So, in terms of official members, we had a 50% uplift in attendance this month, which sounds awesome ... and was. Undeterred by the fact that there were only 3 of us (official-types and drinkers, that is), with a special offer of unlimited Prosecco for £12 when brunching, we drank enough of the bubbly stuff to make up for the rest of you and then some! Whilst Indigo stretch the definition of brunch somewhat by (i) serving from 12.30 onwards, meaning at least two of us had breakfasted before coming out, and (ii) serving such "unbruchie" items as seared Tuna with avocado, rocket and pickled ginger (delicious!), this was a fab venue. Attentive staff refilled our Prosecco glasses constantly from 12.30 until about 15.45, when we decided to move down to the bar and have cocktails, leaving Prosecco in our glasses, which is something I never thought I'd do. We draw a close over proceedings there, to save Mr Barnes' blushes but not in time to save his boots. Oh no, I've said too much.
We all agreed it was a good story. We all agreed that Mr Wemmick was a firm favourite along with Biddy and that Pip wasn't really very nice, though he eventually redeemed himself. We all agreed that Dickens makes for a great TV adaptation (!) though we also felt that some of the changes the Beeb made for this last adaptation went far beyond abridging and actually changed the impact of the tale: the absence of Biddy was a great loss and manipulating the story so that, for example, Pip declines to stay the night after his sister's funeral (boo hiss, bad, bad Pip) whereas in the book he stays seemed to interfere unnecessarily with the reader/watcher's interpretation of the characters. We also thought Gillian Anderson needed to be more wrinkly to carry off being so white haired and that we liked her nervous hand-scratching and pinching but hated her strange delivery.
Ah yes, this is BOOK group isn't it? So, on the book: for my part, Dickens is too verbose to be readable (I KNOW others will disagree - so let's see some discussion) and his characters are too exaggerated and caricatured to encourage empathy and real connection. I was unmoved through all the adventures and traumas and didn't care whether Pip was eventually happy or not. Also, Dickens and I do not share a sense of humour and I find his jokes, such as they are, repetitive (Mrs Joe Gargery's refrain about not being out of her apron, about Pip being brought-up by hand, Mr Pumblechook's constant "May I" refrain) - yawn. Ya-a-a-a-a-wn. Where was I? Oh yes. I finished it. I am unlikely to be starting another but, thanks to Gill, I have now read a complete Dickens, enhancing my classical education and that, again, is a mark of what book group is meant to achieve.
That and dinner with friends. Not necessarily in that order.