The Forester and Flower , 3rd December 2015
Chris B opened up proceedings by saying that he found there
to be lots of good things about the book. An interesting family, although
it was a shame about the parents’ relationship, but the author conveyed the
truth behind many relationships of the time no doubt. Chris really got into the
book when it described the Blitz which he found well described and relevant to
his own family background. He found the overall concept interesting, but
occasionally confusing. Ursula didn’t seem to truly develop as a person
and never fully engaged in relationships. A mixed experience for Chris
but overall positive.
Chris W was also absorbed by the Blitz descriptions and how
vividly they portrayed the impact of a bomb blast for example, and enjoyed the
way in which certain key eras of English history were brought to life. He
found himself a little nostalgic for some of the rather old-fashioned turns of
phrase that were given a new lease of life here but that you don’t hear any
more. However, at the same time he didn’t always get the point of the book and
occasionally found himself waiting for some profound revelation that never
came. Was the book challenging the question of “what if’s” in peoples
lives, or just a collection of short stories?
Steve was more effusive and found the book “mostly
brilliant” in the hands of a very skilled writer. He too thought the Blitz
descriptions were very strong and powerful, and the passage where an apparently
intact body came apart like a cracker when they tried to move it stuck in his mind.
He wasn’t exactly sure about the way the different lives were addressed, but he
did feel it gave a really different perspective on those lives that made them
somehow almost three-dimensional. In his opinion it was a great social
/historical commentary; descriptions of Clarence and his tin face for example
reminded one of how commonplace such sights must have been. He wasn’t convinced
by the Hitler segment and felt it unnecessary and indeed it showed signs of the
author trying to be over-ambitious perhaps, but overall enjoyable.
Mark T on the other hand didn’t find this a very good
book. For him it was tedious re-reading the night of Ursula’s birth
multiple times. He did find the horrendous male relationships
fascinating in their awfulness and was intrigued by the rape carried out by the
American, with it’s almost unbelievable speed and location. He too felt
the German part didn’t work and overall simply wasn’t gripped by the book.
Rob felt similarly to Mark here to the extent that he hasn’t
finished the book and still has some way to go with it. His fundamental
problem was that he had loved The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and so
LAL was not comparing well in his eyes. In fact probably the most interesting
thing for him was that two authors should come up with the same general concept
and write novels about it within such a relatively short period of time when,
to his knowledge, there were no other well known novels on this theme at any
time before (Neil notes that they were published within 6 months of each other,
with LAL coming out first). So Rob discovered that reading this on his iPad,
the Sports news was regularly proving more of an attractive read than the
novel. And he did ask for it to be noted that he had enjoyed the
music…the live music playing in the other bar of the pub.
Neil was more enthusiastic about the book having found the
atmosphere and the characters very lifelike and easy to be drawn in to.
He liked the way that Atkinson explored the sliding doors idea of how much your
life could change if you handled small and short-term incidents differently and
for him the most powerful example was how in one version of Ursula’s life she
allows herself to be kissed by the American boy on her 16th birthday
and this ends up with her being battered to death by her monster of a husband
while by merely kicking the yank in the shins when he advances on her it
completely changes the course of her life. A salutary lesson for those
who chose to deny the terrible impact that rape can have on women’s lives,
especially in society’s like Ursula’s where the shame was deemed to be so
terrible. There were times when he questioned whether a normal person
would have had quite so many opportunities to die, even without the Blitz to
contend with, and he too found the Hitler element unnecessary, but overall he
found the writing style and descriptive ability to be very absorbing.
Richard shared his view via email and concluded that on
reflection the book had been good, but certainly not amazing. In contrast
to Rob he found it much better than FFLOHA which he thought somewhat trite and
dull. By comparison LAL unfolded lots of different possible futures, the
Blitz was well handled, he felt he got to know Ursula and the family and
sibling dynamics were fascinating. He also liked the idea that Ursula was
bearing witness to the 20th Century. On the downside Ursula
seemed a rather vague and un-developed character at times and that the author
hadn’t been completely sure of what she was going to do with the re-birthing
idea until the end of the book.
Mark W added via email that he found the book rather
hard going. There were parts that he enjoyed, particularly the extended
descriptions of London in the war which she brought alive very well. However,
the book as an entirety didn't convince him and he found himself getting
irritated by the rebirths. Yes, the concept was interesting but ultimately
pointless and he found himself thinking what a better book it would have been
if she had just made it a straightforward narrative; not as clever but probably
more enjoyable. She could have then ditched the Hitler bit which he found
rather silly and unconvincing
We enjoyed meeting in the Forester and Flower and although
the live music playing next door was sometimes a little intrusive, it was quite
good on the whole and added to the evening’s entertainment!
