Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Described at the time of the book being proposed to the bookclub as a mixture between Philip Pulman, Harry Potter and Kafka on the Shore - indeed those being the reasons it was proposed - Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern received a largely lukewarm reception from the BBBC’s reading public. The story of two ‘magicians’ using their youthful pupils to fight a battle over their respective approaches to how they use their powers, in the setting of a circus (which isn’t really a circus), and which is essentially a love story, failed to capture the imagination of all bar one of us. Indeed perhaps the most fundamental question (and reason for the 6 v 1 difference of opinion - with one judgement outstanding) was whether there was anything more to Night Circus than it being a love story with some clever imagery (and a bit of disconcerting child abuse). More of that later.

Most found the book difficult to get into, with it taking a substantial number of pages before anything really grabbed attention. Mark T (whose final opinion is still to come) was most extreme in this, having several failed attempts before finally cracking it and (at the time of the meeting) looking forward to finishing the book. Others though, continued to struggle somewhat. It was not that people were finding it a difficult read, but rather that it lacked depth for them. Steve, for example, described it as being as though the book had been started when Morgenstern was in the sixth form but the writing had never really grown up. Chris W. felt there was not enough story to keep him interested whilst Chris B. described it as a triumph of style of substance. 

Nonetheless, there was a consensus that the author had created some vivid images, with mystical descriptions and even Neil (possibly the person most critical of the book) said how “in a weird way it became believable, I became absorbed by the world it created - but the narrative didn’t work”. Few characters other than Bailey got positive reviews. There was the usual difference of opinion about the way the chapters jumped between dates. It irritated some (“It’s just trendy to do it”) but was fine with or even liked by others. Other concepts resonated with some, for example Chris B liked the descriptions of becoming a camp follower and also the gradually falling apart institution - both of which he felt were true to life. Overall, the general view was perhaps summed up by Richard’s damning with faint praise line of "a perfectly nice, very readable book, but certainly not an amazing one".

This takes us into the one dissenting voice from this analysis (i.e. Rob) who had read the book twice because of a suspicion that there was more going on in it than might appear on the surface.  Whilst accepting it may just be no more than a love story, he also suggested that Morgenstern was perhaps trying to make various societal or behavioural points: the two different ‘schools’ of magic representing a battle between the physical/material (Celia) and the psychological/spiritual (Marco); it could be an allegory about two powerful people (Prospero and A.H.) manipulating society and what happens when people try to break free; or a description about what happens when you allow an idea to take you over to the extent that it risks destroying not only you, but also others. He felt the short ‘interludes’ between chapters (set out in different type-set formats) also contained some important and interesting homilies - for example, the importance of story-telling to take knowledge and understanding through society and generations.

On the other hand, as Neil said, it could just be that he was “imbuing more meaning into it than it merits”.

 

The overall score was a middling 6.68.

Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson

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 16^th 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!

Under the Skin by Michael Faber

Mark W introduced the book by saying that he had recently seen the film and was left with a ‘what on earth was that all about’ feeling, and therefore hoped that  the book would fill in the gaps. He also did not expect that this book would have been the one of the four proposed that was the majority choice, being the first novel of a relatively unknown Scottish writer. Although not wanting to reveal his view of the book at this stage one point he wanted to make was that the book and film were significantly different in narrative and emphasis.

Steve opened the discussion by saying that he enjoyed the book from the beginning, that it was an easy read and well paced without being particularly challenging. It raised questions from the word go, and the gradual build up to the revelation was well handled. In the end he wasn't really sure what the book was actually about and wasn't sure that it actually reached a conclusion but was happy to be drawn wherever it took him. One minor frustration was the lack of background as to how and why the aliens got to Earth in the first place (a theme taken up by others to a greater or lesser extent).

Rob followed by saying that he wasn't sure what he though about the book. The elements were quite clear, the images were good and there was originality in the concept of the aliens being the humans. However he had two big problems. Firstly the credibility of the story: he felt that the continued disappearance of the hitch-hikers would have been followed up more and this caused him some irritation. Secondly, although the book introduced a lot of interesting ideas he felt the that lack of background on how the aliens got to Earth in the first place was a major negative and he was left wanting to know more about where they came from. Overall he just felt that there were too many gaps. Unlike Steve however, Rob liked the ending.

Chris B did enjoy reading the book. He suggested that there was a flavour of ‘Never Let me Go’ in the sense of the gradual build up to a realisation of what's actually going on. He did like the way in which the human and animal concept was turned on its head, and was happy to go along with the book’s own internal logic. However there were also some unsatisfactory loose ends. In particular, the whole issue of where she came from and why she had to go through this experience. He felt that he wanted to know more about her but he also though that the relationship with Amlis was handled well. It was also an interesting observation on the sexist nature of men.

Mark T was also frustrated by the lack of background, and had problems with particular detailed elements of the book, including why she had to live alone in the house and the over emphasis on her physical attributes during the meetings with the hitch-hikers.

Richard thought that the book was excellent. He thought it imaginative, coherent and, unlike some of the others didn't feel that there were any gaps. He was happy with the fact that the book did not go into too much detail about where the aliens came from and he felt that the information given was sufficient. The style was distinctive, original, lyrical and brilliant. He finished the book two weeks before the meeting but remembered every detail. He identified with and was able to understand  Isserley and was impressed with the depth of characterisation. He cared about her and understood  why she was embittered. He was amused at the shock that she felt at the idea of eating sheep.  An assured piece of work.

Neil, although he was prepared to accept the concept of the aliens, was less prepared to accept that no one missed the disappearing hitch-hikers. He thought that the aliens, with all of their technology, would have figured out a more efficient way of resolving their nutrition problem. He found Isserley dull as a central character, but found some of the interactions interesting. The concept of us being the animals was not very subtle. Like others he found the background story a bit unsatisfactory, and the character of Amlis a bit of a cliché. He felt that the ending was a cop out so overall, although he wanted to like it, he was left feeling disappointed.

Chris W was not disappointed. He felt that there were so many different ideas and enjoyed the whole concept and the frequent events that occurred. He thought that the underground imagery was powerful but was disappointed that the relationship with Amlis didn't go anywhere. Like Neil he felt that the ending was a cop out. Overall, although the book had its faults, he felt that his mind had been stimulated.

Mark W concluded the reviews by saying that he enjoyed the book, finding the concept original, and the characterisation of Isserley, upon which the book really depended, was convincing. He did not have a problem with the lack of detail of the alien world, and indeed, felt that the bits of information given were sufficient and appropriate, as more focus here would have detracted from the actual focus of the book. He found that the descriptions of Scotland were  evocative and powerful. The horror of some of the underground descriptions was not too explicit, i.e. it left much to the imagination although the some of the images remained in the mind. Yes, there were flaws, but overall he was drawn into the world created by the book. Finally, although very different from the film, some of the gaps and questions in the latter were explained by the book.

The Sunrise, by Victoria Hislop

The Hare and Hounds October 1st 2015

The fact that we avoided talking about the book for so long and even let Chris W riff about new developments in drone selfies tells you how high the level of eager anticipation was to re-live the pages of The Sunrise.

Neil kicked off by reminding everyone why he had chosen the book in the first place, and what a good book he had thought The Island had been when he read it several years ago.  He even tried to deflect some of the blame for choosing it by reminding everyone that he had not chosen the Louis de Berniere book because Chris W had already read it…but no one bought that excuse, particularly Chris.

Neil’s overriding feeling was one of tremendous disappointment that such a potentially interesting idea, that one town on Cyprus should have been divided and abandoned and maintained as a patrolled ghost town for 40 years, had then been mined so poorly with such poor characterisation, poor writing style and wooden plot lines.  Clichéd personae and descriptions seemed to draw on soap opera style dramas of the 80’s such as Dallas.  Only the fact that the pace picked up in the second half made it readable, but then it accelerated to annoying light speed for the last quarter.  The only redeeming feature he found was that he was slightly more enlightened about the history of what happened in Cyprus at this time, but only slightly, and he found the Epilogue perhaps the most interesting part of the book.

Chris  would have preferred a 30 page synopsis that could have saved him having to read the whole book and found the characters tedious and paper thin.  Somehow he finished it but was still left wondering why Neil didn’t choose the de Berniere instead.

Richard particularly agreed about the characters not even being 2 dimensional, but barely 1 dimensional.  The plot was transparent with the possible exception of the murder of Marcos.  He found it easy to read and reasonably well paced, but at the same time very stilted with the language lacking any precision.  A terribly mediocre book that only succeeded in teaching him a tiny bit about Cyprus.

Mark T had enjoyed visiting Cyrpus and was looking forward to the book until his wife warned him that he would hate it.  It reminded him of reading terribly written stories in Womans Weekly when he was an adolescent !(well…. didn’t we all…..????)

Steve meanwhile wondered how a book like this got past the editorial process and had concluded that it had been rushed to meet a deadline.  He managed to find some interest in the book when Aphroditi discovered another woman wearing her jewellery but was dissatisfied with the fact that this was not properly concluded, and found details entirely unconvincing, such as the fact that the old guys on look out on the roof were never spotted by a helicopter for instance. 

Mark W likened it to a Mills & Boon novel and wondered if it was really possible that the author could also be capable of having written a much better book.  And rather than being drawn into the book he found himself almost perpetually conscious of the author penning a poor work of fiction. Mark also pointed out the potential racist bias that painted the Turks as the villains of the piece in a rather one-sided portrayal of events, which he doubted was fair and accurate, something supported by reviews from Turkish readers that Steve had found online.  Mark found the hasty wrap up ridiculous and was also incredulous of certain plotlines and doubted very much that the Turkish soldiers would have ignored the potential riches on offer from looting a grand luxury hotel in place of poor housing just because of a some railings and heavy locks.

Chris B was not at the meeting but had submitted more positive comments, perhaps partly due to a personal connection to the events described as he had been prevented from going on holiday to Turkey at the time because of the problems in Cyprus.  This generated a little more interest than most others managed in reading this albeit fictional account, but he still struggled with the Janet and John writing style and poor characterisation.

Rob, who had wisely chosen to go and watch a rather more exciting game of rugby in Cardiff and therefore missed the meeting, echoed many of the other thoughts about the book and even drew comparisons with that other much-loved book by the group, Cry of the Halidon.

Neil concluded the discussion of the book with a heartfelt apology for having put everyone through such a poor experience and recommended David Mitchell’s Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet as a suitable antidote.

Average score : 3.4

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

A 5/8ths turn out for the review of the woman in White at the Fox and Badger in Wellow with comments received from others by email.

This was apparently the first example of what became known as a Victorian Gothic thriller penned by Wilkie Collins to be published on a weekly basis in a London Magazine. Hence everybody agreed that the writing style was designed to keep readers on the edge of their seat and was generally considered a "page turner" by the majority.

Collins rich  use of English was admired by all and the comparison made with succinct and thin descriptions used nowadays in an equivalent thriller. Interestingly it was pointed out that at the time there was no radio, television or even photography other than for the very few and therefore Collins as with many other authors of the time (Dickens) would use three pages to describe a character where this might be done nowadays in half a page. The reason being that the average reader had not had the experiences or visual stimuli that we all have today and that the author needed to describe everything in much greater detail to enable the reader to conjure up the scene in their imagination. This elaborate use of words was therefore admired by some who enjoyed  the detailed florid  descriptions and yet by others they became bored with the excess of descriptive phrases and just wanted the story to get to the point!

The were therefore two camps in the group: the minority who felt that the book was tedious, that it lacked depth and complexity and was at least 30% too long; with the majority enjoying the detailed use of English  and the depiction of social mores of the time.Everybody agreed that the story being told from the perspective of a number of different characters worked well in the book.

In particular the role of women in Victorian society and their treatment as the chattels of men was explored extensively - "a versatile and eloquent illumination of women's rights at the time"-and was the widest topic of discussion.The very fact that Laura considered that she was duty-bound to get married to Perceval because of an agreement that had been made by her father when she was a child is the basic premise to the story which nowadays appears laughable. Laura is consistently wet and really has no idea that she should even question the dastardly deeds that are going on around her and whilst her half sister-Marian  has much more backbone and in one sense is a modern woman who would not let this repression succeed but on the other when writing in her diary constantly refers to being of the weaker sex and needing Walter Hartright to come to the rescue.Most subservient in her role and also implausible is lady Fosco who is in fact the aunt of Laura but who allows her husband to pursue consistently evil stratagems against Laura simply because she has agreed to honour and obey her husband as his wife.

There was a consensus that that some of the characters such as Marion, Fosco and  to a lesser degree Perceval were vividly described and plausible whilst  Walter Hartright and the wet Laura lacked credibility and  depth. The love affair between Walter and Laura was not really plausible and based it appeared superficially on Laura's beautiful looks.(So what's changed?). Whilst amusing,Lord Fairlie was a rather overblown implausible character.
Most enjoyed the plot which for the time would've been extremely complicated with several unexpected twists to the tale.

This was a Victorian "page turner"  but the story never really built to the expected crescendo. The most that happened was that Perceval got burnt in the church after which the final third was a rather long debrief from each of the characters. Generally the feeling was that the book was too long but it was evident that this resulted from the fact tat the book was being published in instalments so the more words the more lucrative the book would become.

Other observations were just how reliant the characters had already become by 1850's not only on an efficient Postal Service between the Lake District and London overnight but also a highly efficient train service wherever they were in the country.

Note also how the whole basis of the story hinged around "The Secret" which at its most profound related to whether Perceval had been born inside or outside of marriage.His right to inherit the estate which he had claimed improperly from his cousin had to be concealed by him to justify his inheritance.

In conclusion this was not a complex or deep book but more a lightweight Gothic yarn with some good twists that was memorable more for what it tells about the times than about the story itself.

Nora Webster, by Colm Toibin

7 of us met at The Pulteney Arms on Thursday July 2^nd to discuss this book about the life, thoughts and development of a recently widowed woman from County Wexford in southeast Ireland in the late 60’s / early 70s.

Everyone agreed it was a quiet book that didn’t immediately catch fire. However, for most of the group it drew us in and painted vivid and engrossing scenes that told a much more complex story than was initially apparent. A ‘sleeper’, one called it. Described by one of us as a ‘journey through bereavement’ there was appreciation for the clever way that Toibin managed to make this a very personal account of the awakening of the previously-suppressed independent personality of an intelligent Irish woman. There was no judgement in the narrative; that was left entirely for us to make. It dod seem though that in every situation she found herself in, Nora was the odd person out – which must have been exactly how she was feeling.

And make it we did, particularly with regard to her relationship with her boys. One of us in particular found her parenting skills shockingly bad and ended up disliking her for that and other reasons. Conversely more than one of us really bought into the development of Nora’s personality and story, and some felt that it was this gradual build-up of a character that was the book’s chief attraction. It didn’t shy away from describing strange episodes that might not have seemed entirely plausible – two young boys left with Josie… for two months! A visit where ‘something’ may have happened, but we never find out exactly what. For all of us to differing degrees, there was a subtle unstated suggestion of child abuse, and one of us said he appreciated that it didn’t come to anything concrete but stayed there in the background throughout – much more effective.

Nora’s discovery of music as a metaphor for her widening horizons was well drawn and provided the exclude to vivid and amusing scenes. Particularly with the ‘I don’t care what they think’ music teacher. The drunk drive home with the fierce woman who organised the pub quiz was also enjoyed, and both exemplified the way in which ‘small’ events were given due prominence in the narrative without feeling insignificant or overblown. The geographical settings were ‘brilliantly realised’ without resorting to florid descriptions – even for those who had not visited Ireland.

Juxtaposed with this homey parochial background was the emergence of the Troubles in the North, and the suggestion that Maurice would have been involved had he still been alive, as well as the temporary disappearance of the daughter as she herself got involved in Dublin, taking her own steps to independence along the way.

So we (most of us) enjoyed the journey, but views became a little more fragmented as the end of the book drew near, with its dream-like episode and strange half-lit revelations coming to Nora. It prompted the response ‘So what?’ from one of us – is it much more than simply an enjoyable read? What does it really tell us about life the universe and everything? Another found the sequence unbelievable (along with most of the rest of the book) and was unable to see what it added to the narrative.

Overall though a rewarding, slow burner of a book that proved that you don’t have to use dayglo colours to paint a vivid picture.

Average score out of 10 was 7.34.

The Narrow Road the the Deep North - Richard Flanagan

Five went mad in the Pulteney Arms in Bath on 4^th June 2015: Neil, Mark T, Chris W, Rob and Steve. Apologies or flimsy excuses were variously received from Richard, Chris B and Mark W.

This wide-ranging fictional biography of Dorrigo Evans, a surgeon who finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of an increasing number of his Australian and Tasmanian countrymen in the death railway camps in Malaysia in WW2, was, overall, well received. For a couple of us, this was approaching one of the literary highlights of the well-over-100 books we’ve read so far, and even for those less moved, everyone found it engaging and rewarding at some level. Structurally the ‘dotting about’ rather than sticking to strict chronological order irritated some, though wasn’t the slightest issue for others. The power of Flanagan’s writing wasn’t in doubt; however there was more discussion over the main characters. Some ‘got’ Evans’, others found him unsatisfyingly unfocused; Some found the ‘conversion’ of Nakamura convincing and meaningful, others didn’t.

A common thread through all comments was the tough read that Flanagan presented when describing life and death on the railway-building camps. However, it was remarked that in some ways this wasn’t totally convincing – some of the descriptions of prolonged beatings seemed to require a suspension of disbelief to swallow a storyline where someone survives such hardship; and was it really believable, even in the context of historical Japanese society and culture, that a man guilty of such atrocities in life could eventually turn out to be such a pussycat? Others asked whether, as the general story has been covered many times in film and literature, there was any merit in digging up the same horrific details yet again, when life and lives have moved on. However all agreed that the attempt to tell the story from multiple angles – the camp commander, the Korean conscript and the various POWs – mingled with the appreciation of what culturally would have driven men to such deeds (the commander’s love for classical Japanese poetry lent the book its title), perhaps added something new to the genre, although the suspicion of stereotyping still hung in the air…

The way the book dealt with the trauma of war, and the little-understood and often repressed post-traumatic stress disorder was the subject of some discussion. During the book several characters, including Evans, talk of reaching a point of separation from a loved one where one can no longer recall their voice, implying a separation so profound that life can never really be the same again. And when the survivors are back, and Evans spends some time trying to track them down, he comes across tragic tales of lives forever ruined and in some cases foreshortened.

Dorrigo’s love for Amy was powerfully and convincingly told; the scene in the bookshop particularly resonant for some, as was the sad non-meeting on the bridge (if it didn’t conjure up parallels with Dr Zhivago). However it was also asked what purpose this all served – here was a story about a man who was always not going to conform, and the relationship with Amy didn’t necessarily add anything.

For the one of our number who had visited Tasmania the parts of the book set there were atmospherically charged, so well did Flanagan describe the country.

This summary has rather more than the usual quota of ‘on the one hand this, on the other hand that’, and for a book that we all basically liked, it’s perhaps surprising that there appears to have been such a wide range of takes on various aspects of the content. But it is a provoking book, very well written, and it prompted a 5-star discussion for the BBBC.