March 2022 book club meeting (3-3-22).
Venue: MT’s home. All present except RV. Everyone had read the book.
It was an enjoyable evening, with lively discussions about the book, the next book, and the political situation around the geographical location of the book. Members started arriving at 8 pm, and the meeting finished at 11 pm. The gathering was in an upstairs sitting room; even though it was a large room, there did not seem to be much room with all the members present. The book discussion started with the arrival of a plate of hot baked mushrooms, to set the scene.
It was MT’s book and his book was one of four offered to the group 2 months ago. It was a book recommended from the magazine “in the week”. Additionally, MT really liked Scani Noir and this book was set in a country not normally used by this genre (Finland) and most of the reviews were very good and enticing. One of the reasons this book was finally chosen out of the four, was that it was the shortest, and all of the group wanted a shorter novel than the previous book, the excellent Crossroads.
This was an intriguing and quirky story about Jaakko Kaunismaa, a 37 year old Finnish man, who was the entrepreneur and chief executive behind a successful mushroom business. He finds at the start of the novel that he has been poisoned, and his doctor tell him he has only a short time to live, days or weeks. He thinks his wife is the one poisoning him, after he finds her fornicating with one of the junior employees of his company, the pick-up truck driver. The story speeds along, and then a doggy competitor arrives on the scene, together with his strong hench-men, trying to steal his business, and his staff. Jaakko gets involved with a double death, and almost gets killed himself in the process. He is determined to find out who actually was actually poisoning him, and what his wife was up to. So a thriller and a who done it novel.
All book club members present had some positive things to say about the book, and found it an enjoyable easy, but three really enjoyed it (MT, JH, CB), and JH found it to be complete escapism which was good for him. Everyone liked the fact that it was a short book, and easy to read, and therefore a big change from the last, very long book. All the scores were above average and positive or very positive, except for the person who was not present, who did not like the book at all.
Everyone enjoyed the start of the book, the doctor’s diagnosis, and the wife’s unfaithfulness. For RV it went downhill from there and degenerated terribly. MW found it mostly enjoyable, but in the end he felt it failed to deliver and had a disappointing ending and SC agreed. Other people found it zipped along (MT, AA, CW). Many people enjoyed the humour in the book, although RV found the attempts at written slapstick humour very weak indeed. Others positively liked the humour aspects (WM and MT) and WM particularly liked the bit about Jaakko holding his belly in in the presence of women and gradually releasing it incrementally. This resonated with everyone present and their own experiences, and generated a lot of comments.
Some members mentioned the technology in the novel. RV liked the printer bit and it belching out paper, and MT liked the statement about gossip in the small town spreading faster than data through fibre-optic cables.
Some members found the book stiff and clunky (SC) and many thought some sections really stretched the imagination and were far too implausible. (SC, RV, CW, MW), although MT said it reminded him of some of his favourite Murakami books, which really stretches credibility, but they work for him.
There were a few comments about the one dimensional characters (AA , CB and CW) and how it was easy to feel detached from the story. However, some positively enjoyed certain characters, especially Jaakko (MT and JH) and the policeman (JH). CB felt sorry for Jaakko as he was very isolated in life, had few friends and no siblings, and no wonder his marriage was failing. Others felt that Sanni was very well described and even very fanciable (CB and MT).
Many members agreed that the book described the landscape well and took readers into a different, unknown world (JH, MT, CW, SC). Some members liked the educational aspect of the book and it gave them information about mushrooms they did not know before (SC and WM).
There was a lot of discussion about the philosophical aspects of the book and people liked Jaakko’s thoughts about one’s last days and what would one do with them. Everyone seemed to get something from that. Some particularly liked the bit about the value of life and having to almost die to experience beautiful sunsets (MT and CW).
Some members thought the tension parts, especially with the wife, and the heavies were good and realistic, but others thought the death of the heavies was considered implausible and far-fetched (RV, CW).
JH loved the journey through the town square, and loved the staff meeting, and many others did as well. The meal with the Japanese and the subsequent food poisoning was liked by many and MT said it reminded him of the cook, the thief his wife and his lover, and indeed he felt that the film seemed to capture the sentiment of this book.
In conclusion, it was a lively, lengthy and interesting discussion. Everyone present declared they had a good evening, and the mushrooms were enjoyed by all.
Scores: RV 3, WM 6.5, SC 5.5, JH 7, CB 6, CW 6, MW 6.5, MT 7.
