Friends, book discussions, food matching and food sharing. A private book group. Warning: may contain spoilers.
April 22, 2021
Present: Sabine, Vanessa, Nic, Gill F, may be Jen?
Ok, so I am recapping (relatively) recent books in reverse order and now I realise THIS is the book everyone was hating, not the next one. I haven’t read this one because early reviews from the group were “unpromising”.
Date: ? It’s a lockdown, people. Every day is the same.
Present: ?
People mostly felt frustrated by the repetition but I think that was probably, mostly, the point. Disappointed to miss the BBC adaptation with Glenda Jackson, I would like to see how they did it. For what it is worth, I rather enjoyed it but I was definitely in the minority.
Some time in January, probably.
Present: who knows?
People generally enjoyed the book. Some more than others and some not as much as other Ann Patchetts. There was a futility to the lives, to the obsession, to the hold that the property had, the shadow that it cast, despite being made of glass, that made the book difficult.
Sometime in December 2020 / January 2021
Present: me, Nathalie, beyond that, I cannot remember
Nathalie found the female voice unconvincing. I wanted a pet donkey. That’s pretty much all I can remember.
Date: ? Did we even talk about it? Ah, yes but when, exactly, I couldn’t say.
Present: ?
The trouble with Kindle is one only sees the title and the author once! Hence, albeit, that I initially couldn’t remember (writing in September 2021) this book, I then saw a What’s App saying I was ready to talk about it and it came flooding back. We all found this a powerful and uncomfortable and challenging read - not challenging to read, that is, but thought-provoking.
Wednesday October 26th, 2020
Present: Mark, Nic, Sabine, Gill C, Suza, Nathalie
A generally well received book, save by Jen who never got past the present tense narration. I struggled with that at the start too but found the story so interesting I had completely overlooked it by the end.
The passage about the journey of the flea was called out for special mention by several attendees.
Wednesday September 9th, 2020
Present: Jen, Nic, Nathalie, Gill C
Sabine was in Munich after her mega drive and Gill F was in the pub.
The rest of us were as one on how interesting, atmospheric and compelling the book was, and how frightful were the times depicted for young women.
Another success for Jen, I think we will have to stop lambasting her choices now! She finally lives down Daniel Deronda!
Wednesday August 19th, 2020
Present: Gill C, Gill F, Nic, Suza
Suza’s WiFi struggled like a book group reading The Restraint of Beasts. Why didn’t they just come clean about the first accident? We were fairly baffled by the whole thing but especially the ending. Were they building their own prison? Were they going to be sausages?
We didn’t know and I am not sure we cared.
Edit: Except Nathalie, who said, “I loved this one!”, “I thought it was so funny and could really conjure up the characters vividly” and “Ending was a bit weird though.” We can all agree with the last bit!
Wednesday July 15th, 2020
Present: Gill F, Gill C, Jen, Sabine, Nic
A quick, easy, fun read and a frustrating tale of moral ambiguity.
Wednesday 10 June 2020
Present: Doris, Sabine, Gill F, Gill C, Nathalie, Jen, Suza, Nic
A favourite of Doris, who allegedly read it first on my recommendation. I think that must have been a false memory: nothing about the book rang a bell with me.
I did enjoy it. Most of us did, except for the ending, which was declared “not credible” by Gill F and “too movie like” by Gill C. The relationship was clearly destined to failure and, although perhaps that was the point, it left us dissatisfied.