Some suggestions...See links.
Corydon by Andre Gide
Essays and a Writer's Guide by Phillip Lopate
Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett
The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
Send more....Add to comments section below.
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Saturday, June 22, 2013
Summer Time Reading
Some suggestions...See links.
Corydon by Andre Gide
Essays and a Writer's Guide by Phillip Lopate
Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett
The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
Send more....Add to comments section below.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Sense of an Ending: Discussion
Can you like a book about a fundamentally unlikable main character? Yes! No! That's what it boiled down to. No middle of the road wishy-washy mehs. Two readers said that Tony, the flawed main character, made it difficult for them to care enough to keep reading although they valiantly did. Others thanked the sponsor (me) for recommending the book. (A first for this blogger --me-- I believe.)
What kept me engrossed was not the hope that Tony would change...would finally get it and immerse himself in life; although that hope was there. It was the desire to "get" what Tony did not get until the very end of the book. And what the reader finally realizes after rereading and rereading is that it is just as futile to chase the truth in this book as it is in real life. As Barnes points out --our memories are filtered and distorted by our need to invent our own story. (Only more eloquently and powerfully.) And the lack of corroborating witnesses. And the very nature of remembering.
The discussion on memories brought up research on how memory works--the brain stores parts of memories in different sections divided by sense--thus memory of smell, sight, feel, ...and so on...are separate not "whole". How reliable is that? One b.g. member talked about a reunion of her sisters brought about a discussion of an event that they all witnessed/took part in. All remembered it differently.
Despite the realization that we can't really know the whole story of Tony, we tried to piece it together. Folly? (What is the real mystery we are all trying to answer? The story of our parents and their parents? How did the universe begin? ) The following big space is giving you an opportunity to avoid the spoiler discussion, (there is a twist at the end) read the book, and return.
Spoiler Alert
Hypotheses:
Why blood money? Veronica's mother left Tony 500 pounds because she felt guilty for helping to break up the couple. Sara tried to seduce Tony, he was clueless, and thus Sara talked against him. She wanted fresh boyfriends brought home to try for. Veronica going against her parent/rival gave one last try to keep Tony by seducing him. When Tony rejected her, she chose Adrian. A rebound choice that boomeranged tragically.
Another point of view on this question expressed after most of the group left for home...Veronica used the term blood money...to get back at Tony. For Veronica did love Tony and Tony loved her. Why else the strongly worded letter? And he threw their chance at happiness away. Sara's leaving the money may not at all have been an act of contrition for her; just a token?
Just as the meeting ended a new thread ...
Maybe this book is about good and evil. Tony or Anthony is named for the saint who finds/searches for lost things and people. Veronica had the cloth with Jesus's face printed on it...(the cloth a shadow of the truth -- a page of the diary?) Does that make Adrian Christ? There is a Saint Adrian...who was royalty from Hungary and killed by Vikings. Veronica is also Mary...explaining why she was a "second" mother to her brother. Why she never married. (Or did she?)
Futile. Stop. Now.
Third and Final draft.
What kept me engrossed was not the hope that Tony would change...would finally get it and immerse himself in life; although that hope was there. It was the desire to "get" what Tony did not get until the very end of the book. And what the reader finally realizes after rereading and rereading is that it is just as futile to chase the truth in this book as it is in real life. As Barnes points out --our memories are filtered and distorted by our need to invent our own story. (Only more eloquently and powerfully.) And the lack of corroborating witnesses. And the very nature of remembering.
The discussion on memories brought up research on how memory works--the brain stores parts of memories in different sections divided by sense--thus memory of smell, sight, feel, ...and so on...are separate not "whole". How reliable is that? One b.g. member talked about a reunion of her sisters brought about a discussion of an event that they all witnessed/took part in. All remembered it differently.
Despite the realization that we can't really know the whole story of Tony, we tried to piece it together. Folly? (What is the real mystery we are all trying to answer? The story of our parents and their parents? How did the universe begin? ) The following big space is giving you an opportunity to avoid the spoiler discussion, (there is a twist at the end) read the book, and return.
Spoiler Alert
Hypotheses:
Why blood money? Veronica's mother left Tony 500 pounds because she felt guilty for helping to break up the couple. Sara tried to seduce Tony, he was clueless, and thus Sara talked against him. She wanted fresh boyfriends brought home to try for. Veronica going against her parent/rival gave one last try to keep Tony by seducing him. When Tony rejected her, she chose Adrian. A rebound choice that boomeranged tragically.
Another point of view on this question expressed after most of the group left for home...Veronica used the term blood money...to get back at Tony. For Veronica did love Tony and Tony loved her. Why else the strongly worded letter? And he threw their chance at happiness away. Sara's leaving the money may not at all have been an act of contrition for her; just a token?
Just as the meeting ended a new thread ...
Maybe this book is about good and evil. Tony or Anthony is named for the saint who finds/searches for lost things and people. Veronica had the cloth with Jesus's face printed on it...(the cloth a shadow of the truth -- a page of the diary?) Does that make Adrian Christ? There is a Saint Adrian...who was royalty from Hungary and killed by Vikings. Veronica is also Mary...explaining why she was a "second" mother to her brother. Why she never married. (Or did she?)
Futile. Stop. Now.
Third and Final draft.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Next Book: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
New York Times Review
Huffington Post Review
Guardian Review
Julian Barnes Bio
NPR interview
Books say: She did this because. Life says: She did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren’t. I’m not surprised some people prefer books. — JULIAN BARNES
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