The Book Club met on a cool drizzly winter evening in the exquisite antiques meet modern interior of the home of Salene. Comfort was the order of the evening, from the fire burning in the sitting room wood stove to the delicious Cottage Pie served by the hostess and delectable leek and fennel gratin from Isobel and remarkable and beautifully presented mixed tuna salad from Margaret, as well as other delightful entrees.
The book under discussion was ‘The Sense of an Ending’ by Julian Barnes. The response was insightful, thoughtful, and overwhelmingly positive, save one.
The story begins with a list. A list of things the principle character remembers about his school years and a group of very close friends and one woman. He is reflecting on a series of events and their repercussions throughout his life and the lives of the other friends involved.
Tony was part of a clique of 4 boys when the real story begins. They are close and insidiously competitive. One of the boys is clearly more intelligent, but almost autistic in his interaction with the others and they all measure themselves against him. A tragedy occurs at school which is much later repeated by one of the members of the group, later in life and forms the central trauma of the story.
Led by Margaret, who always reads and reviews with deep understanding of the material and writing, the group found much to praise and discuss in this book about the imperfection of memory, or how selective our memories are. The question was raised as to whether we could trust Tony’s recollections. The themes that were carried throughout were repression, psychic and emotional damage, instability, incest, pretentiousness, rage. Obviously all the characters were filtered through Tony’s self serving, self indulgent, and self aggrandizing memories of them and skewed and reflected in his eyes, but manipulated in his avoidance of reality.
Most felt the characters were well drawn, and well represented in their complexity and complex relationships.
The ultimate sense of the ending was the unreliability of memory.
Everyone contributed remarkably astute insights that lent the book substance and gravitas.
We look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday, 20th February at Isobel's - to discuss Why Be Happy When You Could Be No Normal by Jeanette Winterson, and then
Wednesday, 20th. March at Helen's - My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier
Wednesday, 17th. April at Krysia's - Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H.Lawrence.
Thank you all,
Kerry
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Brave New World
One of the most wonderful aspects of our small but active book club is its platform for launching flights of thought and ideas. Whether it is in the research of the author’s background or other titles, or the historical or social significance of the book there are always many interesting topics put on the table.
On the coldest December evening thus far we stepped from the cobblestone via into the old world warmth of a medieval palazzo to a sumptuous meal at the long narrow dark heavy wood table, beautifully laid in deep red with cut crystal wine goblets and white china, before discussing the contemporary implications of the novel Brave New World, by Alduous Huxley.
At Oxford, tutored by H.G. Wells, Huxley, originally inspired to write a parody of the period’s popular future utopia novels, wrote instead a dystopian saga which resonates 80 years later. Contemporary themes of societal control, genetic engineering, cloning, bioethics, coercive consumerism, drug use and sexual promiscuity are explored.
Huxley was a member of several hedonistic societies and explored and experimented with LSD and mescaline, in addition to being prescribed antidepressants. A trip to the United States, and an inadvertent study of the writing of Henry Ford on industrialization, mass production and consumerism as a key to peace, strongly influenced his pessimistic outlook for the future of Europe and inspired him to write Brave New World with America in mind.
The society consists of a genetically engineered hierarchy of consumers. Consumerism being the new religion, everyone was inculcated in the process of goods to make, buy, use and throw away. Today the practice can be seen in the elaborate advertising schemes and pressure to buy on too easily available credit in a vicious cycle which has resulted in seriously undermining world wide financial systems.
As panacea and to alleviate stress and anxiety the mood enhancing fictional drug Soma was used routinely. Its relevance today can be felt in the alarming use of psychoactive drugs to enhance, modify or control the behaviour of adults but most disturbingly that of a growing number of children. The production of Ritalin, the drug of choice to control a variety of behavioural issues in children, has increased 500% in five years. An estimated 5% of boys and 2% of girls in the United States, are prescribed these drugs beginning with children as young as 3 to 4 years of age. Young adults and adults are using them for memory and mental performance enhancement. This does not even begin to address the serious abuse of performance enhancing drugs.
The regulated and controlled society forbid any engagement in arts or literature, especially the work of Shakespeare from which the title is borrowed. Family connections were eliminated through genetically engineered reproduction which brings us to the main plot in the story when two characters go on vacation to the world at large and find two refugees from the colony. The two refugees, one the paternal offspring of a member of the colony, return and confusion and chaos ensue through the introduction of a blood relative.
It was not an easy read. The almost textbook descriptions of scientific endeavors were a slog. All in all, those who read and enjoyed it did so with an eye to its relevance today.
Thank you very much to Liz and everyone who contributed delicious food and Margaret, Krysia, Helen and others who brought well researched thought provoking ideas to the table.
The book we will discuss on January 23rd will be The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.
The book for February is Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal, by Jeanette Winterson
March’s book selection is My Cousin Rachel, by Daphne du Maurier and April will be discussing Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence.
We look forward to lively discussions.
On the coldest December evening thus far we stepped from the cobblestone via into the old world warmth of a medieval palazzo to a sumptuous meal at the long narrow dark heavy wood table, beautifully laid in deep red with cut crystal wine goblets and white china, before discussing the contemporary implications of the novel Brave New World, by Alduous Huxley.
At Oxford, tutored by H.G. Wells, Huxley, originally inspired to write a parody of the period’s popular future utopia novels, wrote instead a dystopian saga which resonates 80 years later. Contemporary themes of societal control, genetic engineering, cloning, bioethics, coercive consumerism, drug use and sexual promiscuity are explored.
Huxley was a member of several hedonistic societies and explored and experimented with LSD and mescaline, in addition to being prescribed antidepressants. A trip to the United States, and an inadvertent study of the writing of Henry Ford on industrialization, mass production and consumerism as a key to peace, strongly influenced his pessimistic outlook for the future of Europe and inspired him to write Brave New World with America in mind.
The society consists of a genetically engineered hierarchy of consumers. Consumerism being the new religion, everyone was inculcated in the process of goods to make, buy, use and throw away. Today the practice can be seen in the elaborate advertising schemes and pressure to buy on too easily available credit in a vicious cycle which has resulted in seriously undermining world wide financial systems.
As panacea and to alleviate stress and anxiety the mood enhancing fictional drug Soma was used routinely. Its relevance today can be felt in the alarming use of psychoactive drugs to enhance, modify or control the behaviour of adults but most disturbingly that of a growing number of children. The production of Ritalin, the drug of choice to control a variety of behavioural issues in children, has increased 500% in five years. An estimated 5% of boys and 2% of girls in the United States, are prescribed these drugs beginning with children as young as 3 to 4 years of age. Young adults and adults are using them for memory and mental performance enhancement. This does not even begin to address the serious abuse of performance enhancing drugs.
The regulated and controlled society forbid any engagement in arts or literature, especially the work of Shakespeare from which the title is borrowed. Family connections were eliminated through genetically engineered reproduction which brings us to the main plot in the story when two characters go on vacation to the world at large and find two refugees from the colony. The two refugees, one the paternal offspring of a member of the colony, return and confusion and chaos ensue through the introduction of a blood relative.
It was not an easy read. The almost textbook descriptions of scientific endeavors were a slog. All in all, those who read and enjoyed it did so with an eye to its relevance today.
Thank you very much to Liz and everyone who contributed delicious food and Margaret, Krysia, Helen and others who brought well researched thought provoking ideas to the table.
The book we will discuss on January 23rd will be The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.
The book for February is Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal, by Jeanette Winterson
March’s book selection is My Cousin Rachel, by Daphne du Maurier and April will be discussing Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence.
We look forward to lively discussions.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The Handmaid's Tale
Krysia cited this research:
Most people don't want to read about a book before they actually read it, but with this one, I wish I had. It was an uncomfortable and disturbing read.
Margaret Atwood had a fascination with dictatorships and how they functioned as well as an interest in dystopian literature.
The defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment, the rise of the religious right, the election of Ronald Reagan, and many sorts of backlash (mostly hugely misinformed) against the women's movement led writers like Atwood to fear that the antifeminist tide could not only prevent further gains for women, but turn back the clock.
Feminists took many different lines on pornography and advertising demeaning women. Some said that the portrayal of women sexually and erotically should be completely censored, and at the other end of the spectrum that censorship resulted in loss of freedom and therefore dangerous.
The sub-theme of this tangled debate which seems to have particularly interested and alarmed Atwood is the tendency of some feminist anti-porn groups to ally themselves with religious anti-porn zealots who opposed the feminists on almost every other issue. The language of "protection of women" could slip from a demand for more freedom into a retreat from freedom, to a kind of neo-Victorianism.
Contemporary Islamic women sometimes argue that assuming the veil and all-enveloping clothing protects them from sexual harassment and sexual objectification.
In the Old Testament, Hebrew, it was considered legal for a husband to procreate with his servant, if his wife was infertile, and during the birth the wife would embrace the servant to show that she had a right to the child.
Margaret added these insights:
The Secret Services took the eye from the one dollar bill as their logo and then Homeland Security used it.
Between 76-83 in Argentina the generals took the children from dissidents. 3000 people disappeared
In Basra 45% of pregnancies end in miscarriages and 50% of children are born with birth defects due to the lead, mercury and white phosphorous shells.
Liz added that on second reading many ideas came to the fore.
Anne, who also brought wonderful fresh milled olive oil, mentioned closed societies and children with genetic defects and an overall mistrust of governing bodies.
The next meeting will be held on December 12, graciously hosted by Liz at Palazzo Salvi. We will be discussing Alduous Huxley’s Brave New World.
The title chosen for the January meeting is The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, date and venue to follow.
Thank you to everyone who participated and we look very forward to seeing you in December.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Swimming Home
The Book Club met on a cool mid fall evening in the elegant, warm and cozy kitchen of Krysia and Christopher Bell. While appetizing fragrances wafted from the oven we enjoyed appetizers and prosecco and caught up with the members whom we had not seen for several weeks and reflected on those who could not be there, wishing them well.
We sat down to a delicious and hearty meal and evocative anecdotes provided by the members and hosts and eventually got down to the business at hand which was to discuss Swimming Home by Deborah Levy. Opinions were radically but amicably divergent.
The Story revolves around the incidental introduction of a very beautiful but zany young naturalist botanist amidst a group of five friends on Holiday in Antibes. The opening pages are intriguing, evocative and promising but in the majority opinion it goes down hill from there. A few readers felt an immediate and strong affinity for the characters and were drawn into the story which follows the 6 main characters, and several ancillary, through several discomforting and eventually tragic days. Some characters were very well drawn psychologically others were mystifying and frustratingly quixotic.
Margaret insightfully remarked on the metaphor of the swimming pool drawing references to watery grave, Ophelia and suspension as represented by a floating body at the beginning and end of the story. The main protagonist was cited as a catalyst for change in otherwise stilted dysfunctional lives. Selene recognized the powerful force of the water imagery and swimming as metaphor for being lost, or at sea as it were.
Apart from the two very strongly positive reviews, over all it was felt that the story just didn’t hang together, that its otherwise described hallucinatory aspect was unjustified. The author tried very hard to create a cohesive story but did not succeed, as Elisabeth felt it was too long to be a good short story but too short and disjointed to have achieved what was needed to make it a good novel.
The next meeting will be held on November 21st, at Kerry’s Barga location, to discuss The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, and the following on December 12th when we will discuss Huxley’s Brave New World, as it relates to the 21st C., venue to be announced.
A few recommendations to add to the reading list are:
The Death of Grass by John Christopher
Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
Several Titles by Gianrico Carofiglio
Thank you very much to everyone who participated.
We sat down to a delicious and hearty meal and evocative anecdotes provided by the members and hosts and eventually got down to the business at hand which was to discuss Swimming Home by Deborah Levy. Opinions were radically but amicably divergent.
The Story revolves around the incidental introduction of a very beautiful but zany young naturalist botanist amidst a group of five friends on Holiday in Antibes. The opening pages are intriguing, evocative and promising but in the majority opinion it goes down hill from there. A few readers felt an immediate and strong affinity for the characters and were drawn into the story which follows the 6 main characters, and several ancillary, through several discomforting and eventually tragic days. Some characters were very well drawn psychologically others were mystifying and frustratingly quixotic.
Margaret insightfully remarked on the metaphor of the swimming pool drawing references to watery grave, Ophelia and suspension as represented by a floating body at the beginning and end of the story. The main protagonist was cited as a catalyst for change in otherwise stilted dysfunctional lives. Selene recognized the powerful force of the water imagery and swimming as metaphor for being lost, or at sea as it were.
Apart from the two very strongly positive reviews, over all it was felt that the story just didn’t hang together, that its otherwise described hallucinatory aspect was unjustified. The author tried very hard to create a cohesive story but did not succeed, as Elisabeth felt it was too long to be a good short story but too short and disjointed to have achieved what was needed to make it a good novel.
The next meeting will be held on November 21st, at Kerry’s Barga location, to discuss The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, and the following on December 12th when we will discuss Huxley’s Brave New World, as it relates to the 21st C., venue to be announced.
A few recommendations to add to the reading list are:
The Death of Grass by John Christopher
Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
Several Titles by Gianrico Carofiglio
Thank you very much to everyone who participated.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
The Man Who Loved China
A warm early fall evening found a dozen or so members of the Barga Book Club enjoying a glass of wine or water, speaking quietly and watching the sun set slowly behind the Duomo. As the air chilled we gradually retreated to the warm and softly lit interior of the home of Pietro and Marijke Bianchessi. A buffet of fragrant, some Asian inspired, dishes provided by the book club members arrayed around the elegant ivory and black accented kitchen was taken to the long dining table and enjoyed before we began our lengthy discussion.
The book under discussion was “The Man Who Loved China,” the story of Joseph Needham, the Cambridge scientist who painstakingly chronicled the rise of the many Chinese arts and sciences which preclude most western discoveries and inventions. From astronomy through nautics, medicine, engineering and many other areas the Chinese were far ahead of the western world but the west knew nothing of their work until Needham researched and recorded it in multi-volume detail beginning in 1943.
The opinions of the readers were varied but most found the information on China, its history and culture very interesting and engaging. The author, Simon Winchester, did a thorough job of covering Needham’s work and life, balancing the two subjects well, straddling history and biography. As to the work, most readers were appreciative of the detail with which the author explained and documented the multitude of Chinese inventions and discoveries. As in the perpetual quandary, does the Art justify the artist’s bad behaviour, some readers were very disturbed by the peccadilloes of the subject.
The discussion was greatly enhanced by the contribution of the guest speaker Frank Viviano, long time international correspondent and bureau head for The San Francisco Chronicle and other media who spent many years living in and/or reporting from Asia. Drawing on his personal and professional experience in China Frank added in depth perspective and background to much of the substance of the book as well as insight about the culture and the author’s professional background, which Elisabeth Marseglia had also included in her well composed opening statement.
So, in addition to reading an interesting book, we learned a lot about the history and circumstances of which it was written.
We have selected The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood for November’s book club meeting which will be held at Kerry’s Barga address.
The next meeting will be held on 17 October at the home of Krysia at which we will discuss Swimming Home by Deborah Levy.
There were many other books to add to our suggested reading lists which include:
This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson
Four Fish by Paul Greenberg
Shantarum by Gregory David Roberts
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Morakami
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiuro
anything by Dave Eggers
Thank you very much to everyone who participated and contributed and especially to our guest speaker Frank Viviano for taking the time to add his deep and fascinating perspective.
The book under discussion was “The Man Who Loved China,” the story of Joseph Needham, the Cambridge scientist who painstakingly chronicled the rise of the many Chinese arts and sciences which preclude most western discoveries and inventions. From astronomy through nautics, medicine, engineering and many other areas the Chinese were far ahead of the western world but the west knew nothing of their work until Needham researched and recorded it in multi-volume detail beginning in 1943.
The opinions of the readers were varied but most found the information on China, its history and culture very interesting and engaging. The author, Simon Winchester, did a thorough job of covering Needham’s work and life, balancing the two subjects well, straddling history and biography. As to the work, most readers were appreciative of the detail with which the author explained and documented the multitude of Chinese inventions and discoveries. As in the perpetual quandary, does the Art justify the artist’s bad behaviour, some readers were very disturbed by the peccadilloes of the subject.
The discussion was greatly enhanced by the contribution of the guest speaker Frank Viviano, long time international correspondent and bureau head for The San Francisco Chronicle and other media who spent many years living in and/or reporting from Asia. Drawing on his personal and professional experience in China Frank added in depth perspective and background to much of the substance of the book as well as insight about the culture and the author’s professional background, which Elisabeth Marseglia had also included in her well composed opening statement.
So, in addition to reading an interesting book, we learned a lot about the history and circumstances of which it was written.
We have selected The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood for November’s book club meeting which will be held at Kerry’s Barga address.
The next meeting will be held on 17 October at the home of Krysia at which we will discuss Swimming Home by Deborah Levy.
There were many other books to add to our suggested reading lists which include:
This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson
Four Fish by Paul Greenberg
Shantarum by Gregory David Roberts
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Morakami
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiuro
anything by Dave Eggers
Thank you very much to everyone who participated and contributed and especially to our guest speaker Frank Viviano for taking the time to add his deep and fascinating perspective.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Greetings from Tiglio
Once again, regaled by the elegantly rustic setting, picture postcard views and sumptuous food offered by Isobel and Pete Dodds and the book club members, we eventually got down to talking about Two Women, or La Ciociara, by Alberto Moravia. This mid twentieth century Italian classic looks at the extreme difficulty and deprivation caused by WWII from the viewpoint of a mother and daughter, who like so many others were forced to leave their home and flee into the countryside with unfortunate results.
The discussion began with Pietro Bianchessi who talked about the author's background which has subsumed some of the importance of the story and which may have included autobiographical elements. The story is seen as realistic and descriptive of the nitty gritty day to day existence during this difficult period where eventually all normal rules of society fall away and no one is safe or protected from pain even metaphorically as their feet and shins might have been by the Ciociara, a protective piece of leather wound around the foot and up the shin. Liz added that it represented a criticism of society when Italy loses her innocence over fascism. The final, brutal scene is set in a church begging the question "where is God." Selene cited the comparative trauma, poverty and deprivation suffered by both civilian and military, as well as excellent characterization, suspense, plot and subplot as engaging. Margaret and I had difficulty with the translation which read stilted and dull and we both decided it would be best read in the original.
Opinion was split at about 50-50 as to who enjoyed the book and who didn't for various reasons. Several felt the final rape scene too overpowering and were left disturbed by it.
The discussion was informed and lively and thank you to everyone who participated.
Several titles were put forward for the upcoming meetings which sounded of interest including, How It All Began, by Penelope Lively; Fiesta, by Ernest Hemingway; Driving Over Lemons, By Chris Stewart; but we have chosen: Swimming Home by Deborah Levy for the October meeting.
There will be no August meeting. The book for September 26th is: The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester.
Thank you again and we'll be in touch closer to the September meeting with time and venue.
The discussion began with Pietro Bianchessi who talked about the author's background which has subsumed some of the importance of the story and which may have included autobiographical elements. The story is seen as realistic and descriptive of the nitty gritty day to day existence during this difficult period where eventually all normal rules of society fall away and no one is safe or protected from pain even metaphorically as their feet and shins might have been by the Ciociara, a protective piece of leather wound around the foot and up the shin. Liz added that it represented a criticism of society when Italy loses her innocence over fascism. The final, brutal scene is set in a church begging the question "where is God." Selene cited the comparative trauma, poverty and deprivation suffered by both civilian and military, as well as excellent characterization, suspense, plot and subplot as engaging. Margaret and I had difficulty with the translation which read stilted and dull and we both decided it would be best read in the original.
Opinion was split at about 50-50 as to who enjoyed the book and who didn't for various reasons. Several felt the final rape scene too overpowering and were left disturbed by it.
The discussion was informed and lively and thank you to everyone who participated.
Several titles were put forward for the upcoming meetings which sounded of interest including, How It All Began, by Penelope Lively; Fiesta, by Ernest Hemingway; Driving Over Lemons, By Chris Stewart; but we have chosen: Swimming Home by Deborah Levy for the October meeting.
There will be no August meeting. The book for September 26th is: The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester.
Thank you again and we'll be in touch closer to the September meeting with time and venue.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The Major...
The book club met in the beautiful setting of Serra, graciously hosted at the home of Pietro and Marijke. Lingering over the stunning view of La Pania and the delicious edibles brought by members, we eventually got down to discussing Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. As usual, the novel met with mixed reviews and vast differences of opinion. Taken on the surface it seemed to have been an enjoyable read, light, funny, poignant in parts, a little light in the summing up but overall many members seemed to have liked it.
The story follows a connection between two British family groups, the traditionalist Major Pettigrew and his modernist son and a more traditionalist English Pakistani family, all contending with modernist changes. In the generous, astute and objective view it is a story of tradition, preconceptions and cultural baggage as played out in a small English community. The opposing views found it trite, patronizing, bigoted and clichè ridden. While some felt the principle characters were contrastingly drawn from pompous to sublimely elegant others saw more variety and attributed thematic depth.
Though members mentioned that each book we read expands horizons by recommending something we would not normally chose to read, this book would not be highly recommended by many.
The upcoming dates and books are as follows:
June 13th at to be advised - Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi July 25th at Isobel's - Two Women (original title 'La Ciociara') by Alberto Moravia September 19th. (venue to be advised) - The Man who Loved China by Simon Winchester.
Thank you very much to all who participated!
We look very forward to seeing you in June,
Kerry
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