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Book summaries - 2013
MEMOIRS OF HADRIAN - Marguerite Yourcenar THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE - Haruki Murakami ACCORDING TO MARY MAGDALENE - Marianne Fredriksson IN A STRANGE ROOM - Damon Galgut
from Tatiana 15/12/2013 On December 11 we met at my house and spent a wonderful afternoon together – some of which actually spent talking about the book! In truth the majority liked this book so it was mostly a question of degrees. There were those of us who enjoyed it thoroughly, found it a page-turner and considered the writing excellent, sometimes even poetic. Others thought it was a fun read, unusual to get such a “male” perspective while others found a lot of “Americanisms” that slowed them down a bit but still considered it an enjoyable experience. Only one of us truly didn’t see the point: didn’t think the reader gained anything from reading it, didn’t think the writing was anything above serviceable and wasn’t the least motivated to turn the pages. It was interesting to read a piece of Dickey’s poetry to see his command of language, and many of us could see the poet in the descriptions of the river and the woods and the way a man’s soul could be touched by these sights, but, alas, it was not an unqualified success. We wondered whether the kind of people Dickey wrote about in the Appalachian mountains still exist today but considering when he wrote Deliverance we believed his descriptions to be realistic. Since Laura had downloaded this movie for us our meeting quickly segued into the movie club but only two of us were able to stay to watch it. Even all these years later I still think it’s a good movie. Happy Holidays my friends! May it be a wonderful New Year for you all. (T)
from Margaret 04/01/2014 I could see why Tatiana liked this book! All these poetic descriptions of the woods, the water and back to Nature! I too enjoyed these aspects and, in fact, the description of the river trip and the hazardous descent down the rapids would have been enough adventure for me. I could have done without the encounter with the brutish primitives of the mountains and also the long, very long, struggle up the cliff-side. I was not alone in thinking that the whole trip verged on total recklessness and lack of common sense. These four men, with the exception of he-man leader Kevin, were middle-aged, city desk job types that didn’t even know how to paddle a canoe. As Lena said: “No woman would be so stupid as to go on an expedition like this.” The most interesting aspect, I thought, was the transformation of the narrator from little boy playing with bows and arrows into the big hero and taking on the task of eliminating the killer on the cliff-top and bringing the expedition to completion, if with the tragic loss of one of the company. The first chapter about the preparations and the feeling of anticipation and adventure reminded me a little of Kerouac’s “On the Road”, with all the male bonding stuff and “let’s grab life while we can” spirit. The group seemed to be totally mesmerized by Kevin. It seems to be a characteristic of men that they like to follow a leader. Maybe that is why it is so easy to form armies and wage wars. Would women really be so stupid?? Happy 2014 to all of you! (M)
MEMOIRS OF HADRIAN - Marguerite Yourcenar from Tatiana 15/11/2013 On November 13 we met at Margaret’s new (little?!) apartment in Ariccia, with its glorious views of the valley, to enjoy a lovely lunch and discuss Memoirs of Hadrian. Margaret had chosen this book because, after all the modern literature we’d been reading lately, she wanted to delve into something more classic. She’d also heard about an exhibit dedicated to Yourcenar and, having read Memoirs of Hadrian years ago, decided it would be a good book to propose to our group with the idea of tying our meeting in with a visit to Villa Adriana and having a picnic lunch. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite turn out the way she had planned and the two events weren’t simultaneous but that did not take away from a wonderful afternoon discussing a book that we nearly all found enriching. We were three people short of our full number so the views expressed were not entirely unanimous but overall we enjoyed the book. Most of us found the writing absolutely superb – not easy to read but so rich and poetic that taking the time to really concentrate and savor the language rendered the experience extremely satisfying. There were turns of phrases and entire paragraphs that were simply literary perfection and hats were off to the translator, whose pitch perfect prose made this a wonderful reading experience. It was also interesting to read Hadrian’s views on both the official and the personal – from his belief that good governance would be contagious to his imperfect but heartfelt affection for the love of his life. Much of what Yourcenar attributes to Hadrian is pertinent today and we spent a good amount of time reading those pieces we had underlined in order to be able to go back to them, so great was their impact. Only two dissenting views generated discussion. The first was whether or not we could really trust this book to be a genuine reflection of Hadrian’s views and feelings. While we know that Yourcenar is still considered to be one of the foremost experts on ancient Roman history and, especially, Hadrian, the book is quite full of sentiments and thoughts that there is no real way Yourcenar could have gleaned from any written record existing from Hadrian’s time. It was (as the author herself confides) an extrapolation of what her knowledge about Hadrian led her to believe he would think and feel. In the end we decided that this is not important in terms of fully appreciating the book. Were Hadrian not the man in Yourcenar’s pages, and his thoughts really her own, the book’s import and emphasis are still valid, relevant and exquisitely written. It simply may not be the “real” Hadrian (who comes across as a man to be respected and appreciated). The other odd woman out was totally unable to get into the style of Yourcenar’s writing. Where most of us were completely thrilled with her use of language, one of us simply found it too heavy, too cumbersome and complex – to the point of reading and re-reading and still not grasping what was said. The unusual thing was that she had read this book when she was younger and loved it. The idea of reading it again made her happy, thinking she would live once more the emotions she’d experienced the first time around, but the opposite happened. She couldn’t get through it, and this led to our wondering whether certain books didn’t require the reader to be in a specific state of mind to appreciate them. Perhaps reading is more of a two-way street than we usually think, and in order to fully appreciate an author you need to be in a frame of mind that enables you to do that. In the end, though, we were delighted with Margaret’s book and our lone dissenter agreed that perhaps some years down the road she’ll be at a place that will enable her to read it yet again, and re-experience the thrill it gave her in her youth. For the rest of us, we lamented not ever having heard of Yourcenar before and were glad to have been able to appreciate Memoirs of Hadrian today. (T)
THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE - Haruki Murakami from Margaret 18/10/2013 In the temporary absence of our usual very efficient chronicler, Tatiana, Margaret has taken over the job of commentating on out latest meeting, held at Eva's house. The discussion was, as usual, very lively, with a wide variety of opinions and comments. Repleted with Eva's hearty German soup and exquisite dessert, we settled down to a lively debate on the merits/demerits of the above book. For most of us, it was our first encounter with the works of this author. Apparently, in the English translation it had been shortened by some 200 pages, which just might have accounted for what some of us regarded as inconsistencies in the plot. Plot? Was there a plot? Most of us had had some trouble following the thread which meandered along like in the proverbial labyrinth. A couple of us remarked that it gave the impression that he was making it up as he went along. We all agreed that it was a “good read”. It was gripping and fast-moving. Never boring. Perhaps the worst criticism was that the characters seemed too distant and emotionless. Not everyone agreed and pointed out the hero's devotion to his wife, the intensity of his quest, the horrifying story of Mamiya's experiences in Mongolia as clear examples of emotional involvement. Those with some experience of Japanese thinking pointed out that the Japanese do not, in fact, show their feelings and the impartial and non-committal tone of the narrative reflected this. We agreed that we are pretty ignorant of Japanese culture and that probably many of the incidents in the book, such as the empty box, the wind-up bird and the odd names of some of the characters, might have had, in fact, a hidden or symbolic significance for Japanese readers. Eva, who had chosen the book, had been fascinated by the spiritual or esoteric aspects she found in the story, such as the protagonist's descent into the well and the fact that the wind-up bird's cry presaged danger. There was some disagreement over this. Few of us had felt any “vibes” when reading the book and some had found it a slog to get through. However, a Book Club would have no meaning if we all agreed. Our meetings are never boring!
From Margaret 29/06/2013 Jill's choice was a marked departure from the type of book we have been reading over the past months. "In God's Name" was a piece of investigative journalism which caused quite a sensation when it was published some 20-odd years ago. Naturally, we had heard the rumours at the time of the possible murder of Pope John Paul 1 and Yallop put his case well, with a sometimes overwhelming amount of circumstantial evidence. The doubtful doings of the IOR Vatican bank, with such a cast of villians as Marcinkus, Calvi, Sindona and Gelli made absorbing reading, even if some of us found the complicated and lengthy accounts of illegal money transfers a bit heavy going. Those who were not in Italy at the time, or had not been following the story for some reason were at a disadvantage. Others of us, who had been here and been shocked by the Pope's sudden death, Calvi's "suicide", Sindona's poisoning (better than the Borgias!) had a sense of dejŕ vu. Is history repeating itself with the new Pope, Francesco, who seems intent on sweeping clean with a new broom? Fresh today, the news of the arrest of Monsignor Nunzio Scarano on the suspicion of illegal money laundering through the Vatican banking system, would seem to confirm that something is very rotten in the heart of the Church. Some doubts were raised about the veracity of Yallop's investigation and his sources. This, however, will always be a problem where delicate matters of this type are approached, especially when dealing with a world that has a long history of impenetrable secrecy - a bit like Italy on the whole. So many unsolved mysteries! Truth becomes more and more nebulous the longer investigations go on. I'm not mentioning any names........ (M) From Tatiana 30/06/2013 On June 26 we met at Jill’s under dramatic weather — thunder, roiling clouds and wind-blown dashes of rain, lightning striking straight down into the lake (if I were God I’d be furious at the subject matter at hand, too) — to talk about David Yallop’s book. Jill had chosen this book as a purposeful departure from the novels we have been reading, and as an apropos historical event considering the words said and changes instigated by the new Pope. Not all of us had followed the events of those days closely, though the general outline wasn’t new, and while Yallop’s attention to detail was sometimes inundating and sometimes fanciful he does succeed in painting a terrible picture of a church up to its ears in dirty laundry. While there were differences among us as to how convinced we were that Pope Luciani had actually been murdered we all agreed that things were definitely rotten in the Vatican and appreciated Yallop’s attempt to put all the dirty little pieces together to expose what was going on. While conspiracy theories are attractive and appealing we conceded that we will never know totally for sure what happened to that Pope but agreed that, in the end, that is not the most important aspect of the book. What really counts is its exposure of the un-Godly workings of various elements within the church. Thus it was truly the perfect book to underline the similarities between what Yallop says Pope Luciani intended to do and what Pope Francesco is actually doing. Considering the near daily pieces in the news about investigations and arrests within the Vatican, Jill couldn’t have chosen a better book — and the weather evened out enough for us to enjoy lunch on her terrace with its glorious view. (T)
On May 29 we met at Laura’s to discuss Freedom, which Laura had chosen mostly because she had bought the book some time back and never read it. Seeing as our club was quite receptive to his first book, The Corrections, she thought it worth a second round. Funnily enough, she was the most unhappy with it – to the point of swearing off (for the time being at least) contemporary American authors and their family stories, which she found unnecessarily long and totally depressing. While her view was the most adamant, our group basically divided between those who agreed with her and those who, to the contrary, enjoyed the book. Interestingly, the split was not along the lines of prior knowledge or time spent in America; even people who had lived there and liked it were among those who did not enjoy the book. For them, everything Laura felt held, and more. They found him wordy beyond patience, boring, vulgar and trite. At best they felt there was no point to his book, no story told but the vicissitudes of a weird, dysfunctional family that in the end they didn’t care about. They didn’t like any of the characters and were fed-up with the constant self-analysis Franzen’s folk seem to jump into at the drop of a hat. They did not believe anybody’s life warranted that much psychological probing, especially the lives of these people who, basically, were neither good nor successful. The other side saw in Freedom a well-drawn, realistic snapshot of a specific time and place in America. We thought the characters were recognizable – their aspirations, problems and tendency to analyze every feeling and every moment felt real and in keeping with a certain socio-economic, Wasp, milieu. Yes, they are dysfunctional but it seemed to us that most families are – perhaps not to this degree but every family has its positive and distorted dynamics and while delving into the dynamics of this one doesn’t make for a morality tale it does enable you to look into a way of life and state of being prevalent in certain sectors of American society. Franzen did not deal with the family in a vacuum; the influences of the various events occurring at that time (post 9/11, Iraq war) become more than just set-the-scene backdrops to his story. They impinge on his characters’ choices, feelings and ultimate growth. In this way Franzen takes the microcosm of a time, place and milieu and weaves all these elements into the story of one family. It is always a good thing when there are dissenting opinions regarding a book and our discussion was fun and interesting. There were many digressions connected to it that we gave time to – the self-serving interests of philanthropists; the myriad movements and causes, all worthy, competing for our attention and money; whether or not people truly change the fundamental aspects of their characters; what makes a “good” person or a “happy” family; even the interesting consideration of American song birds being decimated by cats. While we all agreed that The Corrections was a better book overall (Freedom really could have used some pruning), and a second reading enabled some of us to appreciate this book more (something others categorically refuse to contemplate), Freedom did generate a good discussion and I, for one, was glad Laura chose it. (T) P.S. from Tatiana 09/06/2013
It occured to me, catching sight of JuLee stalking
the birds in our backyard (who, by the way, unlike
American songbirds, know she's there and set up a
loud clamoring to warn everybody else) that Walter's
fixation with saving American songbirds was more
than just a look at the problems posed by all the
worthy (more or less) causes jostling urgently for
our attention. I think now that it was also
Franzen's way of hitting again, in a sort of
micocosm of the natural world, his theme on freedom
- that it is, certainly in the States, overrated;
that one man's freedom is another man's loss; that
it is clung to defiantly as a concept when it has
ceased to truly exist. With the cat/bird analogy, he
is saying it again. People who have and love cats
know that they are happiest when outside, doing the
natural, instinctual things that cats do - among
which hunting - and they want to give their cats the
freedom to do that. However, that freedom means
death for the songbirds, who not only have no
defences but evidently, in the States, also haven't
developed any safeguards. This is sort of a
far-flung link to the view in the States that people
have to have the freedom to buy guns even when every
week this freedom is costing lives - even that of
innocent children and bystanders.
from Margaret 18/06/2013 Dear members, I am a little embarrassed at being yet again so negative about a book, but I really can't find any positive things to say about it, apart from the chapter concerning Wildlife conservation, which happens to interest me in any case. But on the whole I found the book, not exactly boring because the story kept moving forward, but - tedious. I really couldn't get into all these contorted psychological problems that afflicted the characters, nor did I manage to empathize with them. However, I was interested to note during our debate that those in favour of the book had either lived or had some close connection with the USA, while the negative judgements came mainly from the Europeans. Obviously a question of mentality and perception. It would be interesting to go into this more deeply maybe at some future date! (M)
From Tatiana 28/04/2013 On April 24 we met at Margie’s for her traditional, scrumptious lunch to discuss Canada. Margie had chosen this book based on a rave review by Rosemarie, noting also that it was well liked by critics – a masterpiece, no less. And while we generally (but for a couple exceptions) liked the book well enough, few really agreed with the glowing reviews. In fact, one of the things we discussed was the impossibility nowadays of relying in any serious way on book reviews, which tend to either laud or pan books and often do not coincide with the point of view of our (well-read, if I may add) group. While Canada is written in a style that does manage to evoke bleak landscapes – both real ones and interior ones – and the characters, especially the parents, were well drawn, few of us were so caught up in the book that we would consider it a masterpiece. Our discussions mostly revolved around the story itself, which in some ways was reminiscent of The Glass Castle in terms of parents who do things completely oblivious to consequences that are huge and totally obvious to anybody else. We found the different paths taken by the siblings a realistic trajectory of their choices – Berner who runs away to begin a life of steady decline and Dell, ever the good boy, who does what his mother intends for him to do and goes to Canada to live an isolated, frightening and yet bearable life. Because it wasn’t always clear that this book was a reminiscence, written by Dell in his later years, there were times that we felt that the situations and emotions described by Dell were too removed and sophisticated for the way a 15 year old boy would experience them and this led to a difficulty some of us had in relating to Dell. For us, his descriptions of the people and events that overtake him, and his own emotional response, often did not ring true. Many of us did feel it was interesting the way Ford was able to show how what looks perfectly ordinary from the outside can mask, in fact, extraordinary things. Dell’s family appeared to be living a regular American life, with the usual problems and family strains but a closer look revealed how bogged down his parents were getting in money-making schemes gone wrong and their real incompatibility, leading not to what one would expect (his mother going back to her parents with the kids) but to a ridiculous, and ultimately fateful, idea to rob a bank. Ford’s way of rendering this apparent normality involves a rather repetitive description of the mundane minutiae of Dell’s life and thoughts, which had many of us groaning with worry that the whole book was going to be like that. Things change when Dell goes to Canada but new problems crop up, such as the likelihood of the kind of life Dell leads and, after much build-up, the slightly disappointing section on the murder he witnesses. Our discussion touched upon the ways the things parents do (sometimes even without realizing it) affect their children, and how major differences in character can undermine the best intentions. We speculated about Arthur, what he might have done to end up in Canada (remembering terrorist groups like the Weathermen in the U.S. at that time whose members ran to Canada), and the way he vacillated from being attentive to Dell to ignoring him completely to roping him into being an unwilling accomplice in murder. We also discussed the character of Charley Quarters, who seemed so menacing and dangerous but in the end was actually the only person who tried to warn Dell about what could happen so that he wouldn’t be taken by surprise. And Mildred, who did what Dell’s mother asked her to do matter-of-factly but not without compassion. Some of us really didn’t like the book at all, while others enjoyed it thoroughly, so our discussion was lively and interesting though I’d say the majority view was that it wasn’t a bad book but neither was it fantastic. It made for a good discussion but I don’t think many of us would highly recommend it as anything more than a good summer read. (T) From Margaret 30/04/2013 First, let me say how sorry I was to miss our meeting. I always enjoy our lively discussions. However, this is my brief opinion of the book: Sorry, girls, but I really didn't enjoy this book. I found it as boring as its author when he was interviewed on “Che Tempo Che Fa” and virtually only replied: “Yes,” “No” or “Exactly” to Fabio Fazio's questions. I really don't understand all the glowing comments on the back cover from eminent critics of leading quality newspapers. I must have missed something! The story gets off with a bang mentioning the bank robbery committed by Dell's parents, but then it took over 100 pages to get to the actual robbery, which was recounted in a brief and matter of fact way. I liked the middle section better, where Dell adapts to his new life in Canada. I got quite interested in all the characters described there, the rather horrifically spartan conditions of life and the duck shooting and so on. However, after all that build up, I found the third section a let down. I would have liked to have learned more about the course of Berner's life, the father's situation and what Dell had been doing in the meantime to achieve his elevated academic position etc. Altogether I found the characters unconvincing. I really don't believe two ordinary middle class parents – even if slightly loony – would go as far as robbing a bank. Even though this is fiction, it has to be able to seem credible. Arthur Remlinger also seemed too flawed to be true – a cold-blooded murderer for what seemed to me unjustified reasons. Anyway, I haven't read anyone else's comments yet, so probably none of you will agree with me. That's the stuff Book Clubs are made of! (M)
ACCORDING TO MARY MAGDALENE - Marianne Fredriksson From Tatiana 14/03/2013 On March 9 and 10 the Castelli Book Club celebrated 35 years of existence with a week-end at our favorite haunt – La Selva – in Tuscany. It was a celebration of friendship, shared lives and literary preferences that involved far more than just talking about our book of the month. There were wonderful meals, gorgeous walks and a superb camaraderie I personally feel very grateful to have. And perhaps because we had a week-end as opposed to just an afternoon, and could enjoy each other’s company without feeling that time was running out, when we did sit down to discuss the book Lena chose, our focus was better than it often is and we didn’t stray off onto various tangents like we usually do. Lena had chosen this book because she had read another book by Fredriksson and enjoyed it, and thought that this novel could be part of the more “spiritual” tone some of our recent picks have taken, and it was this spiritual focus, in fact, that engendered the most discussion. The majority of us did not feel the book was written well. It was almost elementary in its composition, so simple as to seem artless, and if the author’s aim was to render the novel “biblical” sounding, that, too, failed. There were also factual errors that made the book annoying to those of us who knew otherwise. Since the simplicity of its construction meant it was not the fault of the translation, we were left to assume that Fredriksson uses language in a way that left most of us cold. At the same time, the subject matter itself was interesting to all of us. It spurred many of us to research the concept further, delving into what actually exists that is attributed to Mary Magdalene and comparing church dogma with the early Christian writing that did not make it into official church tracts, but it was here that the consensus splintered. Some of us were unhappy with the juxtaposition of the factual and the fictitious in a way that made it impossible to know what Mary Magdalene actually wrote and what Fredriksson put in her mouth. We felt that something as portentous as statements attributed to Christ that contradict church dogma should have been limited only to those Mary Magdalene actually made record of and not interspersed with things the author made up. Others, on the contrary, felt that this book is a good example of historical fiction and thought the aim was not to be “authentic” so much as promote the consideration of other possibilities. Because of this split the discussion was lively and very interesting as we delved into our religious beliefs and how they have affected humanity throughout the centuries, discussing whether or not mankind has “improved”, whether the position of women has truly changed and how much artistic license author’s should take. We even called home for more detailed information and compared print-outs from the web on the subject. It was a spirited meeting and bracketed by lunch and dinner, walks and talks, the anniversary book club discussion was enjoyed by all. (T)
From Margaret 16/03/2013 Nine dynamic women in the company of Maria Maddalena take over an old Tuscany farmhouse in remote Maremma for a memorable weekend, where we ate (a lot), slept (a lot), talked (even more) and braved the hazards of ankle-deep mud and jumping fleas in the cowsheds. Nature study and bird watching thrown in for free (including the love cries of the elusive upupa (hoopoe bird) and the dawn chorus of crooning wood pigeons, not to forget friendly close encounters with doe-eyed Chianina cows and their adorable little brown calves. Although the book of the event - Marianne Fredriksson's "According to Mary Magdalene" - was almost universally voted somewhat disappointing, the subject led to a long and interesting discussion on Bible truths and legends, religious concepts, the role of women in society 2000 years ago and even climatical conditions in the Middle East...just shows where a discussion can lead one! All great fun! A truly fitting 35th anniversary for the venerable Castelli Book Club. Roll on the next trip !! Many thanks to the organizers. Couldn't have been better! Love to all.
From RoseMarie 21/03/2013 It was wonderful for me to meet up with “old” friends and to get to know the “new” bookclub members at the bookclub’s 35th Anniversary Reunion. La Selva seems to have become the bookclub’s second home, and, like in previous years, we were presented with delicious and ample food and comfortable rooms. I do so hope there will be many more get-togethers in that lovely spot in the Toscana in the future! I wanted to thank all the present bookclub members for welcoming me to take part in the Anniversary weekend. Although it’s a generous and wonderful custom to invite the “out-of-towners” or “ex-members” to special reunions, I don’t take such invitations for granted and appreciate them greatly. Thank you all and thank you, Laura, Margie and Tatiana for planning and organizing the event. Our discussion was lively, and nobody held back voicing their likes and/or dislikes of the book! There were loud agreements and disagreements to be heard during the course of the evening. In the end, however, we could not find any fault with Margie’s summing-up statement, that, …….: “never mind about Mary Magdalen and Jesus and some of the other people, the most interesting and attractive character in the entire story is Leonidas, (Mary Magdalen’s gay husband, according to Marianne Fredriksson) The book should definitely have been about him instead of her !” He was her true hero and a man to dream about……….. On our way back to Rome we spent a brief visit to Capalbio, a very lovely mountain village about 45 minutes south of Grosseto where I couldn’t resist a delicious plate of pasta con tartufo before leaving Italy the following day to return to Germany. It was a great weekend with good company, interesting discussions and conversations, lovely food and delicious wine. Thanks to all of you for having invited me. (RM)
From Margie 23/03/2013 So Laura has shamed me into it....after I said that I was shameless. Of course I have nothing but great things to say about our week-end together. It was truly wonderful and I am always delighted to have my feelings confirmed that we are a very special group. Of course you are all my dear friends (old as well as new) and our commitment to the group makes, I think, the difference ( other than the fact that we are so individually great!). I was so sorry that Francoise couldn’t make it and also Minou ....as well as more of our ex members but we were also perfect as we were. La Selva continues to be a great place and I think has won us over forever (or at least has won me over for ever). And I can only say that I am already looking to the next reunion.
IN A STRANGE ROOM - Damon Galgut from Tatiana 30/01/2013 On 22 January we met at Minu’s house and had a Persian meal (for the first and probably last time, as Minu says it’s rather a hassle to cook Persian) that was pleasingly new and delicious, and discussed In a Strange Room. Minu had read another book of Galgut’s which she greatly enjoyed but since she wanted to adhere to club rules about choosing a book she hadn’t read yet, she chose In a Strange Room because she thought it would be interesting to read the perspective of another traveler (after “I’m Off Then”), this time from South Africa – not a spiritual quest but more of an existential one. Because we had quite diverging opinions, our discussion was lively and interesting. Some liked the book very much and felt that it gave a rare insight into the psyche and soul of an individual who does not approach life bravely and forthrightly (despite the avid travelling) and lacks the self knowledge and esteem to make the kinds of connections he so dearly would love to make. They found his tentative approaches to those he was attracted to, culminating always in nothing, a true description of people who are afraid to reach out and grasp those things that would make them happy, and believed his earnest, and ultimately useless, self-introspection indicative of a lovelorn and lonesome man that rang true to their experience and acquaintances. For these very reasons, others of us did not like the book. Galgut’s inability to take even the first step, say even the first word, in an attempt to breach the distance with someone he is attracted to became annoying, his ruminations too self-centered to be interesting. While we agreed that he was travelling constantly as a way of running away, not having to face the emptiness and pointlessness of his life, his descriptions did not engage us and we didn’t care, after a while, to read another word. It got to be too much “poor me” without any real attempt to change things. While it may well be that there are people like him, stifled in a cage of their own making, we felt his writing lacked the power to make us care – ending up with our simply wishing he’d just keep his failures to himself. This was the division for the first two stories in the book. The last one, however, had us all converging. For those of us who didn’t like the first two, the last made us happy to have kept on reading, while those who liked the first two simply continued enjoying the third. Perhaps because the author is no longer concentrating exclusively on himself his story-telling is suddenly more engaging, funny in a way pathos can be, and realistic. His descriptions of struggling with hospital mores in India rang true to those of us who have been there, and his efforts to make someone who doesn’t want to live anymore change her mind poignant and admirable. There were many branches for our discussion to explore – his descriptions of Africa (which many of us have seen and felt he did justice to), the rather oblivious, often self-centered Westerners travelling there, the role of culture and upbringing in giving us a fighting chance at creating a happy life for ourselves, how much of a “loser’s” story makes interesting reading… – so we were able to give the book its due and still enjoy going down all kinds of side-streets. It was a great book for our club and we spent an enjoyable afternoon with it. (T) from Margaret 25/01/2013 S. African writer Damon Galgut's "In A Strange Room" produced a particularly lively - and sometimes heated - debate at our meeting on the 22nd January at Minu's home. The majority of our members were very critical of the main character (Damon himself). In fact, most of the negative comments were inspired by the character (of the author), accused of being spineless, indecisive, unable to interact with society around him or to come to terms with his homosexuality. The book is actually composed of three longish short stories which had been published separately. This gave the impression that there was no real central theme. Galgut's annoying habit of interchanging the personal pronouns "he and I" was also considered inappropriate. However, his descriptions of travel in Africa in story 2 ("The Lover") were appreciated by all (with some nostalgic memories of backpacking and the sense of freedom of (some of) our youth. My own opinion was that the three stories were actually connected. The unifying theme was Damon's inability to cope with the true challenges of life ("The Stranger" and "The Lover") but in "The Guardian" he matures, handling a very difficult and unpleasant situation with fortitude and humanity. He copes with his friend's suicide attempt and subsequent illness and doesn't give up the struggle till she is taken off his hands. When she subsequently kills herself, she is far away and he is in no way responsible for her. An unsatisfactory element: how did Caroline's husband actually die? We only get hints of something dark and dreadful and Damon doesn't enlighten us. However, the fact that he takes the trouble to visit the grave and take away a small pebble as a token of respect is, I believe, a sign that he is finally connected to the reality of the world around him. (M)
from RoseMarie 22/01/2013 I loved the book and couldn’t put it down before I had reached the end! From the very beginning I was curious to “follow” Damon through the 3 different sections in the book: ”The Follower”, ”The Lover” and “The Guardian” . In a strange way – whilst reading -- I felt like being part of the story even though I couldn’t really explain why. Damon, a young South African traveller, wasn’t very successful as a “follower”, not brave enough to be a “lover”, and a failure as a “guardian” to a suicidal friend. He covered many distances to get exactly nowhere. Perhaps that is the fascination with this book which made me read it in one go! And the thoughts the author puts down on paper seem like echoes of one’s own feelings and thoughts. They appear therefore as a kind of universal truth: When Damon receives the news that Jerome had been killed in an accident there follows a paragraph starting ….”a journey is a gesture inscribed in space, it vanishes even as it’s made. You go from one place to another place, and on to somewhere else again, and already behind you there is no trace that you were ever there………………the very air closes behind you like water and soon your presence, which felt so weighty and permanent, has completely gone. Things happen once only and are never repeated, never return. Except in memory”. Reading this reminded me of a psalm that once impressed me greatly:……”the life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more”. This sounds a bit crazy, but there it is! The book has many of these “déjŕ vu” thought-moments for me and I wonder if any of you have been affected in the same way? Wished I could be there to hear what you all have to say….whether you think, too, that we walk from one strange room into another throughout our lives? Whether it is only an illusion to think we can reach the room that is “home” or “familiar” at last?! Have fun, RM |
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