This was a very special meeting because we were discussing a book written by one of our members. With this book, Tania had completed her cycle “The Changer Trilogy”, aimed at young adults. The three books cover a wide range of dramatic and crucial modern issues, including climate change, relationships between generations, the value of pet therapy and the prevention of cruelty to animals, linked through the adventures of the teenage Kelly, her boyfriend Jeremy (the “Changer”), and their friend Daniel. The negative forces are epitomized by an evil army commander they call “Gordie” who is bent on revenge because they freed captive crows that the military were keeping for experimental purposes.

The story is also laced with magic realism, based on native American and Induit lore of the ability of certain people (Changers) to take on animal form. In this book, Jeremy, who is on the run from Gordie's wrath, frequently changes into a wolf and eventually vanishes, only to reappear once more towards the end to save his grand-daughter Julie, who risks losing her life during an Animal Liberation Front raid on a pig farm.

This apparently linear story covering three generations, is actually a fascinating and complicated composition of layers of thought-provoking issues which are highly relevant to our times and, I believe, to the sensibilities of young people today. Many of the themes have been very carefully researched. We did not know, for instance, about what can only be described as the barbaric Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, approved in the USA in 2006 and which provides for animal rights activists to be charged under the same laws and conditions as terrorists.

Since the three books of the Trilogy appear to be on sale separately, my one suggestion would be to add an introduction at the beginning of the second and third books, explaining what has been happening before, as it can be quite difficult to pick up the thread if you haven't read the previous books, especially as the story does a generation leap from Kelly to Julie. In all, however, an enthralling and unusual story which gripped us all. Congratulations Tatiana!!

from Jill:

 I initially found the book a little difficult to follow, partly because I was reading it in short spells on and off. I tend to read only in bed in the evening and early morning. I found it quite hard to follow all the various characters, and had to keep going back to discover if I had already met this character or if it was a new one eg Kenny Sears P.45

However, as I really got to grips with the book last week, almost rereading the first few chapters, I began to really enjoy it and to understand where it was going. I liked the first chapter with the freeing of the crows, but I had no idea where it would be taking us at that point. I had a little difficulty imagining that the military would be quite so intent on finding the teenage perpetrators even up to several years after the event, though of course the madness of Gordie made it more understandable. Is the 15 year old from Guantanamo really still in prison? I looked up The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act which still exists.

Some of the writing is lyrically beautiful eg Chapter 7 the second paragraph “It was a Saturday in early fall……”, I found the dialogue well expressed, even though I occasionally was confused as to who was talking..... You certainly have a gift for writing, Tatiana, and I really like your style.

I found the pet therapy stories really interesting. I have a psychiatrist friend who works with disadvantaged and problem children. A young Ghanaian boy refused to open his mouth for several weeks until she brought her little dog into the studio quite by chance; he opened up almost immediately, and it was a huge surprise even for her! I hope they do it here in Italy too. It was really lovely to read about the autistic girl who was helped at the Centre. I also looked up Animal Liberation Front which is evidently very active. I have to say that when I see videos of chicken factory farms, I could be tempted to break the law!

The ‘changer’ aspect was fun ( it is for older kids after all), but made me wish I’d read the previous two in the trilogy. Perhaps I will! I really loved the ending. That last paragraph was beautiful. Overall an interesting and enjoyable book to read! Thanks Tatiana!

from Margie:

Hi guys and thx to Laura who will be responsible for this.

Of course I miss you all and hope you have ( are having,) a great time together. I'm afraid I'm not going to see you all for a while if not individually and outside ( if you're ever over my way let me know)

Kudos to Tatiana for the book. An interesting read. And so many things I didn't know about. Of course I don't fit into the target category so it's hard to see it from a young adult viewpoint. Also I tend to take most of what I read at face value so I had some issues with understanding. Is a changer a native American concept or just Tatiana's imagination or a real thing? I think I missed the point somehow and so I really do miss being with you and the author herself so I could get a better grasp. I hope you are planning to do "an interview with the author" to help me out.

While I don't know too much about animal activism I do question the validity of letting all those pigs out....I see that life for them wasn't so great but I don't think their future was too good either. But this is not the point of the book certainly.

I am happy that you imagine people out there doing noble things ( except for liberating the pigs ) like Kelly and Daniel's farm. And I think it was a good picture of the conflicts that teenagers face in their relationships, their uncertainties and their fragilities in general.

All in all I liked it more than I expected ( only because I am not a young adult) so my vote for what it counts is positive. Love to you all Margie.

Read our interview with the author Tatiana Strelkoff. Check this link:       "Meet the author"

21 LESSONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY - Yuval Noah Harari

from Margaret:

Only five of us made it to the meeting at Eva's, where we kept strictly to the new rules – masks on even indoors, no physical contact and sitting well apart from each other. Harari's latest book, everyone agreed, was fascinating, if a little long-winded. His extensive general knowledge, breadth of research and erudite musings were extremely impressive but we agreed that he might have been better to divide his subject matter into two or three separate books since he covered such a wide range of subjects. As in his previous book “Homo Sapiens” which we also read at our Book Club, he uses the attention-catching tricks of intriguing chapter titles, clear arguments and simple, straight-forward language. The most striking part of the book, we all agreed, was at the beginning where he deals with the potential threat of artificial intelligence and algorithms taking over our lives and sapping our free will. The chapters on religion also caught our attention, though there was nothing here that we did not know already (Karl Marx's often misquoted “religion is the opium of the people”). Harari, however, reduces religion to a collective illusion which, however, people were, and are, prepared to kill and die for.... We also discussed his chapters (almost sermons!) on racial differences and the need for tolerance, with his interesting reference to Emperor Ashoka of India – a model of an open state, unfortunately not maintained through the succeeding ages. The last chapter, centered on meditation (the Vipasanna tecnique), was presented almost as a panacea for all ills. It had a mixed reception, ranging from enthusiasm to skepticism. I personally found disconcerting his analyses of our faculties, will, memories, impulses and emotions all reduced to mere physical elements controlled by neurons. He dismisses spirituality, love and mysticism as mere illusions. I found this theory somewhat in contrast with his fears of algorithms. What difference does it make if we are therefore controlled by neurons or algorithms? We might as well give up the struggle and stop worrying!!!!! Anyway, a book with almost 30 pages of end notes and references merits all our respect. It is a book we shall probably dip into from time to time and will continue to give food for thought.

from Tatiana:

For various reasons we were still a small group at Eva’s but it made the social distancing easy and for those of us who could come, it was great to see each other. When we finally got around to discussing 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, it was clear that we all found the book extremely thought provoking, though we did not all come to the same conclusions. For some of us, Harari’s general implications were pretty much a doomsday scenario, a result both of unbridled technological advances and mankind’s basic inability to evolve a great deal further than the us versus them mentality. For others, though we could see the inherent dangers in the issues he was covering, our faith in humanity’s upside left us more hopeful. Harari truly covers a great deal of territory in this book: terrorism, religion, AI, social media, technology and more so we all agreed that there was a bit too much information to truly absorb and would have preferred to have read this in 2 or 3 books, and perhaps distilled a bit more so there wasn’t quite as much repetition, but when it comes to a jumping off point for discussion it is absolutely perfect. There’s something for everyone and we could have talked far longer about any one of these subjects, let alone all of them. In the end, we all agreed that this is a book the younger generations should be reading – not because it comes with solutions (it really does not) but because the idea is not to provide answers but to make people think. As he himself writes, too many people want to latch on to the easy answer, the simple solution, black or white when life today offers no such thing in reality. We must all try to live our lives aware and consciously choosing our path if we want to avoid a future where others do our thinking for us. All in all, an excellent choice for our club and a wonderful meeting. (The storm outside lent our little gathering a nice, cozy feeling as well, so doubly perfect.

from Margie:

Well first of all let me say the obvious…I wish I were there! That said, enjoy each other’s company and I hope you had a good discussion.

When I first started the book I felt it was much easier going than Jill’s book and more relevant to the moment…..it’s called “21 lessons for the 21st century” after all I really enjoyed the first lesson about artificial technology and bio technology and some of his observations about what the future holds in this sense…how life might be for the “unskilled masses” and the need to protect them and how we all rely already on algorithms to determine so much of our life even today…trusting Google for everything (If you don’t believe it remember how we used to know everyone’s’ telephone number by heart and how we now rely on our phones for this!...except probably Eva ;)) He talks about convincingly about the need for a global (and not national) perspective to counteract what he sees as the threats of the future: nuclear war, ecological collapse and technological disruption After that he kind of loses himself in a number of issues many mostly bashing religion and its consequences through history. All of his citing movies and books left me a bit confused as I didn’t know or remember the ins and outs that he often referred. Basically he has I think the tendency to run on and on and often to beat a dead horse in that he is very repetitive and the book could have been a good bit shorter…..if he has written it as "Lessons for the 10th century" for example it would have, in my opinion, benefited. When he gets to the meaning of life…he concludes that only we can give meaning to our lives but then he says “human freedom and creativity are the product of billions of neurons exchanging biochemical signals, and even if you liberate humans from the yoke of the Catholic Church and the Soviet Union, their choices will still be dictated by biochemical algorithms as ruthless as the Inquisition and the KGB.” So can we give meaning to our life??? This is a bit of a contradiction that I don't really understand. His example of how this works is homosexuality which clearly defines him (as does a lack f religious belief). The sum up of it all, is his concluding sentence which ends his chapter on meditation (which I liked a lot) And we had better understand our minds before the algorithms make our minds up for us. And my conclusions: too long, too many examples, and I kind of have the impression that he is a good marketer of himself and out to make money….but still interesting. Love to all, Margie

DELIZIA ! - John Dickie

from Margaret:

A somewhat depleted meeting of our Book Club – the first after the summer break and still in partial lockdown. There were only five of us, including the hostess, so social distancing was easily obtained.

 The book, tracing the complicated history of Italian food and regional cooking, inspired a lengthy and animated discussion, with some members liking the book unconditionally and others with reservations. The main objections were that it was too heavily loaded with facts and anecdotes, with too many historical references and it made laborious reading.

Strangely (in my opinion), Dickie's quirky, often tongue-in-cheek humour was not particularly appreciated. We were all agreed that the amount of scholarly research involved was most impressive (a staggering 28 pages of sources listed) as well as his profound, intimate knowledge of Italy itself and the Italian character.

Chapters that were picked out were: the famous Molino Bianco advertising campaign, the origins of spaghetti (not Marco Polo's doing but introduced by the Sicilian Arabs), comparisons drawn between Italians' dining expectations and what they found in the UK, the Fascist period and the Slow Food movement that concludes the book, leaving readers with many questions regarding problems of authenticity and sustainability in an increasingly global world.

from Margie:

I am really sad to miss seeing everyone (even virtually...better than nothing) and I will be thinking about you all and also be curious to know the menu....did it come from the book?).

 I just finished the book this morning so you see I have done my homework! And so what do I think? Well it wasn't a page turner....but it was interesting and I think he did a very good job of documenting the food situation....his bibliography was really impressive. In many ways it was as much a history book as a foodie book and this is of course it's greatest merit (in my mind). But Italian history is so complicated that sometimes it really was a chore (easier for you Italians surely...once in the book club we did something like the Oxford Book of Italian History and that was literally overwhelming).

I'm afraid my current brain didn't retain much of what I read though I found lots of interesting things while reading. I found the more modern stuff more interesting perhaps because I could relate to it better and even remember some of it happening. I was amazed to find that Giovanni Rana had been around for such a long time as I don't remember seeing the products for such a long time. That's a pretty weak example for me to pull up I realize!

So all in all not a bad read. Informative for those who wanted to be informed but sluggish at times.

Enjoy each other and hopefully I will join you all next time.  Love, Margie

THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS - M.L. Stedman

from Margaret:

At last! A face-to-face meeting (with due respect for the rules of Social Distancing) on Jill's terrace. A hot day, but not unbearably so, with plenty of shade under the three umbrellas our hostess provided. The novel “The Light Between Oceans” by M.L.Stedman (real name Margot Louise Watts) was unanimously enjoyed by all. A very moving tale, with poetic descriptions of the sea and the scenery on the island, where Tom, the lighthouse keeper, and his young wife Isabel, live in total solitude, at first contentedly, until Isabel realises that her dream of becoming a mother will not come true. The novel is driven by the heightening emotions of the two characters as they seem driven towards a fatal destiny – rather like the characters in an ancient Greek tragedy. The trauma of miscarriage and the desperate desire for motherhood were evoked with sincerity and true feeling, as any women who has lived through this drama can testify. The only criticism from some members was that there was just too much drama. The story seemed “over-charged” with tragedy. There were no happy endings for the young couple who started their life together with so much hope. Forced to give up the child they had taken in and deeply loved, they felt they had to move away and make a sort of a life elsewhere. Isabel, in fact, dies without ever seeing her adopted daughter again, as Lucy's long-awaited visit comes just too late for her. We also thought that the separation of four-year-old Lucy from the parents she had known when she was returned to her real mother was too harsh – positively brutal by modern standards of child psychology. If her birth mother had been a little more generous and less resentful, the transfer could have been managed more gently, to the benefit of all parties concerned. The fact that Hannah eventually spoke up for Tom and Isabel in court, thus mitigating their sentence, only emphasized the total lack of understanding and concern for the feelings of the child. We rounded off the afternoon in privileged fashion, with a private screening of the film starring Michael Fassbinder and Alicia Vikander – an excellent adaptation that stuck very closely to the book and was just as moving.

from Laura:

Even though this was a debut novel for Stedman, it got quite successful and then four years later it was adapted  for an A-list movie. I think it can be considered a valid read for a bookclub because the subject leads to various considerations on what would have been the right choices for the two main characters or the little girl or the real mother (I am sure every reader formed a different opinion on that), especially considering how social services have improved in the last century. In fact most of the characters appear now egoist and selfcentered, their inflated needs and emotions get the better of them and the little girl's emotional well being is completely disregarded. In the end she gets abandoned and traumatized by those who love her most. In spite of all the drama (almost "feuilleton" style), the book is well written, the location quite original, lighthouses still hold much appeal and raise interest. I got inspired in researching more on internet about this kind of buildings around the world, some have even been converted in hotels !! Some of them are really beautiful and stand on spectacular sites, representing the exact image I have in my head for a place to live by the sea, solitary and wild, but extremely fulfilling for the soul.

THREE FLOORS UP - Eshkol Nevo

from Tatiana:

Another virtual meeting – a little messy, perhaps, as it is getting harder to stop ourselves from trying to talk all at once – and hopefully the last but (and kudos to us for keeping this going despite the lockdown) still good to check in with one another and compare notes on Three Floors Up. Laura chose this book mostly because it was adapted into a movie by Nanni Moretti and she figured if he found it interesting enough to make a movie of it, it certainly merited a read. On the whole, we all agreed with her. The premise for these three, loosely interlinked stories is unique (each floor a story of a character representing Freud’s categories of Id, Ego and Superego) and while not all of us saw this connection as clearly as others, it still made for an interesting take on the different ways people live their lives and how their choices impact on themselves and others. Some of us saw in these stories an indictment of society as a whole; others, a glimpse into the various (and quite relatable) problems families and marriages face taking into account the psychology of the people involved, with a focus on the illusions and delusions that can either shore us up or destroy us. Not all of us bonded with the characters, however, and some found that the stories did not stay with them for any length of time and were soon forgotten altogether, but while some passages or events were unrealistic and others seemingly pointless, on the whole we found the book enjoyable and would be interested in reading more by this author.

from Margaret:

Laura's choice by Israeli writer Eshkol Nevo was well received. Our members all enjoyed this unusual and intriguing book, divided into three separate stories which are only tenuously linked together towards the end of Story 3. The three floors personify the Freudian theory of the three Levels of the Mind, with the First Floor story centered round the id (impulses and urges), the Second Floor the ego that mediates between desires and reality and the Third Floor, (the superego) that concentrates on the effects of our actions. This was a highly ingenious concept but (in my opinion) it was too obscure to be fully appreciated, especially as it was only alluded to towards the end of the last story. At first reading, the three stories did not seem to be connected at all, except for a few vague references. The Third Story of the widow Devora proved the most popular with our group. We were able to relate more to this character, rather than with the obsessive father in the first tale and the neurotic neglected wife in the second one. The happy ending left us with a feeling of satisfaction. The writer is obviously very gifted and has produced a many-layered work that lends itself to many interpretations. In fact, our streaming discussion went on for most of the afternoon. The only criticism I personally have to offer is that I found the narrative cold, despite the chatty epistolary style chosen by the writer. I was unable to bond with any of the characters or sympathize with their various problems and personal dramas. I saw them more as clinical studies, rather than flesh-and-blood people. However, this does not detract from the originality of the work, but rather enhances it as a new modern literary formula.

from Laura:

This book was suggested to me by a friend, it's been chosen by Nanni Moretti and adapted for his new movie. Hopefully we will be able to watch it together when it's released in September.
I found it really intriguing, very well written and original in its concept. It is an interesting view on Israeli life today. All three stories revolve around marital relationships and being parents somehow, keeping an eye on psychology. The first two serve as an introduction to the third one  which really gives the novel its meaning, through the parallel with Freud's theories, three floors in the building, three floors in the human psyche, three different methods for recounting
personal stories:
-confessions to a friend
-writing a letter to a friend
-and recording messages on the answering machine (very clever I must say)
The first character Arnon is obsessed with his neighbour being a pervert and molesting his child, then ends up being the pervert himself. His story is a paradox.
The second character Hani "the widow" is afraid of losing her mind and becoming crazy like her mother did. She is very lonely and helping her brother in law is a kind of life affirming experience for her.
The third character Devora, the judge, reminded me of the mother in "We need to talk about Kevin", her son refused her since he was born and she doesn't know what's wrong with her, she is consumed with guilt. And she has to choose between husband and son. It's a dramatic situation but it ends well. Her internal journey toward self awareness and freedom from her dead husband's influence is well described and she catches my sympathy.
Definitely a good writer and worth further reading.

ELIZABETH STREET - Laurie Fabiano

from Margaret:

Our second meeting in streaming, unfortunately not complete because Eva cannot connect via Skype and Grazia only vocally through her smartphone.

This book engendered very different reactions: half of our group was totally negative and condemned the book and the writer quite severely. The other half (three of us) were more positive, having read the story in a less critical way, as a straight forward tale. To me, a definite positive was that it was based on a true story (how much embroidered we obviously don't know as the writer was describing the experiences of her great grandmother over a century ago).

In the last meeting, Laura had urged us to be honest in expressing our opinions and we had certainly taken her instructions to the letter...maybe a bit too much so, as it can be hurtful to the person who suggested the book to have her choice criticised too bluntly. So this brings me to my own reflections, for what they are worth:

What is the purpose of a book? Is it primarily for pleasure and recreation? Or should it be instructive, innovative and dazzling in style? A few books manage to be both. One of the great advantages of a Book Club for me, apart from the pleasure of being with friends, is the fact that it introduces you to books which you would probably not have read normally.

So to me it is not so important to like or dislike a particular book (tastes vary of course) as to have a wider perception of what is available. Let's keep an open mind. Writing any type of book at all is a huge task that requires endless time and commitment, apart from those that are churned out purely with a an eye to the market (and even those take time and concentration).

“Elizabeth Street” obviously was not a literary masterpiece. The author's style could charitably be described as “naive”. I don't think she had any pretensions of higher things. She was simply telling her family story, which luckily for her was an interesting story involving poverty, immigration, an earthquake and a tsunami, ruthless criminal gangs and a New York very different from the one we know today.

from Tatiana:

Our virtual book club meetings are a far cry from our marvelous meetings to date but far better than no meetings at all and seem to force us to be more disciplined and succinct. It is always great to see each other’s faces and hear what we’ve all been up to to pass the time while in lockdown so while I will be truly joyful when we can go back to having our regular, unruly, fun meetings, I am not complaining.

Elizabeth Street generated some good discussion because we weren’t all in agreement, though those nonplussed by this book were a minority. Mostly, members enjoyed the book, finding it to be an interesting look at the Italian immigrant experience in the early 1900s. While everybody agreed the writing was pedestrian and not all the characters were wholly believable, knowing this is a true story made the book more attractive, especially because it resonated with some whose families were involved in these same times.

The vocal minority evidently has read too many books and seen too many movies on this subject because we felt that if you are going to take on a subject that has been dealt with so much in so many different ways, it has got to have something special – a new angle, an unusual story, gorgeous writing at least! Elizabeth Street had none of these things and while we did not think it was a terrible book it was definitely not a book we would recommend because the story is well known, the characters predictable and the fact that it is true of little import.

One thing we all appreciated was the description of the earthquake and tidal wave that hit Calabria and Sicily in 1908 – an event we knew little about considering it is the worst natural disaster to ever hit Europe (except for an earthquake in Portugal in 1775).

All in all, it was a good book to discuss, which made our online meeting enjoyable for everyone.

from Laura:

When I started reading this book I was in a very good mood, I thought "finally something simple", after the last intellectual reads in our book club I was feeling kind of stressed ...

The right ingredients were all there: a novel based on a true story, a kind of Italian immigrants family saga at the beginning of '900 in America, lots of references to historical facts and characters, all narrated in a simple straightforward style by the great-grandaughter.

The first part is is quite romantic, Nunzio’s and Giovanna’s doomed love story is both sweet and tragic and gives the reader a full picture of the human condition in the south of Italy after the unification in 1870: extreme poverty, lack of social progress, no jobs, no real investments (and things haven’t improved so much today), but also strong family values and huge sense of honor.

Like many before them, most of the main characters are forced to emigrate to United States for survival, so their story continues in New York, where they struggle through poverty, racial discrimination and persecution by the BlackHand (la ManoNera). Until they find their way and establish their life in New Jersey.

The subject was not new to me, my family originated from Molise, after WW1 and WW2 life was really hard for them, they were mostly peasants, many emigrated to the US. My grandfather was the shoemaker in this small mountain village and moved the whole family to Rome where I was born. My whole life I heard tales from my grandmother and then my mother about their basic lifestyle, the war, our many relatives abroad. I could write more than one book about their memories.

Maybe that’s why I could so relate to this story. It’s not a literary masterpiece, but worth reading.

FLIGHTS - Olga Tokarczuk

from Laura:

26 March 2020, this date will remain in our memories for a long time. Due to the Coronavirus state of emergency in Italy, we were not able to meet face to face, something that never happened to our bookclub before.

Confined in our house for weeks now, avoiding human contact as much as possible, we resorted to using technology for our monthly meeting, a Skype video conference !! We were different from our usual disorderly and chatty selves, what with overlapping and voice delay difficulties. It was quasi professional, we were disciplined and eloquent, all prepared with our notes ready, better than being on a TV talk show !

This month's summary is different, insofar as a bunch of individual reading notes can be considered a summary. All I did was collect them and put them all together on this page. Tokarczuk's style. It's only fair.

Please don't shoot me, I am only the webmaster ...

.--- Flights is not an easy book to read, unconventional and hard to classify, it's more of a personal, rather scattered travel diary, a patchwork of fictions and philosophical essays. She is questioning everything and everyone, following her own peculiar logic, which in the beginning I found exhausting and a waste of my time . Most of her stories are so short that it's difficult for the reader to get involved, some are even split in separate chapters, with no apparent logical sequence. Some topics are of the morbid kind and I found myself unprepared. I gave myself a motivation through what she writes on page 19:

 “In my writing, life would turn into incomplete stories, dreamlike tales, would show up from afar in odd dislocated panoramas, or in cross sections—and so it would be almost impossible to reach any conclusions as to the whole.” .

Halfway through the book I started reading in a different order, assembling the separate parts of the fictions that relate to the same charachters, so it made more sense to me (i.e. Kunicki, the man who lost his wife and kid, and Dr. Blau, the professor obsessed with vaginas and body parts in formaldeide). In the second half I started to get acquainted with her style and somewhow found myself  in a better state of mind, almost appreciating her work. Some of the stories inspired me to research those subjects on Internet, which led me to discover topics that are not usually under my radar, so to speak.

All in all, not a book I would normally choose, but an interesting find. (Laura)

from Lena:

On a rainy day in March we had our first virtual Bookclub meeting in lockdown to discuss “Flights” by Olga Tokarczuk. Like children waiting for their favourite Disney show we were sitting in front of our screens to watch everybody appearing on and off. Laura had managed organising and inviting us to this virtual meeting so very well, that everybody even showed up on time (!).

I got the idea of choosing this book when it was announced that Tokarczuk had been given the Nobel prize in literature. Not having ever read a Polish author I thought it would be interesting. Most of us, maybe all, were struggling with her patchwork style writing and had difficulties finding a central thread. We asked “is this a novel or a collection of short stories” or neither nor? As for the title “Flights” we discussed the meaning of it and if the translation from the Polish was accurate. One of us had looked up the Polish title saying that it means ”Wanderers” and this maybe would be a better translation.

We agreed that Tokarczuk is very cultural. She writes about Greek mythology and filosophy, musical history, reminding us of Chopin being Polish, travel psychology but most of all she seems particularly obsessed with anatomy, especially body parts and fetuses in formaldehyde. Her language is sometimes beautiful with lovely metaphores that can last a whole page and sometimes she makes quite ironic descriptions, for instance when at an exhibition looking at the arteries and veins in a human body she says that they look like a map of a metro system.

Some of us found it moving and or funny how Chopin’s sister managed to get her brother’s heart back to Poland smuggling it under the skirt of her maid with the help of the crinoline in fashion at the time. Some found it funny how the sailors on the ship transporting the collection of body parts the Tsar had bought got drunk on the brandy in the glass jars. As a comment to the three letters Josephine wrote to the Emperor asking to have her father’s stuffed body back, so he can be buried with dignity, one member pointed out that what we today find macabre, such as stuffing bodies and exhibiting them, was fashionable in the 17th century.

We had different ways of approaching this book. One of us found the “key” to reading it on p. 24 , where Tokarczuk explains that she learned to write on trains, planes, museums etc. One of us got illuminated by a small chapter called “Cross section as learning method” about ¾ into the book. And another one used the index to be able to skip and go back and forth in order to read the parts belonging together without interruption.

Meeting virtually is not like a “real” meeting but at least we did meet and everybody seemed to enjoy. To read about somebody in constant movement now that we are stuck at home was found ironic. In conclusion most of us were happy to have read this book but few would chance another one by Olga Tokarczuk. (Lena)

from Margaret:

On two occasions in the first few pages, the writer states what I interpreted as the key to understanding and interpreting this book:

On Page 19 she says: "in my writing, life would turn into incomplete stories, dreamlike tales......and so it would be almost impossible to reach any conclusions as to the whole." And in Page 24: "I've learned to write on trains and in hotels and waiting rooms......I write in museum stairwells, in cafes....I jot things down on scraps of paper, in notebooks, on postcards, on my other hand, on napkins, in the margins of books." This was, in fact, the overall impression I got.....a collection of reflections and jottings, stories that she never quite finishes off, rambling digressions, thoughts in which only the question mark is missing...

Obviously she is a very gifted writer, with a vast amount of knowledge on many subjects and a great command of language. However, I found the book quite heavy to read. It seemed to me almost baroque with an overload of imagery and similes and metaphors, even though some are quite lovely, like: "the city is completely white, like bones left in the desert, licked by tongues of heat, polished by the sand. It looks like a calcified coral colony grown up over the hill from the times of the immemorial sea." (Page 370).

Basically, I found much of her subject matter off-putting. I did not enjoy reading about pickled body parts described in elaborate detail, or minute descriptions of anatomical dissections, or perverted professors and scientists with strange obsessions. An exception was the sweet story about the old Professor lecturing on the cruise ship in Greece and his infinitely patient young wife Karen, but then again, the story seemed to be just dropped in with a fragile connection to the Kunicki story with the mystery word "Kairos" (a place, a concept, a Greek god?)

The book left me with a feeling of dissatisfaction, of too many unanswered questions. I would be interested to read something else she has written so that I can make comparisons. I can't believe she could win a Nobel prize with a similar collection of disjointed musings, no matter how clever. (Margaret)

from Eva:

I have to admit that I did not finish the book – I rather should admit I am far !!! from finishing it – although I don’t know why. I like very much the easy way Olga Tokaczuk is writing , just as if a friend would tell me the events she had enjoyed recently. And you can feel that she loves writing. From the beginning I marveled about the title of the the book : In German “ Unrast “ is a very , very old-fashioned word , which is not common anymore - In English “ Flights” has two meanings And taking into consideration the German and the English words I got to the conclusion it could mean being restless , chased, impatient , in haste, lost, wandering about to find something, escaping, …

Olga Tokarczuk was born in 1962 in Poland – in the middle ( high time ? ) of the socialist/communist period . Till 1989 / 90 when the wall in Berlin collapsed and the Sowietunion fell to pieces as well, people in the Eastern countries were not allowed to travel except in the area of the Sowietunion. Because of my own dreams …. ( since I was seven I was dreaming to go to Africa – don’t ask me why – and Thomas, as a litte boy was dreaming of finding the last ‘white spots’ ( unexplored spots ) on our planet. Luckily we lived at the Western side of the so called “ Iron Curtain”… ) …… I am sure that there were many, many young people in Poland who dreamed ( as Thomas and me ) to see the world – being curious (like me), or restless, wandering about to find something …. and – and – and

And when finally !!! Olga Tokarczuk was allowed to travel , move around and fly wherever she wanted she wrote down all these stories which we all experience when we travel with eyes and hearts open. And having had all these heart and soul moving experiences she had to write them down : We have a saying in German : Wem das Herz voll ist, dem fliesst der Mund ueber : simply translated : If the heart is overloaded , the mouth can’t stop telling …

P.S. – but still I don’t understand why she was honoured with the Nobel Prize ….. (Eva)

from Jill:

Only two thirds read, put it aside, thinking I had until May!

Not an easy or very entertaining read, interesting only in parts, Difficult to analyse: no plot as such, no characters. Mix of fiction, non fiction, theory, memoirs - all seemingly unconnected!

Dr Blau. There is a plastic surgeon in new York with that name: coincidence? Ruysch was 17th century anatomist: interesting if somewhat gruesome accounts of stuffed or preserved body parts.

Liked the fact that the sailors drank all the alcohol in the preserving bottles on the ship on the way to the Dukes collection!

Angel Soliman did actually exist, and was stuffed. All true, don’t know about letters from his daughter, but quite touching.

Travel Psychology chapters boring!! Harem chapters incomprehensible! She’s obsessed with movement, despises domesticity or remaining.

Original title in Polish “Bieguni” properly translates as “Wanderers” . The Bieguni were a Slavic sect rejecting settled life. Shrouded woman talks about the joy of moving around, contempt for those living a settled life.     N.B. What about all the many in this world forced to wander, who would give everything for a home of their own eg refugees etc?

Holland: no curtains. I’d love that. Fun to look inside Liked it more as I went along, skipped bits and jumped as our meeting approached. Will definitely try to finish it! Thanks to Lena! (Jill)

from Grazia:

Most of us found this book "strange" and not always enjoyable to read. Personally I do not dismiss it altogether as I feel great admiration for anyone who is capable and brave enough to accomplish a hard task such as writing (homage to Margaret and Tatiana!) Written in a fragmentary format composed of 116 short or long vignettes, it is difficult to identify a leading connecting thread and its ultimate meaning or "message". The three principal themes, human body, mobility and time, are explored with a scientific/reflective eye through odd, often disturbing stories.

A number of stories deal with a prevailing interest in the past in the identification and preservation of freak, abnormal body parts. One must remember that in the 17th Century there was a growing interest for anything abnormal and odd, which got collected to form a "Wunderkammer" treasure trove. Also, the passages dealing with anatomy and body dissection reminded me of Rembrandt's "Lesson of Anatomy" I found in these stories an element of irony, failure and frustration. For example in Doctor Verheyen story, he wants to preserve his limb with upmost scientific care since he wants it to be reunited to his body when he dies, but this does not happen. Doctor Blau,nicknamed by his students "formaldehyde" for his skill in preserving body parts is extremely familiar with dead bodies but withdraws when Mrs Mole, the wife of the scientist who devised more advanced techniques, attempts a physical approach. The story of Dott Ruysch's collection of jars with body parts too has an ironic tinge in that not only the jars are damaged during their shipment to the Tzar who has bought the collection to expand his cabinet of curiosities, but the tinge becomes macabre when the crew resorts to drinking the preserving cognac because the sailing ship came to a standstill when the winds had dropped. There is sadness and frustration in the sad story of Chopin's devoted sister who has her brother's heart extracted and under perilous circumstances takes it to Poland to be buried but does not succeed.

I found a compelling story that of the runaway woman who experiences the life of a tramp and pals up with a "wanderer", a woman who embodies the book's underlying assumption (hence the title "Flights") that only people who are forever on the move are not affected by evil. Eventually the runaway goes back home. Olga explores the life of a "real" traveler, as opposed to mass travelers who go places " only to return home".

On the subject of time "The Flight from Irkutszk to Moscow" points out the amazing fact that it is possible to arrive at the same time as departure.

"Mobility is Reality" is epigrammatic and refers to the use of mobile phones. I haven't finished reading the book as I prefer stories with a development and at one point I thought I had got the gist of the book and that was enough for me. Of course is a novel with loose ends, perhaps we the readers are to find what her kind of philosophical reflections are all about. I think the ultimate meaning and purpose of the book is the exploration of aberrations in human nature throughout history and in the modern world.

All in all I think it was worth getting acquainted with Olda Tokacrczuk. an original, inventive writer. (Grazia)

BABYLON - Yasmina Reza

from Margaret 24/02/2020