Silk

Thank you very much to Margaret Moore who graciously hosted the meeting again this month and kindly wrote this in depth and perceptive recap including contributions from Liz Marroni and Krysia Bell.

The meeting for December may be held on the 15th due to holiday conflicts. Thanks to everyone who participated.

The Barga Book Club met , with very reduced numbers yet again, in November, to discuss Alessandro Baricco’s book Seta (Silk). It was suggested that everyone try to read the original as it is a short book and the language is not too difficult to follow. It should be added that the translation is not good. Comments were varied. Here are two:

1)I found it empty, devoid of interesting characters, characterization and psychological plausibility. It stuns me that this empty and hollow narrative is supposed to be internationally popular. It could possibly be clumped together with other books written by young authors who seem to want to show their intellect and just lose the plot after the second page. I found the style, plot and characters completely dull, thin, and perfunctory, plodding. The only good thing is, it’s short.

2)In this novella you are left with a deep sense of the people, the places and the time (19th century France and Japan) not as a result of character development and descriptions, but conversely, by the lack of them. Like  hypnotic suggestions the author flits from one idea to another giving you just enough information for your imagination to create the world of Herve Joncour , a world  which you want to return to. Consequently, this poetic fable still lingers, and like an unresolved evocative dream remains in the subconscious.

Not by chance is the French town in which the protagonist lives, called Lavilledieu, (the town of God)which leads to considerations on the nature of the character Baldabiou (we are told no one knew how old he was), who seems to play a decisive role in the lives of the population and in particular the life of Hervè Joncourt, who says that Baldabiou had rewritten his destiny. Taken at face value the book may appear facile, repetitive and empty, and one person described the book as boring, plodding and thought the characters were flimsy. It was also observed that given the title there was not the sensual feel to the book that one might have expected, as with for example with the book Chocolat, a feast of luscious sensations. However, it is as delicate and as light as silk and, for some, as unsubstantial.

It is written as a fable and rich with symbolism, some of which we did not actually uncover. It is also a love story and perhaps a moral fable. The protagonist seeks an elusive love that is never consummated except by proxy and is willing to risk his life and that of others to follow ‘to the end of the world’ what is in fact an empty dream, an illusion, unaware that he already has what he is searching for: his wife, Helene, who loves him enough to let him go. It is she who writes a lyrical letter to him, which can only be described as a declaration of undying love, and which he believes comes from the unknown woman he loves . Only after Helene’s death will Joncourt realise that it was she who wrote it.

Perhaps the saddest thing is the comment that Joncourt is one of those men who are unable to ‘live’ their life, they merely ‘witness’ it , men who ‘observe their fate as others observe a rainy day.’

So in his search for a ‘love’ that he feels will fulfill him he travels time and time again to Japan, so alien to the French culture, in the latter half of the 19th century, that it embodied the fascination of the unknown. His quest is involved with the silk industry. Silk, the name of the book , that beautiful sensual material woven from the cocoon of the silk worm. In France there is an epidemic that causes the death of all the silkworms; those in Japan are unaffected so the lengthy journey to procure fresh healthy eggs is undertaken by Joncourt. It is while he is there falls in love with a woman with whom he cannot speak and whom he can never know. This over-riding passion will take him there one last time, during a period of war. It will cause the death of an innocent boy and bring disaster , for the return home takes too long and all the eggs die. The ‘affaire’ is over. Joncourt lives the rest of his life feeling that he has lost something precious, and that the most precious thing he had was unappreciated by him.

The moral of the fable ? Perhaps that we should appreciate, enjoy and explore what we have, and not seek for it in worlds that do not belong to us. It is inevitable that only when it is too late does Joncourt realize what he had and what he has really lost.

To quote Proust;
The true journey of discovery is not to seek new lands but to have new eyes.

On Elegance and Hedgehogs

A surprising number of dedicated book club members gathered at the home of Margaret Moore on Wednesday to discuss The Elegance of the Hedgehog by the French novelist and professor of Philosophy, Muriel Barbery. Most agreed that the book was enjoyable on a number of levels and that the translation was very good. Some felt, justifiably from their viewpoint, that the story lacked depth and was disappointing from the standpoint of not delivering on promised substance with regard to philosophical allusions.

The beginning of the book was somewhat hard-going and left some feeling that the story was about as elegant as a hedgehog but, beyond around page 70, it began to flow and, in part, rose to the representation of a Zen like image of the elegance of the hedgehog.

The strength of the writing and translation was in its descriptive quality and a brief discussion ensued regarding written imagery vis-à-vis visual imagery in that, at certain points, the writing was so rich one could almost see, hear, smell, or taste whatever the author was describing.

Characterization was another strong point and most members felt drawn to the protagonists. The story revolves around a highly intelligent Parisian apartment house concierge who feels the need to hide her intelligence to fit the mold of the rigid social structure. The theme centered on the two protagonists mortal struggle with the class system and the artificial roles they felt they needed to play. In all, a highly recommended read.

The book club members have handed themselves a challenge in choosing Seta by Alessandro Baricco to be read in the original, and/or, if necessary, in translation. We will discuss this book in November.

The following month we will discuss The Glass Room, by Simon Mawer.

I know it is not about the food but, I would like to thank all of those, particularly Margaret, who put so much effort and expertise into serving up such delicious fare!

Thanks too, to all who participate, we look forward to seeing you next month.

Kerry

Barga welcomes the Lucca Book Club

The Barga Book Club enthusiastically welcomed many members of the Lucca Book Club to their meeting this month in the elegant surroundings of the Hotel Villa Moorings for a lively discussion of The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafòn.

Elisabeth Marseglia opened the discussion with her thoughts on the story’s rendering in translation. As reflected by others, she felt there were some things lost in translation, but overall the translator’s difficult job was executed satisfactorily if not colorfully. Citing examples such as the impact of the image of ‘bloodless shadow’ substituted with ‘spidery shadow’ or the gravitas of ‘dragging his spirit and his feet’ with the simplified ‘dragging his feet,’ Elisabeth represented what was missing in the tenor and import of the language.

The strength of the storytelling was in character development, with vivid and lucid descriptions of a diverse and colorful, almost Dickinsian, cast of characters. The other strength was in the descriptive quality of the setting in which the reader was transported onto the broad boulevards or narrow alleys and into stately mansions or seedy apartments of post war Barcelona.

While at times, in the opinion of some readers, the book seemed superficial and more like a young adult caper, Elisabeth and others emphasized the apparent political and cultural ironies of the post war period, the Spanish civil war and Franco’s regime, which at times bordered on satire. The reader whose historical grasp of the period was informed could read between the lines and glean greater understanding of the author’s intent.

Thanks very much to Carolyn Slater and the members of the Lucca Book Club for joining us and contributing to this interesting interchange and we look forward to meeting you all again.

The members of the Lucca Book Club have recommended the following books which have been added to our reading list. (click on the link to the right of this blog post)

Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut
Scoop Evelyn Waugh
Disgrace J. M. Coetzee
The Citadel A. J. Cronin
We Need to Talk About Kevin Lionel Shriver
The Dig John Preston

The book which has been chosen for the October meeting is The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.

Thank you to everyone of the Barga Book Club who participated and we look forward to seeing you next month. We would also enjoy a few new recipes. If anyone has a favourite to add to the recipe blog, please send it to me in an email.

August meeting

Hosted at the home of Margaret Moore, the book club met Wednesday, August 4th to discuss F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby. For most of us it was at least a second reading and raised many questions regarding its status as a classic in American literature. Nevertheless an enthusiastic discussion followed and, as usual, members raised interesting points as to the plot, characters and underlying theme of the tragic fate of the American dream.

Thank you very much to everyone who participated and especially Margaret for her always unreserved welcome and selfless commitment.

By popular request we're starting a recipe blog and I'm anxiously awaiting more recipes to post. There are several special requests which have been conveyed and we'll welcome any other personal favorites. http://bargabookclubrecipes.blogspot.com/ This link is also on the sidebar of the main book club blog.

We have had the pleasure of a request for a get together with the Lucca book club and have set the date of Wednesday 15 September. The time will probably remain the same and the place here in Barga will be announced closer to the meeting date. The book selected for this meeting is: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafòn.

We look forward to seeing you all there,

Kerry

Two meetings in one

The Barga Book Club, hosted by the always convivial Julie Flynn, met in June and were enthralled with the presence of the author Tom Gabbay of The Tehran Conviction. A fascinating discussion was led by the author regarding the background, history and inspiration for his engaging story of intrigue in Tehran. Read the book is the simplest and best recommendation we can offer. It is excellent.

The July meeting was held on the new terrace of Isobel Dodds home to discuss Rebecca Wells' The Divine Secrets of The Yaya Sisterhood which was well reviewed and the recap of the meeting by Margaret Moore follows. Thank you to our wonderful host Isobel, everyone who participated and especially to Margaret for writing this summary.

The books chosen for the months of August and September respectively are the following: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.


This month’s book club meeting was kindly hosted by Isabel Dodds .
The book chosen for the July meeting was The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells. Discussion of the book centered on two aspects; the immense value of a group friendship which starts in childhood and lasts a life-time; and the rapport between mothers and daughters.
The very special kind of friendship described in this book is the YaYa Sisterhood, which is able to give support to all its members, without judging them, in the way that close sisters would. There is love and it is strong enough to survive any situation. This amazing group of southern Louisiana women, hemmed in by the conventions of their time, through the sisterhood are able to experience life in a different and more exciting way as they grow up together. Their lives are immeasurably enriched by it. As they get married their friendship encompasses each other’s families so that their children, the petite YaYas, have an extended family to turn to as well.
When one of the group has a breakdown and physically abuses her children, she is not judged by the others but is supported by them and helped to overcome this terrible event. It is this event that is the focus of the book. Because of the physical abuse she suffered on that occasion, Sidda, Vivi’s oldest girl, finds herself unable to commit. She leaves her partner and goes away for a period of time alone to think. She has argued with her mother whom she has publicly accused of hurting her although she remembers little in detail of what happened. Vivi sends her the scrapbook of the events of her life in the sisterhood. While Sidda ponders over these tokens of memory, and does indeed remember many good things, the other members of the sisterhood, now much older and physically fragile, arrive at her retreat. They are able to provide more information about the relics and Sidda learns the truth about what happened to Vivi. They also give her detailed information about many events in her childhood, and her mother’s burning love for her and her brother and sister are manifest. At the same time we learn about Vivi’s own experience with her mother. What is discipline to one generation is child abuse to the next.
The book struck many chords for most of us. Some remembered friendships that had lasted for a life time and other lamented the lack of such important and enriching relationships. It also called to mind our own relationship with our parents and the totally different kind that we have with our children. We are all products of our time as Sidda too came to understand. Breakdowns were once secret events, never mentioned; now most people who have this experience, see a psychiatrist, take medication, have therapy, sometimes group therapy and talk their way through it.
So, through the relationships formed in childhood that extended throughout a lifetime and encompassed a huge extended family, The YaYa Sisterhood, were able to enrich not only their own lives but those of their large families too. The general consensus was that this was a very beautiful book, though perhaps a ‘women’s’ book. The men in this book are peripheral and we see them only as they relate to their wives or daughters, not to each other. (Men’s comradeship seems to be of a different kind and related to external events especially stressful ones, as for example in war. )
Next month’s book is The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald

158 lb Book

Seven enthusiastic members of the Barga Book Club met Wednesday evening to discuss the novel, 158 lb Marriage by John Irving. The story was a period set piece of mid 1970’s lifestyle choices, exploring sexual attitudes and representative of the author’s early thematic development.

The plot revolved around two couples who exchanged sexual partners in an early experiment during the so called sexual revolution. Twisted rationalization prompted the beginning of the experimentation and extreme disillusion ended it and tragically ruptured one family.

Though the opinions were typically divergent, the consensus was that though readable, the writing was heavy handed, the story contrived, the characters calculating and exploitative. It is representative of a particular period in time and therefore seemed dated. Various influences on the author at the time were cited as too apparent. Opinion varied as to interesting aspects of the writing such as the seeds of typically wry John Irving humor and touches of the absurd. One member noted that the peripheral characters seemed to have been very interestingly developed but not integral to the story. There was an overall wrestling metaphor with allegorical implications of Irving wrestling with a theme of the period, which was inter-relational sexual experimentation that ultimately went very wrong.

We will next meet on Wednesday the 2nd of June to discuss The Tehran Conviction by Tom Gabbay. We’re very happy to report that the author will be there for the discussion.

In July we will discuss Divine Secrets of the Ya -Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells.

A sincere thank you to Julie Flynn-Ciniglio for hosting the meeting again and thank you very much to everyone for patience and effective cooperation in the book exchange process. A special thanks to Margaret Moore for getting copies of the books and helping to organize the exchanges.

We look forward to seeing you at the next meeting and we’ll confirm the place closer to the date,

Kerry and Julie

Small Island

The Book Club met on Wednesday to discuss Small Island by Andrea Levy. Krysia Bell opened the meeting and gave this astute summation of the book.

‘Small Island’ by Andrea Levy doesn’t really need to be unearthed and analysed like some of the previous books we have read because it speaks for itself. The novel is about the arrival of Jamaicans in England just after the war, the racial discrimination and hostility that they encountered and the disappointment in a land which they regarded as their mother country. As Jamaica was part of the British Empire they couldn’t understand why they were not welcomed with open arms. The characters and events are based on the experiences of the author’s parents who sailed from Jamaica to England in 1948. The author skillfully moves backwards and forwards in time using multi narratives to create the four main protagonists in the novel.
Gilbert, who has come to London from Jamaica to make a better life for himself and his new wife Hortense. Their landlady Queenie rents out the rooms in her grubby Earls Court house and is frowned on by the neighbours for accommodating ‘darkies’ and bringing down the neighbourhood. Queenie has waited three years for her miserable husband Bernard to return from the war and by now considers herself a war widow. The opening chapter of the novel tells of Queenie as a child when she is taken to the Empire Exhibition. She follows the smell of chocolate to the African village where a black man who is manning the stand shakes her hand. Her father reassures his frightened daughter that the man would have been a chief or a prince in his own country ‘you can tell he’s been civilised says her father, because he speaks English. The story starts with Hortense’s arrival in the middle of winter on a boat from Jamaica ‘on the boat women were in their best clothes, cotton dresses, hats and white gloves, jumping up and down waving, being met by black men in scruffy coats and hand knitted scarves hunched over in the cold’. The scene is set. The contrasts made. You know what awaits them.
However the discrimination which pervades this book is quite shocking at times. Queenie says to Hortense when she first arrives at the house ‘I hope you are not bringing anything into the house that will smell’.
Mr. Todd, a neighbor relates the story of how his sister is approached by two black women who, in passing, force her to step into the road. He says, ‘don’t they know that it should be them that steps into the road and not a white person.’
Then of course there is the scene in the cinema where the black and white GI’s are segregated, and the heart wrenching scene when Hortense goes to the Council offices to apply for a teaching job and ends up walking into the broom cupboard. But horrible bigoted Bernard is the most dislikeable character in this book especially at the end when he walks into Gilbert and Hortense’s room and looks at the curtains ‘The curtains grubby and ripped. He thought Those coloured people don’t have the same standards....the war was fought so that people might live amongst their own kind. Everyone was trying to get home to be with kith and kin except for those blasted coloured colonials. I’ve nothing against them in their place but their place isn’t here. Mr. Todd thought they wouldn’t survive another cold winter. I hope he was right.’
For me this was an award winning book. A story, simply written, with brilliant dialogue, big characters, funny, moving and above all memorable. Yes, I did find the Michael Roberts connection and the baby rather incredulous but it’s a good story.

An animated discussion ensued and the reviews were mixed. In many ways the book succeeded in capturing a sense of the times which was rendered in excellent use of description and dialogue, but there was a minority opinion that it missed an evocative rendering of Jamaican life. Some felt that, despite an overall successful telling of the tale, there were aspects which lacked continuity, while at the same time being strongly written. At the end, one wonders to which small island the author was referring. An interesting read nonetheless.

The book chosen for the May meeting, which will be held Wednesday 5 May, is The 158 Pound Marriage by John Irving. The book selected for June is The Tehran Conviction, by Tom Gabbay.

A huge thanks to Margaret Moore for hosting the meeting and providing several delicious dishes and equal thanks to everyone who participated and contributed.

We look forward to seeing you at the next meeting.