise came at the end, the engagement of Dr. Chandler Powell and Helena Cressett. Powell had been previously involved with Sister Flavia, which made this into a strange sort of love triangle similar to Rhoda’s obscure relationship with Robyn.
A couple of Page Turners had read a few of the books in this series before, but no one present had read them all. We discussed a few of them and the television series before moving on to other favorite mystery writers and crime programs. Some recommended authors included Janet Evanovich, Charles Todd, Deborah Crombie, Clive Cussler, and Anne Perry. The television shows discussed were crime mysteries like The Mentalist, CSI, and Bones.
As usual flyers for upcoming library programs and next month’s selection, in this case Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate, were distributed at the close of the meeting.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
December 10, 2009: Page Turners 7 p.m.
Book: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Discussion:
This month’s selection was very timely. Less than two weeks after President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan at West Point our book group read Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, a novel set largely in that country.
The group members’ reactions to the book were very strong. Nine out of ten voted thumbs up. The reader who voted thumbs down related an opinion that many of us shared, even those of us who liked the book; it was depressing. Not a feel-good novel by any means, A Thousand Splendid Suns contained many horrible events such as bombings, spousal abuse, and murder. Though this was a fictional book, we know that these events are very real and have happened, not only in Afghanistan, but all over the world.
Though the book dealt with some heavy subject matter and was definitely not a festive holiday selection, it did have many good points. The content may have weighed on some readers, but the style did not. Hosseini’s prose was addictively readable, and one reader said he wrote particularly good descriptions. Another Page Turner said she really felt like she learned something by reading the book. A new culture was revealed to her through the work.
We talked about a few specific incidents in the book, one being Laila and Mariam’s first attempt to escape from Rasheed. A few Page Turners wondered why the women waited so long to try to escape, while others questioned their lack of a second attempt. I personally thought they should have had Tariq take them as soon as he returned to Kabul, though of course if he had the novel would not have had such a climactic end.
We also discussed the references to the film Titanic in the book. Even when television was outlawed in Afghanistan, people still managed to find and screen the film on the black market. Movie-themed souvenirs abounded. One Page Turner asked what we thought the reason was for the people of Kabul’s obsession with this film. One reader called it a form of escape. Another compared it to a similar phenomenon in the 1930s. During the Depression people were barely managing to make ends meet, but would still scrape together enough money to see a movie and forget their financial problems for a few hours. I think Titanic provided a specific kind of escape for the Afghanis. The film’s female protagonist was a proper, well-bred girl who was seeking to break out of her preconceived role and be more independent, something they could not be in their restrictive society. The men probably identified with the male character, Jack, admiring his gallantry and heroic actions. In short, the citizens in the novel likely saw some parallels between the sinking ship in Titanic and their own circumstances, at least subconsciously. In both situations many of the people involved experienced a state of powerlessness, and only those with money, undefeatable wills, or great resilience were able to survive unscathed.
We also compared this novel to Hosseini’s other work, The Kite Runner. Based on an informal tally of those who had read both books, five readers liked A Thousand Splendid Suns better than The Kite Runner, and one felt the reverse. I lean toward the latter Page Turner’s opinion. I really liked both books. I think even books with depressing events can be enjoyed if they are well written, and both of these were. I liked A Thousand Splendid Suns better the second time I read it, but I still think I prefer The Kite Runner.
As the meeting drew to a close we mentioned some of our favorite selections from this year’s list. A few said this book was their favorite. Others listed Loving Frank, Interpreter of Maladies, and Thunderstruck as the best of the year. One member even reached back to the beginning of the year and voted Gilead as her top book of the year!
As usual, flyers for upcoming programming and books for the next month were distributed. We will be back to our regular schedule, the fourth Thursday of every month, in January when we will discuss P.D. James’ The Private Patient.
Discussion:
This month’s selection was very timely. Less than two weeks after President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan at West Point our book group read Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, a novel set largely in that country.
The group members’ reactions to the book were very strong. Nine out of ten voted thumbs up. The reader who voted thumbs down related an opinion that many of us shared, even those of us who liked the book; it was depressing. Not a feel-good novel by any means, A Thousand Splendid Suns contained many horrible events such as bombings, spousal abuse, and murder. Though this was a fictional book, we know that these events are very real and have happened, not only in Afghanistan, but all over the world.
Though the book dealt with some heavy subject matter and was definitely not a festive holiday selection, it did have many good points. The content may have weighed on some readers, but the style did not. Hosseini’s prose was addictively readable, and one reader said he wrote particularly good descriptions. Another Page Turner said she really felt like she learned something by reading the book. A new culture was revealed to her through the work.
We talked about a few specific incidents in the book, one being Laila and Mariam’s first attempt to escape from Rasheed. A few Page Turners wondered why the women waited so long to try to escape, while others questioned their lack of a second attempt. I personally thought they should have had Tariq take them as soon as he returned to Kabul, though of course if he had the novel would not have had such a climactic end.
We also discussed the references to the film Titanic in the book. Even when television was outlawed in Afghanistan, people still managed to find and screen the film on the black market. Movie-themed souvenirs abounded. One Page Turner asked what we thought the reason was for the people of Kabul’s obsession with this film. One reader called it a form of escape. Another compared it to a similar phenomenon in the 1930s. During the Depression people were barely managing to make ends meet, but would still scrape together enough money to see a movie and forget their financial problems for a few hours. I think Titanic provided a specific kind of escape for the Afghanis. The film’s female protagonist was a proper, well-bred girl who was seeking to break out of her preconceived role and be more independent, something they could not be in their restrictive society. The men probably identified with the male character, Jack, admiring his gallantry and heroic actions. In short, the citizens in the novel likely saw some parallels between the sinking ship in Titanic and their own circumstances, at least subconsciously. In both situations many of the people involved experienced a state of powerlessness, and only those with money, undefeatable wills, or great resilience were able to survive unscathed.
We also compared this novel to Hosseini’s other work, The Kite Runner. Based on an informal tally of those who had read both books, five readers liked A Thousand Splendid Suns better than The Kite Runner, and one felt the reverse. I lean toward the latter Page Turner’s opinion. I really liked both books. I think even books with depressing events can be enjoyed if they are well written, and both of these were. I liked A Thousand Splendid Suns better the second time I read it, but I still think I prefer The Kite Runner.
As the meeting drew to a close we mentioned some of our favorite selections from this year’s list. A few said this book was their favorite. Others listed Loving Frank, Interpreter of Maladies, and Thunderstruck as the best of the year. One member even reached back to the beginning of the year and voted Gilead as her top book of the year!
As usual, flyers for upcoming programming and books for the next month were distributed. We will be back to our regular schedule, the fourth Thursday of every month, in January when we will discuss P.D. James’ The Private Patient.
November 19, 2009: Page Turners 7 p.m.
Book: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Discussion:
We had a smaller group attend this month’s discussion of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies, winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The majority of the group seemed to enjoy the book. Seven readers voted thumbs up, one voted thumbs down, and one voted sideways. Two group members who were unable to make it to the meeting sent in their votes by email. Interestingly, they also voted sideways.
It appears that short stories are not everyone’s cup of tea. More than one Page Turner commented that they are not really fans of the genre. One member said that she prefers a little more meat in the books she reads. Another said she was not necessarily a fan of short stories but that she enjoyed Lahiri’s book because of her wonderful prose and writing style. A few other Page Turners seconded her opinion.
After discussing the work as a whole we began talking about the individual stories. Many of the group members chose the final story The Third and Final Continent, as their favorite. In this story a young, recently married Indian man comes to the United States to take a job and prepare a home for his new wife. In doing so he develops a kind relationship with his landlady. Other stories that made an impact on us included Mrs. Sen’s, The Treatment of Bibi Haldar, A Temporary Matter, and This Blessed House.
In discussing the stories we inevitably began talking about food. Food is present in each of the stories in one form or another. In When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine, an Indian American family invites another immigrant from the same part of India to share their evening meals, in A Temporary Matter a man working from home begins making dinner for his wife each night before their power is interrupted, in Mrs. Sen’s a boy watches his babysitter prepare traditional Indian food, particularly seafood, and in The Third and Final Continent a newly married man subsists on meals of cornflakes until his wife joins him in the United States.
We decided that this prevalence of food must serve as a connection for each of the characters to their Indian homeland. Aside from some of the female characters’ attire, Indian food is one of their final cultural ties to the world they grew up in. Thus, they are anxious to preserve it.
This idea of food as a kind of connection led me to think about connections in general. The book is obviously about the immigrant’s search for identity, but is also about the connections that are made between people. The stories in this book are full of these connections. Some of them occur between people from the same place such as the reconnection between the married couple in A Temporary Matter during nightly power outages. Others take place between immigrants and Americans as in Mrs. Sen’s when a young American boy grows to care about the Indian woman who watches him after school, or in the final story as the protagonist connects with his elderly landlady and shows a great deal of kindness by visiting her even after he moves out of her house. In the end, however, whether they take place between immigrants or natives, Interpreter of Maladies seems to be about human connections.
From this point on we meandered through a number of topics. We discussed Indian restaurants. One Page Turner recommended one near the South Garland Library. Another Page Turner mentioned an international market she visited in Richardson. Greg Mortenson’s organization had a booth there where you could donate to the building of his schools and teacher salaries in the Middle East. Readers will remember Mortenson from Three Cups of Tea, one of our previous selections.
We concluded the meeting by discussing the institution of arranged marriages. In the United States we often think of arranged marriages as outdated, but it seems that they are still quite common in other parts of the world. Several of the Page Turners related stories of people they knew whose marriages had been arranged. Some of them were quite successful while others were not, but the institution still remains in practice.
This discussion of marriage and some of the other themes allowed us to touch on our selection for next month, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Copies of that selection and flyers for upcoming programming were distributed at the meeting. Next month we will meet two weeks early, on December 10, to accommodate the holidays.
Discussion:
We had a smaller group attend this month’s discussion of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies, winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The majority of the group seemed to enjoy the book. Seven readers voted thumbs up, one voted thumbs down, and one voted sideways. Two group members who were unable to make it to the meeting sent in their votes by email. Interestingly, they also voted sideways.
It appears that short stories are not everyone’s cup of tea. More than one Page Turner commented that they are not really fans of the genre. One member said that she prefers a little more meat in the books she reads. Another said she was not necessarily a fan of short stories but that she enjoyed Lahiri’s book because of her wonderful prose and writing style. A few other Page Turners seconded her opinion.
After discussing the work as a whole we began talking about the individual stories. Many of the group members chose the final story The Third and Final Continent, as their favorite. In this story a young, recently married Indian man comes to the United States to take a job and prepare a home for his new wife. In doing so he develops a kind relationship with his landlady. Other stories that made an impact on us included Mrs. Sen’s, The Treatment of Bibi Haldar, A Temporary Matter, and This Blessed House.
In discussing the stories we inevitably began talking about food. Food is present in each of the stories in one form or another. In When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine, an Indian American family invites another immigrant from the same part of India to share their evening meals, in A Temporary Matter a man working from home begins making dinner for his wife each night before their power is interrupted, in Mrs. Sen’s a boy watches his babysitter prepare traditional Indian food, particularly seafood, and in The Third and Final Continent a newly married man subsists on meals of cornflakes until his wife joins him in the United States.
We decided that this prevalence of food must serve as a connection for each of the characters to their Indian homeland. Aside from some of the female characters’ attire, Indian food is one of their final cultural ties to the world they grew up in. Thus, they are anxious to preserve it.
This idea of food as a kind of connection led me to think about connections in general. The book is obviously about the immigrant’s search for identity, but is also about the connections that are made between people. The stories in this book are full of these connections. Some of them occur between people from the same place such as the reconnection between the married couple in A Temporary Matter during nightly power outages. Others take place between immigrants and Americans as in Mrs. Sen’s when a young American boy grows to care about the Indian woman who watches him after school, or in the final story as the protagonist connects with his elderly landlady and shows a great deal of kindness by visiting her even after he moves out of her house. In the end, however, whether they take place between immigrants or natives, Interpreter of Maladies seems to be about human connections.
From this point on we meandered through a number of topics. We discussed Indian restaurants. One Page Turner recommended one near the South Garland Library. Another Page Turner mentioned an international market she visited in Richardson. Greg Mortenson’s organization had a booth there where you could donate to the building of his schools and teacher salaries in the Middle East. Readers will remember Mortenson from Three Cups of Tea, one of our previous selections.
We concluded the meeting by discussing the institution of arranged marriages. In the United States we often think of arranged marriages as outdated, but it seems that they are still quite common in other parts of the world. Several of the Page Turners related stories of people they knew whose marriages had been arranged. Some of them were quite successful while others were not, but the institution still remains in practice.
This discussion of marriage and some of the other themes allowed us to touch on our selection for next month, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Copies of that selection and flyers for upcoming programming were distributed at the meeting. Next month we will meet two weeks early, on December 10, to accommodate the holidays.
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