Down to the Sea in Ships – of Ageless Oceans and Modern Men
by Horatio Clare

Rose and Crown, Larkhall, 6th December 2018

Present: Steve (this choice), John, Chris B, Chris W, Mark T (later), Willm.

Apologies from Mark W, Andrew and Richard.

The book was selected partly because this month’s reading director, Steve, particularly likes travel books and hadn’t read a good one for a while. Having met a relative of Clare’s at a dinner party, and having as a result found that he hadn't read as widely in the genre as he thought, Steve decided to inflict him upon the rest of the BBC. So how did it go?

This is a good journalist’s account of modern global shipping at work. Through the offices of Danish giant Maersk, Clare tagged a ride on two container ships, one heading to east Asia from Harwich, the other crossing the Atlantic from Antwerp to Montreal. His intention was to reveal something of the way these massive craft influence global trade, and, more interestingly one suspects for Clare, to find out more about the kind of men (mostly men) who make their living and their lives on board.

It was soon revealed that the club contains a number of frustrated seamen, as well as some who remain resolute in their determination to have as little as possible to do with it.

John was at one point in life going to go to sea but it didn’t happen – and this book popped a lot of dreams for him. It was interesting to see how introverted many of the crew were – retiring, not really mixing, just getting the hours in until their next leave or promotion.  He enjoyed the details about the crew – skipper Petrus Koop’s father was a bishop in Brazil… He saw moments of genius in the writing , such a Larson peering over his glasses in the playground as a fat little kid – a very evocative description.

So for John, a good read, enjoyable, though interspersed with moments when it was frankly a bit of a slog. Rather like the voyages.

Steve was another frustrated mariner. For him it was a sporadically fascinating window onto a rarely written-about world. Some of the statistics were extraordinary – although how Maersk could be making millions of pounds sterling a day, as claimed earlier in the book, when it cost more to ship the containers than the goods inside them, was unclear. For Steve the biggest stumbling block was the writing. Strangely unformed sentences got in the way of a clear description, as though the author imagined himself driven in some way by a kind of poetic muse that forced him to change the order of words around simply to make it sound more interesting. Some passages were great – the frozen run in to Montreal for example, or the description of finding the Pembroke in Antwerp. But others just didn’t work and paled in comparison with Nicolas Monserrat, Robin Knox-Johnson etc etc.

Chris B enjoyed the basic premise of demonstrating how the stuff we use gets to be where it is in the world and how vital these precise schedules are. It’s the most polluting industry in the world – though right now steps are being taken to improve that – which is a conundrum in itself. His initial momentum on pollution rather faded, but the descriptions of the ships in rough weather were evocative and vivid. He’d have liked to know more about navigation, how they were taught, what happened when it went wrong… and historical references , particularly the WW2 convoys, lent depth and context – travelling over peoples’ graves. He found the book a powerful case for doing more about the pollution issued by the industry and wished the author had been a bit more dogged in this respect – but on the other hand it was good that the book didn’t preach, leaving the reader to make up their own mind.

Chris W wondered what our review would have been like if the group was made up of women instead of men. In which event, it was pointed out, we probably wouldn’t have chosen it. But the point was well made – it is a very male dominated society, and the appearance of the one female (Annabel the cook) wasn’t enough to counterpoint the very ‘heavy metal’ engineering focus. How amazing to change a cylinder casing while still travelling along. The ships couldn’t hide from bad weather, they had to choose their route carefully to minimise risk while losing as little time as possible. It was the human aspects that Chris felt were missing – more detail about the families left at home, the hardships endured on the other side of the equation – but interesting and enjoyable.

Willm declared himself not a sea person., and initially he found the book fairly uninteresting and uninvolving. But as the voyages developed, he found himself increasingly drawn in. The emphasis on the everyday dangers, the hardships of the crew, particularly the Filipinos, and the pay differential between them and the Europeans. Willm was amused by the descriptions of the Filipino expertise at getting massive suitcases through airline security at the last possible moment, as they took spoils home to their families. He liked the writer’s own admission of the difficulty of capturing the motion of a big ship across the waves in writing. Though ‘snippety’, he enjoyed the book once he was into it.

Mark T found it interesting to read this book describing a world about which he knew little. He found some episodes fascinating – the description of Vietnam; the sheer magnitude of the ship (particularly the Gerd); the sad sad barbecue scene where no one really wanted to be there but everyone dutifully went – in a storm. There was possibly too much about storms. In the final analysis for Mark it didn’t have enough about it to really make the experience fulfilling – interesting in parts but ultimately a bit boring.

Mark W found the premise of the book interesting and original.The mis of narrative and reflections worked for a while but lost momentum after a while. There’s a limit to the number of observations about whales, diesel engines, the weather etc. that a non-mariner can take on. In exception to this was the section from Chapters 17-19, including the build-up to the storm and the storm itself. Perhaps another gear was engaged for this section? And augmented very effectively by the choice of extracts from Eugene O’Neill and Nicolas Monserrat. Unfortunately the extracts sometimes pointed up the shortcomings of the author’s own prose, but it did turn out to be a little better than at one point feared.

Richard enjoyed the book and found himself enjoying it more, the more he read. Lots to like but not a great book. We learned a great deal about the importance of shipping to global trade, both now and throughout history (who knew that Bristol’s favourite John Cabot was in fact a Venetian?) The passages on the WW2 convoys were very effective. The descriptions of wildlife were also helpful in bringing life to the narrative – the birds that join the ship for long periods and then disappear. Richard enjoyed the lists of cargos and the people who would benefit from them, his political motivations as well and agonising over the unfairness even to this day of the way these huge shipping lines are run. So there was plenty to like, a really wide range of information and some very descriptive prose. But despite this, Richard found the momentum slowing occasionally, and the style rather lost its power when the author wasn’t up on his soapbox. But not a bad book at all and am interesting alternative (and in Richard’s view an improvement upon) the last book about the sea that we read – Sea of Poppies.

Andrew was another who was looking forward to the mix of wind, waves, steel and men doing what me do… and found the author gifted at putting thoughts on the page and conjuring up the extremes of weather and the occasional dramas that occur throughout the voyages he describes. Nonetheless the journey was a tough one. Mostly because of the way the book was constructed. Some crew members’ stories were presented as anecdotes by other sailors – their introductions felt clunky and contrived, they were often too brief to make meaningful contributions and sometimes felt like wrong turns. Perhaps a little more editing of the material he’d collected would have made Clare’s book a more coherent whole?

So a broadly favourable response, for a range of reasons, although no-one found that it really set the world on fire.

Scores:
John 6.75
Steve 6.5
Chris B 7.0
Chris W 6.4
Willm 8.0
Mark T 4.5
Mark W 6.0
Richard 7.5
Andrew 4.0

Average 6.294

The Power– Naomi Alderman

BBBC Meeting, 1 November 2018, The Hop Pole, Bath

Present: Andrew (this book choice), MarkW, MarkT, Willm, Richard, ChrisW, ChrisB, Steve

Apols: John

I chose this novel for several reasons: its terrific central idea; its similarities and differences with The Handmaid’s Tale the book club had read a few months earlier; the current spotlight on the abuse of power by men, how the patriarchy has maintained its stranglehold on power, and how boys and men may go through life unaware of the privileges. As a bloke, I thought I could, and should, learn from this story. I was particularly interested to see how the author would put flesh on the bones of her brilliant idea, and to listen to the resulting discussion of the book with my fellow blokes.

The Power is feminist speculative fiction and explores how reversal of the gender power imbalance might affect society. The overall view was that while the central premise was fascinating, the execution of the story was disappointing. While JH enjoyed it far more than he expected not being a sci-fi/dystopia fan and having been put off by the cover and its blurb, everyone else felt it didn’t live up to its promise. MW thought the first chapter was terrific, but struggled with the violence, feeling much of it was gratuitous, and that the pendulum had currently swung too far against men. He did not enjoy the book. 

Neither did MT despite liking the beginning, the end and the Roxy character, mainly because the implausible physics of skeins annoyed him. Although he appreciated the reworking of the biblical references and was moved when Roxy’s skein was removed, he also struggled with the story in general and the violence in particular, and didn’t enjoy it. CW, who enjoys sci-fi and books which stimulate his imagination, felt this was written as an action drama, and while The Handmaid’s Tale explored the human condition, The Power was based solely on the power to electrocute. It didn’t live up its promise and he was pleased to finish it. 

WM was looking forward to reading it and watching how power can change, but after 30 pages became disappointed with the plot focus on sex, violence and gangsters, the simplistic situations and predictable plot devices, and how the transfer of power was not explored in any depth. SC was also looking forward to reading it but both his enjoyment and will to read faltered with the heavy-handed rather formulaic execution of the plot, which felt like a succession of situations of reversals of gender stereotypes. At times it had the feel of a pulp fiction novel, without the depth of thought or empathy of Atwood’s tale, and didn’t come together as a book.  CB found the plot a bit disjointed (as did JH and AA) and confusing such as Allie turning to religion and how characters ended up in Moldova where Tatiana’s court seemed rather pantomime. He commented that humans are nasty, particularly those with power, that corruption and violence are not limited to men, that not all men abuse power, and that power, the abuse of power, and revenge are part of the human condition, but felt many of these issues had not been worked through. 

RV enjoyed the book more than most but didn’t think it was a really good story like The Handmaid’s Tale. While it had many extremely interesting points, good adventures, and kept him up late reading a couple of nights, it was flawed. He also felt the style was filmic, perhaps with ITV in mind. He enjoyed the description of revolution – that the only way to change anything is a tsunami – and noted that Alderman had chosen to write about tsunami and not spray, in deciding on the power to electrocute rather than a more subtle way to transfer power.  He enjoyed the reframing of gender roles with men the nurturers looking after babies and women the protectors, using violence. 

JH said it was a really interesting and innovative premise with all sorts of ramifications and implications. He loved some of the different country vignettes such as reaction in India, Moldova and Saudi. AA thought the central idea was terrific and the story was full of brilliantly imagined ideas, though the sheer number of these meant that many were left undeveloped and unexplored. This meant that the story lacked the depth and intensity of The Handmaid’s Tale, even though the plot raced along in an exciting way. However, there was broad agreement that most stories would pale in comparison to The Handmaid’s Tale, though repeated comparisons are inevitable given their similarities, Atwood’s mentorship of Alderman during her writing of The Power, and reviews on the book’s cover, including one from Atwood. 

AA thought the skein idea was biologically a bit far-fetched but that there had to be some way of reversing the gender power imbalance so rapidly and decisively. He felt much of the focus of the book was on the abuse of power by women, and would have been interested to read more about less extreme societies than Bessapara, to see how everyday life in suburban Norwich or rural Idaho was affected. What was life like for ordinary men and women, rather than just the gangsters and politicians? What if power had been equalised rather than the imbalance simply reversed?

The characters came in for quite a lot of criticism with the exception of Roxy, and to a lesser extent, Tunde: shallow and disappointing (WM), over-exaggerated, lack of depth (CW), no empathy with them (SC), some overly stereotypical and so not always plausible or people I either felt for or wanted to be with (JH). 

The writing was good with some lovely passages while other situations were over-embellished (SC), the dialogue a bit simplistic (WM), some good descriptive writing particularly the vitriol in the chapter on chatrooms, and the accurate portrayal of how quickly outrage evaporates in India and nothing changes (RV), at times hard to follow, quite wordy with too many digressions and elaborations – not always an easy read (JH). Many people liked the ending with the male author being told his work will always be assessed as ‘men’s literature’ and being asked if he had considered publishing it under a woman’s name.

Perhaps expectations were just too high to be met, particularly in a single book, and particularly given the links to Atwood’s extraordinary tale, but overall this novel did not live up to its high promise, disappointing several of the group in a large way and the others in lesser ways. However, Alderman is to be congratulated for tackling such a fundamental, important and unresolved issue, for dreaming up such an extraordinary novel, and for working it through – even if some blokes in Bath found fault in some of its execution. Her book generated one of the best discussions for some time (RV) as well as making us think about uncomfortable things.

Andrew Alexander

November 2018

Remarkable Creatures – Tracy Chevalier

BBBC Meeting:  Thursday, 4^th October 2018, Flower and Forrester, Combe Down

Present: Richard (his book choice), Andrew, ChrisB, John, MarkT, MarkW, Steve, Willm.

Apols and score received (but no notes yet): ChrisW,

Overall, most enjoyed this book quite a lot (there were 2 dissenting voices) but most of those who enjoyed lots of specific elements about the book also felt that the ‘whole was less than the sum of its parts’: “not the greatest book in the world, but I enjoyed it”.

More Detail

It was suggested that this was a very enjoyable book (“I enjoyed it – it grabbed me from the first page”), about a tremendously interesting period of UK and world history, focused on two interesting women of their time and class (or as ChrisB much more eruditely put it: “Good evocation of an era by the contrast of two women who take on roles of great agency despite the hegemony of men”).   And the title relates both to the fossils they find, and to the two women.

Most agreed that the book captures the excitement and Intellectual challenge of finding fossils, and trying to understand what they are, and how they fit into a God-given world. And that the book also touched quite strongly on a debate (still ongoing) about experiential knowledge versus academic book-learnt knowledge, with Mary Anning knowing from her experiential knowledge far more than most of the much more highly educated ‘experts’.  Although not acknowledged at the time, attempts have now been made to put this right, and in fact in 2010, one hundred and sixty-three years after her death, the Royal Society included Mary Anning in a list of the Ten British women who have most influenced the history of science across the world.

There were a couple of dissenting voices, with especially Willm not enjoying the book: “Struggled with it; not grabbed by it at all; no desire to go back and continue reading it; plodded; not well-written: I expected more from the book!”.  Willm felt that a book is meant to ‘Inform, Educate and Entertain’ and whilst for him it did the first two, it certainly did not entertain. Although there was lots that Steve liked, it “left me feeling slightly empty at the end – a great story (with many fascinating and key issues raised) but just felt strangely anodyne … it lacked teeth … clichéd responses, awkward sentences: it promised much, delivered some, disappointed in various details”.  And ChrisB summarised: “An enjoyable and interesting to read. But not as emotional or engaging as I had hoped.”

Most did not completely agree with them though, and felt that many elements of the book were well handled:

Plot: Most agreed that this is an interesting story which led to an interesting and enjoyable plot.  It motivated a number of the group to find more out about Mary Anning and has made a number of us want to (re-)visit Lyme Regis. Steve and others liked the idea of ‘the eye’ – the fact that some people had great skill in pattern recognition and were hence able to look at the same areas that others looked at, but to see things very differently.  The juxtaposition throughout between finding fossils as a major scientific endeavour and using them to make enough money to make a living was a fascinating tension throughout the book, overlapping with the major themes of class and differential opportunity for women versus men.

Setting: Most found the setting clear and believable – both London and Lyme Regis at that time (and the difficulties of travel between them) were brought to life well.  And in terms of travel, Elizabeth Philpot’s descriptions of the journey to London were excellent, especially her changed understanding of the sea (p286), moving from seeing it as a boundary to an opening: “keeping me in my place on land. Now, though, it became an opening. … On board … I had no choice but to see the greater world, and my place in it.” 

Chevalier has the ability to evoke place and period.  One example was when she ‘escaped’ her brother’s house and want alone in London: “I was free.  Or so I thought.  As I started along Great Russel Street past the British Museum, I became aware of other women walking in clumps, in couples or groups, with maids or husbands or fathers or friends. Except for the occasional servant, only men walked on their own.” And how she became increasingly uncomfortable and how she was approached by men thinking she must be a loose woman. (pp 230-1)

And her descriptive writing about how women were treated and expected to behave was excellent – “I was small and bony and plain, and I could not flirt, but would try to talk about serious things, and that drove the men away too.” “The summer of James Foot had been the height of Margaret’s potential. The following season she was treated as a fine gown that has dated in storage, the neckline now too high or too low, the cloth a touch faded, the cut no longer so flattering.”  Andrew liked the how Chevalier showed how the lives of the four sisters (and the other characters) were laid down by their social status; and that in this book there were heroines but no heroes; that these heroines were brave – battling tides, poverty, land-slips, and men!, and that the heroines were flawed enough to make them interesting.  “I liked walking along the beach with them”.

Characters and characterisations.  Writing a fictionalised biography is potentially difficult (see the Glass Room last time, and how upset the real family were). Easier here as no family left to take umbrage – but still, from looking after wards at these two women and what is known, it is very true to their actual lives, yet it was not a dry biography – it breathes life into them.  There are lots of minor characters but the two main ones, Mary and Elizabeth, are brought well to life – they are developed sympathetically and are believable: “the flow between them was very well done”.  The dynamic between working class Mary and middle class Elizabeth was deftly and convincingly handled, as was the invented love affair and subsequent jealousy. 

ChrisB remarked that the strong contrast between the two principal characters was well done: background, education, approach and age; yet they had a close relationship, even when they are competing for the affections of same man. Many of us enjoyed the tension between these two women, and the tension that they brought to others, disturbing the status quo.  MarkW remarked how the two interesting central characters were women whereas all of the male characters were villainous or nasty or somewhat buffoon-like.

On the other hand, all of the characters, even though well drawn, were all somewhat one-dimensional – there was no-one who was conflicted, no character who presented an alternative viewpoint – there were those who believed in a biblical account, or scientists who were moving forwards.

Style. Most very much enjoyed the style, moving from one voice to the next, and feeling that she retained these two distinct styles very well.  And most enjoyed the descriptions of the places, houses, dress and manners of Jane Austen's time.

Research. Clearly Chevailer had done a very great deal, but most felt that she wore it lightly, and the story was not subsumed by her need to show us how much she knew and had learnt about the period and the subject.

Topicality: Interestingly for a book set 200 years ago, there was much that was still very topical – the position of women of course, both in the UK and internationally (and the growth of the #MeToo movement), and the current conflicts especially in the USA over evolution, Darwin and ‘Creationism’.

Overall then, most thought it was a good and enjoyable book (ticking for most of us all three of Inform, Educate, Entertain), but not an amazing one (hence scores ranging from 7.7 to 6.5) although two of us (Willm and Steve) were less enamoured (scores of 4 and 6).

Richard Velleman, October 2018

The Glass Room   Simon Mawer  060918   Coeur de Lion

WM (proposer) found this a very interesting book, covering historical events and personal stories, very well conceptualised and written.  The focus is on love, betrayal, destruction and hope. The house features as the embodiment of a rational, clear-cut, lucid vision for the future in contrast with the irrational, messy, or destructive behaviour of the people who pass through it. The male characters, von Abt apart, are presented as quite calculating and business-like whereas the females are passionate and romantic. Hana combining both passion and romance with a clear-eyed or almost cynical view that things do not always turn out for the best. Overall impression of the writing is that it is quite intellectual, gradually becoming warmer to a very emotional ending.   9.0

RV    A tremendous book with a fascinating plot.  The characters are all believable and each is clearly defined while the author captures their interlocking relationships with each other and the house.   The descriptive passages are amazingly well done, as are the period details, for example with the plight of the refugees, and the antisemitism.  Apparently the descendants of the original family (the Tugendhats) are not at all happy with the house being appropriated by the author, as it was by the communist regime and the Czech Republic, and by the representation of the fictional family with which they could not help but be concatenated.  9.5

MT Very much enjoyed reading this book. Great description, in parts quite erotic. Could feel the pain of the refugees.  Disappointed by the latter part especially the Tomas / Zdenka section, couldn’t see the point of it in the overall story.  Had made considerably more notes but the dog ate them between John o’ Groats and Lands End.  7.3

CB   Initially found the book very irritating, especially when compared with recent Albanian experience.    Found it very cerebral and could not get excited by the house or the lives of a very rich, bourgeois family.  However the passion of the relationships and the increasing threat gradually got me - would they get away?  It all rang true. Eventually the use of house worked well and loved the Hana character. That the author is a polymath - architecture, music, history - was enjoyable.  Made me really think: are we forever divided by class? What is the point of human existence?   8.0

SC Really difficult to decide, a mixed bag and flawed.  Agree with a lot of what others have said but find it odd that the author started where he did and the focus on very privileged people who, although threatened, could use their money to escape.  The Kata character was fascinating, but disappeared three-quarters of the way through.  Some gratuitous sex  but loved the use of the house ‘the evolution of design of domestic dwellings’.  6.5

MW Can relate to a lot of what Steve said - overall enjoyable but flawed.  Took a while to get into it - not interested by the architecture - but eventually found the characters and description of the approach of the Germans excellently written, and some lovely descriptive passages throughout.           However, found the last third disappointing with its secondary cast of characters.  The ending was contrived but worked because of being very emotional.   7.9

AA Central characters very privileged but a weighty subject matter. Some beautiful description and superb introductions to characters and events, but the smoothness of the writing took away from the seriousness of what was happening despite the tension.  Liked the idea of a second cast, but the characters were weaker and was disappointed to lose the most interesting character, Kata, at that stage. The end was very moving.  Was Liesel involved in whatever happened to Kata?? (Lots of dissenting voices from fellow readers to this idea!)  8.0

JH Loved it! The idea and creation of the glass ‘space’. Love Bauhaus and this is a very important building, both architecturally and politically - it is where the treaty was signed separating the Czech Republic and Slovenia.  Was the character of Viktor underplayed? After all he was the one who planned ahead, moved money out of the country and arranged to get others through the emergency.   8.0

CW Didn’t appreciate the origins of the novel - the author was travelling around Europe looking for a idea for a book - or was he looking for a film deal? The building itself had a deep character.  The lesbian sex seemed contrived. However, the Hana character was really interesting and could have had a real story of her own.  Enjoyed it but began to lose interest and was disappointed.  Was reminded of The Hare with the Amber Eyes.  6.5

Overall mean score: 7.8555

Conundrum by Jan Morris (1974)

Conundrum is one of the earliest books to discuss trans-sexuality with honesty and without prurience. It tells the story of Jan Morris’s hidden life and how he decided to bring it into the open, as he resolved first on a hormone treatment and, second, on risky experimental surgery that would turn him into the woman that he is, or believed, he truly was. The book is a narrative journey about dramatic human change – both complex and fundamental.

As one of Britain's best and most loved travel writers, Jan Morris has led an extraordinary life. Perhaps her most remarkable work is this grippingly honest account of her ten-year transition from man to woman - its pains and joys, its frustrations and discoveries. On first publication in 1974, the book generated enormous interest and curiosity around the world, and was subsequently chosen by The Times as one of the '100 Key Books of Our Time'. Including a new introduction, this re-issue marks a return to that particular journey. 'Certainly the best first-hand account ever written by a traveller across the boundaries of sex As one of Britain's best and most loved travel writers, Jan Morris has led an extraordinary life. Perhaps her most remarkable work is this grippingly honest account of her ten-year transition from man to woman - its pains and joys, its frustrations and discoveries. On first publication in 1974, the book generated enormous interest and curiosity around the world, and was subsequently chosen by The Times as one of the '100 Key Books of Our Time'. Including a new introduction, this re-issue marks a return to that particular journey. 'Certainly the best first-hand account ever written by a traveller across the boundaries of sex As one of Britain's best and most loved travel writers, Jan Morris has led an extraordinary life. Perhaps her most remarkable work is this grippingly honest account of her ten-year transition from man to woman - its pains and joys, its frustrations and discoveries. On first publication in 1974, the book generated enormous interest and curiosity around the world, and was subsequently chosen by The Times as one of the '100 Key Books of Our Time'. Including a new introduction, this re-issue marks a return to that particular journey. 'Certainly the best first-hand account ever written by a traveller across the boundaries of sexIt is a classic commentary on changing identity. He writes of the bewilderment that never left him and the core of his life’s dilemma – what he calls a haze inside him.  Outside his “landscapes were Millais and Holman Hunt, my introspections were pure Turner”.

It is pertinent in the current interest in changing your own identity and various forms of sexual transitioning.  But as JM says in his 2001 introduction to this book it is already a period piece. It was written in the 1970s and is decidedly of the 1970s with all the nuances of the time – the fag end of empire, the power of the establishment (and their schools and clubs etc.), and associated attitudes to sex, identity and gender reassignment.

Discussion at Wheelwrights, Monkton Combe:  August 2 2018

Style/Narrative:

The general feeling was that this was a well-written and enjoyable read.  CW enjoyed this as a biography and his descriptions of his varied life and experiences. WM felt it provided interesting insight into the transitioning process, though the style a tad florid at times. JH saw it as a lyrical, rather romanticised (Welsh) view of his transitioning journey. CB enjoyed the writing, good descriptions of life as man, and then what it feels like to be a woman in a man’s world. Both AA & RV consider his style rather masculine – RV noted it was “massively male written” and that he had adopted a style as an “avuncular woman”. AA felt JM had a rather old fashioned style - though good on describing dynamics of relationships.  He also considered style, though romantic at time, was curiously detached and so reader more an observer rather than being rather in.  In same vein MW noted that, considering the intimacy if the subject matter, that the writing appeared somewhat detached and so he felt rather distanced from the character of JM.  He felt this also raised questions as to what were JM’s motives for writing it. JH thought he was trying to tell his story on his own terms and just trying getting his narrative in first – was it therefore a just a good example of well-written spin?

 Context/Privilege:

General concern that the book reflected limited insight into wider social issues or debates at the time (class, gender, etc.). JM seemed not question his privileged position, his status and his position as a member of the establishment, or the implications of his view of the world which seemed routed in his own social/class bubble.  JH suggested it read more by something by Evelyn Waugh than any contemporary writer.  MW felt this one-sided, privileged view of the world became irritating over time.  For the same reasons RV got to dislike JM – particularly because of his lack of self-awareness and his class-based way of thinking about people. AA felt JM put too much emphasis on his own view of identity rather one in a wider context. Though WM noted as born in 1926 in a certain social position this was understandable. CW considered that his privileged position gave an interesting take and contrast to his description of his life and experiences.  There was a general concern that there was surprisingly little insightful commentary on the impact of his decision to change sex on his wife, family or friends – this seemed to have been glossed over and what commentary there was rather anodyne. 

Gender & Identity:

CB notes that JM wrote well on the notion that love transcends gender, and this was a discussion that was followed up later. AA liked the distinction between sex and gender and what that implies and entails. The book was also seen to highlight the complexity of issues around gender and identity.  JM sees identity as: the corpus of personality, how others see him, what he considered himself to be, his status in the world, his profession, and his purposes.  “The fact of what one is” - not just ones sex or gender. He emphasises that it is much to do with the eye of the beholder – wart-hogs are beautiful to each other and so we should not laugh at them.

This in turn lead to a discussion about how we, and others in different societies, perceive changing sex and the influence of differing cultural and time perspectives – from the impossible and monstrous to a process of omniscience and a mark of specialness (for example the Fa’afafine in Samoa).  It was also noted that feminists hold differing perspectives with some (for example trans-exclusionary radical feminists – TERFs) suggesting that transgender and transsexual people are merely reinforcing and upholding established sexist gender roles and the gender binary.  While others (trans-positive feminists) believe that transgender and transsexual people help challenge repressive gender norms and are fully compatible with feminist theory.

Towards the end of the session there was a wider discussion about the influence of nature or nurture in determining your preference for a sexual identity and to what extent that as such transitioning is normalised and increasingly accepted by society will there be an increase in the numbers wanting to change their sexual identity. To support this point JH noted that in US clinics that treat gender dysphoria (distress caused by a mismatch between felt and perceived gender identity) report a soaring caseload. The Williams Institute, a think-tank in Los Angeles, recently came up with an estimate of 1.4m Americans who are considering such treatment —0.6% of those aged 16-65. 

Written comments on the book by SC & MT who were unable to join the discussion:

SC:

First of all, I was really pleased to read this, as I hadn’t got round to it before. Jan/James Morris’s story is one that I’ve been aware of since my teenage years, when, as James, he was quite a prominent national press journalist, and later when the sex change itself was the story. It reminded me that my mother had been quite a fan of James’s writing... I think she fancied him and was somewhat wrong-footed by subsequent events.

To someone not familiar with Morris’s background or writing I can imagine that this story could become rather tedious in its monothematic nature. Indeed for me at times I found myself asking whether some of the more mundane detail was really necessary. I also was aware of some repetition at times. But its quality lies in the sheer beauty of the prose. No wonder his journalistic speciality was writing about unique places.  But she’s also prone to a well-used cliché - I was quite surprised to hear her praise a phrase familiar to all who remember student posters from the 70’s and 80’s - ‘Today is the first day of the rest of your life’.  I enjoyed lots of it hugely, but not without feeling substantially conflicted while reading it.

First there is the affection of the familiar: knowing the story from the time (early 70s) when (as James) he was writing instalments in the Sunday papers and being written about. There is the straightforward excellence of the writing. But there is also some misgiving. Granted the very nature of a memoir dictates the primary subject matter- but frankly it still felt at times a little too ‘me-me-me’ - a touch too much self-confident, donnish arrogance. That self-certainty that is peculiar to a certain class, usually privileged, often public school educated and likely to be embedded in or near the establishment. Which makes it all the more extraordinary that this story, which would chime with today’s LGBTW community, had such a posh backdrop, emphasising that we are all individuals under the skin. Public school, Oxford, the army (which he liked, for clubbish reasons), London gentlemen’s clubs, and one can’t imagine a more conventional early CV for early life into adulthood.

I guess the primary interest is that here is someone who has experienced a sex change, who possesses the ability to write engagingly about the whole issue and surrounding processes. Nonetheless I feel sorry for Elizabeth and I think Jan’s arrogance seeps through here. I’d have liked to have learned a great deal more about the process from his wife’s eye-view, and what she really felt about this possibly unique situation. I have a further issue - I cannot help but ascribe a male gender to the narrator, no matter how much she would wish it otherwise. Why? Partly through having known of James before Jan, but principally because I think her voice is, fundamentally, a male one. That’s not a criticism - more a further example of how amazing the story is, and how fascinating it would have been to have a second balancing narrative voice running alongside Jan’s own.

Just one quote to sum up the style and content:

“The connotation of love with physical sex seems to me a vulgar simplicism, while the overlapping of the two words I consider one of the weakest points of the English language”

MT

I stayed with one of their children several times in Totnes and heard the whole story and how hard it was for the kids. I met Jan and Elizabeth at their wedding.  So the book was an interesting background on a story I knew well.  Even though the writing was obviously excellent I did find it irritating – for example the questions that were constantly included "would you not agree etc”. I found the first part of the book when he was a man interesting- even though he said he did not like being a man, I felt he seemed to like lots of it. The middle part when he was trying to be more female was less good although some interesting comments “the more I was treated like a women, the more women I became”.   The last part of the book was more interesting - the medical part was fascinating and I was surprised at the suggestion of the non-sterile conditions of the clinic. When he became more of a women physically was interesting – particularly the unique comparison she had with men and women having been both. Although I still got the male sense from her writing as a women (I would have thought it was a man writing if I didn't know) - maybe reflecting some sense of loss? So in conclusion an OK average book for me, some enjoyment, some irritation and some insights  so I will give it 5.00.

The River of Time - John Swain

May 3rd 2018

Book review-The River of Time-John Swain

A mixed review from the book club as is often the case. The majority opinion disliked the book particularly the perspective of the author whilst in its favour were the detailed descriptions of the fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge from one of the few english speaking eyewitnesses.

Why the author had actually bothered 20 years after his experience of this tragic period to write the book was a question asked by several. Did he genuinely feel that he had something new to add to a story which had been told many times already both in word and film or was it as was suggested by one was that this might fund his retirement expenses?
The principal objection expressed was  the conceit and arrogance generally of war correspondents of the time(And now?).They were privileged observers being able to parachute in and out of events where the players themselves were stuck fighting each other to the death. The author as a character was disliked . His motives for being in Southeast Asia were questionable and his behaviour once he arrived there was ‘extremely offensive‘.  ‘He seemed like a particularly shallow sort of character, his motives for being drawn to this part of the world seemed to revolve around attractive women and drinking/drugs‘… To visit the temples of Angkor and to savour the legendary beauty of its women‘.
At the same time there were numerous instances of “breathtaking sexism and racism throughout “ and and it was felt also that there were too many generalisations in the book : ‘violence as well as sensuous pleasure is intrinsic to the Indochinese character‘ and ‘violence was part of Cambodian character as much as the beauty of landscapes and women‘. “He made random observations which jumped from one to another”.  “He seemed to be ‘addicted to the rush of war and compelled to report on this tragic period”
The discussion developed into an explanation of why journalists traditionally behaved this way. ‘How do you insulate yourself from such horrors ?’ The need for sex and drugs is a coping mechanism for the horrors that have been witnessed on the battlefield.
It was mentioned at this point how there was a strong resonance with events around the recent Oxfam scandal.
As well as these major flaws several disliked his writing style which was rather like a series of detached factual episodes without describing the raw emotions that would have been felt by the individual in this most tragic period of history. ‘ He was not passionate about himself he didn’t open up and engage the reader‘  It was felt that there were many instances where personal descriptions of the experiences of the individual were missing to fully describe the tragedy.
At the same time there was criticism for his love affair with Josephine and how he behaved with her in later years. Here as she makes contact with him from a refugee camp in Thailand was the opportunity for him to reconcile the past and his guilt of leaving her in Vietnam. But instead the addictive nature of war journalism pulls him away from her again to another assignment this time in Eritrea.‘He did nothing to demonstrate his love of Josephine when he could have’
And a final omission of the book was to not have portrayed the original French colonials-the Colons-in their true light. They were according to one member ‘shits who colluded with the Japanese during the Second World War”

On the positive side several readers enjoyed the book as an interesting but gruelling reminder of events in recent history. It was felt by one reader to be ‘an enjoyable light read with good evocation of place and people ‘. The description of events in the hotel in Phnom Penh during the tragic last days before the fall to the Khmer Rouge painted a vivid and detailed description. “The poignancy of decay of the city was well described”
The chapter on Thai Pirates and their parasitic exploitation of helpless Vietnamese refugees was remarked on. It was felt that this story had not generally been told at the time and the book was appreciated for this fact.

But that was about it!

All in all not a high scorer indeed the very reverse!

Chris W. 

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Attwood

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Although the general view was largely positive, there were  a number of interesting perspectives so the discussion was not entirely dull! Two members of the book club, John and Andrew, were not present but had sent through their comments well before the meeting, and, at the meeting itself, everyone had actually finished the book, which was quite unusual from recent experience!

The Handmaid’s Tale was written in 1984 while Attwood was living in West Berlin. One of the interesting insights by Attwood herself given in the Introduction, which was actually written in 2017 following the recent Channel 4 Series, was that ‘One of my rules was that I would not put any events into the book that had not already happened in what James Joyce called the “nightmare” of history, nor any technology not already available’. Interestingly not all of the members had this Introduction included in their copies of the book, which was a shame at it did provide a number of insights. Mark W did observe that the Introduction was better read after finishing the book itself.

The other quite original structural device in the book is the epilogue or ‘Historical Notes on the Handmaid’s Tale’,  a ‘…..transcript of the proceedings of the twelfth Symposium on Gileadean Studies, held as part of the International Historical Association Convention,…..on June 25, 2195’. From this epilogue we learn a number of interesting things, other than a much needed wind down from the intense world created by the novel itself. The article is about the authenticity of the transcript of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ which had been ‘discovered’ some years (unspecified) previously. Obviously this puts us as the readers in an interesting situation as we know that the Tale is a work of fiction (therefore clearly can’t be ‘true’) but within the parameters of the suspension of disbelief, we know, or would like it to be, authentic! So we observe the Professor’s presentation with a detached sense of knowing superiority having just read the book and having been drawn into its meticulously created world.

The general consensus of the discussion was that the book was enjoyable. Chris W ‘really enjoyed it, although he wouldn’t describe it as ‘a good read’, because of the constant an air of menace, but it drew me in, and the constant tension was well described…the imagination was fantastic  and kept me involved’. 

Willm found the book ‘…marvellously constructed, with the short chapters and sentences working well in the context of the society’. He did however find that ‘the ending was a bit disappointing, but the epilogue was really clever’, but overall ‘a brilliant book by a brilliant writer’. 

Mark T found the book ‘well written and easy to read’. He ‘enjoyed the first person narrative’ and drew parallels with ‘Islamic State, Eastern Germany and Russia’.

Chris B wished he had read the book before watching the series as ‘it was more of a back story on the series’. He found it ‘..interesting that the Commander’s wife was disabled, whereas in the series she is more glamorous’ (To be expected, better TV!). He found it ‘a very good example of the genre’, and ‘it was well written’.

Steve was the only member of the Group who had already read the book (six months ago). He was hoping to find some impressions and ideas expanded upon but he found himself ‘irritated and niggled by reading it a second time’, although it was ‘very literary, very thoughtful and very considered by a classy writer’. It ‘reminded me of ‘The Crucible’. 

Richard found it ‘..a great feat of imagination and writing.’ He was ‘admiring of the psychological insights’ and found that ‘the language was beautiful’ but not all was positive, for him ‘the biggest problem was the confusion over time: she was supposed to be 33 years old and the coup was supposed to have taken place five years ago, and she had an eight year old daughter…yet it seemed that no-one could recall much about  ‘the time before’ and talked about it as if the coup had occurred 20 years ago not five’. However, he found ’the main characters were so real and reflective, and the use of English wonderful….the ending was very hopeful’.  However he did observe,  ‘the idea on how academics talk was inappropriate’ (as expressed in the epilogue). The rest of us disagreed of course!

Andrew  wrote that ‘Atwood creates the world of Gilead with such clarity and precision and completeness that I felt familiar with it whenever I opened my kindle’. He adds ‘…..while ‘Sea of Poppies’ became bogged down in waves of accessary detail at times, Atwood is able to create the environment and atmosphere through her precision, and, for me, the story progressed uncluttered because of her elegantly economic prose’. 

John, in his brief notes, found it ‘…an extraordinary book. Such a well-crafted commentary on a horridly plausible dystopia…..one in which apparently ‘freedom of is better than freedom to’. He found it ‘a highly personal narrative with so many different dimensions: moral, political, psychological, etc. but also one that keeps you enthralled. It also highlights what we all might do to survive in such circumstances’ . He ‘found it a dark, innovative and rather compulsive novel helped along by some superb writing and the end the vague suggestion that there is a positive future.

A number of specific points were made during the discussion: Chris W felt that a strong theme was the oppression of women, Mark W found it interesting how women were used to re-educate other women and enforce the requirements of the regime on them and, in the end, the women are capable of being just as ruthless as men on their fellow women. Andrew noted in his written notes that the regime ‘……is particularly cruel and brutal towards women. Like Sea of Poppies, it is gruesome stuff with women being enslaved, raped, tortured and surgically mutilated. They are controlled and silenced by men’. Richard observed how relevant still is the issue of the position of women in society, and drew the example of contemporary India, where gang rapes are still acceptable in some parts.

As Attwood discusses in her introduction, ‘all power is relative, and in tough times, any amount is seen as better than none’. Chris W also commented on the scene in the ‘hotel’ where the Commander takes Offred for a change of scenery. In the and, as in Animal Farm and many other similar novels, it is very difficult for leaders to accept the same conditions as the rest of the population and they start to give themselves extra benefits.

The effectiveness of the first person narration was also discussed. Willm suggested that ending such a narrative is challenging but he felt that the narrative was very effective. Andrew observed that ‘you are told exactly what Offred is seeing and hearing and feeling and thinking, her posture and her movement, the atmosphere and any changes in it, and how she decides her responses’. 

Chris B was interested in the theme of how humans have the capacity to adjust to anything, and whether you should rebel against oppression or not. Chris W added that ‘humans adapt to their circumstances, they just get on with it’. Chris B noted that we are now closer to Gilead compared to when the book was written rather than further away. Richard noted that Attwood had forseen the appearance of fake news back in 1984. He also observed that these regimes do change in the end and made a comparison with Nazi Germany and the experience of the Jews. Andrew concluded with ‘I thought this was a terrific book, thought provoking, ahead of its time though not dated, and in fact eerily perhaps more relevant to the present day and our uncertain future’.

So a generally positive and interesting experience for most  with a generally high set of scores  although there was a rather miserly 6.0 from Steve balanced by a very generous 10 .0 from Willm. Most were in the range 7.5 to 9.

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh – RV

BBBC Meeting:  

Present: Richard, ChrisW, Andrew, Willm, MarkW, Steve, and John.
Apols received alongside notes: ChrisB, MarkT,
Date of Meeting - Thursday, 7^th June 2018, at the Flower and Forrester, Combe Down

This was generally a book which people enjoyed, as shown by the range of scores, 5.5-8.0, with a mean of 6.79.  As ChrisW said – “a fascinating book, lots of fun in it – it certainly got my attention”, and MarkW: “I enjoyed the book, and enjoyed the long voyage!”, and MarkT: “I enjoyed reading it”, and Andrew: “A terrific story, with great characters and atmosphere …. I didn't want to leave it, and now want to read the rest of the trilogy”, and ChrisB: “I enjoyed this lively and rumbustious tale set in a time and place of such contrasts so much that I nearly started the next book of the trilogy! And whilst some of the views held and experiences undergone are very different from our times, there is a resonance to the social relationships that echoes into our own times. Are we really more civilised than that time?”, and Richard “I very much enjoyed this book – this was a book that I looked forward to returning to read”, and Willm: “it was easy to read”. On the other hand, MarkT said “I mostly enjoyed the book”, and John said “I was glad to finish this book!”

But there were a wide range of views and opinions put forward, with many people taking rather different views – all which is good for a robust discussion.

So it was also a book which grew on some people (“I was underwhelmed at the start, but it got better: it was slow until Zachary was introduced” (Andrew); or “took a little while to get into, but very enjoyable read” (ChrisB); or “the last third of the book was much better for me, as I read this over a few train rides and flights, whereas certain parts of the early book I had forgotten, as I read that a while ago, and that made some characters harder to understand, such as Zachary’s past. I enjoyed the Indian-ness of the book” (MarkT), although others found that the lack of character development meant that the book got less good as it went on.

One of the areas which most people liked was the plot: there were a lot of interesting elements: the opium trade, how central it was to the British East India Company - as John said: “the context was fascinating – the slave/indentured labour, the Opium Wars, the East India Company …”, “the arrogance of British colonialism was well brought out” (MarkW), “the destruction of the old ways of life – drowning old ways of life in a sea of poppies” (Willm); “Set in (another) shameful period of UK history when Free Trade was the will of God and the principal trade was selling opium to Chinese people. The Opium Wars are in the foreseeable future as China starts to restrict the trade that is turning its people into addicts” (ChrisB). And the way the book moved location between the land, the river and the sea came in for praise: “you became part of the ship”.  

Another positive was the way that the different elements of the plot hung together well, all coming together around the old slaving ship, the Ibis – indeed, the issue of whether the Ibis was still a slaving ship was raised – it is not clear that the position of many of the inhabitants of the Ibis was so different from slavery.

But others felt that although “the descriptive passages were very good, the rest felt like a Saturday afternoon matinee, with lots of ‘derring-do’ and with the author telegraphing his story” (Willm); or as John said: “the plot was OK”. And for others, “the disjointedness of the story, the way it jumped from character and event, even in the same page, made the story hard to follow, especially at first” (MarkT).

A main area which came in for both praise and criticism (but much more of the latter) was the characters and the characterisations.  The characters themselves were often interesting and widely-ranged, and there were a lot of them, and they in general were written well enough so that one could distinguish between them – as ChrisB said: “All the characters are defined as separate people with their own quirks and motivations”, and he also wrote that there was “a great cast of 60 plus characters … headed up by Deeti, the woman forced to abandon her child by an oppressive family whose premonitory vision of The Ibis kicks off the story. She heads the group of women who end up on the boat as coolies. Paulette is the other strong female character, showing the same independent and thoughtful spirit as her botanist father, but also constrained by her social position as an orphan and a woman”.  MarkT agreed and “found some of the characters very interesting, especially Paulette and Deeti”.  But to others, they were instead often caricatures: “they were not really characters at all – caricatures – not real at all” as Willm put it, or “all of the main characters were one-dimensional” as John said; and although “there was a huge cast, some had ‘back-stories’ whereas others did not”. Further, some of them seemed unrealistic: “Paulette, was far too modern and unrealistic” as ChrisW said; and many felt that we (the readers) were not made to care and feel for the characters “I cared much less for these characters than I did for those in another large book about India, A Fine Balance”, as Andrew said. Some felt that the characters did not seem to develop – as Richard said: “I didn’t feel that they developed very much.  They certainly had life-changing experiences. To take only one example, Deeti was married, drugged, raped and impregnated by her husband’s family, had her husband die, gave up her only daughter, was almost burnt alive on her husband’s funeral pyre, shacked up with the local giant, and ran away to sea – but I didn’t really feel that she changed at all from the start to the end of that series of life changing experiences. Similarly, Zachary Reid, starting off as a ‘black’ man, a carpenter, relatively suddenly being promoted all the way to Captain and then back down to 2^nd mate, being mistaken for a white nobleman, falling for a clever white girl, and none of that seemed to change him at all.” But ChrisB felt very differently: “The characters are well developed in their home settings before arriving at the ship so we see how far they have travelled, physically, psychologically and socially before they arrive. This paints a vivid picture of life in colonised NE India from the points of view of local people and immigrants, Indian princes, foreign business and scientist families. All are affected by the opium trade as poppy growers, opium manufactures, exporters, ship owners, investors and borrowers, and their staff and servants”.  In fact, for Chris, the ship itself was another well-developed character: “The main vehicle for the story is the ship, the Ibis, an old slaving ship which attracts a host of characters to make the journey to Mauritius, whether as convicts, coolies, guards, crew, officers and owner.  The ship has its own chequered history as a slaver in the triangular trade between Africa, the Caribbean and Europe and provides a consistent and finely described presence in all her states of sail and anchorage”, as was Zachary: “the mixed race American ships carpenter who becomes the captain for a while is a finely honed character who had a pivotal role throughout the story along with the ship itself”.

Another area which came in for both praise and criticism was the amount of research that the author had undertaken.  He had done it very diligently, and the more nautical amongst us said that the descriptions of the ship and the sailing were very good.  But he wore his learning heavily – there was too much ‘research’ and it felt as if he needed to show his readers how much research he had done. As MarkW said, “It was a tour de force in terms of the research – history, nautical, language – but I felt that he was demonstrating his cleverness too much”. The language element of this involved using probably correct but very archaic English, lots of ‘pidgin’ and Indian-English, and so on.  And the English was a problem for some (“the slightly negative things for me were some of the language which I found hard to grasp” – MarkT), although not for all: “I struggled with the ‘pidgin English’ at the start, but let it flow over”, as Willm put it; or as Richard said “a lot of the language was unclear, but I didn’t let that bother me much (very similar to the Scots book we read (Sunset Song) where one has to let the language ‘wash over’ and pick up the gist of what the words mean, and I didn’t find that it detracted from the overall experience for me) but I wasn’t clear that it was necessary.”  ChrisB agreed, and even argued that this was a strength of the book: “And so to the language. Some will be irritated by the vast array of lascar sailing terms and Indian expressions and words. A someone who has visited India several times, some of these eg Nob Kissin Baboo’s speech were very recognisable. This was a little like the Scottish book (Sunset Song). You just have to go with the flow and get a sense of the meaning of the words rather than worry if you have understood every one. This incredibly varied use of language added hugely to the richness of the work.”  The research also threw up some queries – for example, MarkT said: “there was lots of references to losing caste, and it would have been interesting to know more about that -I thought you were born with a caste?”.

On the other hand, Steve (who had not completed the book by this stage) said that both “the language and the historical research is fascinating” and that he very much liked “the depth of detail here about the clash of cultures and how incongruous the outcomes are; and how language changes and how locals change to accommodate these new cultures”.    

Yet another area was India, and how India treated its people (at that time, and still now).  As Richard said, “I generally like books set in India, as there is so much that I can relate to, and this (although I have never been to Calcutta, and the India that it represents is a far cry from the one I know) is no exception – there is much about the varied people, the social relationships, the Indian-English, that is still remarkably similar”, and ChrisB: “liked the rich descriptions of India, the river and the sea and the journey of both people and ship through them. This provides an intensely visual, aural and olfactory environment for the story”; or Andrew – “the book showed the extreme cruelty, counterbalanced by huge resilience.  The dreadful poverty, relentless brutality, the callousness, the thoughtlessness”. MarkT also found much of interest in the India as described in the book: “It was interesting the description of how opium destroyed people and whole communities. The poor people having to grow opium and nothing else was very sad. Burnham was a character I got annoyed with and despised. His justification of his opium trade operation, with his religious justification was something else.  His justification of his ‘relationship’ with Paulette with biblical texts was something else as well, and I felt for her. The corruption in the court, Neel being tried by Burnham’s friend, to take all his land away. I almost felt sorry for him”.

People thought that his writing style was generally good: the descriptive passages were good (“the man can write! … his use of language was almost a form of poetry”, as Willm said), and MarkT also liked the descriptive elements: “I liked Deeti and her relationship with the women migrants - this was well described. The prison with the shit for Neel was well described, and the bit where the other prisoners realised he could read and write and how that managed to get him things from the other prisoners was very interesting, and it reminded me of my brother’s experience when he was in a Indian prison covered with shit - he taught the other prisoners how to play chess and read a bit, and they respected him, gave him things, and did not beat him up … I enjoyed the wedding bit on the ship, and I remembered bits of that from my brother’s recent wedding, such as the turmeric paste”.

On the other hand, as MarkW noted, “a huge percentage of the book was exposition – the amount of the book devoted to exposition was enormous”; and as Mark suggested, that is OK in a trilogy, but not if one reads a 500 page book as a stand-alone one – “lots happened in the last 100 pages!”.  Willm also noted that the author telling us from the outset that some characters had a future undermined (or in some way mitigated against) the awfulness of their experiences.   

So, all in all, an interesting set of views!

Richard Velleman

June 2018