Having said all that, the others were not so negative and some really liked it. Tatiana greatly admires the writer (naturally, it being her choice). Some thought it very cleverly put together and were impressed by Mitchell's undoubted breadth of culture.

Nothing remains for me but to read it again and see what I missed!

from Laura 15/12/2017

After reading two of his books now, I think I can say David Mitchell is one of my favourite authors. Although they were published five years apart, Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas are quite similar in concept and style. The plot is not a simple one, you have to focus your whole attention to not miss interconnected details, citations, hidden links, etc.

It looks complicated in the beginning but after a while your brain adjusts and you enter this alternate universe, where life is described in many different ways, one historical, one socio-political, one philosophical, one magical, surreal, extra-sensorial, etc. Each character has a different voice and you wonder how is it possible they share the same author. Some of them you can perfectly relate to, depending on your experience. I could especially relate to the asian characters (having visited China and Japan several times) and to their way of living and thinking.

The book is divided in short stories but in the end is like one multifaceted big story, as if you are looking at them from outer space, seeing the “big picture”, so to speak. Maybe this is the perspective we need when we look at the world today, a mixed multi-racial, politically and socially messed up society where the meaning of single individual lives should be read from a distance.

from Tatiana 22/12/2017

I apologize for this late entry but things have been beyond hectic here – mostly good but time consuming nonetheless. There is, however, absolutely nothing I would like to add regarding our  discussion of Ghostwritten. Both views have been perfectly expressed by Margaret and Laura, heading the two camps, as it were, of those who really liked the book and those who did not. I, for one, could not have said it better than Laura, who hit on absolutely everything I adore about Mitchell generally and this book in particular – and then some, making observations that in a quieter time I may have formulated myself but now find I am grateful to her for having expressed. All I can say is Hear, Hear!! A thousand times!

1933 WAS A BAD YEAR - John Fante

from Tatiana 31/10/2017

We met today at Eva’s and before discussing the book had a wonderful lunch perfect for Halloween, with pumpkin soup and quiche (what does quiche have to do with Halloween, you ask – nothing that I know of but it was just all so perfect once you started out with pumpkin soup!). Eva had chosen 1933 Was a Bad Year because she loved the author and seeing as her first choice had not been translated into English, went with the tried and true. While many of us were acquainted with John Fante (except for me) either from other books or movies based on his work, this title was new to everybody and met with positive reviews from us all. Though Fante set this story in depression-era America and the circumstances both outside the family and within it were grim, still he succeeded in writing a gentle work that explored family dynamics in a poor, working class, immigrant family, allowing the reader to see the kind, poignant and tender moments between brothers, friends and even within fraught family relations.  There was humor in despair, and pie-in-the-sky hope befitting the American dream, which made the characters and their experiences genuine. Without fancy word choices or sledgehammer emotions Fante succeeded in giving the reader a sense of being there and grasping far more than is actually on the page, just as real life is so much more complex than any black and white retelling.

from Margaret 3/11/2017

This must have been one of our most successful book choices! We all loved it without reservations. Nevertheless, we still had a lively discussion, focussing on various aspects of the book that had appealed to us. We were impressed with the fact that such a short book (about 100 pages) managed to pack in so much information about the characters, their motives and feelings. We also loved the language – Fante's gift of turn of phrase and unusual metaphors.

It did leave a bit of a cliffhanger....an abrupt ending where we would all have liked to have been told if the prospective baseball champ with “the arm” actually made it into the team of his dreams. It was up to the reader to decide if he was going to make it or not!

It is sad to think that this novel was published posthumously after Fante died in 1983. It did remind me of Salinger's “Catcher in the Rye” (published in 1951), which had the same kind of dialogue flow and leitmotiv of teenage restlessness and difficulties of adaptation and I wondered if Fante had been inspired by it. However, Fante's touch was softer and gentler and you could feel real sympathy for all the characters and their various dilemmas.

Thanks to Eva for her choice and also wonderful lunch. Why don't we re-christen this the Castelli Gourmet Book Club? Just an idea......

BEETHOVEN: THE MAN REVEALED - John Suchet

from Tatiana 23/9/2017

On September 22 we met at Margaret’s and enjoyed a thoroughly Scottish meal – comfort food at its finest – before settling down to discuss Suchet’s book. On the whole we enjoyed the book, though for many it was certain aspects of this biography with several reservations. Some of us found the historical context interesting, the ins and outs of the patron/composer dynamic and the various difficulties even a genius like Beethoven had to overcome in order to make his mark. Others were intrigued by the events in Beethoven’s life that influenced his work, from Fur Elise, written so that a mediocre student he was infatuated with could play it, to his Sixth Symphony Pastoral, the likely result of his many walks in the countryside. Most of us, however, were put off by the massive presence of the conditional tense: he might have, could have, should have. While it is admirable that Suchet was clear about the suppositions he was making and the fact that accounts written by people many years after Beethoven’s death could not be verified, it was off-putting to realize how very little of what we were reading can actually be proven. There were some, however, who very much liked the book, conditionals notwithstanding, and felt that it helped them appreciate even more a composer who overcome a difficult life and fateful deafness to write music that has withstood the test of time. Not all of us would recommend this book to others, but most felt it was worth our time since none of us knew much of anything about this man’s life and considering his importance in the Western musical canon, it is knowledge we appreciate.

from Jill 13/10/2017

John Suchet,  a well respected TV  journalist who now hosts a classical music radio programme,  admits in the first pages that his book is not a musicologist’s  discussion of the music of Beethoven.  As the title suggests his aim is to explore the man behind the music and by means of diligent and thorough research as such  he surely achieved this aim.  As a lover of classical music myself, I was fascinated by  the story of Beethoven’s life and the paradox of his astonishing behavior, a mix of humour, lack of humour,  generosity combined with the despicable treatment of his sister-in-law and nephew Karl  -  all of which lies behind the production of some of the most beautiful music ever written.

 Beethoven’s personality seems inevitably to have been much influenced by several misfortunes:  his deafness, his  lack of success in love and what we would now call his irritable bowel syndrome.  Sadly it seems he was not a very likeable person, and I have to admit that in some ways I’d rather not have known that composer of some of the music that I love so much was frankly a bastard.

THE GINGER TREE - Oswald Wynd

from Tatiana 13/7/2017

On July 3 we met at Jill’s to enjoy the gorgeous view and wonderful lunch, and discuss The Ginger Tree. Jill could not remember why she had chosen this book but was glad she did as we mostly found it to be an engaging read. We unanimously considered the historical aspect very interesting, both in terms of the cultures described and the events that occurred during that period in time. Less unanimous was the viewpoint when it came to the main character herself. Some of us found her a realistic rendition of a woman slowly sloughing off the straight laced conventions and limitations of her day, maturing and establishing her own, individual persona as she faces various disappointments and disasters during her sojourn in the Far East. Others felt her character was obviously not written by a woman as her actions and considerations did not strike us as those a woman would actually exhibit. There was also some divergence in terms of the asides found throughout the book which demonstrate knowledge of a future she could not have known or even contemplated but overall the story was interesting and the setting fascinating and, depending what camp you were in, the ending was either perfectly in sync or completely unnatural. A good discussion and a lovely afternoon.

All in all, a really good read!

I am really glad that I persevered with the book – I had been tempted to abandon it half way through;  there was much to ponder on.  The author herself comes out of it with shining colours;  she perseveres with both her father and her research despite humiliation and rudeness.  She makes every effort to understand and to empathise with both her parents, and perhaps one can only agree with Stefanie  -  she should get pregnant and have her own children; she would make a wonderful mum.

AN UNNECESSARY WOMAN - Rabih Alameddine

from Tatiana 8/4/2017

On March 28 we met at Francoise’s house as nearly a complete group (plus my friend from the U.S.) to enjoy a wonderful lunch, each other, and discuss An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine.  By and large, most of us enjoyed this book and its look into life in Beirut, which not many of us knew about.  While the protagonist and her take on existence did not strike many chords of recognition it was interesting to read about a life and a place quite unlike our own.  A number of us found the author’s many references to writers both obscure and famous pretentious but I, for one, having grown up with that kind of grounding for opinions and education did not and fully intend to use these citations as spring boards for learning about writers I have never heard of.  And while we did not relate all that much to the protagonist, her dedication to translating works that would never be read got us talking about what, in human endeavour, has value. Is it only those things that inform, entertain or somehow enhance the lives of others or is it enough to derive nothing but personal pleasure (and, in her case, sustenance and a reason for living) from creative work? We appreciated the way the book ended, with her neighbours coming to her rescue despite the fact that she had never much wanted to interact with them, and her realizing that even the coffee tasted wonderful when shared like that. On a personal note, I was touched (and not the least surprised) at how our group expanded and welcomed my friend, making her feel like she’d been with us forever and never exuding the cliquish cohesion that can make a person feel like an outsider. She asked me to thank you all for giving her such an enjoyable afternoon and definitely plans to have her next trip here coincide with another meeting.  This is what makes us more than a book club I belong to. You are my friends and the reason the club is such an important element in my life. (T)