The Garden of Evening Mists

The Barga Book Club met on a cool spring evening in a warm intimate art filled home just outside Barga to discuss, The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng. 

The story, set in the area now known as Malaysia in the years after the Japanese occupation, in which the protagonist and narrator, an ethnic Chinese, who was the only survivor of a Japanese internment camp, and is now a Supreme Court Judge, describes in depth the history, clash of Asian cultures, discrimination, war and her will to survive, and commemorate her sister’s life and love of Japanese gardens, in an intricate intimate relationship with a gardener who would have been the enemy. 

The descriptions are sublime. The story transports one fully to another world. For perhaps the first time, The Book Club’s opinion was unanimous. This was a compelling and beautiful story.

Salene summed it up with: A Garden A Woman and A Man. The Garden represents everything, the calmness, spiritual meaning, extremes of beauty and  suffering.  

Liz, the story which covers three periods, a relationship transition. had beautiful descriptions but sometimes bland or just understated. 

Helen, tranquil, calming, atmospheric, reflective, pond reflections offering different perspectives, therapeutic. 

Isobel, appreciated the book in a personal way as it reminded her of a family member with similar experiences and she could identify with the wartime memories.

Krysia enjoyed the historical context, the gentleness, beauty, but found little joy, and felt the writing was sad and joyless. 

Boo felt its joy in the moment , not focusing on the past elements.

We welcomed two new Book Club members and look forward to seeing them and everyone again. As always the meal was stupendous and thank you to all who participated and contributed. 

The next meetings are as follows:

April 22  My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante at Helen’s

Wednesday May 27 Bel Canto, Anne Pachette at Boo’s

June White Masai, Corinne Hofmann

July The Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri

Gone, Girl.

The Barga book Club met on a cold February evening in a cozy firelit home at Canale, Tiglio, to discuss Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. As always, the food, provided by members new and continuing, was fabulous.

Kerry initiated the conversation. Gone Girl, which had come extremely highly recommended was a proportionate disappointment. A Thriller? she remarked, more like a yawner. 

The convoluted story obsessed about a purportedly brilliant and famous young woman’s disappearance and possible murder. 

Others were more generous. Isobel said, and rightly so, although it was about a strange relationship, manufactured, controlled and getting stranger, without getting overly analytical, it was a good easy read, to take you out of yourself. Helen felt it was an entertaining romp about multiple, flawed but genuine characters. An easy read. Boo, who we happily welcomed to the book club for the first time, also mentioned that it was an easy read that could have been better, and referred to the passive aggressive dynamics of typical dysfunctional relationships. Margaret found it unpleasant, the voices indistinct, author’s voice not credible, not funny, unpleasant, nothing rang true, the book missed its point, ending was revolting. Liz refused to read it after a couple of pages. Krysia, had seen the movie and didn’t like either, and felt it was a post modern fantasy mystery. The characters were stories not people, whom she didn’t care about, it was a parody of 30 year olds. Some were amusing, she liked that the author wrote the male perspective from inside his head. It was too long. Salene: the supposedly perfect NY marriage collapses, Amy was a plotting and manipulative, weak character, who spots weakness and exploits everyone. Everyone was just too perfect. 

Once again it was a great meeting with fascinating feedback. We also mentioned a few other books to recommend, Boo opened with The White Massai by Corrine Hoffman; The Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri;  Married to a Bedouin by Marguerite van Geldermalsen; The Magus by John Fowles. 

Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed. We look very forward to seeing you all at the next meetings, which are as follows:

Thursday, March 26th at Krysia’s, The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

Wednesday April 22, at Helen’s, My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

May date and venue to be announced Bel Canto by Ann Patchette

The Prague Cemetery

On a cold January evening just days before merely 300 survivors and a few thousand others gathered at the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps in Poland to commemorate  its liberation 70 years ago by Soviet troops in the last months of WWII, the Barga Book Club met to discuss The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco. 

The novel’s complex, convoluted, even contrived, historically based plot revolves around a fictitious document forger who seems to be everywhere and a party to or witness of most major events during the late 19th c., and promulgates the idea that the seeds of WWII were sown in a late 19th c. conflict between Catholicism, Judaism, and Free-masonery. It has been compared to a picaresque novel and Dan Brown’s fiction but to  a large degree it read more like Woody Allen’s mockumentary: Zelig.

Is it satire, is it postmodern irony? Is it to be taken seriously? The historical elements rejigged to foster conspiracy theories? The trivialization of events bordering on sensationalization? Erudite Eco thumbing his nose at the contrived historical fiction genre, antisemitism, anti-everythingism? The protagonist was presented at very least as unscrupulous, in the extreme, a monstrous creature who abetted atrocities. 

Everyone in the book club agreed, it was a difficult read, most didn’t finish it. Liz compared the translation in part to the original and mentioned that the original was beautifully written, and the translation was not good, but it had a great start, but when it seemed to devolve into racism she lost it. Helen felt it was completely incoherent, questioned whether the convoluted plot and contrived main character and its fictionalization, its main theme distressing, no positives, no scruples, no morals, it trivialized the actual events and said that this would put her off any other books by Eco. Margaret, loathed it, although she had enjoyed Il Nome della Rosa, the protagonist, a schizoid double dealing character was cold blooded with nothing to identify with and no redeeming value.  Isobel was irked by it and agreed with all of these comments. Salene was bored to tears with this romp through the 19th century. Kerry felt that it wasn’t boredom which drove one to tears and had another perspective to add.

Today, particularly in film, we seem to be glossing over the atrocities of the Holocaust with poignance and quasi sympathetic characters, the uber sexy Ralph Fiennes as an SS officer in Schindler’s list, to name only one. Eco has created an insipid, deceitful, despicable, unredeemable but seemingly feckless monster involved in the bureaucratic and philosophical machinery that resulted in the most horrific man-made event in current history.  Were not most guilty of not taking the build up to the Hitler’s final solution seriously enough? Didn’t most believe that these characters, these events were too horrific to be happening at the time. Six million Jews were not the only victims, there were also Romani, homosexuals, communists, and the mentally and physically disabled, who were not only murdered but experimented on first, to total up to 11 million perished, each one cherished by at least one other. 

So, should it be taken seriously? Absolutely, lest we ever forget.

Thank you to everyone who contributed and participated. 

The next meetings are as follows:

February, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn at Isobel’s.

March,  The Garden of Evening Mists, by Tan Twan Eng

April, My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

May, Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Dombey and Son

A small group of Book Club members met on Thursday to discuss Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens. 

The narrative is set primarily in London with side trips to Brighton. The main character is a wealthy Bank owner and the story opens as his first wife dies after bearing his much desired son and the only heir he recognizes although they also have a daughter, whom he all but ignores throughout her life. The son dies young and Dombey eventually remarries and this is where the plot thickens. Dombey’s second wife is a force to be reckoned with and nothing goes as planned.

Most felt it was overly descriptive and verbose, but agreed that that was due to the nature of its original serialization.

Helen had recommended it to fulfill our classic selection challenge, as a true classic, but one of Dickens’ lesser known novels. She felt it was typical Dickens in societal theme, addressing power, patriarchy, wealth, control, dominance, pride and cruelty. The characters hierarchical positions changed from time to time in the power struggle but Helen didn’t feel she came away with a better understanding of Dickens’ own belief systems although he did always seem to be sympathetic of the poor and suffering and tended to ridicule wealth. Dickens’ typical confrontation between good and evil once again resolves somewhat happily ever after. 

Krysia was disappointed that this novel really did not live up to his others.  She cited research which confirmed her own sense that the characters and circumstances were not plausible. The characters turned into caricature using inappropriately elaborate language in convoluted circumstances. 

Kerry enjoyed its complexity, the elaborate plot and often comic circumstances, the fascinating descriptions of the character’s motivations, reasoning and interaction.

Isobel, in the true spirit of the Book Club, just enjoyed the book, which is really what it is all about.

Very best wishes for the holidays and thank you to everyone for participating in and contributing to a year of fascinating reads. We look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

January 22 at Salene’s The Prague Cemetery, Umberto Eco

February at Isobel’s Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn

The Following Story

To chase the damp chill of a late November evening The Barga Book Club met in the warm, intimate, fire lit sitting room in Albiano to discuss The Following Story by the well known Dutch author Cees Nooteboom.  As usual reviews were mixed. Marijke, whose favorite Dutch author he is, and who will have read it in its original language, loved the book citing it included everything a writer needs in a novel, history, past and present, realism, existentialism and fable. 

The story is somewhat autobiographical. It opens when the protagonist, a former Latin and ‘dead languages’ scholar and teacher, then travel writer, finds himself inexplicably in Lisbon, thinking that he had gone to sleep in Amsterdam, in a hotel room in which he had an affair 20 years ago. He is disoriented and the story unfolds in flashbacks and reminiscences of the period since the affair and its, and therefor his, history.  It is a complex narrative, shifting back and forth in time and place.

Pietro found the translation too literal, which was perhaps why he felt so-so about the book. He thought it started well but had too many flashbacks. He drew a reference to Kafka’s Metamorphosis, but felt it was too dispersive and missing something. 

Anne was disappointed initially but eventually found interesting aspects, in the teaching and the text itself. As with Margaret, she felt she would like to read it again. 

Margaret loved the idea, the beginning, themes of precision, order, constraint, rigid confined rituals, obsessiveness, not going outside certain boundaries, how sex was an intrusion after his downfall, nomadism, the concept of time and our perception of it, how it is not linear. The ‘now’.  In short a book that raises questions, but was ultimately a little depressing, but there was something of Coetze’s, Disgrace about it, which made it fascinating.

Helen thought it didn’t flow, was a difficult read, cynical, the cynicism came through as fundamentally self criticism. The references to the classics he seemed to be hiding behind to not show himself. Pretentious, provocative, snobbishness,  couldn’t get to the heart of what he was about, flipping between time and place, the classics vs. the now, fantasy of travel. Death is a woman and he was dying. The ending had hallucinogenic qualities.

Isobel also found it difficult, the theme of death was upsetting, latin references and 2nd part she found weird, all past tenses. 

Kerry found the philosophical aspects interesting, including a brief allusion to Zen in the concept of I. 

In other words, it might very well be worth re-reading.

Thank you to everyone who participated and to Anne and Rigo for the warm welcome into their cozy home. 

The next books are as follows:

Thursday December 18th at Kerry’s, Barga: Domby and Son, Charles Dickens

January, date and venue to be announced: Cemetery of Prague, Umberto Eco

February, date and venue to be announced: Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn

Canada, etc.

On a chilly but star filled autumn evening a surprising and gratifying number of book club members and esteemed guest gathered at the warm, lovely, contemporary and Art filled home in Tiglio to discuss the novel Canada, by Richard Ford.  The meal was magnificent as always.

The story is told by the twin son of parents who have robbed a bank, their individual histories, lives in a small north western town and the lead up to the bank robbery, after which his parents are jailed, his twin sister disappears and he is secretly exiled to, yes, Canada. 

Salene led the comments with her impression that it seemed of two contradictory stories, one, of the lonely miserable detached but intact family unit and then: the robbery. It was heavy going, she reported. At times, lonely, desperate but yet the writing was unfeeling, lacked emotional charge. Isobel found it easy to read, but voiced what others did, she had a sense it was two girl twins, which spoke to the lack of connection engendered by the writing. Helen found it frustrating, she had little patience for the characters, found them naive, not plausible. Margaret was unable to engage with the story, nothing was described in color, it had no redeeming feature, it seemed pedestrian. Anne found it depressing. 

On the positive side, Pietro Bianchessi kindly forwarded his thoughts by email:

I loved the book from the start.

THE PLOT:

the story of a bank robbery told from one of the children of the robbers. How it could happen that a "normal" middle class couple would gradually be pulled into committing a robbery, in order to sort out their financial problems. I identified strongly with the 15 year old boy, who in one second sees his certainties (his mum and dad, his family) disintegrate. I felt his fears, I thought his thoughts.

THE CHARACTERS:

such a perfect, accurate description of the characters. The father, the happy-go-around, not a bad guy, certainly not a bank robber, but someone who cant accept to show the world he's a looser.

The mother, I can see her, petite, glasses, jewish, teacher, with moral principles, and practical common sense. How could she have been drawn into this? A bank robbery?

The twin sister, with the usual brother sister love-hate situation. I can see her running away from the family troubles with the first boy who's paying attention to her, even if he's a bad guy.

THE LANGUAGE:

Beautiful prose, beautiful English writing,  and yet easy to understand even for a non English native speaker like myself.

I found the second part of the book, up in Canada, in a wooden shed, in a small place in the middle of nowhere, a bit less convincing, yet I still loved the story and went quickly to the end of the book.

I'd give it 8/10 or even 9/10!

Pietro

Much appreciated Pietro.

So, as is often the case, opinion was divided, which is what makes for interesting book club meetings.

After discussion of which classic we should read next, the suggestions ranging from Kafka, Dickens, Austen, and others, we settled on Domby and Son, by Charles Dickens. But also worth mention were some of the other titles suggested for general reading: Under the Volcano, by Malcolm Lowry, a must read for its description of the effects of alcoholism on family members; Play it Again, by Alan Rusbridger; Honorary Counsel, Graham Greene; The Lie, Helen Dunmore; and finally we settled on Umberto Eco’s The Prague Cemetery, for our January meeting. Somehow the discussion also included a mention of Zeffirelli’s Tea with Mussolini. Another interesting divergence. 

The next meetings are as follows:

November 20th: The Following Story by Cees Nooteboom,  at Anne Capanni’s

December:  Domby and Son, by Charles Dickens, date and venue to be announced

January: The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco, date and venue to be announced

Thank you very much to all who participated and to Helen for superb hosting.

The Tin Ring

The Book Club convened to see the sun set from the beautiful terrace at La Serra on what seemed to be the first evening of summer here, albeit the end of July. The small but enthusiastic group discussed Zdenka Fantlova’s powerful memoir of the years she endured 6 concentration camps and how she survived with determination, hope and creativity. 

Always, and especially now, a controversial subject, Holocaust stories, as suggested by Salene who highly recommended the book, are timely in that in a few years there will no longer be survivors to recount their first hand experiences as the 90- plus year old Ms. Fantlova still does in London and as has the recently deceased oldest lived survivor, the distinguished Czech pianist Alice Herz-Sommer.  Both Ms. Fantlova and Ms. Herz-Sommer experienced the power of creativity and self expression to transcend the horrific. Salene cited the story as one of courage, determination, hope and luck.

This holocaust story was unique for its straight forward recount of events. Krysia pointed out and we all agreed it was not ‘well written’ in the sense that it seemed merely informative to begin with but then developed into an engaging story. Krysia  appreciated the elements of contrast in the description of Ms. Fantlova’s quasi privilege, freedom, her perfect assimilation in society with the eventual disbelief that anything could possibly go so wrong and the gradual disintegration of their lives.  Isobel poignantly recounted her visit to Bergen-Belsen. Helen acknowledged what started out as a seemingly light read, a somewhat perfunctory description of early life, but then gradually progressed through the horrific stages of internment, at which point Krysia made reference to Primo Levy, and how things go from bad to worse. 

Marijke in an email mentioned that although the book was difficult to read at first, she appreciated the detailed descriptions and was eventually absorbed in the story. Pietro agreed and cited this as a unique testimony, speaking to the truth, and its tangible proof. 

The book was different in its approach in that it was not a dramatization or fictionalization of what happened but a real recount of the horrors of the camps and forced marches and most of all survival. 

Thank you to everyone who contributed thoughtfully and to the delicious spread.

Other books we’re reading worth recommending include as Helen mentioned the novel ‘Orange is the New Black’ By Piper Kerman, Krysia recommends the new John LeCarre, and “Infatuations” by Javier Marias, and Kerry mentioned “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn.

Please correct me if I’m wrong but the next meetings are as follows:

September: Dear Life by Alice Munroe, Thursday September 11th venue to be announced

October:  Canada by Richard Ford, date and venue to be announced

November: The Following Story by Cees Nooteboom date and venue to be announced