And a new experience for the Book Club as we met for Peter’s inaugural hosting..

Nick and Rob had provided apologies and pre meeting review comments so there were eight of us present for our book review and assorted musings. And it was a combination of moaning and musing initially as: 

• We collectively bemoaned the frailties which assaulted our ageing bodies.

• Mused on the reasons for the strange house numbering system around Peter’s house.

• Discussed and failed to establish why Crouch End was Crouch End (face it lads, it just is – don’t overthink it – hint, it’s not because we have too many bakery shops)

• Considered the good and bad of food theming Book Club evenings (nowt wrong with great quality cheese and biscuits).

Moving on to our consideration of City of Thieves by David Benioff - 

David Benioff was born 25 September 1970 in New York City. His birth name was David Friedman. His father became the chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, so he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His mother was Peggy Benioff.  He went to NY collegiate school (founded 1628, oldest school in United States, 660 boys, second highest percentage going to the Ivy League Universities). 

After Tufts University (not Ivy League), he worked briefly as a bouncer at a San Francisco club, in telephone sales, as a bar tender, and as a high-school English teacher. Part-time jobs so he could write. Later he did a Master of Fine Arts at University of California Irvine. As part of the programme, he wrote the manuscript of The 25th Hour as a novel. Before the book was even published, he adapted his own manuscript into a screenplay which attracted attention in Hollywood and was eventually produced as the film 25th Hour (2002), directed by Spike Lee.

It’s unusual for a first-time novelist to also write the screenplay of the book. This helped launch his career in Hollywood.

His next (and only other to date) novel was City of Thieves (2008) set during the siege of Leningrad which remains his best-known literary work but has never been made into a film or TV series.

At the same time, he was writing or co-writing several major film screenplays such as Troy, (2004) writers Homer and Benioff, staring Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom and Brian Cox. Also The Kite Runner and  X-Men Origins: Wolverine. 

His big break came when he was asked to partner D. B. Weiss to adapt George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. The result was Game of Thrones for which they were the joint showrunners (equivalent to the directors in a film), principal writers and creators. The overall franchise likely generated several billion dollars in profit. 

After Game of Thrones, Benioff and Weiss signed a five-year major production deal with Netflix worth around $200m. Currently they are working on series two and three of the sci fi show, 3 Body Problem.

He has a wife and three children. 

A novel approach to start our dissection of the book. We were all asked to summarise our thoughts on the book in two or three sentences. Favourite words were ‘enjoyable’ and ‘readable’ We had a couple of views that the overall frivolity of the humour throughout the book was inappropriate given the horrific death toll at the siege of Leningrad but, generally, this was a positive review.

Positive over the clever interaction between the two principal protagonists; the ending was clever and engaging and good that it wasn’t a saccharine conclusion. Debate over whether the ‘voice’ of the narrative worked. Also, the clear view that this had been written with a view to a screenplay and a translation to cinema or TV.

We ended with the (un)usual miscellany of subjects being discussed:

• Birthplaces (ours)

• Massive Violins – schedule (Moravian Church, 15 May) and their contribution to the laws of gravity if expanded exponentially

• Paternal involvement in THE war (not one of Trump’s)

• Fruity holiday jobs 

• Why David Benioff hasn’t written another book (no brainer - why would you if Netflix is paying you $100m?)

The choices for our April meeting were:

Shrine – James Herbert – religious ecstasy, mass hysteria, demonic possession, faith healing and Catholicism all condensed into 500 pages

Inherent Vice – Thomas Pynchon – an ‘accessible’ stoner mystery set in 1970’s California 

Strange Pictures – Uketsu – Japanese mystery fiction written by an author whose identity is unknown who appears in public wearing a white papier mache mask, black body suit and using a voice changer.

And, with apologies to Rob, the winner by the same score as the latest Tottenham match was Inherent Vice. 

With thanks to Peter for the venue and the lovely spread.

Next meeting on 13 April at 59 PAS. Looking forward to a dissection of Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr and Inherent Vice, an example of his dense, complex, postmodern fiction.

Jacob’s Room Virginia Woolf

First item was congratulations to Derek on the news that he was to be a grandfather followed by a discussion on how things have changed in relation to being told about the sex of the baby to be.

Rob introduced this month’s book, Jacob’s Room and gave a run through of the life of Virginia Woolf. I’ve taken the liberty of adding some additional points of interest in my write up!  Virginia was born in 1882 in London into a highly intellectual family. Her father was Sir Leslie Stephen who was the first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography. Her mother, Julia was a celebrated Victorian beauty and artists’ model. She modelled for the photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, who was her aunt. Virginia’s mother was also a nurse and philanthropist, and she  died in 1895 when Virginia was only 13 prompting her first nervous breakdown. Two years later her half-sister died aged 28.

Her father was scholarly but rather gloomy, the household was agnostic/atheist with a rationalist streak, favouring an aesthetic spirituality. Christianity was viewed as a method of social control. Her father died in 1904, and the family moved from Kensington to Bloomsbury and with her sister Vanessa Bell (the artist) they began hosting gatherings of intellectuals who would coalesce to form the Bloomsbury group. This included notable figures such as E.M. Forster and John Maynard Keynes. She met and married Leonard Wolf in 1912 and they co-founded the Hogarth Press in 1917.

Jacob's room was published by the Hogarth Press in 1922 followed by her major works Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the lighthouse (1927), Orlando (1928) and The Waves (1931).

With her creative brilliance, she played a pioneering role as an English modernist writer. However, she had recurrent mental health struggles and in 1941 aged 59 she walked into the River Ouse (having filled her coat pockets with stones) and drowned herself.

Several factors seemed to have contributed to her suicide. Firstly, her lifelong mood disorders, which some suggest may have resulted from a bipolar disorder. Secondly the impact of the Second World War with the blitz destroying her London homes and the additional fear of a Nazi invasion. This was so severe that she and Leonard considered suicide rather than be captured should the nazis invade.   (They were listed in the Nazi black book which contained the names of British individuals who would be immediately arrested if the Nazis occupied Britain). There was also a pattern of post novel depression which was particularly the case after her book on Roger Fry was not as well received as she had hoped.

Woolf also described how she had been sexually abused by her two half brothers from early childhood into her teens and this would also have had a significant impact on her mental health.

She left suicide notes for her husband and her sister fearing she would not recover from another breakdown and not wanting to be a burden on them.

Jacob’s room was written in 1922, and Rob referenced a Guardian review from that year. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/jul/20/fromthearchives.virginiawoolf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

It was seen as experimental, fragmented and unconventional with the reader needing to engage with the novel to sort out what was happening and the meanings within the text.

Rob admitted that it was not an easy read but that it had a poetic beauty playing with time and space and not worrying a great deal about a plot. It felt like it was declaring war against the more traditionally structured novels of the past.  It provided a bridge to her later novels, like Mrs Dalloway which were more accessible (Steve thought her later novels less ambitious than Jacob’s Room). Rob said that there were over two hundred characters in the book who would appear and disappear, with abrupt shifts of locality and time.

Some of the themes and thoughts which emerged from the discussion. A challenging book, very dense and vivid where you could only read a limited number of pages at a time. Although some brave members did manage to plough through more rapidly. A painterly quality to the book, where one was trying to create a picture of an obtuse unknowable Jacob with limited information about him gained from other characters perspectives. The need to relax and go with the flow to be able to enjoy it. A sardonic quality and how that played out in the abrupt ending of the World War and its impact on the privileged people Virginia had portrayed. The flightiness of ideas and the stream of words, like only just holding on, giving an indication of her bipolarity. A need to surrender to the novel, to be able to enjoy it, rereading some parts and commenting on how some passages were very fragmented, single lines even. Noting how it was like the novel was about someone who was hardly there, (a ghost almost) only becoming more known in the last chapters. The thought that you can never really know a person, people are ultimately unknowable. An undercurrent of men’s love for each other within the novel alongside the more traditional affairs with women that men had the freedom to engage in without repercussions, either social or emotional. Thoughts about the class of people of privilege and how they engage in trivial activities within social constraints and how that was very different to the Bloomsbury Group who were breaking out from societal constraints. (Virginia had a romantic, possibly sexual, relationship with Vita Sackville-West). The cotton wool of life and how most of life exists within this submerged existence with occasional incidents of intense “moments of being”. How Jacob became more captured, more real later in the novel when travelling abroad. Then the intensity at the end when Jacob has died and there exists the empty room and the heightened intensity is from what is no longer around, contrasted with the object that remains – Jacob’s old shoes.

Moving on to the three books under consideration for the next meeting we had:

City of Thieves by David Benioff- During the brutal Siege of Leningrad in World War II, a timid teenage boy and a charismatic deserter are sent on a bizarre, dangerous mission: find a dozen eggs for a Soviet colonel’s daughter’s wedding cake — or face execution.

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham -A young Englishwoman trapped in a loveless marriage commits adultery, after which her husband takes her to a remote cholera-stricken region of China — a journey that becomes a painful moral reckoning and a story of emotional awakening.

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati-A retelling of Greek myth from the perspective of Clytemnestra, tracing her life from abused princess to formidable queen, driven by grief, rage, and the brutal logic of revenge after the sacrifice of her daughter.

City of Thieves delivered a majority in favour of this book on the first vote so there was no need to take votes for the other two titles.

Number sixty-nine Park Avenue South has long been a place where men meet, with other men, to read books. On this cold winter evening we were greeted by a cryptic handwritten message warning us not to knock and instructing us to just enter. We had gathered to discuss The Wizard of the Kremlin by Giuliano da Empoli.

Giuliano da Empoli (born 1973) is an Italian-Swiss writer and political scientist whose career has uniquely prepared him to write about the mechanics of power. Da Empoli is not just a novelist; he is a practitioner. He served as a senior advisor to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. He was also the Deputy Mayor for Culture in Florence. It was felt by some that this background gave his writing a "pro's" perspective—he understands how decisions are made in closed rooms and the psychological toll of being close to the centre of authority. We discovered that da Empoli is the founding chairman of Volta, a think tank based in Milan. He is currently a professor at ‘Sciences Po’ in Paris, focusing on the impact of technology on politics. Perhaps unsurprisingly there is not a great deal of information available online regarding his personal life. My assumption is that he does not like to fly in a private plane, never sky dives, avoids sushi, does not have a favourite silk scarf and cancels any meetings in tall buildings.

The Wizard of the Kremlin was his first novel. It was an overnight sensation in France, winning the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française and narrowly missing out on the Prix Goncourt. How he must have been bitter about not getting his hands on the €10 prize money! Amongst other things the book has been credited with helping Western audiences understand the "logic" behind the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The Wizard of the Kremlin (originally Le Mage du Kremlin) is a 2022 bestselling novel that occupies a unique space between political thriller, historical fiction, and philosophical treatise. It has been widely praised for its prophetic insight into the inner workings of Vladimir Putin’s regime.

At the time of it’s release the book received international acclaim for its timing and psychological depth. Le Monde: "A dazzling novel... Giuliano da Empoli manages to make us hear the heart of the Russian system beating. It is a work of high political intelligence."The Financial Times: "A chillingly plausible account of the rise of Putinism. Da Empoli uses fiction to get at a truth that journalism often misses—the sheer weirdness and cynicism of the Kremlin’s 'political technologists.'” The New York Times: "The book has become a kind of handbook for understanding Putin... It captures the way the regime turns politics into a hall of mirrors." The Guardian: "More than just a political thriller, it is a meditation on the loneliness of the absolute ruler and the tragedy of a nation that keeps choosing the Tsar over the citizen."

In the room the feeling was that this was an enjoyable book which successfully managed to bridge the gap between political thriller, historical fiction, and philosophical treatise. Geoff enjoyed the book more the second time round and felt that there are similarities with the writing of Joseph Conrad. Steve explained that he had really enjoyed it and was sad when it ended. Others felt that it was amazingly skilful and described it as a work that displayed some fantastic writing. There were a few dissenting voices in the room, some felt that it would have been a better book had it been purely non-fiction. I described the constant feeling of distraction whilst reading and being unable to resist the urge to Google which character was which in real life. We were told that Comrade Nick had found it to be the most depressing book that he had ever read. It was also revealed that the Women’s Book Group got to about 35% and gave up with this offering! 

We were treated to some wonderful Russian delicacies in the form of blinis although it was interesting to note that no-one accepted the Vodka. There was of course a wonderful selection of cheeses on offer.

The post presentation prattle included but was not limited to, visits to Russia, Sarah moving out, the skip that never moves, parking, the feasibility of a PAS book group political sub-group, the low percentage of literate Americans, macro phone lenses, Pétanque, High Noon, noisy pubs, darts, and the theatre.

The three books presented for our next meeting were:

The Man in The High Castle by Philip K Dick (248 pages)

Jacobs Room by Virginia Woolf (173 pages)

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut (177 pages)

The winner was Jacobs Room by Virginia Woolf.

Easter Parade and the dissolute life of its author Richard Yates stimulated a lively evening of conversation over fine cheeses, wine and Guinness at Derek's last Monday. Rob, John, Jonathan and myself, joined Derek; Nick, Steve Alan, Peter and Dave were all otherwise engaged but happily sent their appreciation and critiques. Nevertheless  we  missed them, especially at the point of voting for our next read.

The evening started sadly with a repeat of our last meeting,  consternation expressed and commiseration betokened for Derek, his rigid boot correcting his broken and twice re-set ankle. The incident perhaps a miniature for the book, the leaves of autumn both poetic and treacherous. 

Derek gave us an insightful  account of  the troubled life of Richard Yates and the parallels between this and his writing. Yates's first novel Revolutionary Road, published in 1962, received critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the National Book Award. Writers such as Tennessee Williams, Kurt Vonnegut and later Richard Ford admired his writing, for the subject matter and the prose style. Yates took the domestic and commonplace experience and crystallised human frailty and disillusion; as dreams disintegrate and the disappointment and even despair take over. He did so apparently effortlessly with simple economy of style that characterised realistic, identifiable storylines and vivid characters with an immediacy that captured the reader. This appreciation very much an echo of our own responses to the later book Easter Parade, published in 1976.

I once read a critique of Orson Welles," He started fat and spread himself thin" and the same could be said of Yates's subsequent writing career, when he died in 1992 all of his books (9) were out of print. The early 2000's saw a re-discovery of his work and reputation perhaps culminating in the 2008 award winning film of Revolutionary Road with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. 

Back to his life story. Yates was born in 1926 and had an older sister. His parents divorced 3 years later. Richard and his sister stayed with their Mum. They were in Yonkers in New York ( north of Manhattan, north of the Bronx, on the Hudson River)  His early childhood, the  years of the Great Depression, 30% unemployment,  wages slashed, 'Brother can you spare a dime' His Mum ' bounced around' from apartment to apartment. A time of fear, grief,  anger ! 

We next hear of him graduated from school in 1944, joining the army, serving in France and Germany, contracting TB and being discharged with a disability pension. He returned to New York worked as a journalist, got married to his first wife and had two daughters and then moved to Europe and started writing. Back to the USA, he divorced in 1959 and his wife took custody of their children. Critical success followed with Revolutionary Road in 1962, but neither this nor his subsequent books achieved a popular following. He turned to teaching writing at universities, over the years taking posts at Columbia, Boston,Iowa, Wichita, California and Alabama.

In 1968 he married again and had another daughter. Although he developed strong bonds with his students he became dependent on alcohol and suffered extended depression throughout his life. He died in 1992. 

The prevalence of broken relationships, heavy drinking and thwarted aspiration and disillusionment are parallel threads in his life and his books. We all 'enjoyed' reading Easter Parade and admired the prose, the character building and the sense of place and time. At the same time we found it painful and sad.

Nick captured this for us, 'like watching a car crash in slow motion' .Steve highlighted how the optimism and 'innocence' of the Easter Parade moment descended into 'the tawdry reality of an uncaring World' .

We discussed the contrast across the lives of Sara and Emily, for Sara the restricted choices before the social changes from the mid 60's onwards, the stoicism to hold the marriage and family together the casual chauvinism and brutality behind doors. For Emily the search for the 'one' but the disillusion and disappointments but also the independence, sexual liberation the strong sense of building her career. The two lives reflecting the potential for change, yet both ultimately crashing. 

I suggested it could be seen as a morality tale, no matter how much you suffer the family is your last refuge and a single life offers no safety net. We surmised that the saintly Peter would rescue his down and out Aunt Emily although this is left hanging in the text. Emily's violent outburst at Peter shocked and disturbed us all. 

Rob suggested this could also be seen as a critique of clergy and the religious institutions for hypocrisy and ineffectiveness in addressing domestic strife and violence.  A thought provoking read, albeit a slow motion car crash. 

I presented 4 books for next time and there were 4 votes to play with. The winner received two votes, the loser none at all. 

As you now know The Wizard of the Kremlin by Giuliano Da Empoli won. It is positioned as fiction but is a largely factual account of the transition of Russia from the wild, corrupt free- for-all of the 90's to the strong man dictatorship of today. 

The runners up;

The Silence of the Choir by Mohammed MBougar Sarr a fictional imagining of asylum seekers seeking refuge in a small Sicilian town. 

The Hustler by Walter Tevis, famous for the film with Paul Newman, the flash upstart fast Eddie comes up against the seasoned pro Minnesota Fats. A classic sporting encounter with echoes of all sports, although specifically about Pool

Finally with nil points, Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner, a female undercover agents infiltrates an environment activist group in southern France. I both love Rachel Kushner, read all her books, well partly read, this is the only one I've finished. She is both magnificent and impossible! 

Have a Great X'Mas

See you all on 12th  Jan. venue to be confirmed 

9/10 of us (apologies from Peter) met at Jonathan’s to discuss this book described by the Guardian as “A wedding of Cormac McCarthy with Flann O’Brien…a tragedy written as a farce…lyrical, profane and propulsive”. The author has been described elsewhere as: "If Roddy Doyle and Nick Cave could procreate, the result would be something like Kevin Barry." Barry has described himself as "a raving egomaniac ", one of those "monstrous creatures who are composed 99 percent of sheer, unadulterated ego" and "hugely insecure and desperate to be loved and I want my reader to adore me, to a disturbing, stalkerish degree." He is highly ambitious, saying: "I won't be happy until I'm up there, receiving the Nobel Prize". He confessed to "haunting bookshops and hiding" to "spy on the short fiction section and see if anyone's tempted by my sweet bait" and has also placed copies of his own work in front of books by other "upcoming" authors.

Our evening began with usual small talk until John informed us that Viv had recently completed a half marathon in just over 2 hours. We offered our congratulations to be passed on.

Jonathan asked for the blanket covering the TV to be removed and we were treated to a short reading from the book by our author. He appeared indeed as a right character and this was confirmed by Jonathan as he gave an account of his life so far. According to Wikipedia he was born in Limerick, spent much of his youth travelling, living in 17 addresses by the time he was 36. He lived variously in Cork, Santa Barbara, Barcelona and Liverpool  before settling in Sligo , purchasing and renovating a run-down Royal Irish Constabulary barracks. His decision to settle down was driven primarily by the increasing difficulty in moving large quantities of books from house to house.

Jonathan stated that there were gaps in his biography, but that it seems his Mum died when he was 10yrs old, he had 3 sisters and 1 brother and he was the youngest, a joker. He was brought up by a carpenter father in a Nationalist household. Jonathan speculated that perhaps he had borrowed his name from the Irish Nationalist Kevin Barry. Following University, he tried to be a journalist, developed a liking for drugs and perhaps made a lot of money selling mix tapes at Campden Market. Then, aged 23yrs away to Cork together with his drug dependency, to become a freelance writer. He purchased a caravan and parked it in a field in West Cork, spending the next six months writing what he described as a "terrible novel". In Cork, the old copper mines were deserted and as a lover of the wild west he headed to Butte in Montana to explore the Irish diaspora and mining influence there (thereby acquiring the groundwork for our novel).

At age 38yrs, he won the International Dublin Literary Award for City of Bohane, receiving 100, 000 Euros, that set him up to be a successful writer. Other awards have followed and his books are now well known. Indeed, our Derek has read Last Boat to Tangier, short listed for the 2019 Booker. Barry now also edits a literary journal with his girl friend.

What did we think of the book? Jonathan has read it twice and found his enthusiasm for it diminished on second reading. It has a scattergun introduction but improved as the relationship developed between Tom and Molly. He liked the Cornish chappies, oddly, and the lack of horse skills, needed for the getaway (Barry confessed to being ignorant of horses himself, but so was Tom). Jonathan was nevertheless impressed overall, but hoped for more restraint in future tales. Steve thought it had a steam roller intro, with everything chucked in. He was impressed by the poetic language, but thought the ending without a description of the fight scene meant it did not work well as a novel. Nick said it took him right back to cowboy and Hoppalong Cassidy books, bleak Westerns and threw in an oblique reference to Elmore Leonard and his 10 rules of how to be a writer. Geoff liked the opening 20 pages, but felt it lost its verve towards the end. John was critical of the end also, failing to understand why the Cornish did not kill our hero when they had the chance. Rob thought the book seemed like a series of short stories. Clearly, there were some critical points made, but everyone stated that they had enjoyed reading the book, with some enthusiastic enough to want to read more by Barry.

Jonathan then supplied us with excellent cheeses and nips of evocative Irish whisky. General chat during our imbibing included mobile speed cameras in the 20mph zone on Ferme Park road, John’s 2 speeding violations, Jonathan’s collection of old clocks, average number of trips to the toilet after 70 yrs old (3), and current plays.

It was my turn to present 3 book choices. They were:

    The Untouchable by John Banville

    James by Percival Everitt

    The Search Warrant by Patrick Modiano

Voting went to a second round, when the Banville was eliminated. A difficult decision was avoided when Alan switched his vote from 3 to 2. So, the book for next time will be James by Percival Everitt. I look forward to seeing you at 58 PAS on 10th November.

Our thanks to Jonathan for such an engaging evening.

Dave

Dear Readers, A wet night at No72. Sadly no Derek and no Geoff down with an ague, we missed you. The evening started with Dixie Music and a quiz from John. Why 40's Dixie?. Was it from Cornwall? Could be called Roaring Forties..we all failed. Book references all.

Alison Espach, born Sept 26th 1984 in Trumbull Connecticut . Graduated 2007 at Providence College Rhode Island. Then took a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Washington Missouri. Her thesis became the first of her 3 novels 'The Adults' concerning a teenage girl growing up in a small wealthy town in Connecticut.  Then she taught writing in New York and in 2013 joined her alma mater as Associate Professor of English. Her second novel 'Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance' followed in 2022 it concerned a family following the death of its eldest child.

John then read out an interesting interview by Elena Bowes with the author in Nov 2024.which described the tortured genesis of this, her third novel 'The Wedding People'. 

I have heavily edited this...

"Phoebe came to me 6,7,8 yrs ago, whilst working on my second novel which was all about death. I needed a break, why am I doing this to myself. I'll write a fun book. Woman, a luxurious hotel, a wedding. But the bride Lila thinks she hired the whole hotel, she sees Phoebe with no luggage. I thought why would Phoebe be there? Perhaps she's having an affair or she's here to murder someone...But I was trying to write a fun book. So I put the idea away for a few years. When I returned to it, it seemed lighter and Phoebe was speaking and thinking like me. Grief frees us to tell the truth"

It turns out that Alison's writing and her life has been dominated by her brother's death when she was in her teens.

John loved this book full of fun as in the pool scene. He wanted to be right there with them all.  Rob has just read Mrs Galloway and and here was Mrs Galloway appearing in this text. He told us later this book was the favourite on his daughter's summer reading list. Steve was also a great fan; funny, sharply written, with an edge. Great characters especially Juice character although Gary was insipid.

Others thought the suicide motif lacked the seriousness it deserved, even distasteful. A book for a young female demographic, chic lit even. There was general agreement that as with many modern novels we have read, it must have been written with the film rights in mind. Turns out, Nick tells us that the rights were sold before the book was. We discussed favourite scenes, the Cubist painting of the mother, the sex texts in the car, the exhaust porn and the watery funeral. The rather too neat plot developments were sneered at; Phoebe's morphing into the mother Juice always wanted, Gareth's job interview and Phoebe's perfect fit, 

So how was it all going to end? Perhaps Gary & Phoebe walking off into the sunset? More likely a sequel, it could all run and run. After all Oprah and Richard and Judy loved it, and for the most part so did we.

Then onwards to career comparisons for professors on both sides of the water, Crouch End Festival and Finnegan's Wake, U3A and Ulysses, Boules and Mickey's Bowls, Wordle and Worldal, Neighbour's lengthy holidays, dangerous airports and worm casts. Enough!

The three book choices were 

1. Strangers at the Port  by Lauren Aimee Curtis

2. North Woods by Daniel Mason

3. The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry which won 8 to 1

Next meeting Oct 13th 8pm @ 15 PAS

A Petanque game was muted, watch this space.

We met at Steve's and welcomed Peter to our ranks for his first meeting. Everyone was on their best behavior and I hope we'll see Peter at my place on the 1st September to discuss.....well, that comes later.

Rob was absent but sent his apologies

Steve gave an exhaustive introduction to Kent Haruf (pronounced Hariff) which was very largely warranted. Sadly, my copious notes (in proper ink) suffered from a disastrous event, being inundated by a tea spillage. But I will do my best. Kent Haruf  (February 24, 1943 – November 30, 2014) was an American writer born and raised in Colorado. Haruf wrote six novels and a number of short stories. All of his works were set on the High Plains, mostly in the fictional town of Holt. Commercial success eluded him until 1999, when his third novel "Plainsong" was published. He established a reputation for honest, compelling and compassionate writing with an authentic, spare style. That said, Ursula K Le Guin felt that he was stunningly original whereas Joyce Carol Oates felt that the work showed unabashed sentimentality. 

Remarkably the book we read, "Our Souls at Night", was written in 45 days whilst Kent was dying. He'd been diagnosed with Interstitial Lung Disease, something that several members of the group are familiar with, in early 2014. That he could write such a piece, knowing what was to come, shows him to be a character of great fortitude.

Steve was reminded of John Updike's writing while Jonathan commented on the honesty and the humanity of the relationship between the two main characters, Addie and Louis. Derek, Alan and Dave's opinions are smudges of ink in my notes...Sorry! But their views were distinctly favourable. Peter talked about how well the image of soulmates, enjoying the honesty and safety of a new friendship, was written. Geoff felt that the setting was from another age, a time when America was untroubled perhaps and such a relation ship was perhaps more likely (though their lack of concern about what neighbours might think is a much more modern mindset). Rob really enjoyed it....Poignant, heartbreakingly sad. I've noted that he was disappointed with Addie, but I can't recall why. Do I have that right Rob? I felt that as a group of men, many over 70, we were essentially non judgemental, pleased that two people were bringing joy and  contentment into each others life.

Of course we didn't like the son, we're not angels, but we did enjoy the episodes involving Addie's grandson, the way that Addie and Louis were able to help him and regretted their parting at the end. But at least they still talked....

All in all, we enjoyed the book and thanked Steve for introducing it.

We discussed the film but felt that the book was better. Robert Redford and Jane Fonda couldn't shed their Hollywood gods personas enough to able to convincingly play the protagonists.

Report from Simon? The Seaside is great, he's enjoying it and wants to hear reports of the books we read and the chats we have.

Peter asked if we rated books. We don't but Dave said that if we did, this month 5 stars would not be enough. More talk of that  Will Sharp who by all accounts is a lovely fellah as well as being Alan's neighbour. Not much on parking Simon, but mention of the theatre. Midsummer Night at The Bridge being very impressive and  (ink smudges) the Park Theatre at Finsbury Park.

After Steve's 40 minute introduction I was hoping to read my two sides of A4 (quite big font) on the three books I brought without interruption but I think that the drink emboldened people to be raucous. Suffice it to say I gave out enough information for people to decide between

Dr No                          Percival Everett
Invisible Cities            Italo Calvino
The Wedding People  Alison Espach

The winner was The Wedding People

Next meeting 1st September, at 72 PAS then thereafter revert to the 2nd Monday in the month.

I can't end without complimenting Steve on his magnificent Cheese board. Truly memorable!

John

We duly met on the 9th June at Alans to discuss Whit by Iain Banks.

Alan fresh from his holiday in Greece regaled us with his suntan and presided over a full house save for Rob ( good luck with your studies) albeit that Geoff arrived marginally late from Stanstead also regaling us with his suntan ( I am now convinced that Geoff organises his holidays to synchronise a frenetic dash to book group).

As far as Iain Bank’s background is concerned there was much of interest. To summarise, he is Scottish (obviously) born to a family whose father worked for the Admiralty. Born in 1954, he died in 2013 from inoperable cancer. He was on his second marriage and left no children.

He began writing at an early age but it was not until the success of the Wasp Factory published when he was 30, that his writing met with any great success and it was only then that he was able to embark on a full time writing career. The Wasp Factory was probably his most famous book and whilst that, in terms of content, was mainstream horror (?) he saw himself predominantly as a science fiction writer. He continued to successfully write a combination of sci-fi and mainstream novels and by his death had published 26 novels.

He had a political profile on the left and was a prominent supporter of the Palestinian cause and involved in the campaign to impeach Tony Blair for his Iraq war policy. In terms of his interests, he was something of a petrol head with a taste for malt whisky ( presumably the two interests were kept well apart). Indeed his knowledge of malt whisky propelled him to victory in Celebrity Mastermind. Prominent in the media he appeared in Celebrity University Challenge and on Desert Island Discs with a choice of music that met with Dereks approval. He was generally regarded as a Titan of Scottish literary and ranked in the Times list of the 50 best British writers since 1945.

Turning to Whit, this was a novel that revolved around a voyage of discovery for a young woman, Isis, in what eventually turned out to be a quest to discover the true nature of the origins of a cult into which she had been born and in particular, the true identity of the charismatic cult leader, her grandfather Salvador. To achieve this, she has to venture outside the confines of the restrictive practices of the sect and its somewhat arcane religious practices. It is a humorous book in which much of the humour revolves around the perception of Isis of the outside world as seen through her prism of innocence and naivety. Isis is the strong voice of the narrator and the writer certainly captures her combination of gaucheness combined with intelligence and indeed occasional wisdom.

Practically all of us enjoyed the book. There was no doubting the quality of the writing and the ability of the writer to create humorous characters and sharply observed situations. The only dissenting voices came from myself and Dave. Whilst both of us happily read the book, I readily admitted to a rather jaundiced view of novels with a strong slapstick element whilst Dave felt the ending was somewhat bland given the nature of the storyline which was after all about a cult.

Following from that, there was some discussion about the presentation of the cult and its leader. Ultimately, there was perhaps a sense for some that the invidious elements of the cult were too easily swept aside by the comic imperative. Certainly as far as Salvador is concerned, he seems ultimately to be treated in a benevolent way despite his previous misdemeanours. There is perhaps a tension between the intention of the writer to present a humorous book and the odious brainwashing aspects of a cult. This is perhaps most prominent in the scene where Salvador attempts to rape his own granddaughter. This is presented in terms of slapstick humour and subsequently practically ignored in the narrative. It is a scene that possibly creates a sense of unease with some readers and it is hard to imagine writing of this nature emerging in today’s climate. The bottom line is that this is a humorous  book that views the cult almost affectionately without seeking to be too judgmental.

As such, the book was generally enjoyed and viewed with affection by the group.

Our post book discussion was energised by the information that Will Sharpe of White Lotus fame had moved in next door to Alan albeit temporarily. Nothing like a taste of celebrity to raise the level of excitement as did Johns account of the efforts of the Pétanque club to become an expansionist power within Priory Park. An esoteric discussion of tennis court surfaces was limited in its appeal to just myself, Alan and Dave as opposed to Nick’s reference to the absence of a gas bill which produced an universally envious response.

The angry old men subject of the evening was the use by the younger generations of tumble dryers in contrast to the clothe hangers which were “ good enough for us”.

The suggestion that there was a need to expand our number led to us deputising Dave to make an approach to a possible new member. The end of the football season precluded any football discussion- sadly too late for Simon.

Turning to the choices for next month, they were:

Long Island Compromise by Taft Brodesser-Ackner

Brotherless Nights by V. V. Ganeshanathan

Our Souls at Night  by Kent Haruf

Voting was tight but Our Souls at Night pipped it possibly on the basis that the authors name was easiest to pronounce.

Thanks to Alan for his hospitality and array of cheeses and I look forward to welcoming you

at No 54 on the 14th July.

Steve

Apologies from John (living it up in Wales) and apologies from Simon that he would be late. The rest of the gang , 8 of us (OMG does that mean we have a more frequent than annual cycle of presentation) met up in Nick’s penthouse pad for our book review and random craic.

Our initial musings covered Simon’s move, external garden space in the penthouse, posh pies but NO football (surprising?).

 On the author:

Catherine Webb was born in 1986 in Barts Hospital. Her father’s mother was a German Jew who arrived in England via Kindertransport. Her father was Nick Webb, the man who persuaded Douglas Adams to adapt H2G2 from a radio series into a novel, he died in 2012 when Catherine was 26. Her mother is Susan Moore, also a writer. She was brought up in Hackney, and has spent nearly all her life in London. As a child she had violin lessons at the Barbican, and spent many hours in the Barbican Library. She discovered the SF/fantasy author Roger Zelazny, which set her on the road to her own writing. She won a scholarship to Godolphin & Latymer school in Hammersmith, the long journey there each day allowed her to spend a lot of time reading.

She wrote her first novel aged 10, but it wasn’t very good, it wasn’t until she was 14 that she wrote something that her parents thought suitable for publication. This book was Mirror Dreams, published in 2002 when Catherine was 16. Over the next 8 years another 7 “young adult fiction” novels were published.

 After leaving school she went to LSE to study history, her parents thought she could never make a living out of writing, and should get a proper education. After graduating, she went to RADA to train as a technical theatre and stage management. She continued to write throughout her education, and in 2009 her first “adult fantasy” novel, A Madness of Angels was published. Her publisher suggested she should use a pen-name, to distinguish her children’s books from her adult books (like Ian (M) Banks). She went on to publish 11 fantasy adventure books as Kate Griffin.

She got a job as a lighting technician with the RSC in Stratford, and it was while working there in 2011, aged 25, that she started writing the Harry August book. It was published in 2014, to great acclaim, and, once again, her publisher suggested she should use a pen-name, so Claire North was born. She has published 11 novels as Claire North. These are mostly science fiction, but include a trilogy about Odysseus and Penelope, which reworks the myths from a feminist point of view.

 Harry August won the John W Campbell memorial award, and was nominated for the Arthur C Clarke best award and the BSFA Best  novel award.

She was nominated for the Carnegie Medal for her works Timekeepers, and The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle.

Catherine continues to work as a lighting technician for music concerts. She enjoys the work, but feels being female she is the “lighting girl” as a man she would be the “engineer”.

 She also runs classes to teach women self-defence (Urban Escrima). She loves walking around London (North of the Thames), and enjoys river walks. I have failed to discover anything of her personal life, although I believe she is gay. She writes a blog on Claire North | Hachette UK , there is an awful lot of it, so I might have missed something. I discovered she has (had) a partner and endured four years of verbal abuse from a neighbour until she could move to a different flat.

 In 2023, Catherine was diagnosed as autistic, she has a long standing sleep disorder, tends to work between 8am and noon, before the brain fog appears. She attends literary festivals all over the world, gives lots of interviews – in print and on YouTube, she comes over as a woke individual, with an inquisitive nature, but who reveals little about her personal relationships.

There is talk of a movie of Harry August.

 Grommit (of Wallace and Grommit fame) is her hero, and Roger Zelazny is her favourite author.

Other admired authors are Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Ursula K le Guin, Anne McCaffrey, Ruth Ozeki, (American-Canadian author, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest), NK Jemisin (American science fiction and fantasy writer), Raymond Chandler, Iain M. Banks, and George Orwell.

 Appraisal of the book was generally positive and included:

Fun – writes well;
Massive scope and the historical aspects come across;
Amusing twists and a good ending;
The plot in Russia was good.

Criticisms:
The quantum mirror concept was dubious;
Harry was a tedious character and Victor more likeable;
Too many names to follow;
Disappointing characters.

We ended with a splendid feast of cheeses and the meat pie – Nick sets out a fine table.

 Discussion wandered on to (mostly grumpy old men subjects):
Simon’s move (he had arrived by then) to St Leonard’s and the origin of the name
Ferocious seagulls
Heating and water bill avoidance
Unoccupied property council tax charges
Notifying DVLA on moving
Car and bike unsocial racers
Children’s TV programmes
YouTube popularity
…and eventually football!

 The choices for our June meeting were:
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi – a dystopian novel set in a future Thailand and multiple sci-fi book award winner.
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Letham – a detective novel with the main protagonist being a Tourette’s sufferer.
Whit by Iain Banks – a culture clash between a small Scottish religious cult and the contrast when a member is exposed to the offerings of the big city.

Voting was whittled down immediately to two as Motherless Brooklyn had already been chosen 17 years before. Of the two remaining books Whit was chosen almost unanimously (one protest vote for the Windup Girl).

We all wished Simon the best for his imminent move, this being his last book club attendance, and hope that he wouldn’t have too much work on demolition work / extensions in his retirement.

Next meeting 9 June at 59 PAS (if my return from Greece on 8 June is successful).

Update from Claire North

Before the last meeting, I emailed Claire and asked her if she had a theory about why some people find science fiction difficult to enjoy. I just got a reply -

Dear Nick,

Firstly, thank you for your email and apologies for my slightly slow reply - my publisher kindly monitors the Claire North inbox, so there can be a slight delay between them receiving and forwarding, if that makes sense.  Your book group sounds excellent - and I'm glad you enjoyed Harry, and indeed that the whole family did, that's hugely gratifying, thank you!

As to your question, I'm afraid I don't have any definitive answers on why people do/don't enjoy SFF. It's far too big a genre to easily classify, containing as it does everything from Star Wars to Cloud Atlas to Handmaid's Tale.  As with every genre, there are bits people will find to their taste, and bits they won't - as well as good writing and bad writing.  I guess the least rubbish answer I can give, is that every genre is arguably too vast, and contains too much variation for anyone to definitively say "I don't like this genre as a whole".  And even when an individual book isn't to your taste, there's often a degree of craft to be found and admired.  Traditionally SFF has been rather snobily judged by academic and indeed review criticism, who tend to reduce it down to wizards and spaceships - but this ignores writers exactly like Octavia Butler, who have been using it to do exciting and interesting things about culture, race and humanity for decades.  (Ursula le Guin also very much falls into this bucket.)

Long story short - it's far too big a circus tent, I suspect, for neat generalisations, but you can never judge a genre by its cliches!  Sorry that's a bit of a cop-out, but it's probably the least bad answer I've got going.

I'm not a mudlarker despite my love of the Thames, though my mate has a license and it's very much her happy place.  I will however add The Swallowed Man to my reading list; thank you for the recommendation!

all the best,

Claire 

The haunting sound of whale song and the flicker of four candles greeted the six brave souls who travelled across north London to Tottenham. Apologies from Derek, Jonathan, and Simon. Another apology from Geoff, apparently our ramblings are not going to be published any time soon, unless we self-publish.

Rob's research uncovered a fair amount of information about Edward Carey's professional life, but little about his personal life. Born in 1970 into a naval family in  Norfolk, he briefly attended a naval college, but went on to study drama at Hull, and worked with the National Youth Theatre. He has been involved with plays and puppet theatres in several countries. His first novel was published in 2010; The Swallowed Man was published in 2020; his most recent novel, Edith Holler, was published in 2023. He illustrates his own works, and he finds drawing pictures of the characters helps his writing.

He has lived in several European countries, and America. He is married to the American author Elizabeth McCracken, they met at the Iowa Writers Workshop, but since 2006 they have lived in Austin Texas. They have a son and a daughter.

He wrote The Swallowed Man during Covid, Geppetto keeping a journal while being trapped in a whale seemed to mirror the pandemic lockdown. There is an interesting Interview on YouTube where Carey also mentions making an image a day during lockdown and posting it on Twitter. The illustrations in the book were drawn in squid ink. Images and models are very important to him, he loves mudlarking and collecting artifacts from different eras.

Rob showed us his childhood copy of Pinocchio, it had been his favourite book, and differs significantly from the Disney version - poor old Jiminy Cricket is killed off very early on. Rob found references to The Swallowed Man in Nick Cave's Red Hands newsletter.  Nick Cave was on Desert Island Disks recently, and Pinocchio was his choice of book. It's a fascinating listen,  a man  who has been through a lot of therapy by the sound of it - his favourite tune was "I Am A God". Two of NIck Cave's sons died young, he felt empathy with Geppetto who had lost his son substitute.

Geoff and Dave found the lack of plot a hinderance to enjoying the book, the others found the gradual unfolding of Geppetto's life story quite addictive. As the candles diminished in  number and the boat was gradually pulled apart and burnt, we felt that the hopes of a happy ending diminished. We were correct. The increasingly bizarre illustrations showed how Geppetto was descending into madness. Thanks, Rob, for introducing us to such an unusual book.

I presented the group with three books to choose from, each with a time-travel theme, ghosts being the opposite of time-travellers, they stay put as time marches on.

KIndred by Octavia Butler - a 1970s middle-class black woman finds herself transported back to an 1815 slave plantation

The Green Man by Kingsley Amis - a 1960s aloholic hotel owner with family problems is haunted by a 17th century psychopath

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North - a man born in 1919 and dying in 1989 finds himself living his life again, and again ...

The book that I expected to be chosen, Kindred, got nul points. I had the casting vote, and went for Harry August.
Thanks for the evening Rob.

Nick

PS Edward Carey's son is named August. Perhaps we should try to find links between our books, like Radio 4s excellent Add To Playlist. They managed to link the pas de deux from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite to Eminem's Stan.

A full complement of sopranos, altos, tenors, and the odd bass met at 69 Via Park Avenue South to discuss My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor which was published in 2023. My Father’s House is the first book in The Rome Escape Line Trilogy which is set in Nazi-occupied Rome, 1943. O’Connor skilfully tells the tale of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, a real-life Irish priest, who leads a clandestine network to shelter refugees. O'Flaherty and his allies, dubbed ‘the Choir,’ use their wits and courage to hide escaped Allied POWs and Jews, defying the brutal SS officer Paul Hauptmann. Vatican City becomes a battleground as O'Flaherty and Hauptmann engage in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, with innocent lives hanging in the balance.

In case anyone needed any more reasons to feel old it is almost nine years since we last encountered Joseph ‘Victor’ O’Connor who had penned Star of the Sea which we read way back in 2016. We were reminded that Joseph O’Connor was Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1963. He is the elder brother of singer Sinéad O'Connor. Joseph attended University College Dublin (UCD), where he studied English and History. He began his writing career as a journalist and columnist, contributing to various Irish and international publications. His early novels, such as "Cowboys and Indians" (1991) and "Desperados" (1994), established him as a distinctive voice in contemporary Irish literature. He gained widespread recognition with Star of the Sea (2002), a historical novel set during the Irish Famine which became an international bestseller and has won numerous awards. He currently teaches on the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick.

‘My Father's House’ garnered largely positive reviews from the assembled throng, with lavish praise for its compelling story, vivid writing, and well-drawn characters. O'Connor's prose was consistently praised for its evocative descriptions, which brought 1940s Rome to life. The writing was also lauded for its emotional impact. ‘The PAS Choir’ found most of the characters believable and engaging, particularly Monsignor O'Flaherty, who it was felt was portrayed as a complex and courageous hero. John, who had ‘read it in a rush’ described how he had been in flood of tears at the end. My own personal feeling was that, although the book was hugely enjoyable, it sometimes verged into ‘Boy’s Own’ territory. Others felt that while the historical setting was well-rendered, they wished for more depth in the fictional characters' personal lives. I think that the unanimous decision was that O’Connor has produced a compelling, thrilling, and well-executed work of historical fiction.

The evening moved on with a rich discussion which, as ever, covered an eclectic mix of subjects lurching from liberties* to conscription for the over 50’s, to god and money, to the end of the Stocker line, through Crypto, back to the mysterious disappearance of banks in Crouch End, to cold water swimming, to Pamela Anderson, to Dick Barton, to listening to Led Zeppelin, via Luther Vandross and an appreciation of the delights of Buxton.

As per usual it was a real joy top spend some time in ‘the PAS Choir’ and many thanks to Geoff for conducting such a brilliantly harmonious evening. Great cheese, great meat, great company, and lovely Italian fig rolls. What more could a man want?

You’ll all be pleased to hear that I made it safely back through the roadblocks to N17, where we will meet again on Monday 14th April at 8pm. (112 Church Road N17 8AJ). Next up is Nick, Alan, and Simon…

The book that was selected is The Swallowed Man by Edward Carey. The two books that were rejected were Minor Detail by Adiana Shibli and The English Teacher by R.K.Narayan

Dear readers 

Our own orbit required 8 of us to circumnavigate P.A.S.-Park Road-Priory Road-P.A.S. Commonly we could do this 16 times a day. Admittedly the repetition induced some tedium so that we had envy of those who were tasked to blast through this circuit, their mission the heights of Ally Pally and the expansive vista of London.

This evening our docking station was nos.7 P.A.S. we de-suited our protective outerwear and commenced a de- briefing with Derek. Sadly, Steve and Rob were Lost in Space but their invaluable notes had been retrieved.

It was a cheery de- briefing, albeit that it began and ended with death (continuing the orbital theme) At the start of the evening Simon announced the recent death of Peter in a Care Home near his home in Kent. We have some fond memories of Peter but sadly with dementia in his last years, his somewhat Jekyll and Hyde character became dominated by angry Hyde outbursts, driving friends and neighbours away. We finished the evening with a more celebratory send-off, Jonathan and Alan had recently attended a funeral alongside noteworthy thespians, Monty Python'ers and the one and only Mike Leigh. The deceased was the acclaimed cinematographer Roger Pratt who had an illustrious film career, yet remained down to earth, ' a smashing bloke'. He developed early onset Alzheimers and died aged 77 yrs. In between these two deaths a third tale from Nick; a friend's father had recently died having reached 100 yrs. He was a great character and had an eventful life. During the war, he was a Navigator and he and his pilot were shot down, baled out and were stranded in a dinghy in the Pacific. After around 27 hours they were rescued by a US aircraft. After the war they lost touch until decades later he jumped on board a London cab, the driver gave him a quizzical look and said ' I know you, you're my Navigator! 

Death and navigation feature strongly in Samantha Harvey’s thoughts and works. Derek found that personal information was difficult or non- existent in published material about Samantha. I had the thought of delving into her account of her year of insomnia’ The shapeless unease’ might reveal a little more.

Derek told how her parents divorce and the proceeding death of a much loved dog in 1986 when she was 11 yrs disrupted her childhood. More dramatically in The Shapeless Unease at one point she voiced the thought, ‘my fucking father, he killed my dog and drove my mother away’. So what happened; at the break up the father kept the dog but the new woman he moved in with (and her family) didn’t want the dog, the dog was left in the old family home on its own between feeding/ walking times.

Samantha and her sister had moved with their Mum 3 hours away. They visited one half term, Samantha aged 12, spent the week hugging, grooming and talking to the dog about their former life. The parents agreed that the dog should return to the Mum and girls, but very shortly after the dog died. Was this trauma one of the clues to her later insomnia?

Samantha did make it up with her Dad and her Mum also re-married and settled in Northern Ireland with a lovely step-dad. Samantha has a sister, who was married but divorcing, with three children at the start of Samantha’s year of insomnia. It seems that Samantha resisted an image of herself as maternal, she refers to holidays spent in the dual ‘we’ but doesn’t disclose who the partner might be ( Derek noted this but could not sleuth further )

Her father was a 'barely literate’ builder and so was both proud and baffled by her academic and literary success. She studied Philosophy at the Universities of York and Sheffield, then moved on to Creative Writing at Bath University where she is now a Reader on the MA course in creative writing.

Turning to Orbital, we were as one in our admiration for the strengths of the writing while also recognising the concomitant challenges for the reader. Here is deliberately no plot development and next to no character development and inevitably much repetition; a prose poem more than a novel. That said it felt like an important, vital contribution to concerns about our complacency around our planet’s future. Samantha conjures the unique and precarious beauty of the Earth alone across the entire known universe. And from Space Earth is seen as an entirety without borders, conflicts and degradation, a common humanity with a common responsibility. The’gathering storm’ of the hurricane, an unstoppable natural force immune to human life, was a terrific symbol of this vulnerability.

The other dimension to this was the life on board for the 6 astronauts and we found the detailed description of the daily routines, the different research and maintenance tasks, the bodily adaptations and vital exercise regimes, the eating and sleeping rituals all added up to an exacting regime that we would personally find beyond us. We would have liked back story on the six individuals and their motives and their subsequent re-adjustment to earth bound life but also realised that was not what this book was about. The six were as much about being a composite whole, an interdependent entity and a symbol of common humanity with a shared vulnerability. The sense of temporary detachment from planet earth enabling a deep appreciation of the wonder and beauty of our unique place was vividly conjured. Thanks to Derek for a fascinating read and discussion.

The conversation meandered on afterwards Dave told us about how his trip to Newcastle for his talk, culminated in deep appreciation and back slapping. Dave faced his own dangers in storm tossed Newcastle, where crossing over the Tyne involved gripping tightly to the Victorian ironwork of the bridge. 

We ate fine cheeses and oversized grapes, discussed film and gigs, before heading back to the mesosphere/ troposphere/ stratosphere an emboldened bunch.

The next book, round one a dead heat between Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford and My Father’s House with The Island of Missing Trees bby Elif Shafak with a single vote: second round My Father’s House by Joseph O’ Connor won out. You can find an interview on YouTube when he talks about discovering the characters and events featured. It is also the first part of a trilogy. 

See you all March 10th at 69 PAS

Geoff

 We gathered on a chilly Monday eve at Dave's to discuss Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet amongst other things

Nick 'failed a late fitness test' and sent apologies - best wishes Nick and hope you're on the mend

The evening started with chatter about cyclists and cycling - after a bit of a general rant about aggressive cyclists -Simon told us he met partner Fiona when they both signed up for a Lands End to John O'Groats cycle - an impressive first date that obviously left a lasting impression. 

Dave started by telling us what he'd found out about the author 

Born in Kilmarnock in 1967 but now lives in Glasgow - he shares a birthplace with Alan who pointed out to us that he left the town 'before it became a shithole' - I feel much the same about Blackpool. He studied English Literature at Glasgow University as well as St. Andrews  - other than that there's precious little else to say about him - no mention of family etc. Seems he travels widely in support of his books and to attend literary festivals and has had enough success to live a life as a full time author

Case Study is the second of his books we've covered - the first was his 2015 novel 'His Bloody Project'- he's written 5 novels - Case Study published in 2021 his fourth and was long listed for the Booker in 2022. He's also completed a trilogy of crime novels set in France

Dave pointed us to a couple of interviews with him available on YouTube - both of which I listened to and they do offer some insight in to his methods

Obviously a great deal of research goes in to his books - or at least the two we've read - for Case Study he spent time reading a large collection of actual case studies and says he came to the  realisation that these are just one side of the discussions - all from the point of view of the interviewer and as such may not be totally truthful - this notion of the veracity of the interviews and characters in his novel becomes a central theme.

Who or what to believe - this forms the basis of this story - a clever shifting in form from the found notebooks, the supposed therapy sessions and biographical passages about Collins Braithwaite and the other main protagonists made for an interesting book - he certainly did a good job of placing the story in its 60's setting - the locations and language felt authentic to me especially the Theatrical Agency set in Soho

The larger than life, or monstrous psychotherapist Braithwaite depending on your view was a very strong central figure and his sessions with the bereaved sister( whose name were never told as far as I can remember) and alter ego Rebecca Smythe are well done

Its a well written book - he has a really keen ear for dialogue - I especially thought that of the passages that dealt with the interactions of the daughter, father and housekeeper in the fractured family home.

The book was enthusiastically enjoyed by the ones who liked it - his skill in keeping all strands together along with a fairly vicious humour was applauded 

Others thought it a good read without getting too caught up in it and a couple more were not as enamoured - making it a perfect choice for a book club discussion

A lovely selection of cheese and biscuits were offered up and chat turned to recent cinema and film visits

Thanks to Dave for hospitality and a great choice of book

I brought along the books for next months vote

  A Weekend in New York   Benjamin Markovits 

   In Memoriam                    Alice Winn

   Orbital                               Samantha Harvey

 It wasn't even close and Orbital was chosen 

I look forward to hosting the next meeting  Mon 10th Feb @ 7 PAS Till then - all best

Derek 

We met on Tuesday at Jonathan's for an evening discussion of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James Mc Bride.

We were without Steve, Simon and Derek, who sent apologies.

We began as usual chatting about local issues, transport, domestic heating, insulation and sustainability. Alan reported that he and Alison had already hosted an early vegetarian Christmas Lunch for 12! Rob spoke about Theo's new flat.

Jonathan began by giving some background on the author, referring to an interview on You Tube conducted by Jason Reynolds. James Mc Bride is a Jazz musician as well as a writer, playing tenor Sax. However, despite his feel for rhythm, he claims to be one of the world's worst dancers. He has a strong ethical base, as is evident from the book, with core egalitarian beliefs: we all have more in common than separates us! 

He was born in 1957 in New York to a black "Reverend" father and a Polish mother of Jewish faith origin. He was the 8th child of the union (the mother having 4 more in a second relationship). She was ostracised from her family by converting to Christianity. Mc Bride grew up poor in the Red Hook Housing Project in Brooklyn. He was/is proud of his Jewish heritage, but is happy to be Christian. After State School he attended Oberlin College, a liberal arts college in Ohio that was early in admitting black students, and then took a Masters in journalism at Columbia University. 

On leaving University, he was interviewed for a volunteer job as washer upper in a disabled school.....his interviewer found him too smart for that. The kids there had cerebral palsy, and the school was run by a Jewish Head, who was a big influence on him for our book.  Our author decided to have a career as a Jazz musician and planned to do so for 9 years. However, he wrote the Colour of Water during this time and this gave him great success as a writer. He wrote 4 other books some of which were made into films by Spike Lee.

His Grandma died in 1942 after a miserable life running a grocery store. She was the inspiration for Chona in the book. Mc Bride does not reveal much about his private life, but is known to have 3 children by his ex wife.

Possibly a disappointment for Jonathan, everyone enjoyed the book. This was despite some reservations about the somewhat meandering plot, slow pace at the beginning, the large number of characters and the happy ending. Geoff stated that if The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store was a band.....it had to be Duke Ellington's, a band of vivid players. Gulp. Nick liked all the characters, but Rob was somewhat distracted by the number. Geoff was surprised at how fast the plot developed. He felt the dialogue was so good. I agreed about the plot, particularly after Dodo leapt the counter. Jonathan told us that Mc Bride likes to place his many characters within circles as he constructs his plots. Jonathan thinks the book is a riff on the film Its a Wonderful Life.  There was discussion of the later characters, Miggy, Eggman and Son of Man. We were all delighted in the way the Doc copped it.

Jonathan then produced a delicious selection of Jewish foods, including herring, gefilte fish, pickled cucumbers, dry crackers and warm rye bread.

The conversation continued and included the storm and the ordeal of singing through it at the Tower of London (Geoff), Gareth Malone and his Ally Palace Christmas Show that included an improvised song about Park Road Lido (Geoff again). Some talk about AI. Why are there different charging policies for tennis courts throughout the borough? Praise for the film Conclave.

My 3 suggestions for the next meeting:
Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet
The Turning by  Tim Winton
Question 7 by Richard Flanagan

The first round of votes knocked out  (left field) book 3 and produced a draw between books 1 and 2. Steve's proxy vote was accepted as the decider and our next book will be Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet. We will convene at number 58 PAS on the 13th January.

My apologies for any note taking/recall errors in the above.

Many thanks to Jonathan for the enjoyable evening.

Dave

Nine of us gathered at Steve's (Simon, Rob, Dave, Jonathan, Geoff, Alan, Steve, Nick and myself) with apologies from Derek, to discuss The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth, published in 1932.

Steve spoke of Moses Joseph Roth's early life in Brody, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now part of Ukraine. 

Brody was close to Lemburg in East Galicia (now Lviv in Ukraine) and boasted a large Jewish population, with a healthy Jewish culture.

Roth never knew his father, who suffered mental illness and was institutionalised before Joseph's birth. Steve spoke at some length, without referring to notes, and gave an impressively detailed account of Joseph's life, his work and his death.

Having read The Radetsky March, all present agreed that Roth sits very high in the hierarchy of European writers of the 20th century.

I apologise for the lack of detail regarding the discussion..I was far too interested in it to take notes.

Exhausted by our admiration of the book, we had little to say on the state of the world and its impact on the god's little acre we know as Park Avenue South (extended, to make sense of the paragraph, to White Hart Lane, via Topsfield Parade and Southgate). Even the fabulous cheeses couldn't loosen our tongues...

When it came to selecting our next read, I presented 4......

The Three Day Road Joseph Boyden
Girl Woman Other Bernadine Evaristo
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus Orson Scott Card
Second Class Citizen Buchi Emecheta

I presented 4 because, having decided to present Orson Scott Card, it seemed to me that copies of it were not readily purchaseable. But I suggested it it because it deserved a mention. Nick identified a number of copies available second hand but eventually, after a thrilling psephological dalliance led by Alan, we picked The Three Day Road by a large majority (7 in favour)

Many thanks Steve for your commentary and hospitality
Next meeting is at 72 PAS, at  8.00pm on the 11th November 2024

We met on the 10th September at Simons to discuss Overstory by Richard Powers. Missing were Alan in some strange place called Scotland and Nick unfortunately indisposed.

After a brief rant about 4 way traffic controls and a sad lament for the seeming passing of summer, we launched into the discussion.

We somewhat bypassed the autobiographical details about the author. This background vacuum was in a way interesting as it fuelled some speculation about whether it might be possible to deduce some neuro diverse traits. However, for the record, Richard Powers is a professor of English at UIUC, is 61 years old and is clearly of a multi disciplinary mind with interests in science and music. So - brainy.

The book charted the activities of a diverse collection of individuals uniting into an eco-terorist group dedicated to fighting the destruction of trees and forest, such destruction being motivated by either a misguided approach to forest conservation or simply in the interest of profit. 

We all seemed to have a difficulty with the  book. Not only was it self evidently long, but its style and structure created a negotiation problem for most of us. Part of the difficulty was that the individual stories surrounding each of the main characters were initially fleshed out only to disappear until they resurfaced a couple of 100 pages later. This broken narrative did little to encourage engagement with the book.

As Jonathan emphasised, there was also a strong element of polemic in the writing. Obviously this was a book carrying a strong message but its consistent and perhaps laboured theme left the reader feeling occasionally battered.

Having said this, the very extensive information provided relating to the science of tree life was fascinating and when the characters coalesced , the narrative became more engaging. Rob suggested that the communication between and the coming together of the characters was analogous to the communication between the trees themselves.

There were also moments of real pathos mostly all of which produced by the cutting down of one or several trees. Perhaps a book group tree hugging away day should be organised?

Also, for most of us, there was much to commend itself in the quality of the writing but taking the book as a whole, the quality of the writing was counteracted by the wearisome length. As Dave said, this was a book in need of an editor.

It should be borne in mind that the book won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize, is highly regarded and for the group was successful, I guess, in creating a different and more enlightened view of trees. I mentioned a recent trip I had taken to Kew Gardens where confronted with the redwood trees, I became almost emotional. Whether, we will be recommending it as a good read is another matter.

We ended the evening replete with the delicious cherry cake made by Simon who regaled us with his efforts to produce a broth - efforts that consisted of a trip to Crouch End to purchase a vast quantity of cow bones which he boiled for 15 hours. Worth it I am sure.

Our usual diverse discussion took in electricity meters, data storage and on a positive note for book groups the resurrection as opposed to the demise of bookstores.

The choices for the next meeting were as follows:

The Radetsky March by Joseph Roth

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Rob put the skids on the Bee Sting by mentioning it’s length so in a tight contest between the remaining two, the Radetsky March triumphed. Thanks to Geoff for deputising for Alan as the chief election officer.

We meet next month on the 11th at No 54. See you then.

Steve

From Nick

Sorry, but I have some gastric problems, and can't make it tonight. I really enjoyed the first section of the book, I enjoyed the second section (up to the death), but I really struggled with the third section, eventually limiting myself to just reading about the computer games guy.

Have a good evening

We started our conversation with animated discussion about the results of the election from the previous week where Labour won a thumping majority.  Delight at the demise of the disgusting Truss and Mogg and dismay that the latter maybe embarking on a reality TV career. I think we are all pretty much, looking forward to a period of good government by sensible people.  Lets hope so.  Geoff finally arrived from his journey from Spain, arriving at Stanstead and directly to the meeting.  Sterling stuff Geoff,  your commitment is second to none!.   

Which brings us on to our fellow reader Theo, who wishes to leave the group.  We are minded to refuse your request Theo.  We expect you to turn up, by Uber or similar, on 9th September having read the book.  The escape velocity of the book group is greater than you expect. 

We meandered the conversational labyrinth of weather, insects, frogs, climate change, American politics (will he stay or will he go),  the comings and goings of life in PAS.  Out with the old and in with the new.  Of course football featured in the conversation excited by the prospect of possible winning the final on Sunday.  A new government and winning the game would really usher in a period of national pride and enthusiasm. 

We did eventually get onto discussing the book Black Butterflies by Pricilla Morris.  A painful read which was well received.  Largely autobiographical as shown in the except from Alan's notes:     

The book is very much based on personal family experiences. Her mother is from Sarajevo, Bosnia (left in the late 1960’s when it was still part of Yugoslavia) and her father is from England. She was 19 when the siege started and most of her mother’s relatives, including her parents, were caught there when war broke out in 1992.

She remembers her family watching the BBC news each night in shocked disbelief, unable to make sense of the images of everyday people being shot by snipers as they crossed the street. The head post office and telephone exchange were blown up in the first month of the siege and they had no way of contacting her grandparents. 

There was much discussion about war generally, the pointlessness of it, the agonies of separation, of siege as a medieval method.  Even how does one in that situation even survive with the constant danger, no water and no food.  Geof added interesting links with the book The Cellist Of Sarajevo, another story of defiance and survival.  With populations who are just hellbent on war and vengeance it is very difficult to stop.  With war happening in many places in the world one could get very depressed.  People are rather disappointing.  As the forensic biologist Dr Sheila Willis said, she would rather have bacteria. 

So, to the next book.  I presented three books on the assumption that we were not going to meet in August so I was confident that a large book would be okay as we would have time to read it.  Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese at 500 pages, Overstorey by Richard Powers at 540 or so, and a smaller alternative of The Promise by Damon Galgut at a modest 293.  It was thought that the latter had been read before but it turns out that it had been presented but not chosen, nor was it this time.  We chose Overstorey by Richard Powers, enthusiastically endorsed by Johnathan. 

It was a great evening, enjoyed by all and thank you Alan for hosting and the splendid cheese board. 

Just for Theo, we will be sorry to lose you, your contributions and humour have been much appreciated over the time we have spent together.  As they say nothing brings people together like reading the same book.  Having said that, we still expect you to turn up! 

Have a great summer and enjoy the book,  see you all in September.

From Theo - 

I loved 'Black Butterflies'. In a world where asylum seekers and refugees are characterised as chancers and cheats - or, as one Reform candidate put it, ’scum’ - we need books like this to remind us that there but for the grace of God go all of us. See also the last Booker Prize winner 'Prophet’s Song' which would have been among my nominations next time except that I am, with a heavy heart, leaving the group. We’ve finally moved to London Fields  (loving it so far) so I am just too far away to be a member. I had hoped to persuade you all to visit here once which would have bought me another year but I have hit twelve points on my driving license so a driving ban looms. Returning home from N8 to E5 on public transport late at night on monthly basis isn’t for me so, sadly, it’s goodbye.

Thanks  for welcoming me into the group ten years ago (!). I have absolutely loved being a part of it. I’ve read fantastic books that I wouldn’t otherwise have picked up, eaten cracking cheese and a variety of other delicacies and, these last couple of years, I've  discovered that the proceedings are every bit as entertaining sober as they are Brahms and Liszt. 

But of course more than the books and the grub  I will miss all of you. My life has been greatly enriched by our conversations and it is a privilege to know you. 

I don’t know if he remembers this but  a few years ago I said to Rob, who got me in, that Book Group was the thing I looked forward to more than anything else. ‘What, even more than going to Spurs?’ he replied. I nodded. That never changed.

Big love and up the Spurs!

Theo

From Nick - 

Sorry Alan, can't make it tonight. Nasty stomach bug. 

Definitely a book of our time. All the nationalists need reminding of the results of their obsessions with race and religion. The leaders of that siege are still in prison for war crimes. There were three more years of it after Zora's escape. Quite frightening to see how easily these wars can start.

Have a cheerful evening.

Nick

Theo and Steve had provided apologies so there were nine of us present in Nick’s penthouse for our book review and assorted musings. And there wasn’t a lot of good muse to start with:

• Dave had been burgled at the weekend – finding out when three policemen woke him up in his bedroom.

• Simon was fasting (unlucky as we had lovely Fortnum and Mason pies).

• Bad roads and bike accidents resulting in splenectomy.

• The limited availability of Mein Kampf (although this may qualify as good muse).

On to the author and the book -

Chester Himes was born in Missouri in 1909, parents were both teachers. Aged twelve, after the family moved to Arkansas, his brother had an accident when preparing a demonstration of gunpowder for school assembly. It exploded in his face, blinding him, the local hospital refused to treat a black boy, which was a defining moment in his life.

The family moved to Ohio, and his parents separated. His mother, light skinned, had dominated his dark-skinned father, whose career went downhill. Chester had a lifelong resentment of light skinned people. He attended Ohio State University but was expelled for playing a prank. Aged nineteen, he was sentenced to 20 years hard labour for armed robbery.

He started to write short stories while in prison, and had some published, he said writing earned him respect and safety in prison. He was published in Esquire, and his first novel, Cast the First Stone, was about a large fire in the Ohio Penitentiary. He was released in 1936, did various part time jobs while continuing to write, and met Langston Hughes, who introduced him into the literary world.

In 1937, Himes married Jean Johnson. In the 1940s he worked in Los Angeles as a screenwriter, published two novels, both much to do with black lives in America. He lost his job when Jack Warner said, “I don’t want no niggers on this lot”. He left Hollywood, moved to New York, received a scholarship at the Yaddo community. He was openly bisexual, with a heavy drinking habit, his favoured partners were heavy drinking women. Not an easy person to live with.

He separated from his wife in 1952, started travelling round Europe, eventually deciding to stay in France.

A meeting with Marcel Duhamel, actor, and publisher of crime novels, when Himes was on his uppers led to an advance of $1000 to produce a mystery novel, A Rage in Harlem was the result. In 1958, Himes won France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, and went on to write the Coffin Ed and Gravedigger Jones series of novels.

He met his second wife, Lesley Packard, in the late 1950s when she went to France to interview him. She was a journalist at the Herald Tribune. After he suffered a stroke, in 1959, Lesley quit her job and nursed him back to health. She cared for him for the rest of his life, and worked with him as his informal editor, proof-reader, and confidante. They married in 1978, after he managed to get a divorce from his first wife.

After living the Bohemian life in Paris, Lesley and Chester moved to the South of France and in 1969 to Moraira Spain, where they lived until Chester's death in 1984 from Parkinson’s disease.

The discussion on the book itself was overwhelmingly positive. A good yarn which was more a black comedy than a thriller. The dark humour appealed to the group and the police characters were likened to the Keystone Cops. The extent of the violence was surprising but not as disturbing when taken in the overall context of the book. There was a complete change of tenor when the two cops came on the scene – much more violent. It was agreed that there were not many comedy novels, but this one was a success and that as a first crime novel it showed his screenwriting background as the scenes were very visual. We discussed a fair number of the scenes and characters  and their motivations, indicative of how the book had engaged us.

We ended with the (un)usual miscellany of subjects being discussed:

• Rob’s play (adaptation of Ghost of White Hart Lane) premiering at Tottenham Hotspur stadium on 21 July (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-ghost-of-white-hart-lane-by-martin-murphy-tickets-919366348497?aff=oddtdtcreator&utm_campaign=postpublish&utm_medium=sparkpost&utm_source=email) before moving on to the Edinburgh Festival.

• The tragic death of Michael Mosely and holiday insurance.

• Thames Water fictitious bills.

• End of day free leftover food.

• The physics of penis removal.

• Dave’s musical career pre Tubular Bells.

The choices for our July meeting were:

Other People’s Money – Justin Cartwright – a darkly comic novel about a private banking family on the edge of ruin in the banking crisis

Black Butterflies – Priscilla Morris – a first novel and shortlisted for the Women’s Prize 2023 and the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award 2023 set in Sarajevo in Spring 1992 and covering the siege of Sarajevo.

Deadline – Bill Knox – set in the mean streets of Glasgow in the 1950’s and written by an author described as one of the godfathers of tartan noir – a story of crime gone wrong.

And the winner (after using the transferable voting system and with John’s abstention on the grounds he wanted tartan noir) was Black Butterflies.

With thanks to Nick for the venue and the lovely spread.

Looking forward to a good discussion on 8 July.

A pleasant excursion through the highways and byways of Tottenham led us to Rob’s house, into the reserved parking space outside his front door. Jonathan, Geoff and Simon were unable to attend.

William Maxwell was born in Lincoln Illinois in 1908. He was an editor, fiction writer, essayist, and memoirist. He was married to Emily Noyes for 55 years, and had two children. He died in New York in 2000, 8 days after his wife. He was fiction editor at The New Yorker magazine for nearly 40 years. During his tenure, he nurtured the careers of literary giants like John Cheever, J.D. Salinger, and Eudora Welty. He was a friend and mentor to many. His own novels and stories explored the lives of ordinary people in the American Midwest. His keen eye captured the essence of small-town life, his spare prose conveyed a quiet power that resonated with readers. His mother had  died when he was 10, it was defining moment in his life; the loss finds its way into many of his works. He won the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award. Six novels and eight short story collections were published in his lifetime.

The novel was received warmly by the group. The plot was simple, we knew the whole story within the first few pages. What impressed us was how the author explored the feelings of the characters, many of us could relate those feelings to events in our own lives. This was especially true of the moment when the narrator sees his old pal, but ignores him, and for years after wonders “what if …”.  The narrator is trying to remember the events that happened when he was a child, and is aware that his memory may not be reliable – another thing we recognised. Some of us were a bit confused as to which character was the subject of each section, strange, as there were only four characters, and a dog. Making a living out of small farms was not easy, and the breakup of the husband/wife teams that were necessary had a practical as well as an emotional impact on the couples.  A tragic tale, beautifully told.

Steve recommended Ann Patchett as a writer to look out for, very much in the William Maxwell mode.

The discussion moved seamlessly from the book to our own lives, highlighting the skill of the author in engaging our emotions. Dave talked about his 17 year old self receiving a love letter from his best friend at school, and the repercussions of Dave sharing the letter with his family. Steve remembered as a teenager having a gay adult friend, not to mention skinny dipping at the City of London school.  

We dodged the discussion of parking, but doubled down on pot-holes, John told us of a friend suffering serious injuries by hitting a pot-hole while riding a Lime bike. I tried to enthuse about Eurovision, but there were no takers. Masters of the Air was approved of, but difficult to love, Andrew Scott as Ripley was loved and hated. We learnt what a knocker-upper was.

Review from our absentees –

From Geoff - Eventually, I really enjoyed ‘So Long’. I struggled initially with the narrator’s own story and the connection to the murder story and the different characters getting confused. And at this point I did not engage emotionally. But I finished the book full of awe and admiration for the wisdom, humanity, compassion of the writer and the sense of time and place he creates.

From Jonathan - The book is a little gem, but I had difficulty engaging emotionally with the characters. I read it in dribs and drabs which didn't help

From Simon – We love Africa

My three proposals were –

Guys and Dolls by Damon Runyon
A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes
The Hand Reared Boy by Brian Aldiss

The first round was a 3 all draw between Runyon and Himes, with only Steve being in favour of masturbation.  The second round saw A Rage in Harlem winning the vote.

Afterword

Dave’s tale of his gay school friend was printed in the Radio Times, but from the opposite point of view. Dave’s friend had gone on to be a successful actor and was interviewed while being in a BBC series called “Queers”. This is his side of the story.

I knew I was gay from a very early age. It seemed quite natural to me and never caused me anxiety. While still at school I fell in love with another boy and sent him a love letter, which his mother discovered when taking his jacket to the cleaner’s.

The next day I was still in bed when the phone rang and I heard my father’s voice saying, “Oh dear, I had no idea. I just thought they were good friends.” The next thing I knew was the sheets being torn from my bed and my mother shouting abuse at me through tears of anguish and disgust.

She refused to talk to me for several weeks, addressing me only via my father. He tried hard to intercede, saying it was probably an adolescent phase I’d grow out of, and that, whatever, he is our son and we love him.

She eventually came round and they were both the most supportive parents anyone could wish for. However, the boy’s father took a different approach and demanded I see a psychiatrist. I was taken to the local mental health hospital and I remember being confused and terrified as we drove up the long drive, passing patients on the lawn who, poor souls, looked straight out of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

“Why was I here?” I thought. “All I’d done was fall in love.” The psychiatrist took me through my life in minute detail asking questions about my feelings and emotions from the moment I suspected I might be gay to the present time.

Finally he looked at me and said that, yes, it was possibly a phase I was going through but that, if not, I seemed happy and my feelings and emotions were well adjusted. He only advised me to be more careful and discreet in the future! This was 1967, and I will never forget my relief and gratitude for this man’s compassionate and enlightened view.

The screaming spirits of the sky and howling hail storms led us all to seek some shelter at 69 PAS.

We met up on this unseasonal day in April to discuss the latest offering, 'When We Were Birds' by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo.

Apologies were received from Derek who was in the Lakes, and Simon who was somewhere ‘a bit too far away’ that had a wonderful sunset or was it sunrise?

Geoff declared that it had been quite difficult to find out too much information on the author. Instead, the meeting began with an introduction to the wonderful life and spirit of Marianna’s ‘Uncle’ Marco who had recently departed this earth. Apparently, ‘Uncle’ Marco, who had reached the ripe old age of 98 (and a half), could ‘charm the heart out of a wheelbarrow’. This evening was to prove full of reverence for the dead, whilst not perhaps invoking the same respect for magical realism.

We discovered that Ayanna Lloyd Banwo was born in the very last year of Gen X (1980). In her youth she lived in Trinidad and graduated in 2005 from the University of West Indies with a degree in ‘Literatures in English’. After university she worked as a copywriter, freelance journalist and English literature teacher. In an interview she takes about three family deaths, her grandmother, mother and father in three years, 2013-15, that had a profound effect on her and subsequently her writing. Speaking on the influence of these deaths on her writing, she has said, “I’ve 

promised my dead three books. It is a pact that I’ve made with people who are not here anymore.” Her first short story was published in 2014.

She left Trinidad in 2017 for a full tuition scholarship at UAE’s creative writing masters programme. She now holds an MA in Creative Writing.

There’s much more information on this Community Bookstore interview link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9os82BoDWk 

And so to the thoughts of the group. The general consensus was that here was a book that improved considerably around the ’54%’ mark. Nick thought that the book was ’terrific’ and is actively campaigning for more magical realism. Alan really enjoyed it and felt that the patois added to the character of the story. Jonathan loved the illustration of women’s power and sensed all the elements of classical literature. Dave found it very vivid, charming, comfortable, although at times bordering on the twee. Steve, well Steve struggles with magical realism…this very possibly is linked

to religion?

The conversation swirled around from the usual parking, roadworks, football, ticket prices, and politics, to the more unusual topics of babka, steamed puddings in the microwave, Thames water, moving to Hackney, and an urn of unclaimed ashes in the cellar of 69 PAS.

Many thanks to Geoff for some mighty fine cheeses and a selection of grapes.

We meet again on Monday 13th May, just around the corner from Tottenham cemetery, 112 Church Road N17 8AJ.

The three books presented were; ’The Ballard of Peckham Rye’ by Muriel Spark, ’So Long, See You Tomorrow’ by William Maxwell, and ’The Spinoza Problem’ by Irvin Yalom. All had some support, voting went to a second round with a dead heat between ’The Ballard of Peckham Rye’ and ’So Long, See You Tomorrow’ (which incidentally I’ve just realised is the title of the 4th Bombay Bicycle Club album). I was given the casting vote so went for the (slightly) longer ’So Long, See You Tomorrow’.  

See you next month…Rob

JL Carr, unsurprisingly, chose ‘God’s Own Country’ (as Yorkshire folk describe it) as the place for his protagonist Tom Birkin to live heal the scars and trauma of his WW1 experiences and the activity to restore serenity, the painstaking restoration of Medieval wall painting depicting heaven and hell.

Birkin’s month in summer 1920, a comparative ‘heaven’ after the hell of the war, is recalled by Carr half a century later(published 1980)

Derek gave us a detailed account of the life and works of the enigmatic Carr. He was born in N. Yorkshire in 1912, so as a child experienced the aftermath of WW1. Much of his fiction is based on his life experiences, albeit recalled after many years have passed. Like the fictional Ellerbeck, Carr’s father was a Wesleyan preacher and a stationmaster. Carr stumbled through school and had a couple of false starts before making a successful career as a teacher. He had a couple of intervals of teaching in the USA and saw much travel in WW2 with RAF. He settled down in Kettering where he became an enlightened Headmaster of a junior school, ensuring all his charges mastered the skill of reading.

His first novel ‘ A Day in Summer’ was published in 1963 and shortly after this he took the risk of retiring from teaching to become a writer and also a publisher. It wasn’t long before, the independent minded and original thinker, Carr tired of the existing literary/publishing industry and decided to go it alone with his own, home-based publishing concern ‘Quince Tree press’. The output was idiosyncratic and included short collections of known poets, pictorial maps of English counties showing things noteworthy and historical but “not for navigation”, dictionaries of royalty and of cricketers, not to mention his later novels. It is also worth noting that he was secretary of the Northamptonshire Historic Churches Trust, brought up a Wesleyan he later converted to Anglican. 

‘A Month in the Country’ was shortlisted for the Booker prize and cemented Carr’s reputation. Nine of us gathered at Derek’s, Rob and Theo unable to make it. Unusually, without dissent, the book was enjoyed and praised by all, both present and absent. This was less due to the merciful brevity of the book and much more down to Carr’s scene-setting and storytelling finesse, both masterful and almost faultless. We felt that Carr had a sensitive and precise way of capturing the nuances of the characters, the peaceful, unchanging beauty of countryside, the different facets of the community and the church v. chapel personality. The sense of post-war fragility was reflected through the characters and captured in delicate scenes without becoming all pervading. The writer reveals this through scenes which arrive almost as asides such as tea shop encounter in which the revelation of Moon’s bravery and award of the MC sits alongside his brutal treatment when he is is discovered in an homosexual encounter.  

There was comment, not to say dismay, about the lost moment when the almost angelic Alice shows amorous intent towards our betrayed Tom, and his conscience stops him from responding to her initiative. Simon reflected that we must all have experience of such moments, his memory proving more intact than some of us.   

Moving on the conversation ambled lazily, we were in bucolic mood. Derek fed us fine cheeses, including a ‘to die for’ Red Leicester  alongside a selection of grapes. Alan, ever alert, informed us that the RPI (retail price index) was now to include Vinyl and Air-fryers. This led to a ‘confession’ from Nick,  he generously took on a bounty of 300 pristine albums, from friends of someone recently deceased, and through deft salesmanship turned a profit of £350+, the proceeds, he assured us, will go to a worthy cause. John, Simon and Alan were able to regale us with the benefits of Air-fryers over every other method of cooking, Alan assuring us that deep fried Mars bars never tasted better!

Steve was a bit keyed-up as he was to face an inquisition early in next morning, a driver re-education course, after being clocked at the dangerous speed of 36mph in a 30mph zone. Some of us sympathised, others wound him up about what to expect.

We meet again at 69 PAS on Monday 15th April. The three books presented were; ‘The Razors Edge’ by Somerset Maugham; ‘Undercurrent’ by Barney Norris and ‘When we were Birds’ by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo.  All had some support, voting went to a second round with a dead heat between ‘Undercurrent’ (4) and ‘When we were Birds’ (4)

Given the casting vote I went for the new author to us and the debut novel, Ayanna LLoyd Banwo, ‘When we were Birds’ ….Enjoy!

Monday eve and a stroll down to Daves for the chance to meet up and discuss 'Austerlitz' by W.G.Sebald

Its a good turn out with only John sending apologies having double booked himself.

After a few early thoughts on house prices, local eatery discounts and Park Rd roadworks we settle down to listen to Dave fill us in on the life of W.G.Sebald

We learn that he was born in Bavaria in 1944 - an only son - his father had served in the Wehrmacht during WW2 and became a POW released in 1947

His maternal grandfather was an important role model as his father remained a detached figure

Obviously a bright boy he first attended Freiburg Uni studying German and English Lit receiving a degree Fribourg University in Switzerland in1965

Moved to Manchester University in 1966 to take a role as an assistant lecturer and I imagine to be close to Old Trafford so he could watch the Holy Trinity of Best, Law and Charlton win the league in 1967 followed by the European Cup in 1968 

Having married in 1967 he moved back to Switzerland to teach in 1969 then back to England the following year to become a Professor of European Literature at the University of East Anglia  - he remained so until his death in a car crash in December  2001 - a crash his daughter survived

He wrote four main works of fiction as well as collections of poetry

Austerlitz was published in 2001 - his final book - in 2019 it was ranked no 5 in the 100 best books of the century by the Guardian and it seems he would have been nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature that year had he not been killed

Theres no real point in detailing exactly what happened in the book - we all read it

It was clear in the meeting that those who liked the book really liked it - others found its style - no paragraphs, chapters and seemingly endless sentences as well as being written in the form of a very long and detailed interview a bit wearying or even irritating - Alan thought the book would have been improved by a more usual format - more novel than hybrid

It is a powerful book that but given its subject matter it should be - the range of Sebalds knowledge  - his fluency when describing all manner of buildings - especially railway stations and military fortifications brings real life to the writing

The book has a wonderful sense of place, and history aided by the unusual addition of grainy photographs placed throughout the book which was thought by most to contribute to the atmosphere of the story

The very strong theme of personal memory - hazy or almost forgotten was discussed - Nick mentioned arriving as a child at Liverpool St station and the noise, steam and mayhem of a very busy station being quite frightening - how the young boy arriving on a Kindertransport must have felt we can only imagine

Steve talked about the poignancy of seeing old photographs and Johnathan told us of rediscovering letters he had written home from boarding school as a child - kept by his Mum - memories

For my part I wondered what it must have been like for the parents at the other end waving them off - again unimaginable

A book that provoked different responses - the best meetings are when there are these different views - for my part I enjoyed reading it but not quite as much as I did finishing it - an unusual mix of fact,fiction and travelogue - a book I'll remember but probably wont pick up again

Cheese was served - lovely - thank you Dave

Post discussion talk drifted on to an apparent local recruiting drive by the Jehovahs Witnesses , Zone of Interest ,Arsenals demolition of West Ham and the class shown by former Irons hero Rice as he slapped in the 5th goal - we were building a head of football steam by now with varying views of Angeball down the Lane - at this point Simon glazed over and seemingly lost the will to live - time to offer next months runners and riders

The choices for next month were 

Harlem Shuffle   Colson Whitehead - feel like I could have done a better job on trying to sell this one

A Spy Alone   Charles Beaumont - on reflection - I was glad this didn't get chosen - it wasn't very good

A Month in the Country    J.L.Carr

With the votes in the clear winner was J.L.Carr - a book that's shorter than an Austerlitz sentence - coming in a smidge over 100 pages

A good meeting and thanks to Dave for the book choice ,food and hospitality

I look forward to hearing your views on March11th @ 7PAS

It was the freezing night of 8th January that we travelled to the Dacha at the top of Park Avenue Southski. Snow had been falling and we were delighted that our host Jonathan had prepared a blazing log fire to warm our bones. We settled down, opened a pleasing beverage and prepared to discuss The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald. But before we began, there was talk about the Post Office scandal, its portrayal on ITV and the effect of this excellent drama was having on the Government, that was now forced to make noises that suggested it might at last be going to do something for the wronged and or jailed Postmasters. (It was with some shock that we heard that our Steve had, in times gone by, worked in the Legal Department of the Post Office. Steve pleaded that it wasn’t him who had hounded the Postmasters but a wastrel in that department who, instead of being fired, was moved to the Prosecution section where he organised the carnage.) There was talk about how well Fujistu had done from UKplc, despite the catastrophe.

Jonathan then gave us a brief history of the author, drawing on copious notes provided by Geoff who could not attend; Alan and Derek also sent apologies. Penelope Knox, as she was before her disastrous marriage, was born in 1916 into a renowned family, educated at private school and then at Oxford. She was the best candidate of her year and finished with a 1st. She worked for the BBC during the war. Desmond, her husband who she met at Oxford, saw service in the North Africa, won the MC but returned much traumatised with a major drink problem. They lived first in the family home in Hampstead, raising 3 children and jointly editing a magazine (World Review), but were unable to sustain their (spartan?) lifestyle. They fled to Southwold for 21 years where Penelope kept the family going by working in the bookshop. However, destitution was inevitable and they moved to a houseboat on the Thames. Desmond approached trying to  improve their situation by stealing from the Law Office at which he worked. He was disbarred. He died in 1976, aged 59 years. The family had been forced to move to a homeless shelter for 4 months then to public housing for 11 years. Yet remarkably, once her kids had left home Penelope began writing in earnest, about her life (The Golden Child 1977), working in a bookshop (The Bookshop, 1978), living on the houseboat (Offshore 1979, which we have all enjoyed) and more, including The Blue Flower (1995). She won the Booker Prize in 1979. Penelope died in 2000, aged 83 years. We spent a little time discussing her trials and her achievements and wondered why her family had not been able to help her more.

Jonathan then talked about The Beginning of Spring. He did not want to spend too much time as he was keen to hear our views. But it was clear he loved the book, the detail of description, high points were flawed Frank, the poor baby bear treated so cruelly, the character of Muriel Kinsman, Nellie getting ready for marriage, Lisa and Dolly in the forest and the Charles. He considers it to be a masterpiece (but acknowledged that some critics have rated higher The Blue Flower). There was broad agreement with these sentiments. John thought it really caught its Russian setting, surprisingly as she may have only been there once. Steve agreed with the high quality of the writing, but noted a flat dispassionate narrative.  He felt the book suffused with sadness. Jonathan also stated that he found the plot to be secondary to the vivid descriptions and characterisations. I agreed with this (if I understood correctly his meaning). While the writing was remarkable in setting the place, time, and characters, I thought the plot was too slow for much of the book. Theo was intrigued by the contrast between this book and Offshore. He loved them both. In this book he particularly liked Kuriatin. Nick liked the book, but felt Frank was a softie, a drifter. We all found the abrupt ending amusing. We discussed the portrayal of Russian bureaucracy, the student Volodya and his relationship with Lisa, Frank trying to get into Lisa, the comic Selwyn. We agreed with the comments of Jan Morris that it was told with a virtuoso storytellers technique ... illuminated by moments of comedy.

Geoff sent his comments by email, read out by Jonathan. He clearly greatly enjoyed the book ….

Simon was quiet for much of the discussion. He revealed that he had found the book much too slow moving and had given up around halfway.

 Jonathan then presented us with delicious Suffolk ham, together with cheeses. The conversation meandered…Jonathan Miller and his son, Opera, piano competitions, lockdown (mentioned once), Covid and seasonal infections, deafness and hearing aids.

I then presented 3 choices for the next meeting:

Austerlitz by WG Sebald
Oblivion by Robert Harris
The Secret Hours by Mick Herron

 Steve acted for absent Alan, but the voting was clear 5, 0, 2. Our next book is therefore Austerlitz by WG Sebald. We will meet at 58 Park Avenue South next month. I still have in my diary 12th February. Correct me if this is wrong.

Our collective thanks to Jonathan for a great evening.

Dave

Nighthawks on the wall, Sonny Rollins in the air, bog roll still supporting the light..and John was ready. Whilst waiting to be quorate we heard about syncopation and the superior musical education of jazz musicians.

Michael Connolly was born in Philadelphia in 1956 of Irish ancestry. Father a frustrated artist worked in construction, his mother a fan of crime fiction introduced her son to the genre. At 12 the family moved to Fort Lauderdale and at 16 Michael witnessed a man throwing an object in a hedge. He investigated and found a gun wrapped in a lumberjack shirt. He followed the man to a bar and later accompanied his father to the police station to report what he had seen. Impressed by the police procedures he retrospectively thought this event fuelled his interest further.

Off to the University of Florida he initially studied Construction but later, having seen Robert Altman’s film The Long Goodbye’ he switched to Journalism and creative writing. He read all of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe novels and became determined to be a crime fiction writer.

After graduation he worked as a journalist on a couple of  local papers for a few years and in 1986, he spent several months interviewing survivors of the 1985 Delta Flight 191 plane crash, which story earned Connelly a place as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The honour also brought Connelly a job as a crime reporter at the Los Angeles Times. He moved to California in 1987 with his wife Linda McCaleb, whom he met while in college and married in April 1984.

After three years at the Los Angeles Times, Connelly wrote his first published novel, The Black Echo (1992), after previously writing two unfinished novels.  The Black Echo won the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for best first novel. The book is partly based on a true crime and is the first one featuring Connelly's primary recurring character, Los Angeles Police Department Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch. Connelly named Bosch after the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, known for his paintings full of sin and redemption, such as the painting Hell, a copy of which hangs on the office wall behind Connelly's computer. Connelly describes his own work as a big canvas with all the characters of his books floating across it as currents on a painting. Sometimes they are bound to collide, creating cross currents. This is something that Connelly creates by bringing back characters from previous books and letting them play a part in books written five or six years after first being introduced.

What followed was 31 years of writing, 38 novels, 24 of which feature Harry Bosch, 21 short stories, 9 series on Netflix and many national and international awards.

The Black Echo in discussion was generally enjoyed: a pacy page turner with an impressive plot for a first novel and well-crafted characters. The Vietnam and tunnel sequences were particularly appreciated. For Geoff it was sub-standard Raymond Chandler and lacked humour and style. Others had problems with vaults, jewels, elderly Vietnamese millionaires and Eleanor Wish. John enjoyed the chance for vicarious smoking, Nick thought that if the book was a cigarette on finishing it you might pick up another Bosch ‘fag’ pretty soon. It turned out that there were already Bosch addicts in the room, Nick and Alan can’t get enough of him.

Over a fine selection of John’s cheese and bics, the conversation swung from football to favourite current viewing habits, with or without subtitles then on to relatives in the Great War. Then anal sphincters, faggots and savoury ducks. Finally, to two early experiences in a slaughterhouse.

January Book choices were Bewilderment by Richard Powers (nil points); The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald (5 votes); Slaughterhouse 5 (game over); Lessons by Ian McEwan (did not run).

Monday 13th November and we’re sat in Steve’s home cinema ready to discuss Demon Copperhead. Apologies from Nick, but everyone else is smiling, relaxed, and looking forward to a love fest of a critiquing session. That may be overstating it. There was one glum face, who, in his own words, felt that the many hours spent reading the book were hours he would never get back.

Steve presented Barbara Kingsolver, an author in her late 60’s, loving her Appalachian roots and in 2004 spending time off grid there, farming with her second husband, an ornithologist. Collecting prestigious awards with some regularity, she had started her writing career in the 1980’s at the University of Arizona, publishing her first novel “The Bean Trees” in 1988. All her books draw heavily on her own experiences. As they say, “write of what you know” and she does that with engaging authenticity and wit.

One snippet that wasn’t given an airing was that in the late 1990s she was a founding member of the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock and roll band made up of published writers. Other band members included Amy Tan, Matt Groening, Dave Barry and Stephen King,

Demon Copperhead was named the recipient of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and she won the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction for the novel, making her the first author to win the prize twice; she previously won in 2010 for The Lacuna.

Coming to our views of the book, there was general agreement that half way through the book there was an uncharacteristic dip in the grip the author had on her readers but this was accentuated because of the sureness of her sense of time, place, character, and Appalachian idiom throughout the work. Her ability to write (as advised by the ghost of Dickens) a first-person narrative “told from the perspective of the child” was extraordinary. It was felt that the prose was so delectable that it could not be rushed but insisted on being savoured. No-one claimed the extra points on offer for re-reading David Copperfield after Demon Copperhead, but there was some warm discussion comparing the characters  in both and the ingenuity of selecting names like U-Haul for Uriah Heap. If we'd had to award points out of 10 for how much we enjoyed the book it would have scored 80!

So, on to our next choice.

I told Steve that I was quite upset at having to attempt to follow Barbara Kingsolver’s magnum opus but he, quite rightly, eschewed remorse. I felt that I had to resort to something so different that it might reset our literary palates in time for our January meeting. I of course alighted on that old chestnut of a theme, the interplay between the attractive, demure, home-loving but recently dismembered young woman and the dysfunctional detective. What could go wrong? As it happens the first two, Tessa Gerritson “The Surgeon” and Ambrose Parry “The Way of All Flesh”, were dispatched in short order, leaving Michael Connelly’s “Black Echo” wherein Harry (Hieronymus ) Bosch, the said dysfunctional detective is introduced to the book buying world.

Cheese? Wonderful
Crackers? Ditto
Wine and beer? Plentiful and good
Company? Without peer in Park Avenue South.

Thank you, Steve, for a great choice and a lovely evening

Meet at 72 on December12th to discuss “The Black Echo”

AT 8 PM    (not 8.30)

Hi fellow readers 

We met on the 9th October courtesy of Theo to discuss Trees by Percival Everett. We had a full catalogue of members minus Derek who sent us his comments beforehand.

The author turns out to be an American academic with the impressive title of Distinguished Professor ( I guess a step above a mere humble Professor) with a substantial literary record of some 30 books and a rather disillusioned relationship with his former publisher- Faber and Faber. This book which was shortlisted for the Booker provided the author with a level of fame beyond that provided by his previous writings and propelled him into the arms of a  North London Grub Street publisher apparently to spite his previous publisher who he felt had been deficient in advertising his wares.

It also seems that our author is something of a renaissance figure including amongst his attributes talents as diverse as jazz guitarist, instrument repairer and tennis player.

Theo showed us a short interview with him in which he described the book, subject to certain provisos, as a satire or more accurately, irony ( I thought Americans didn’t do irony).

He placed the book in a tradition including Rape of the Lock ( Swift), Tristram Shandy Lawrence Sterne) and P G Woodhouse. The proviso being a desire on his part to include alternative genres in his writing ( mystery etc) rather than being shoehorned into one classification.

Theo prefaced his introduction by telling us that whilst he found the book interesting his reaction stopped short of actually liking the book and he had preferred his other two choices ( now he tells us).

This feeling of not especially liking the book was somewhat of a common denominator in our response. Several, if not most of us indicated that having initially had our interest sparked by the start of the novel, the level of interest diminished as the novel progressed. There was the initial intrigue and cleverness in the retribution storyline. The crack and bromance between the two detectives was also  an enjoyable feature as we entered the novel and the disappearing bodies gave the storyline a certain sharpness if not anarchy. The comic depiction of the confederate white trash community was certainly amusing. Not much subtlety there but as Everett suggested in his interview, by definition ( KKK fellow travellers) they can happily be described as comic figures. The later stages of the novel gave us more difficulty. More characters are introduced perhaps at the expense of our bantering detectives and the plot became more bizarre and fantastical. One imagines this was our writer playing around with different formats but in doing so, for some of us, this created a sense that he was simply being random in the direction in which the novel was heading. It seems there was a problem in sustaining interest in the book.

So the verdict seemed to be that although there were positive aspects to the writing, probably particularly the comic scenes, as a whole, it was not a great read.

The evening did however have a certain educational value. We learned that all zombies walk slowly. Of course. Thanks Nick.

We had are usual diverse chats embracing model villages, bike rides and their impact on Simon’s knees and of course football- a north London duo at the top of the table. The perennial favourite- property sale reared its head in particular in respect of Theos hopes for a sale (don’t go Theo).

The choices for the next meeting were as follows:

Trespass by Louise Kennedy

The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Tight between the last two but Demon Copperhead was the winner 

We meet at No 54 on 13th November.

Finally thanks to Theo for the hospitality and the marvellous array of cheeses.

Steve

Apologies fellas - I’m in the Lakes for a few days so can’t make tonight’s meeting 

I enjoyed reading the book - darkly comic -parts of it were laugh out loud  but got more and more OTT as it developed 

Really enjoyed the banter between the two main detectives as well as the grotesque families of the first few victims 

I enjoyed it less as it got more and more unbelievable but overall a decent read and I will go and see the film - seemed to be another book that was pretty much a film script 

Think it’ll make for an interesting meeting

All best

Derek

A small group of keen readers assembled at Simon's house to discuss Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Apologies received from many.

Simon briefed us on Bonnie's pre-fame life - she was 64 when Lessons was published. She was born in California, raised in Seattle, married an Englishman who worked for Google, worked as a copywriter in USA, Colombia, Switzerland and in 2017 moved to London. She has two daughters and had a dog named Friday, who she thought had a large vocabulary. Her first attempt at a novel was rejected 98 times, but she persevered and got an agent (Emily Blunt's sister, Felicity) and became famous. She is working on another novel.

Our select group of Simon, Jonathan, Derek, Nick, and Geoff all enjoyed the book - some more than others. There was a concensus that the first 100 or so pages were a bit dull, but the introduction of neighbour Harriet and the TV show livened it up. The dog seemed to be the elephant in the room, no-one had anything to say about it, to me it was just an irritation. The author says it is the only character in the book based on real life, we felt that the treatment that Elizabeth got from the male characters was based on real life. We all thought the very happy ending was a bit naff, but expected, and fitted in with the mood of the book.

Theo's remote presentation didn't happen for family reasons. He gave us three books to choose from -

Lessons by Ian McKewen

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

Trees by Percival Everett

Some jiggery-pokery during the voting (Voter Id next time please) left Trees by Percival Everett the clear winner.

9th October at Theo's  - Steve will be up next.

Here are some revues by absentees -

Apologies but I'm unable to come this evening. A shame because I enjoyed reading the book. I found it original, surprisingly amusing and very good at describing cranky, top achieving scientists such as Calvin. I used to have to interact with many who were quite exceptional at their work, but completely lacking in people skills.

I enjoyed the very direct Elizabeth and her struggles with the patriarchy. Of course, so believable. Also, the different phases of the book I found held my attention. Her cooking programmes were inventive and funny.

Ok, a lot of contrived plot lines, coincidences, and an oh so happy ending would normally have irritated. But no, I just rolled with it.

Dave

Apologies, gents, I won’t be able to make it tonight as off on holiday tomorrow morning and will be packing this evening. Hope you have a good meeting. I really enjoyed the book – a very easy read.

Alan

I enjoyed Lessons In Chemistry enormously. Highly original and clever, like a Ronald Dahl children’s book for grown ups but underpinned with more modern, wholesome values.

Theo

Hi mate, if you’re at book group can you let Simon know that I’ve emailed him to let him know that I’m not going. I’ve been in Gothenburg this weekend and the flight back was delayed so only just got home…I didn’t read much of the book, I couldn’t get on with the writing style…It felt like she’d written it with the intention of getting it made into a Netflix series…I feel that Simon is firmly in the 'life's too short to continue with a book that you're not enjoying.'

Cheers all Rob

As previously mentioned, I can’t make the book group - escaping from the heat of London in Turkey. Here are my thoughts on the book -

I thought it was a fun read. The literary equivalent of a Romcom ( film round the corner?). The rom part of it departed quite quickly but Calvin retained his presence throughout the book and I half expected that Elizabeth’s research would miraculously result in his resurrection. Not to worry, a happy ending of sorts was always guaranteed.

The book was well written I thought, sharp observation and pacy. Liked the setting of 50s male dominated values ( the setting not the values! ). Admittedly this world, certainly in the professions and academia has to a large extent disappeared (hopefully) and probably now seems somewhat distant but hard to say that the author was exaggerating too much. Even if she was, the narrative presented fertile ground for archetypal villains of the male variety.

Ok there were stereotypical characters and far fetched plot machinations but this was a comic story so, as they were handled well , who cares. The link between chemistry and cooking was of course clever and central to the story but it was the one area that created some unease in my reading of the book. We are asked to buy into the premise that the average American housewife would be enthused by and indeed be motivated by the chemistry behind cooking. I find this a step too far though I admit not to being a chemistry enthusiast ( physics far more sexy).

I also think it is worth considering the presentation of Elizabeth Zott as physically attractive.I appreciate that this feeds in to the feminist narrative to a degree - her intellectual attributes always minimised by the male attention being given to her looks. And of course there is a certain irony in her break into television being propelled by her “presence”. However, by way of contrast, I was reminded of the story behind Julia Childs. I don’t know if any of you saw the excellent series on Netflix starring Sarah Lancashire and David Hyde Pearce (Niles) - both excellent. She was a pioneer of tv cooking in the States and certain elements in this book with regard to the tv aspects are culled from her story. However, rather than being televisual, she was large and unattractive but with a warm disarming personality. In a sense a true feminist story although she did run foul of certain strands of feminist thinking exemplified by Betty Friedan. What would Betty Friedan have made of Elizabeth Zott - but that would be another story.

So a light and entertaining book. Coincidentally, I had only recently finished another “Lessons” book. This was Ian McEwans latest - Lessons. To use an Elizabeth Zott analogy, this provided the literary nourishment of homemade soup. Lessons in Chemistry was more of the tinned soup variety.

Have a good evening.

Steve 

Sorry for the delay in getting this out to you.  But it took me a while to figure out how to use Chat GBT.  This is what it came up with.

Overview of "This Book Will Save Your Life": A brief overview of the book, "This Book Will Save Your Life" by A.M. Homes, was presented, highlighting the author's style, main characters, and central theme of personal transformation.

1.    Discussion of Key Themes and Plot Points: The group engaged in a lively discussion about the key themes and plot points of the book. They explored the protagonist's journey towards self-discovery, the importance of human connection, and the impact of unexpected events on one's life.

2.    Champagne Corks and Tennis: Symbolism and Metaphors: The participants delved into the symbolism and metaphors present in the book, particularly focusing on champagne corks and tennis. They explored how these elements represented moments of celebration, resilience, and the unpredictable nature of life.

3.    Kidney Donation: Ethical Dilemmas and Personal Sacrifice: The book's exploration of kidney donation as a significant plot point sparked a thought-provoking discussion on ethical dilemmas and personal sacrifice. The group shared their opinions on the characters' choices and debated the moral implications involved.

4.    Individual Perspectives and Emotional Impact: Participants took turns expressing their personal perspectives on the book and how it resonated with them. They discussed the emotional impact of the story, reflecting on moments of inspiration, empathy, and personal growth.

5.    Conclusion and Final Thoughts: The book club meeting concluded with a collective reflection on the book. Participants shared their final thoughts, including favorite passages, memorable characters, and how the story had affected them personally. Recommendations for future book selections were also discussed.

Overall, the book club meeting centered around the novel "This Book Will Save Your Life" by A.M. Homes, exploring its themes of personal transformation, symbolism, and ethical dilemmas. The participants engaged in a passionate discussion, providing unique perspectives and deepening their understanding of the book.

Sounds like a good meeting if a little soulless, but it missed out the bit about the author being female which was a surprise to us.  And where did his seemingly limitless money come from?  The relationship with his son was deemed to be quite shocking but didn’t seem to go anywhere.  And why did he abandon his son in the first place to become a money making hermit who never went out.  There were lots of random events which took him away from his sterile life and all in all, for me, added up to a rather silly book.  We did enjoy talking about it though and I think my version of events made for a much more interesting meeting that the Chat GBT rubbish above.

Thank you Alan for your hospitality and the donuts of course!  And your marshalling of the votes for the books I presented which was pretty straightforward as “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus won by a landslide.  “When breath becomes air” by Paul Kalanithi rejected for not being a novel, an excellent read none the less..  “The island of missing trees” by Elif Shafack also spurned as was “The Ferryman” by Justin Cronin.

Conversation strayed into other territories such as York Paving, bats, birds of prey, scones (and all the regional variants) and donuts of course.  I mean can you imagine setting yourself the task of parking in every supermarket parking bay or sampling the scones from every National Trust Property, barking mad but given a choice I would go for the scone task.

Have a long summer break guys and we will meet again 11th September at my place where the character Elizabeth Zott (in the next book), may well be able to provide me with the inspiration to wiz up some confection for our mutual enjoyment.

Yours Simon

Once we had negotiated the tortuous entry requirements to access Fort Nick’s, we were all able to admire his stunning new pied a terre. It has everything you need and more, including petrol/diesel price watch facilities, entertaining bus antics and silent bouncy yoga.

 Apologies had been received from Steve who was enjoying some Turkish delight but had still found time to provide his comments in advance.

 After the initial discussions on house rebuilds, dentistry and other topics of construction while we waited on John joining us, it was discovered that two of our group (who shall be nameless) had read the wrong book (with one enjoying and the other not).

 Deciding against splitting the group in two, we moved on to revelations about the author, Elizabeth Taylor and discussions on her book, Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont.

Nick said she appeared to be a very private person (this seems to be a theme of our recent selection of authors).  Born in 1912 in Reading. She was educated at The Abbey School, Reading, and then worked as a governess, tutor, and librarian. She married in 1936 John Taylor, owner of a confectionery company, after which they lived in Penn, Buckinghamshire for almost all their married life. She had 2 children. She was briefly a member of the British Communist Party, then a consistent Labour Party supporter.

 Her first novel was published in 1945 and she subsequently had eleven more published plus numerous short stories. Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (1971) was her penultimate novel. It was included in Robert McCrum's 100 Best Novels in English and shortlisted for the Booker Prize. A TV adaptation was screened in Play for Today in 1973 starred Celia Johnson and a film adaptation, directed by Dan Ireland, was released in 2005 with British actress Joan Plowright in the title role.

 Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is a post-imperial novel with the lead character herself having spent most of her adult life in Burma, where her late husband had his job.

 She died in 1975. Her close friend, Elizabeth Jane Howard, was asked to write a biography following her death, but refused due to what she felt was a lack of incident in Taylor's life. This is strange given she allegedly posed nude for Eric Gill (a near neighbour) and had a 10-year affair which only stopped after the family moved to Yorkshire. 

 On to discussion of the book itself and the sentiments of the group were overwhelmingly positive. All the characters were well sketched out and it had a ‘classy’ writing style. It was remarked that it did seem like a precursor to Fawlty Towers in part (also referred to in Steve’s comments by email). Each character had their own idiosyncrasies and foibles, and they lived a world away from the ‘swinging 60’s’ going on in the world outside the hotel.

There was some debate about Ludo’s motives, were they selfish, did he have genuine feelings towards his ‘grandmother’ (as shown by his actions on her death) and there was no sympathy at all for Mrs Palfrey’s real grandson who got exactly what he deserved.

 The individual residents, the hierarchy of social standing, the little things which brought more status – trips out, visitors – all felt very realistic of the age.

 Too many little episodes in the book to mention here but all thoroughly enjoyed.

 After digesting the book, we enjoyed pork and veggie pies and cheeses and continued with eclectic conversations which seemed even more so than usual:

 •        Steve’s childhood in a Bournemouth hotel surrounded by women, similar to those in the Claremont
•        Geoff serving ‘Stan Ogden’ breakfast and John stepping on Violet Carson’s toes
•        Nick’s Gallic shorts
•        How the 91 bus negotiates the Tottenham Lane/ Ferme Park Road mini roundabout (or not)
•        Banner’s closure in September
•        Bob Dylan in Crouch End to see Dave
•        The Daily Twit
•        Amusing graffiti (Doris Archer is a Prude etc)
•        The resurrection of Boris and the death of Berlusconi
•        How many had hads and buffalos in one sentence and
•        Bats foxes and rats 

The choices for July were: 

Island – Aldous Huxley
This book will save your life – A M Homes
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine – Gail Honeyman

The clear winner with no need for recounts, transferable votes or fake Scottish accents was:

This book will save your life – A M Holmes

Next meeting at 8.30pm, Monday 10 July at 59 Park Avenue South.

By consensus there will be no meeting in August.

Alan

My apologies but still in Turkey so will be missing the book group.

As for the book, I thought it was a delight.

A perfect evocation of time and place. The residents, a product of the embers of the empire, clinging on to their values as well as to their lives in a world which is being encroached by changing attitudes. Suez and it’s political significance is still comparatively fresh in the memories and Carnaby street and a youth culture which has no respect for traditional values is just round the corner.

I loved the way in which the writer created the little world created by the residents, the pecking order, the importance of appearance and the narratives consequently created. All of this against the background in which time was ticking and it would not be long before the niceties of their existence would be put into perspective by the final reckoning. God’s waiting room indeed.

The novel brought back memories for me. When I was young my parents used to go with me to a “nice” hotel in Bournemouth. There were a group of residents there ( mainly female) that had special status in the hotel. I vividly remember the women dressing up for dinner ( I could swear I can recall those little furs around the shoulders).

I enjoyed the pared down style of the writer. I just wonder if the book might have had an influence on  Faulty Towers? Maybe there was perhaps a bit too much sadness in the book - but a minor criticism.

Have a good evening 

Steve

We ascended the steps to Dave's front door without encountering any problems. Being greeted by Gummy Delaney was a bit of a shock, had he slipped out of a hand-jam and tumbled to earth? It turned out that his four front teeth were in need of an upgrade, waiting for parts. Alan and Simon sent apologies,  I hope they are enjoying their holidays.

Geoff thanked Dave for use of his house, and then told his own climbing story. As a teenager, heading for a meeting with some girls, he decided to take the quick way down from the top of a quarry. He must have taken a bad step, because he woke up in hospital two days later with a variety of broken bones.

On to business, Geoff told us the little amount of personal information he had discovered about M John Harrison. Born in Rugby in 1945, his father, an engineer, was interested in military history, and died when M John was 13. Wasted teenage years, saved by the teacher who introduced him to GB Shaw.  He started writing himself, in the style of Saki, (H H Munro, died in the trenches in 1916, reputed last words "Put that bloody cigarette out"). He left school at 18, had a variety of jobs, including groom for a local hunt. His first story was published in 1966 by Kyril Bonfiglioli (author of All The Tea in China) in Science Fantasy magazine. This success persuaded him to move to London where he had various clerical jobs.

In London he met many of the "New Wave" science fiction authors, including Michael Moorcock, editor of the monthly New Worlds magazine. He became reviews editor of the magazine, he says he was perpetually angry, a fact easily spotted if you read some of his book reviews. He loved the new stuff by Ballard, Spinrad, Disch, but hated the old space opera stories. He wrote stories, reviews, and novels, but in his thirties he decided to put all that behind him, move back north, and devote himself to climbing. He hoped that being in the fresh air, with undependable people and the constant risk of a 70 foot fall would help concentrate his mind while writing. He was climbing most days of the week, and kept a journal, which would form the basis for "Climbers".  He has now written over 20 novels, and many short stories. He continues to write, a memoir is expected. His books have had much critical acclaim, China Mieville (The City and the City), Angela Carter (Nights at the Circus), Neil Gaiman and Iain Banks all rate him highly.

Steve opened the discussion by saying how much he enjoyed the writing, but how little he enjoyed the book. This seemed to be the general feeling in the room, only Jonathan (and perhaps me) being more fulsome in our praise. We all enjoyed the characters in the book, and recognised the feeling of camaraderie in the group. There were some dramatic events - deaths of Nina and Sankey, the affair with Normal's wife, but the fact that the book had been constructed from a set of journals about individual climbing expeditions meant that there was no strong narrative to tie it all together. We enjoyed the various car journeys, the unspoken rivalry among the climbers to find/achieve the hardest routes. The prospect of body full of injuries and hands almost stripped to the bone didn't encourage us to try climbing, and as for doing one finger press-ups ... The book won the Boardman-Tasker award for mountain literature in 1989, (Touching the Void had won it in 1988).

Further discussion revealed that our group is not keen on dangerous sports, although Geoff had tried hang-gliding in a field full of cow dung, and Steve had been a wind-surfer in his youth. Theo told us of his pal who seems determined to die under water/in the air/on a motorbike.

Alan let Geoff know that Climbers was not one of his favourite books.

I was disappointed that Simon was not there to tell us how he met Rostropovich - he has now revealed all -

I was commissioned to build a study for him in his apartment in Maida Vale.  I had just completed a big library for the emperessario Lilian Hockhouser, who managed Slava, as he was called. I built his study, which he really loved, of course, but I was pissed off with him because he had stuck drawing pins into the wood and hung fairy lights on it.  I told him off and he gave me two tickets to see him play a Hinderschmit concert at the Barbican.  I didn't like the music but it was brilliantly played of course.  Back stage he gave me an enormous bear hug and thanked me for everything.

That was the last I saw of him. Happy days.

Simon

My proposals for next month were -
The Owl Service by Alan Garner
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor - winner by a landslide
Western Wind by Samantha Harvey

Meeting will be 8.30pm, Monday 12th June, at 13 Berkeley House, 163 Tottenham Lane.

Nick

Fellow Readers

Without incident, our expedition set off from leafy P.A.S. into the wilds of N.17 heading for the appropriately named Church Rd, our mission to discuss the conception, construction and transportation of a visionary glass cathedral. We were subdued by our awareness that inhabitants of glass buildings should not cast stones, certainly not at pagan motifs; but we had all succumbed, some of our pitches had landed on a cockerel others on a cannon, our destinies were sealed by the football gods.

None of us dared the betrayal enacted by Oscar Hopkins shift from Baptist to Evangelist and more prosaically by Sol Campbell. Temptation awaited us at Rob’s door, the fruit of Satan this time a fine array of cheeses.

We started by acknowledging absences, Simon our hearts and condolences are with you, Alan we wish Alison a full recovery, Steve thanks for your reflections which were revealed later so as not to pre-empt our thoughts.

‘Oscar and Lucinda’ was a great read for all present. We praised(sic) the creative originality of fusing the obsessive and/ or compulsive nature of religion and gambling, the masterful art of storytelling resembling 19th Century greats, the vivid characterisation of the major and minor characters and the interplay of the latter across all 500+ pages. Oscar the ‘odd-bod’and Lucinda the ‘before her time’ feminist held our attention effortlessly, out of step with society and misunderstanding each other’s love, we were dismayed that their final wager didn’t lead to the outcome we so wanted. They were indeed burnt by their passions. Steve’ reflections were in line with our enthusiasm for the first half but seriously cooled for the journey of the second half, revealing of course the fate of those who pitched their stone on the pagan cannon.

Rob gave us a painstakingly researched insight to the life and character of Peter Carey. He grew up in a small town, west of Melbourne, with little culture or literature in his background. He mistakenly took  Science course at Uni but following a car crash changed direction, abandoned Uni and headed for mercurial world of advertising where colleagues immersed him into the works of great writers.He had a very successful career, and a series of loving and committed marriages, at least until the next one. He comes across as a man of great charm and humility, Theo’s sister-in- law (I think) worked for Faber and Faber and met him, she affirmed that Peter Carey was self-effacing, humorous and great company and bolstered her own self assurance as a young woman finding her way in her career. We felt this was as expected from the creator of Lucinda.

Thanks to Rob for leading us to this acclaimed read and for hosting a really enjoyable evening. 

Alan you were missed but Dave was press-ganged into adjudicating and was a convincing substitute, although his Scottish accent impersonation was the least polished part of it. After a second vote the winner was

‘Climbers’ by M John Harrison, despite my anxieties about its absence of most things that comprise a novel, like plot, narrative drive, action …. enjoy the read.

Runners-up were ‘ The History of Love’ by Nicole Krauss and ‘The Night Watchman’ by 

Louise Erdrich.

We meet again on Monday 15th May and 

Dave has kindly agreed to let me host from his house, to avoid disturbing a sleeping baby! 

Cheers 

Geoff

Dear readers,

As I pulled up in my 17 plate Urano Grey, VW Golf I had the distinct feeling that something had changed about the neighbourhood…Was it the low street lighting? Was it the lack of plane trees? New paving? Or was it the ease with which I was able to find a parking space? Whatever it was it felt good to be back in the hood…We met at Derek's house, 7 Park Avenue South, to discuss The Other Americans by Laila Lalami

We discovered that Laila Lalami was born in Rabat, Morocco in 1968. Her family was a working-class one, where her mother and father both read widely in a variety of genres. According to Lalami, all the children’s books she read as a child were written in French, and as a child she began writing her own stories in French. Although her parents encouraged her writing she has stated that they thought she needed to study a profession other than writing.

In 1990, she received a British Council fellowship to study in (cold, wet) England, where she completed an MA in Linguistics at UCL. After graduating, she returned to Morocco and worked briefly as a journalist and commentator.

In 1992 she moved to Los Angeles, to attend the University of Southern California, from which she graduated with a PhD in Linguistics. 

Lalami began writing fiction and nonfiction in English in 1996. She is the author of five books, including The Moor’s Account, which won the American Book Award. Her most recent novel, The Other Americans, was a national bestseller and a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award in Fiction. She is professor of creative writing at the University of California.

Being a sensitive soul Derek found it difficult to find out too much detail about her life outside of writing. He decided not to follow her on Instagram, but he did discover that she is married to a Cuban-American man with a knack for fixing computers who was a fellow student at university. They live in California, and have one grown up daughter. 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/mar/22/laila-lalami-white-supremacists-target-muslims-threat-not-taken-as-seriously-as-other-forms-of-terror

Fortunately for Derek, The Other Americans was overwhelmingly well received. Whilst reading the book I had imagined what the group response would be, and, as we discovered later its lucky that I’m not a betting man, because I felt that there would have been a few dissenting voices. I wondered whether the short chapters, and re-telling of the same story from slightly different perspectives would prove distracting. However the feeling was almost the opposite with most of us enjoying this contemporary style of storytelling. My only criticism was that at the start of the book I wanted the narrative to progress at a quicker pace. However, I found that the pace picked up perfectly in the last third so perhaps this was a deliberate style. Nick had one major issue with the book, however it was something that would only be properly understood by someone who had read the books that he had! 

The consensus was that the book was extremely well crafted, all of the characters had authentic voices, which meant that all of their stories were credible. The only character that people seemed to struggle with for various reasons was A.J.

The post book review chat proved illuminating, but not very rewarding for those playing 'Park Avenue South 3 P’s Bingo’. There was disappointingly little talk of Politics, Parking, or Pétanque, instead this evening’s 3 P’s were, Pensions, Pundits, and (Tena) Pants!

Apologies were received from Theo and Simon. Theo rated the book in the ‘very good’ category.

Many thanks to Derek for providing some beautiful cheese and biscuits, super hospitality, and a great book choice.

Next meeting is in the wilds of N17 on Monday April 17th.

We met yesterday at Jonathans to discuss A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

The authors background was intriguing- a degree in English followed by 20 years as an investment banker ( the money must have been tough). A successful first novel enabled him to jettison his banker credentials and become a full time novelist. This was his second book which took about 3 years to complete. Jonathan found it hard to extract much information as to his personal background describing him as “slippery”. It seems he playfully teases his audience by raising doubts as to his credibility- and I guess we can see this playfulness in his writing.

Everyone liked the book and some of us really, really liked the book. For a start, the construct was intriguing, a Russian aristocratic forced to spend his days as a non person living in various capacities in what had been and still aspired to be, an exclusive hotel. This was a life lived in a rarified atmosphere when in the outside world seismic political and social events were occurring. These events were impacting on the Counts  life but translated into the world of the hotel and potentially raising questions as to the Count’s life philosophy.

The events in the novel were not seen through the counts eyes in the first person but by a worldly narrator who was able to present the narrative in a way sympathetic to the Counts perspective. So there was always a distance between the reader and the Count but equally a sense of rapport with the Count.

The rapport developed through the Count’s charm but this was not merely a superficial layer of aristocratic charm but a charm that developed from a singular philosophy. Here was a man able live his life applying principles that were in no way rooted in any political ideals but sustained in concepts of duty, friendship and romance. So, whilst initially his dealings with the hotel staff reflected his aristocratic standing as a Count, these relationships were defined by a mutual respect that remained constant despite his slide down the social order as a head waiter. Indeed we almost had a sense that despite the apparent changes, little had changed certainly not in the Count’s sanguine philosophy.

His life approach was seemingly drawn from a variety of sources ranging from his grandmother to Montaigne but all leading to sense of cheerfulness that derived from small pleasures. Even when on the edge of suicide ( typically a very dispassionate  decision), he was drawn back from the brink by the joys of honey and vodka. Indeed the pleasure of food and drink, of course properly prepared, is a constant theme in the book representative both of pleasure and order.

The writing, which we all enjoyed, is laced with charm and a particular brand of humour often deriving from the Count’s wry observation of incidents within the hotel. Many of the humorous incidents ( they seem almost anecdotes) involve the children, Nina and Sofia and the reaction of the Count to the children reinforces his charm - a quizzical response, an involvement in their games and an acknowledgment that life lessons can be learnt from them. Jonathan referred to the fact that Amor has two young girls and this is no surprise ( it begs the question as to whether his presentation of the girls would have been the same had his children been teenagers!).

Whilst none of us had any adverse comments on the book, Jonathan did refer to some negative responses apparently derived from the criticism that it fails to address to human catastrophes of Stalinism. We do have a sense of what is happening outside the hotel but it is on the periphery. The repercussions  of the revolution, whilst it is the catalyst for the book, is not the driving force. Politics is not a subject dwelled on by the Count. For him, the weather is a more potent force than politics. Indeed, his non political utterances make us perplexed as to his authorship of the political pamphlet that saved his life only for us to discover towards the end of his book that they had been written by his friend. More playfulness on Towles part.

So a book that was universally enjoyed by us.

As for the rest of the evening, the usual suspects were rounded up (geddit). Parking and building renovation were discussed but soon overtaken by subdued talk of the Ukraine situation. Grand hotels that we have stayed at were discussed (not many). Who knows, one day there might be a book club outing to the Metropole. More likely would be a group outing to the Pétanque pitches in Priory Park ( thermal leg warmers optional). An attempt to introduce some good news about the recovery of the ozone layer was dampened by Johns reference to magnetic inversion ( don’t ask me!) which involves the switching of the poles. Simon no doubt enthused by the unusual failure to discuss football (a first?) regaled us with stories of photo destruction (awesome).

Jonathan had prepared some delightful delicacies to augment the occasion- salmon on blenis, quails eggs, gherkins (home soured - mega) as well as multitudinous cheeses. The Count would have approved.

Missing were Nick and Dave ( now both recovered), Geoff (we hope for your return shortly) and Rob (we look forward to being counselled).

Daves choices for the next meeting were:

Jorge Amado - Captain of the Sands

Joseph Roth - The Radetzky March

Patrick McGrath - Last Days in Cleaver Square

After considered thought, the choice was Last Days in Cleaver Square (clue - 223 pages)

Next meeting at Dave's on 13th February 

Steve

Whatever happened to 7/11? It seems the chain was sold to Budgens in 1997, it seems like yesterday.... 

As we seven settled into John's front snug it was memory that was part of the chatter as we waited for Steve's arrival. A two month's gap took much of the freshness from our memories and the discussion, but more of that in a moment.

Firstly we heard about Dave's great news, Pascale had given him a third grandson ... Congratulations! But then we heard with sadness of Geoff's recent diagnosis with Covid as he and Mariana returned from Valencia. Then about Derek's concern for Rebecca's current illness and his wish to protect us all and finally we remembered that Rob was on his course but just what was the area of study?

Steve arrived and John then told us about Fredric Brown (1906-1972) a multitalented master of mysteries, fantasies and science fiction. Born in Cincinnati there is little personal information around but we heard he was married and that his wife claimed he hated to write and preferred to play with Siamese cat Ming Tah or play the flute or challenge friends to a game of chess. By the time Fredric Brown wrote Clipjoint, his first full novel, he had already been a prolific contributor to the pulp mags of the 1930 & 40s. The book won the Edgar first book award and the characters ED and Uncle Am went on to star in a number of subsequent books. Robert Heinlein, Philip K Dick and Stephen King are all fans of his writing and one of his short stories was used in Startrek in 1967.

Generally the book was given a thumbs up. Praise particularly for the sense of time and place and the well drawn characters such as Uncle Am. Brown managed to pack a lot into a limited space and kept the reader engaged. There was some disagreement, feeling this coming of age story was too stereotypical and predictable. The gangster's moll, an unnecessary distraction to some and a delicious addition to others. Other discussion points included the heavy alcohol use of the time, the predictability of the ending, the jazz and generally negative portrayal of women. On balance we felt he did well, he was a start of a style of writing that was improved in the decades that followed. John read absent book-grouper's reviews which scored 3-1 in favour.

Moving on we covered some serious issues:- can you be truly woke and gender aware in your 60s or 70s?; how to stop the 2am racket from the 91 bus?; How not to join a committee or social group; how sexist stereotyping is rife in our schools at Xmas. This carried on over John's delicious cheese board and home cooked Chorizo treats, and we squeezed in a World Cup chat as well. Thank you John, a great night. The idea of a joint male and female book swap meeting on 12 DEC was accepted, venue details to follow

Then to three survival and endurance offerings

1. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (2 votes)

2. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (3 votes)

3. Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel (2 votes)

After a series of baffling subsequent votes and point of order, Alan told us we are off to Moscow for the next meeting.

WHICH WE BE ON JAN 9TH 8.30PM at 15 PAS.

Dear All

September's Book club was absent Steve (with apologies and a review) , but Simon,  Rob, Nick, Derek, Jonathan, Alan, Dave, Geoff, Theo and myself took part in the the discussion of Mrs March, Theo's offering.

There wasn't a great deal of sympathy shown for Mrs March, and there was puzzlement regarding the way other protagonists didn't spot her aberrant behaviour, didn't refer her to some form of treatment or therapy. Maybe Mr march was asking for it? Theo defended the book stoutly and it must say something that all read the book in its entirety. Personally, I felt that the book was a powerful exploration of the relationship between money, power, health and happiness. A life built on  a narrow base, with such a lack of self belief yet extended upwards to unsustainable heights by wealth and status, it was bound to topple eventually. Her downfall was charted in a curiously , well, monotonous style. That is harsh, but there was little light and shade and certainly no Sturm und Drang. This might be put down to English not being the author's mother tongue, but she had lived in english speaking countries for long enough to be able to write in technicolour rather than sepia. Perhaps it was meant to highlight the lack of dimensions to Mrs M's character?

The discussion was, as ever, fun and varied and Steve's email set the tone for the subsequent conversation.

Theo's choice of cheeses showed impeccable taste and we thank him for a splendid evening.

The books selected by me were all detective novels. One distinctively English (Agatha Christie, And then there were none) , Japanese (Seishi Yokomizo, The Honjin Murders) and finally American (Frederic Brown The Fabulous Clipjoint).

After some discussion of Agatha's Mousetrap (no spoilers given) the vote of Null Points left her out of the running.

Frederic triumphed in a close vote but given that the next meeting will be in November (mass absences in October.....) a number of people felt that they would try both first and second choices. Certainly Yokomizo paints a very interesting view of a land most people have not yet seen. And the names, though unfamiliar, don't get in the way of the narrative. Simon told us that he has a special interest in Japanese carpentry. I know that the japanese have sublime talents in the jointing of timbers ....watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KqIIOyuo1Q if you doubt me! And japanese architecture plays a part in the plot...

We'll meet at 72 in November, on the 14th. See you then.

Oh, and the work has started in Priory park on Hornsey's first purpose built Boulodrome!

John

Dear All,

We met on a balmy July evening in Steve’s garden to discuss Summer Rain by Sarah Moss, the story of a collection of households on holiday beside a Scottish Loch in the pouring rain.

The book opens with Justine out for a run in the early morning drizzle. Her inner monologue is authentic and engaging and sets the format for the novel. We are privy to the thoughts of a range of present day, post Brexit characters; their hopes, fears petty familial resentments and peccadillos. And just when you think that, despite an underlying sense of menace, the narrative isn’t going anywhere in particular, there is a tragic, cinematic ending.

Almost everyone enjoyed the the exceptional quality of the writing. The author certainly has the credentials of a skilled technician having spent ten years studying English at Oxford before a series of academic posts led to her present job as Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at University College Dublin's School of English.

But not everyone loved the book as a whole. Alan said he found it thoroughly boring and was forced to skim read the second half in an effort to get it over with quickly. Others, the absent Dave and the returning Geoff for example, loved it. (Welcome back Geoff). We had different favourite characters. Justine the runner was mine, the teenage girl was Nick’s.

Steve asked whether any of us had ever tried our hand at creative writing and Jonathan casually confessed to being a published author. A Bloomsbury one at that! He had written a book based on the funny stories that a lifetime’s work as a GP leave you with. For reasons related to medical ethics the book was published under a nom de plume which, as far as I remember, Jonathan did not reveal. He did say it was out of print though.

Somehow we got onto the health benefits of worms in faeces and Jonathan said that more than once he’d been brought earth worms by patients who were convinced that they had pushed them out when they had (almost certainly) wriggled up through the U-bend.

All the talk of worms in excreta inevitably led to exasperated comment on the Tory leadership battle. 

Then we rehearsed the old ‘natural talent versus hard work and application’ debate for a bit.

Nick’s move will have taken place by the time we all meet again and we wished him luck with that.

And so it was time to consider the three books nominated for this month. They were: ‘Mrs March’ by Virginia Feito, ‘Seesaw’ by Timothy Ogene and ‘The Whistleblower’ by Robert Peston. ‘Mrs March’ romped home in the first ballot.

When we meet again on August 8th, hopefully in the garden here at 36 PAS, the eleven Tory hopefuls will have been whittled down to two. As I write, my money’s on Mordant who may or may not be the lesser of many evils.

Theo Delaney

Hi all

We met last night to chat about The Smell of Apples by Mark Behr together with assorted other topics.

Absent were Derek, Alan and Theo.

Not too much about the author’s background. Seems to have been autobiographical ( no surprises there) but not the bit about the narrator being killed (obviously).

On balance the book was well received and scored high on the enjoyment scale.

The adult world being seen through the eyes of a child is hardly novel but seemed to work well here. The repugnantly racist views of the narrators parents being parroted as gospel (occasionally literally) was powerful. Some found the opening somewhat plodding- more Adrian Mole than a glimpse into a disturbingly racist world, but once the narrative perked up, they became more engaged. There was also a balance to the book in that the Boer perspective did seep through - a country offering tremendous bounty but which, because of the inadequacies of the non whites, could only be successfully harvested by the white

colonial rulers. There was also a sense of the extent to which the certainties of the Boer world were beginning to unravel obviously militarily but also intellectually in the different direction taken by the narrrators aunt and also one suspects by the emerging doubts of his sister. The storyline itself was a powerful one centred around the father/ son relationship and eventually the challenge to the unquestioning devotion of the son following his discovery of certain matters. Possibly the end of innocence. A parable? Apples will never smell the same again!

In structural terms, there was a feeling that the insertion at regular intervals of segments of the future military efforts of the narrator was somewhat gratuitous and added not much to the impact of the novel.

There was the usual esoteric chat on various topics. There was nostalgia expressed for 70s discos and an appreciation for the joys of the Woolwich ferry. Nick was also able to successfully raid his memory bank to recall a spitting image song expressing a dislike for South Africans.

On a somewhat deeper note, there was an acknowledgment of the liberating sensation of renouncing physical possessions and walking off into the sunset carrying just a suitcase containing essentials( the inner Buddhist in us). Although as Rob reminded us - beware possession rejection remorse. We were also pleased to share Simons babysitting duties with him. The presence on a screen of the sleeping baby added a different dimension to a collection of old fogies (not you Rob as you successfully reminded us) discussing books.

Particular congratulations to John for his now successful efforts to secure Pétanque pitches. Possibly Crouch End might become the centre of the U.K. pétanque playing world. Once the pitches are established, I suggest a book club outing.

The choices for next month were:

Trio by William Boyd

The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut

Summerwater by Sarah Moss

Summer Rain convincingly led the honours.

Till the 11th July at no 54.

Incidentally, if anyone can’t make it but wishes to make known his views, please circulate the comments directly to the group. Saves me reading them out.

Steve

PS Very remiss of me - I forgot to mention the highlight of the evening- Simons cherry pie. Delicious. Thank you Simon.

Also, I forgot to record Geoffs absence. Hopefully Geoff you will be able to rejoin us soon.

I enjoyed the read but also felt that the author could have developed it further.

Perhaps the authenticity of the perspective from a young boy prevented this. I was unhappy with the finale and the reveal of the father as a peadophile felt unnecessary.

I admired the way the  cultural assumptions and racism of the Afrikaner were portrayed.

The god fearing, morally uptight and vulnerable community besieged by communist inspired black revolt.

I felt that whilst the Mum and sister were well drawn characters the Mum’s sister as an educated liberal alternative could have been taken further and so could the sister Ilse sense of rebellion.

I didn’t see the ending coming and for me this sign of personal hypocrisy and immorality was at odds with the main tone and political attitude of the book, it took away from it.

Have a good evening and thanks for the read

Geoff

Dear Readers, 

A very jolly evening, of course, always a pleasure to meet up.  We missed you Geoff and Steve.  One bit of news is that this will be the last time we enjoy Nicks hospitality in his current abode as a new apartment in the thick of Crouch Ends downtown beckons.   I am looking forward to seeing the new home assuming we can all fit.  We wish you all the very best.  It will be a wrench after 40 odd years in PAS but a chance to sift through all the collected detritus of a life well lived in one place.

 As for that hospitality, in the spirit of New York, delicious Lox and cream cheese bagels were on offer, thank you Nick, for that treat. 

We discussed the question, what exactly does one do with that detritus, sometimes going back more than one generation, no conclusions were reached but in my case maybe the Royal Navy would like to see my fathers notes on his experience in the North Atlantic Convoys at the tender age of nineteen. 

On to the book – Laurence Block has written so any books and Nicks description was informative and very interesting.  The book was very well received and most really enjoyed the flavour of 70’s New York which was conjured up so well.  Some found the level of detail tiresome, Alan particularly so but personally I liked the detail, the street names, the cars, the booze of course, even his clothes.  John suggested perhaps a map of the city would have reinvigorated any sagging enthusiasm. 

There followed much discussion, the state of the road (terrible), the new house on the corner (are there two), the dangers of rugby (off the scale), the Hornsey Patanque Club (why are there no women?) and of course football (over my head).  I enjoy listening to the discussion but the injuries endured by players of sport generally and rugby in particular seem so appalling that the risk/benefit formula seems to be wrong.

 So, after a false start by my suggesting a book we have already read – Secret Scripture – great book suggested by Dave back in 2014 I think.  I suggested The smell of Apples by Mark Behr, Emma by Jane Austin and The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage.  After a convoluted vote conducted by our very own Alan we chose The smell of Apples by Mark Behr. 

We meet again on June 13th being the second Monday of the month.  I am off to Rhodes for ten days on Thursday so I wish you well, enjoy the book and we will meet again hopefully in a sunny suburban garden. 

Yours Simon

Hi Nick

There is a nice Shakespearean dimension to throw in to the discussion tonight. Enjoyed the read. Authentic voice of police training, all those mundane descriptions setting the sense of close surveillance, Scudder misses nothing! Appreciated the depiction and atmosphere of NY although don’t know it well enough to really relate to. 

Just when I Wes resolving to up my intake of spirits he lets me down by going on the wagon !!!

Not sure about the framing for murder at the end? Would he? How does this fit his moral code. Is he outraged by the others taking the rap or by the girlfriend’s suicide ?? Justice out scores mercy.. he had it coming!! 

Enjoy 

Geoff

Hi all

With the sun shining, we have decided to head off to Southwold for a few days, so I am afraid, no book group for me.

As for the book, I quite enjoyed it (a quantum leap for me by comparison to the last two choices). The lead character was reassuringly stereotypical, flawed but hard bitten, his macho exterior barely concealing a soft centre and with a chivalrous concern for the women ( of the damsel in distress variety). That said, I couldn’t understand his predilection for swelling the coffers of the Catholic Church. The writing was I felt pacy and the plot reasonably engaging.

Bottom line - it was a detective story!

Have a good evening 

Steve

Apologies from Geoff, Jonathan, Simon, and Rob meant that there was more cheese for the remaining seven of us - thanks Alan.
We went straight in with a discussion about the rumoured new CPZ plan - 8am to 6pm, with a charge of £400 per year for a parking permit. Our Leader (Peter Purdie) advised us to ignore the flyer from A. Nonymous that has been shoved through our letterboxes.
I had been spotted loading my car for a visit to the tip. The group went into a private reverie as we remembered our favourite tip visits. I believe there was a tear in Derek's eye as he said "I went twice today". Happy times.

Alan then gave us a brief biography of Chris Brookmyre, author of The Cut. He was born in Glasgow in 1968, gained in MA in English Literature and Theatre Studies at Glasgow University, worked as a journalist with The Scotsman, Edinburgh Evening News, and Screen International. His first novel, Quite Ugly One Morning, was published in 1996, to much acclaim.  He has since published 21 further novels, a couple of e-books, and three historical novels co-written with his wife, the anaesthetist Marisa Haetzman, under the name Ambrose Parry.  He is a member of the Fun Lovin' Crime Writers, a covers band that also features Mark Billingham and Val McDermid. Between 2008 and 2015, he was the President of the Humanist Society of Scotland. A busy boy.

Jack Parlabane, an investigative journalist, features in many of his books - inspired partly by the character of Ford Prefect in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; he’s someone who goes into situations and often makes them worse. Brookmyre likes to go out walking when working on a novel, he dictates into his phone, and writes it up when he gets home.

Alan told us that he particularly liked The Cut because of the Glasgow setting, he could visualize where the action was happening.

Not all the group completed the book, Theo was distraught to find that Millie's "post sex" line that he liked was only a set up for another "post sex" line later in the book. But he was relieved to find that Jerry was not "post sex" too. We were all surprised by the sudden change in tone following the unfortunate incident with the hammer. The story suddenly accelerated into caper movie territory. We enjoyed the switches between current day and Millie's life in the movies, and the story had a satisfactory end. Criticism  centred on the quality of the writing, I found the dialogue particularly grating. Perhaps knocking out a book every nine months or so means that attention to detail is a bit lax. We thought that better editing could have helped, but with sales of more than two million copies in the UK alone, and various crime writer awards, who are we to argue.

Brookmyre belongs to  the "Tartan Noir" school of Scottish crime writers; Laidlaw by William McIlvanney (brother of Hugh) is recognised as the first Tartan Noir novel.

My proposals for next month were -
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block
Harlem Shuffle by Bob and Earl (aka Colson Whitehead)

The three postal votes cancelled each other out. Kavalier and Clay was the first faller (almost certainly because of its 600+ pages). A second round ended in a tie, so I was called upon to give the casting vote. Lawrence Block won, probably his only chance in our book group, but Colson Whitehead should get another go.

Next meeting Monday 9th May at No. 73

Nick 

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Good morning Alan,I hope that you’re well.   

I’ve got a very anti-social cold which started yesterday, so probably best not to join the meeting this evening. At the moment I’m testing negative, but in these times it’s best to be on the safe side.

I’ve not quite finished the book, but have really enjoyed the dark humour and various twists and turns. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a film adaptation at some point. 

Anyhow, have a great evening and look forward t o seeing you all soon.

Cheers Rob
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Hi Alan

I will be in the middle of a 10 day break in Suffolk when the bookgroup next gets together.  So having just finished the book here's a short review for you to share or not.

Having taken a while get into the book the plot and pace got me hooked. I took to Jerry early on but struggled with Millie in the Italian film scene. The mix of horror and heavy metal a toxic brew for me. The book's unlikely chase of the snuff VHS reminded me of the South Sea Bubble ledger pursuit in Sea Change, and a long way from Maigret. The book's strength for me was the character development and pacy plot. I was even forgiving of the unlikely triumph of underdogs vs all powerful and the deliciously syrupy Roman sex in one's 70s. Why not?

Thanks a great read.

Jonathan
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Hi Alan 

I still have to shield as Rosie, Alfie and Mila are living with us for the time being. I will be with you in spirit but not in body. 

I am not sure how I feel about ‘The Cut’.. I haven’t finished it yet… about 3/4 through just arrived in Milan on the way to Rome. I found the first part quite searing to read, Millicent’s bewilderment and isolation and Jerry’s cynicism, envy and self destructiveness although astutely created, made them hard to relate to. I also found the horror video references arcane and maybe self congratulatory by the author. So I struggled to get into the book.

The plot then takes fantastical turns with the two taking on Special branch, especially the Paris/ Seine incident… at this point Millicent took on the image of Ma Clampit… and ‘Trainspotting’ turned into ‘ The Beverly Hillbillies’  😀 At least it is less painful and easier to read…I think I will persevere to the end but I remain unconvinced. 

Hope it is a lively evening. In terms of Nick’s selection which I got his preview of I will forward my vote soon. 

Cheers 

Geoff

We met at Derek’s in person despite the rising Covid cases – again four down with apologies from Steve, Dave, Simon, and Geoff - to consider / debate George Simenon’s first Maigret novel – Pietr the Latvian. 

It all started off well with talk of magicians and stagecraft including what a nice man Paul Daniels was. Briefly diverged onto the strangely named Camouflage Club (did not see that one coming) before moving full pelt into the history of Georges Simenon who, all agreed including absentees, seemed to be quite an unsavoury character. 

Born in Liege in 1903, Simenon started in the newspaper industry at 15. He was close to his father, but he died in 1922 when Simenon was only nineteen. His mother did not like him, favouring his younger brother Christian/ His indoctrination into news reporting was obtained mainly in the seedier side of Liege which might explain the source of the dark side of his characters and, indeed his own dark side. He was a prolific writer, initially under a number of pseudonyms (17 covering 358 novels and short stories) before penning under his own name for the Maigret novels (75 in all the first of which was published in 1930). 

He was married twice but never faithful. Both wives knew of his multiple infidelities but seemed powerless to stop them. 

During WW2 he did well as a German film company made films of some of his books. Consequently, he was regarded by many as a Nazi collaborator. He was under investigation post war which resulted in a 5-year ban on publishing his work. 

Despite spending most of his life outside Belgium (France, Canada, Switzerland) he received honours and recognition in the country of his birth (but then how many famous Belgians do we know). 

He died in 1989. 

In terms of our review of the book there was a distinct downbeat trend to the critique, the tone having been set by Steve’s remote review calling out the clear antisemitism shown in the characterisation stereotypes. There was also a general feeling that none of the characters were remotely likeable and little empathy could be felt for any of them. There was no detective work – it seemed to be all brute force but that might have been typical police work of the time. On the plus side, the imagery was felt to be good, and a lot had been packed into a short volume. 

Overall, a broadly negative review. 

We moved on to the books presented for the April meeting, which were:  

The Dark Remains – Ian Rankin / William McIlvanney
Station 11 – Emily St John Mandell and
The Cut – Christopher Brookmyre

 In a short and almost unanimous decision the choice for April was The Cut.

 Post review chat included a discussion on detective characters (which was the best Maigret portrayal – consensus being the original with Rupert Davies); the history of the bookclub © February 2008 and the question of any duplicate author choices; local football (not Tier 1); and John’s petanque cap.

 See you at No 59 on 11 April.

Dear Readers, 

I am not going to make it I am afraid.  I have a dry cough and as soon as I say anything I start coughing.  So boring and not conducive to a discussion group. 

I didn’t really like the book much, but I did finish it.  I found it very dated and as Steve said, his poor wife!  “Who dunnit” is not my favourite genre although I do watch some on TV.  Death in Paradise is more my level but that is mainly because Josephine Jobert  has nice tits. 

Have a great meeting and see you next time. 

Yours Simon

Derek

I can’t be there this evening, as Covid shows no sign of leaving my body. I’m sorry to miss the meeting as I’m sure it will be an interesting occasion with much to discuss.

I read the book quite quickly and was initially surprised how much I enjoyed it. It was different to what imagined it would be, not having read Simenon before. The Maigret series on TV are of course familiar. The 4 episodes with Rowan Atkinson portray quite a different character. The Rupert Davies series in the 1960s might have had character closer to that in the book, but it is a distant memory. I was sucked in to the tale, not so much by the twisting and contrived plot but by the atmosphere and the dogged and unpleasant character of Maigret. I am ashamed to say that the racial and antisemitic references sailed past me until mentioned by Steve. Immediately on reading his message I recognised what I had missed.

I notice that Simenon’s defenders cite the times he was in, as other famous authors were racist in their writing (eg Agatha Christie). Some enthusiasts completely ignore the issue, see the link to article by David Hare in the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/25/georges-simenon-david-hare-la-main-red-stage-national-theatre-maigret . Simenon does seem to have been a deeply unpleasant man. His boast of 10000 sexual conquests also illustrates a profound misogyny.

His mention of racial types reminded me of the spurious scientific literature on this topic. The “father” of this literature was Linnaeus who was an 18th Century pioneering classifier. He published on different skulls from different continents and mistakenly gave them a hierarchy, with African skulls bottom. I can remember seeing diagrams of this in ancient encyclopaedias. There is an article on this I found interesting by a member of the Linnean Society in the following link https://www.linnean.org/learning/who-was-linnaeus/linnaeus-and-race .

Have a fun evening!

Dave

Hi all

Sadly, I won’t be able to make Mondays meeting. Particularly sadly as I have some trenchant remarks to make about the book.

Let me preface my remarks by readily admitting that apart from a lingering affection for Raymond Chandler and the occasional reading of a Rebus, I am no aficionado of detective writing so I guess my remarks are not informed by any familiar sense of the genre.

However, it seems to me that there almost inevitably, given the nature of the plot, has to be some suspension of disbelief. I suppose that this can be derived from the intrinsic cleverness of the plot or one’s involvement in the characters or admiration for the writing or an evocation of place or a combination of all or some of these elements. Unfortunately,personally, I found none of these qualities in the book. I found the plot, for want of a better word, just silly. I found Maigret a stolid somewhat boring character to whom I responded with a sense of sympathy for his wife - endlessly cooking him meals only for him not to appear. Sure Simenon can write but any evocation of pre war Europe passed me by.

However, all that was the least of it. There seemed to be a continual tendency in his portrayal of characters to rely on “types” eg Slavic types. I found this initially a trifle uncomfortable, a feeling that intensified when we came to his description of the Jewish girlfriend and the Jewish landlord largely referenced as it was by apparent Jewish racial characteristics. I try not to leap into indignation at the merest hint of antisemitism but for me this was altogether too explicit.

I appreciate that one can be too quick in attributing the values of a fictional character to the prejudices of the writer but for me, in the context of the rest of the book, the connection seemed somewhat obvious. Sufficiently so to, at that stage, prompt me to further explore his background. No surprise then to learn that he had earlier written antisemitic articles and was strongly suspected of Nazi collaboration. I also came across an article in the Jewish chronicle criticising Penguin for republishing his books.

I readily appreciate that one’s approach has to a degree be tempered by the undoubted fact that antisemitic feelings were prevalent at the time throughout society and the literary world was no exception. In some cases we might simply shrug our shoulders and move on particularly if the literary merits of the writing might allow such sentiments to be pushed under the carpet (T. S. Elliot?).

However for me, this was altogether too explicit especially with the Holocaust being only a few years into the future. How can one disregard a sentiment that “every race has its own smell”. It is surely inconceivable that writing of such a nature would be tolerated if written today. If there where any smells in this book, it was the aroma of prejudice.

This book was not, I am afraid, for me.

Hope there is much interesting discussion!

Steve

Sea Change     Robert Goddard 

We assemble at Davids a depleted crew - apologies from Nick Simon Rob and Geoff - to mull over Febs choice 

Word sent from most  of the absentees is generally favourable to the book 

David sets what he’s gleamed about the author - seems he’s a fairly private person and there’s not much info out there other than he’s written some 29 novels and has apparently won the WH Smith ‘thumping good read ‘ award - surely a prize to cherish 

David has also researched the ‘ South Sea Bubble’ scandal around which the story is placed and has dug into the life of one of the main characters the remarkable Robert Walpole 

All very interesting and relevant background to an understanding of the times in which story is set 

Thank you David 

The book is enjoyed by all it seems - it’s a rollicking good yarn spread over a very different continent to todays - full of, at least for the first half of the book,surprise twists and turns 

It’s felt that this perhaps is overdone in the second half almost to the point there’s a plot twist for the sake of plot twist a few of which are 

Some memorable characters inhabit a well written book that is perhaps just a tad too unbelievable by it’s end but good fun nonetheless 

There were echoes in the story of some recent  highly dubious COVID get rich quick schemes - money funnelled through contacts and privilege  

We chatted about the book for a good while then went on to a more general chat about corruption. sleaze,incompetence, coverups over fine cheese and biscuits 

Conversation drifted on to parking, what’s going on at the new build,the wretched postal service with special mention to Charlie, milkman deliveries and finally Jimmy Carr

At this point John delivered a very funny joke about the leaving present given to a retiring milkman  - close your eyes and you could have been listening to  Bernard Manning in the Embassy Club … and it was funnier than anything I’ve heard Jimmy Carr come up with 

Nice one John

Next months books were offered 

Saturday Night Sunday Morning Alan Sillitoe

Night and the City Gerald Kirsh

Pietr  the Latvian Georges Simenon

It was tense - it came down to a coin toss

The winner and next months book - Pietr the Latvian

All being well - we meet @ 7 PAS on Monday March 14th

Till then comrades 

Derek

Hi All,

We met on Monday by Zoom to discuss Minty Alley by CLS James. Apologies were received from Geoff and Steve, while Derek would be joining us late.

We began by expressing our thoughts and sympathy for Geoff and his family following the distressing news about his granddaughter. 

We were pleased to hear that Jenny was back home with Nick and making good progress moving around the house with a walking aid.

As Geoff could not be with us to host his book choice, Nick read out brief notes he had been provided with on the life of James and on the background to the book. James (1901-1989) was born in Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago and as a child lived in a house adjacent to a cricket ground. He could watch the games from house windows and he became obsessed with cricket. He lived with his grandmother and two aunts to the age of 8 in a very religious, puritan household. They were scandalised by the behaviour of neighbours, particularly the women who were shameless, dirty, used vile language and who had questionable relationships with men. His convent educated mother had a love of literature and disliked the calypso carnival style of the Island. She introduced James to British writers such as Thackery and he became an avid reader. He was a precocious kid and successfully passed an entrance exam to senior school aged 9. The school he went to on a scholarship was Queen's Royal College (QRC), the island's oldest non-Catholic secondary school, and was likened to an English public school. There, he worked hard, reading outside the curriculum, showed great self-belief and further developed his love of cricket.

When James left school he worked as a teacher, then for newspapers. He wrote short stories about the lives of ordinary people, culled from interviews. He was particularly fond of women and their lives.

Trinidad is different to some of the other Islands in having a high content of Indian and Asian people and was socially stratified on the basis of skin colour. James left Trinidad in 1932 for the small town of Nelson in Lancashire, England, at the invitation of his friend, West Indian cricketer Learie Constantine. He became a sportswriter, writing for the then Manchester Guardian and developed a good reputation for this. He was very active politically, and on moving to London in 1933 became an active Trotskyist. He is a writer of historical/political works, one play and this single novel published in 1936. James apparently said that he was sorry he did not write more novels, but did not regret it…..!

Nick began the discussion of the book by stating that he had really enjoyed it. He later in the discussion compared it favourably with the much more well known House of Mr Biswas by VS Naipaul (published in 1961 and heavily influenced by it).

I said that I had also enjoyed it a lot, the voice of the author, the vivid characterisation and inter relationships,  together with the development of Haynes from being spoilt and naïve, to becoming the main font of wisdom in the house. I felt it was a story that was quite universal in that it could have been set almost anywhere where poverty is rife.

Jonathan also enjoyed the book. He recounted a memorable 6 week visit to Trinidad with his family, where he made lasting friendships. He spoke of the ethnic mix in the Island. This two critical comments were that the author had not brought enough of the vibrancy of the Island into the narrative and he was not convinced of the sexual relationship between Haynes and Maisie.

John enjoyed the book, particularly the male character Benoit!

Rob, though did not enjoy the book. He used a cricket analogy: he had expected a Viv Richards but got a Chris Tavare! He did not like it at all and had not finished it.

Simon also felt it incredibly dull and did not connect with it. He also did not finish it. 

Theo enjoyed it, admired all the women and had a crush on Maisie.

Alan thoroughly enjoyed the book, was able to read it very quickly, loved the characters and the way it progressed.

Nick commented that it reminded him of the George Gissing book we read (The Nether World, published 1889), also describing the poor packed together with some racial conflicts.

Derek joined us midway through and stated that he did not hate it, quite enjoyed it in fact and had finished it.

As we rounded off the discussion, there was agreement that the description of the beating of the son by the Nurse was very unpleasant.

Our thanks to Geoff for an interesting read that received a mixed reception.

The conversation moved away from the book and several films were praised, including Liquorice Pizza, West Side Story and the Power of the Dog. Simon liked The Tourist, currently showing on BBC.

Rob drew our attention to the recently completed 25 foot mural of Ledley King, that he and fellow trustees the Spurs stadium/club (?) had commissioned.

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/tottenham-ledley-king-mural-b975882.html

Nick related how occupational therapy were trying to install a grab rail in his bathroom to assist Jenny. A guy came in to do the work and noted a picture on the wall. Ah, a Miro, he said. No, a Kandinsky replied Nick. Oh yes, was the reply, I haven’t got my glasses on! In the end, he couldn’t fit the rail because the wall was non supporting and required a specialist team. On follow up, Nick was told the job had been cancelled! This triggered a delightful conversation about butterfly rawl plugs and grab rails.

I then presented my selection for next time:

1. The Promise by Damon Galgut

2. Absolute Friends by John le Carre

3. So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell

4. Sea Change by Robert Goddard

I was astounded that the Booker winner, The Promise, received no votes. I was expecting it to be chosen. A split decision between So long, See You Tomorrow and Sea Change required a mental spin of a coin from me. 

The next book we will discuss will be Sea Change by Robert Goddard. Hopefully, we can meet at 58 PAS. At the time of writing, the date has yet to be finalised, either 14th or the 7th February. Derek will offer his choices at that meeting.

Dave

Fellow Readers, our PR statement,

Let us be clear! It was a Gathering at Nos.15 PAS and not a party. Nobody called Allegra was present and in general the meeting was unsympathetic to any known person with this monicker. Rather, more violent emotions surfaced as Simon wrestled with moral question as whether it is more justified to strike an individual member of the Boris entourage when they are laughing or crying?

Yes! there was wine and cheese at this gathering, rather splendid mulled wine and sumptuous array of ‘X’Mas’ cheeses, supplied by our generous host Jonathon without any questionable contribution from the public purse. Neither was social distancing observed, although a limit of 2 burly gentleman per sofa was adhered to.

Rumour has it that 10 of us were present, I will not account for individuals, but I can state categorically the Derek was not there and we have email correspondence to corroborate this. His absence was greatly missed and certainly affected the outcome of the Gathering, more of this later.

Before moving on to Jonathon’s well researched, yet scanty, account of the elusive author Nadifa Mohamed, we discussed, courtesy of ‘Have I got news for You’, somewhat gleefully, the newspaper headlines on the day of Boris and Carrie’s latest arrival.  I also took the opportunity to pass on my learning from my recent Driver re-education course, namely that I will rarely venture beyond 2nd gear while driving in London from now on. Several present at the Gathering had themselves enjoyed the opportunity for Driver re-education, I will not reveal identities, except to say that Theo in particular admitted to more than one wild moment of Toad of Toad Hall inspiration behind the wheel, suggesting that re-education tended to fade in impact for him.

Jonathon informed us that Nadifa was born in Hargeisa, Somalia in 1981 and her family moved to London, in February 1986.  They were running from political extremism and oncoming civil war, Hargeisa was ‘flattened’ by fighting two years later. They rebuilt their lives in England but her family hung on to the idea that one day they would return. She describes how as a child she tried to recreate the memories of the place and life she had left behind... She says Somali’s are a secretive people and sleuthing her interviews for details of family, proves her true to her birthplace.

I found a revealing Granta interview where she refers to a sister and brother, who were 9 and 14 respectively when they arrived in England. They ended up in a terrace house in Tooting, the house watched over by a neighbour’s cat, such was its surveillance the children imagined the cat as a Somali secret policeman. She also mentions an older brother and a raid on their home in Somalia by secret police looking for him, but I am not sure what became of him? As a small girl learning English at school she responded to bullies by ‘a stern look and drawing her finger across her throat like a blade’.  Her sense of confused belonging and identity was eased by her father’s ability to feel at home ‘’everywhere and anywhere, as a sailor he had been to more than 100 countries and had an ‘amalgam of accents’. She assimilated sufficiently to get into Oxford to study History and Politics.

‘The Fortune Men’ (her third novel, Booker shortlisted) received strong approval from all, illuminating and authentic, a compelling story, soundly researched and beautifully told, expressing a personal immersion and commitment from Nadifa. Many of us read the book without realising that it was based upon a real miscarriage of justice and the hanging of an innocent man.

The idea for the book was nurtured by her over 17years.  Nadifa has explained how the complex and contradictory character she created for Mahmood was in part drawn from her own family and community experiences, especially her father.  Her father had met Mahmood Mattan in Hull, sometime before 1952. She explained how going to Cardiff and interviewing the surviving members of the 50’s immigrant Somali community, was like rediscovering generations of her own family’s experiences, ‘stepping back in time’.  We felt that her writing created a vivid picture of Tiger Bay in the 50’s, the bustling, cheek by jowl, multi- racial community, with its own ethnic tensions and rivalries, marginalised and mythologised by more respectable Cardiff citizens and suspiciously watched over by the police

Mahmood was an exasperating character, a blend of vices and virtues, not easy to approve of but portrayed with compassion and humanity. He was a chancer, an opportunist, a petty thief forever flouting normal conventions. He was also independent and intelligent, with a strong sense of pride to nurture his self-worth and dignity. He was obstinate to a degree that was ultimately harmful to his survival.

The story of the conviction painted an all too real picture of racism and corruption, Mahmood’s belief in comparative ‘British fairness’ in matters of law, contrasted sharply with the entrenched racism and the fixing-up of the suspect through questionable evidence and unreliable witnesses by the police and the Prosecution.

Within the overall appreciation of a great read, we had small differences of opinion regards the merits of Mahmood’s back story and the ‘court transcripts’.

Moving on to the vote for the next choice, we had a three-way tie, the three candidates each had three supporters. Derek we needed you! Returning officer Alan acted swiftly, a count of second choices and in this way a winner emerged; CLR James’s ‘Minty Alley’, his only novel set in 1920’s Trinidad. Pipped at the post were Nabokov’s ‘Laughter in the Dark’ and Balchin’s ‘Darkness falls from the Air’.  Social distancing permitting our next Gathering is on Mon. Jan 10th at 69 PAS

Two Roberts awaited us as we ten youngsters made our second book group trip to N17. One Rob fresh from Marseille welcomed us into his snug smart home in the shadow of his beloved WHL with fine drinks and cheese, many thanks Rob for a cracking evening.

The other Rob welcomes no one.

Robert Saviano born 1979 into a Neapolitan home of a doctor father and Jewish mother. He studied Philosophy at university and by 23 embarked on a career as a journalist. Writing for magazines and papers and particularly on the Camorra monitoring unit of the Corriere del Mezzogiorno. His first novel Gomorrah was published 4 years later and caused a storm of attention. THe book inspired a play, film and TV series and was translated into 52 languages and with widespread plaudits it named and exposed the individuals behind the Neapolitan mafia.

The Casalesi clan declared that he was to be murdered and that the gun was loaded and the assailant assigned and it was just a matter of time and opportunity.

Rob described the details of his miserable life under police protection, endlessly moving from windowless hotel rooms to barracks or police stations.

From these settings he tries to continue to write. He contributes to American, German, Spanish, Swedish and British newspapers and two further novels have followed. Zero Zero Zero 2015 examines the cocaine trade and 2016 The Piranhas.

The Book. It was agreed that Dave's contribution from holiday was a good summary of how most of us felt. Theo thought the translator failed to enrich English with an essence of the rich dialect. Most felt the book failed to develop characters and the names and monikers were confusing. Nicholas the paranza boss was the exception. The author's journalistic style was evident as the story leaped from one storyboard to the next. Many scenes were remarkable or entertaining, particularly the rooftop target practice, celebratory boat cruise and unforgettable shitty start to the book. The author provided an effective parental warning of the effects of violent gaming and films on vulnerable young minds but inadvertently glorified the exploits of racist, psychopathic and amoral young thugs mimicking their Camorra elders. There was agreement that given a better society in which to grow these youngsters may well have developed into captains of industry and enterprise.

The evening then took on one or two other issues; Global warming and our chance of survival, the birth rate, London as a centre for money laundering, the legalisation of drugs, banning alcohol, Current and past political corruption, Musk and Bezos exploits, Trump's truth and Albanian barbers and finally some football banter and PAS gossip but as it was Rob's night I will not mention that.

Next time it could have been

Plot 29 by Allan Jenkins (2 votes)

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte (3 votes) or

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed (4 votes)

The second round of voting was confused, much to the concern of the returning officer, but The Fortune Men emerged as the candidate for 15 PAS at 8.30pm on Dec 13th.

Cheers Jonathan

The Gen-Z Mafia Boss Who Leads
His Crew from Beyond the Grave

Emanuele Sibillo was killed in an ambush aged 19, and has since become a saint-like figure throughout Naples.

By Enrico Nocera 28.5.21

In late April, Italian anti-mafia police arrested 21 members of the so-called “Sibillo gang”. The rising Camorra clan has been asserting its control over a number of central districts in Naples over the last decade, dealing drugs, racketeering, extorting money from shop owners and punishing those who don’t submit. The clan is called “Paranza dei bambini” (“fishing trawler of children,” which refers to a criminal group led by youngsters), or Piranhas. It was founded by “baby boss” Emanuele Sibillo, who died in an ambush by rival gangs in 2015, aged 19.
 

After his death, Sibillo became a saint-like figure throughout Naples, and tributes were made in several neighbourhoods. During the police operation in April, an altar with his ashes was found in the courtyard of his family’s home in the Forcella district of Naples.

The plasterboard bust portrayed Sibillo in his signature look – footballer haircut, long beard and dark framed glasses – which helped to popularise him among Gen Z Camorra mobsters. According to witnesses, his clan even forced local shop owners to kneel in front of the bust after paying the “pizzo” (protection money), as a sign of submission and respect.

Although very young, Sibillo’s rise through the ranks of Neapolitan organised crime was rapid. In 2011, at 15 years old he was arrested for the first time on charges of illegal possession of a firearm. He was sent to a juvenile detention centre, where he joined a journalism course and developed a passion for video reporting. 

When he was released in 2012, he immediately started to recruit youngsters like him to form a new cartel. His plan was unprecedented and ambitious: rebelling against the old Camorra clans to take over the city. In just a few years they unleashed a “trade war” and managed to wrestle control of the centre of Naples.

Sibillo and his affiliates were notorious for their aggressive drug dealing, their public displays of violence, their “stese” (Neapolitan slang for random shootouts, performed while racing through the alleyways of Naples on scooters) and their intimidating visual style, partially inspired by ISIS jihadists. 

“Sibillo did not grow his beard that way because he wanted to join ISIS,” says Marcello Ravveduto, professor at Salerno University and scholar of Camorra’s history, “but because that look inspired awe and incited violence. Sibillo knew that every community, even Camorra clans, needs an identity – something that can form around the figure of a leader.”

The myth of Sibillo was born out of his lust for power and his rebellious stance. “He is considered an innovator – someone who had the guts to go against the ‘big ones’,” says Ravveduto. 

Between 2013 and 2015, his tag, “ES17” – “ES” for Sibillo’s initials, “17” for “S”, the 17th letter of the Italian alphabet – could be seen all over the walls of Naples’ centre. The graffiti was not only a celebration of the young mafia leader and his clan, but a way to claim the territory as their own. 

While Sibillo was a rising star in the Neapolitan crime scene, he was also still just a teenager. In the 2018 documentary ES17, made by journalist Conchita Sannino and screenwriter Diana Ligorio, Mariarca Savarese – Sibillo’s partner and the mother of his two children – says, “[Emanuele] came back home at around six in the morning and went to bed. He woke up at three or four in the afternoon and then had some milk and biscuits. Once a week we also saw Gomorrah together, and then we hit the clubs.”

The acclaimed TV series, based on author Roberto Saviano’s non-fiction book by the same name, has been the subject of a heated debate in Italy for some time. The mayor of Naples, for example, accused the series of “corroding the brains, souls and hearts of hundreds of very young people”. Others argue that the crude, gritty depiction of the Camorra mafia simply portrays a reality experienced by many.

Sibillo himself was the main inspiration behind the character “Sangue Blu” (“Blue blood”), who made his first appearance in the third season of the show. 

In a previous interview with VICE Italy, Ligorio said that while writing and shooting the documentary, “We found out that reality goes even further than Gomorrah. I indeed had the impression that the ‘paranza’ mobsters embraced Gomorrah’s moral code and took it even further.”

According to Ligorio, Sibillo was among the first young mafiosi to use social media as a powerful propaganda tool. He and his associates boasted of their lavish lifestyle on Facebook, posting pictures of expensive clothes, cars and exclusive restaurants. 

This cultivated a larger-than-life public persona, which was crucial in sustaining Sibillo’s power, within and outside his criminal circle. Sibillo and his “paranza” were able to arrange “a network of contacts where everyone performed the same actions, strengthening their group identity and building a sense of cultural hegemony”, according to Ravveduto. By “showing all the privileges of being a Camorra mobster”, they became mafia influencers and “role models” for younger generations of mafiosi. 

Eventually, rival clans grew tired of Sibillo and decided to take him out. A mafia war broke out in the centre of Naples, resulting in more than 40 deaths, including Sibillo’s. In July of 2015 he joined a botched raid against the Buonerba clan; trapped in the narrow Oronzio Costa street – known as “Baghdad” or “Street of Death” – he was shot in the back multiple times. He was taken to a local hospital but died a couple of hours later. 

Until his death, Sibillo was at the forefront of a paradigm shift in the Camorra, whose structure now more closely resembles South American gangs, rather than the traditional family-based Italian mob. The bond between affiliates no longer originates from family ties – like the Sicilian Cosa Nostra or the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta – but from “the street” or the neighbourhood. It is horizontal, rather than hierarchical.

“It is no coincidence that these people basically never leave their neighbourhood,” says Ravveduto. “Their life revolves around the neighbourhood. They also use Neapolitan dialect as the main language, to affirm – once again – their shared identity.”

As a young boss abruptly killed in his prime, Sibillo achieved a form of divinity. “He is the patron of his neighbourhood,” says Ravveduto. “The very act of making people kneel before his bust is a sign that, even today, this clan needs something to identify with. Sibillo’s bust is a call to unity, in a world where violent confrontations between battling factions happen almost daily.”

Readers,

1. We gathered at Steve’s house, on the second Monday in October 2021, to discuss the novel Apeirogon, by Colum McCann

2. As I backed my VW Golf into the last vacant space in Park Avenue South, my thoughts turned to discussions on parking, and whether I missed the West side of Haringey.

3. There were only a couple of absentees from our meeting. Derek and Alan had posted slightly differing views on the book. For Derek it was a solid 10. For Alan the feeling was probably closer to a 6 or 7. Never a group to disappoint, the pre-chat delivered on parking, and quickly took aim at local film crews, and the old/new house opposite the fire

station.

4. We learnt from Steve that Colum McCann was born in Dublin in 1965. He’s a young man. He has written 7 novels and 3 collections of short stories. McCann is originally from Ireland but has been living in New York City for many years. He along with his wife, Allison moved to NYC in 1994, the live on the Upper East Side of the city with their three kids,

Isabella, Jun Mikel and Christian. In addition to his writing, McCann lectures in Hunter College in Creative Writing.

5. In the early 1980’s he took a bicycle across North America and then worked as a wilderness guide in a program for juvenile delinquents in Texas.

6. The big breakthrough book for Colum McCann was ‘Let the Great World Spin’ which was published, to worldwide acclaim, in 2009.

7. McCann crafts Apeirogon out of a universe of fictional and nonfictional material. He crosses centuries and continents, stitching together time, art, history, nature, and politics in a tale both heartbreaking and hopeful. Musical, cinematic, muscular, delicate, and soaring, Apeirogon is a novel for our time. But is it fiction?

8. An aperiogon or infinite polygon is a generalised polygon with a countably infinite number of sides. 220 & 284 are amicable numbers. Nick liked this.

9. The overall consensus from the group was that this was a wonderful book, which somehow managed to convey so much information, and conjure up so many vivid images. How this book had only made the longlist for the 2020 Booker prize was a mystery to most of us. I wondered whether it might have been to far from the conventional notion of a novel. McCann has maybe created his own undefinable kaleidoscopic genre.

8.

7. Among his major influences are Michael Ondaatje, John Berger, Don DeLillo, E.L Doctorow, Toni Morrison, Edna O’Brien and the Irish novelist Benedict Kiely. McCann is known a “poetic realist” and a “literary risk-taker,” a writer who is known to tackle the dark in order to get through to the light – “any sort of light, however compromised” – on the far side.

6. Manchego, Brie, Stilton, and many other fine cheeses were available. Shuggie Bain won the 2020 Booker prize.

5. The room was split probably 80/20 as to whether the book offered any hope, or joy, at all. It was perhaps felt that there was some human joy, which was illustrated by the image of Bassam & Rami asleep on a train Germany. However, the consensus was that the ‘middle east problem’ is just getting worse.

4. In the 1970’s, whilst sleeping on a beach, Geoff had his copy of Ulysses stolen from right under his nose. Dave has just completed Ulysses. Widening circles.

3. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday 8th November in the east side of Haringey. Please make sure that you have the relevant paperwork. The books that we voted on were, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Aidichie, Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan, and The Piranhas by Roberto Saviano. The young mafia boys in Piranhas were the unanimous winners.

2. It was so very reassuring that the evening should end with a discussion on petrol shortages. When I got home I was also struck by how fitting it was that we discussed the book in a sitting room surrounded by so many ornithological references. Francois Mitterand would have approved.

1.Writing in lists isn’t as easy as it looks.

Many thanks Steve, and I’m looking forward to welcoming you all on the 8th.

Keep well.

Rob

Some of us came prepared for a night under the stairs ( a re - creation of 19th century discomfort?) whilst others for a night under the stars ( 19th century romanticism?). As it was, those of us who trusted in typos were correct and the stars (or at least the gazebo) it was. Thankfully, the evening was mild so shivering was not on the agenda although some physical discomfort might have been in keeping with the subject matter of the book

The book was The Five the untold Lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold. In terms of her writing background, she has written both fiction and non fiction and it seems that it is this work of non fiction that has attracted most interest and indeed plaudits.

It won a prestigious non fiction prize (complete with a prize of £50.000) and attracted considerable attention when first published. The central theme is an attempt to debunk the rather sensationalist conception of the rippers victims as prostitutes and instead to present them as victims of economic and social oppression (of which male oppression was a rather prominent element).

The reception of the group to this work was perhaps rather lukewarm. Some of us did not take to it at all, others sat on the fence whilst a couple were more keen on it. On the plus side, as a piece of social history, generally most of us did find it interesting and certainly there was much scholarship to admire. Having said that, in the world of ripperology, the conclusions of the book have been criticised as being the product of selective evidence.

Leaving aside the factual accuracy, the central theme of the book - the presentation of the women as victims became somewhat repetitive. In the light of this, some of us gave up the ghost before completing all five lives. This was perhaps a shame as the consensus of those who lasted the full course was that the last life was the most engaging.

Perhaps also in an effort to construct a deeper picture of each individual life beyond the forensic account, the author indulged at various points in speculation as to that individuals feelings and motivations. Such speculation often seemed charitable to the victims and it was hard to avoid the suspicion that this was to accommodate the authors own agenda. Occasionally one felt that there was no actual basis to support the speculation and this became a slightly tiresome strain within the book.

Of course had the factual framework been used as the basis for a work of fiction then any speculation could have been legitimately absorbed within the story. Some of us felt that an opportunity had been missed in that a work of fiction might have been more engaging.

Anyway, once discussion of the book had been dispensed with, we embarked on our usual flow of consciousness discussion. Who knew about a prolific but barely edible fish - shad (thanks John) and as for the merits and limitations of a certain type of manure, the less said the better. This piece of discussion did prompt Geoff to take a trip to the bottom of the garden from which he returned muttering something about a table tennis table.

Simon (yes Simon) was the first to bring the inevitable football topic to the table, a subject that was received with a certain amount of gloom (Arsenal supporters being the more gloomy). Then more talk of global warming- more gloom.

Finally yet another plug for John’s pétanque on Monday Wednesday and Friday at 10.00. Apparently the court is no:2 (or was that the manure?).

Next in line is Apeirogon by Colin McCann. 11th October at no 54.

Steve

A memorable meeting at Theo's last night. The first indoor, face to face get together in ever such a long time agreed that Theo's offering (Vuillard's L'ordre du jour) was a compelling read, and - depressingly -  of timeless relevance to the way statecraft is conducted. The translator, Mark Polizzotti, did a fine job. Was it too short? Was it non fiction? who cares....it was a work of imagination, based on a historical skeleton but fleshed out with piercing insight. At this point I discovered the cheese.

Fan bloody tastic, having been left to breathe at room temperature for some hours. By the time I'd sated my turophilia it was time for the first round of the evenings selections for future books

The three were

1 MAUS, a graphic novel (Nick's grin at this went from ear to ear)  telling the tale of a holocaust survivor and documented by his son.

2 The Five The Untold Lives of the Women Killed By Jack The Ripper. Hallie Rubenhold A brilliant and necessary book

(Winner of the BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE for Non-fiction 2019,  HAY FESTIVAL Book of the Year 2019,  Winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards for History 2019)

3 The Heart of Midlothian, Sir Walter Scott. Sadly over 470 pages

A potential 4th choice -Michael Ondattje's Warlight- was , as it turned out, not needed

Just as statecraft never seems to change, so the battle for book club selection hinges on font size and the number of pages. Who, I wonder, would have picked the eventual winner, The Five, if they had realised that it was 450 densely packed pages? Presentation, like politics, is all smoke and mirrors...

Steve circulated his offerings (the second selection) for the October meeting earlier today. Please make sure that Alan has your vote ASAP.

Next meeting at no 72

To Southgate for a flood-delayed conversation about Sir Kazuo Ishiguro’s latest Booker contender Klara And The Sun in the lovely setting of Simon’s garden. The book tells the story of Klara, a robot or ‘AF’ (artificial friend) and her relationship with teenager Josie, her mother and Josie’s friend Rick.

As so often the reception was mixed. At one end of the spectrum Jonathan and I loved it. Having read Never let Me Go we had sampled the Nobel laureate’s remarkable talents before and were just as enamoured with this latest offering. At the other end of the scale sat Sci Fi aficionado Nick who found Ishiguro’s ideas unoriginal - he’d read it all before. When it was suggested that it was an intriguing coincidence that ‘Ishi’ should have come up with similar ideas to those of the more hardened genre writers he scoffed. More plagiarism than coincidence felt Nick.

Stephen, Derek and Geoff were unable to attend but Geoff did email his own very positive review calling Klara And The Sun a potential classic and comparing it to the best of Orwell.

Everyone agreed it was a very unusual book packed with little subplots and ideas some of which were ‘weird’ and, at times, difficult to make sense of. But it was generally accepted that the writing was of high quality. Those of us who enjoyed it found it poignant with things to say about love and humanity. Those that didn’t thought it lacked emotional impact.

Then the talk meandered off to cricket, pétanque, floods, football and flans (Simon had made us a particularly good courgette one).

There were no new book nominations to vote on because we’d already done the job over email. In two weeks time we’ll be discussing Eric Vuillard's The Order of the Day which saw off The Last Taxi Driver by Lee Durkee and The Line Of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst. Weather permitting, we’ll be in my garden at 36 PAS. Otherwise we’ll be in the front room with the beanbags. Fingers crossed!

Here’s that Adam Buxton podcast interview with Ishiguro that I mentioned. 

Thanks Simon!

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ep-153-kazuo-ishiguro/id1040481893?i=1000512969961

Theo

Dear Readers

What a joy it was to see all those old faces again!  Thank you Nick for hosting the first face to face meeting in your lovely summer garden, in what was it, 15months?  Oddly I felt that we had met last month as it all seemed so familiar and it was a great joy. 

Familiar too, it that the meeting was bookended with talk of football.  Well of course it was, I gather there is some important thing going on it that world. 

Nick gave us an interesting resume of the book and shared the few facts know about the author who seems to hail from the Anglo Indian community who keep themselves to themselves.  It seems that shape shifting is a well-known culture going way back to the ancient Greeks.  The book was generally well received but some felt it too visceral notably when the central character consumed his wife and unborn child by the light of the full moon.  There were certainly some aspects of the lifestyle which could be seen as attractive. Great wealth, long life, lots of sex and plenty of fine Scotch whisky.  What’s not to like?  Especially with the arrival of the love interest Talulla. 

Discussion continued with favourite TV shows, films, books and the construction of the house on the corner.  We then went into our break-out rooms, sorry I should say smaller groups, for discussions on other matters such as bats, children, grandchildren, Suffolk people and houses.

 I proposed four books, one of which we had already read.  I did read it too but missed the meeting so I was a bit out of whack on that however Klara and the Sun by  Kazuo Ishiguro was voted by a landslide as our next book.  How much of these Hills is Gold  by C Pam Zhang and We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker were turned down. 

We will meet again in the boonies on the second Monday of July which is 12th.  I hope you enjoy the book, have a good month and I look forward to seeing you all next time. 

Simon x

‘The bodies in the library,’ Colonel Mustard said.’ ‘Come this way’

Afternoon all 

Seems we’ve been zooming a year now - far from ideal but better than nothing

We convene over the ether to discuss David’s choice 

Snow     John Banville 

David started off with a biog of this successful Irish writer

We learnt he was born in Wexford in 1945 and has both a brother and sister who are published authors

He took on a succession of different jobs before becoming a writer 

As well as writing short stories and screenplays he also publishes crime novels under the pseudonym

of Benjamin Black. A well respected wordsmith and apparently a candidate for the Nobel - although it

seems he’s had a ‘ You’ve been framed ‘moment being told he was nominated by phone only to find it

was some sort of joke/wind up or balls up - we’re not sure which 

The book started memorably with a body of a young Priest being found in the library of a faded grand

house in Ireland. So far so Cluedo - apart from the victims meat and two veg having been severed as a

grizzly add on not found on anyway Cluedo board I’ve seen. The book seemed to be going along its

‘who dunnit’ course but slowly transforms in to something else - about the time of the rather

memorable caravan scene the narrative shifts to include larger, wider themes - guilt,abuse corruption

and the stifling omnipresent power of the Catholic Church in mid 50’s Ireland. All bathed in a chilling

combination of menace,secrets,freezing cold under a blanket of thick snow. One or two set pieces really

shone - the caravan scene and the meeting between  the detective and the Archbishop for sure but there

was plenty to keep the plot moving along very pleasingly. The book was unanimously enjoyed - the

atmosphere generated and the authors supreme skill in the writing made for a great read. One or two

found holes in the plot and some were uncomfortable with the passages re Father Toms earlier life

being dropped in mid way but generally a well received 

book 

I for one thoroughly enjoyed it - good choice David  

A general chat followed - Ireland, Catholicism , Independence, Vaccine jabs and of course  Parking 

My nominations were

Night boat to Tangier  Kevin Barry

Strangers on a Train Patricia Highsmith

It couldn’t happen here Sinclair Lewis 

It was close but the casting vote went for Strangers on a Train 

Hope you enjoy the book and look forward to hearing your views next zoom

Till then

Derek

Marmite sandwiches

And it all started so well…

Positive talk of the reduced effects of the second Covid vaccine and of Simon’s post lockdown priorities (pub or book club – no choice to be made then – but why not both?) Quickly moving on from football (too depressing).

Derek provided an insight into Patricia Highsmith which helped explain a lot of her writing influences. Her mother who attempted self-abortion, her father who divorced her mother immediately after the birth. A love/hate relationship with her parents. The sense of abandonment when she was sent to live with her grandmother at age 11. Suffered at various stages from depression, anorexia, anaemia, alcoholism and cancer. Short destructive relationships throughout her life. A guaranteed petri dish for her misanthropic and hostile outlook encompassing both racist (most nationalities) and misogynistic views (but she did like cats and snails).

A sure-fire way for someone who had been reading from an early age to move into light and fluffy literature. 

She started by writing short stories and funded her writing by providing story lines for comics in the 1940s. Strangers on a Train was published in 1950 when she was 29 and became the basis for the Hitchcock film of the same name in 1951. 

She died of lung cancer in Switzerland in 1995.

And then the marmite discussion…

Many found it too dark and implausible and some of the group found it too difficult and unpleasant a read – describing it as joyless, cruel and without humour (although towards the end of the discussion there was broad agreement that the interaction between Guy and Owen was a valued humorous interlude). 

There was some feeling that Hitchcock had altered the film as he considered it would be too bleak as it stood (so his changes with Guy became a tennis coach and Guy didn’t commit the second murder).

However, the bleakness appealed to some of the group who read into this, insights into manipulation, a descent into madness and irrationality, and that this was a possible reflection of the author’s own alcohol and sexual dependencies and depressive state.

Bruno appeared at all of Guy’s positive moments to put another mood dampener in place. Although not explicitly homosexual, was there something of this in the relationship between Bruno and Guy? Other questions were raised:

• Why was Gerard so hell-bent on solving the murders?
• Why did Guy jump into the water to save Bruno?
• Did Guy murder Bruno’s father or fail in the attempt with Bruno following up to  carry out the second murder?
• Why didn’t Guy just get on with it and divorce Miriam?

In conclusion, there was a severe division of opinion, but all agreed on the bleaknessof the narrative, would watch the film again, but probably not go back to the book. Nick had read some of the author’s other work and recommended the “Ripley” series where the murders committed all have a more balanced reason behind them.

We ended with a discussion on Hitchcock themed pubs in London, the influence the carouselin the Hitchcock film has had on our lives and a studious avoidance of any football talk.

The choices for our May meeting were:

Take it Back – Kia Abdullah – a legal thriller by a London based author exploring class, gender, religion and prejudice

Shuggie Bain – Douglas Stuart – a first novel and Booker prize winner 2020 set in 1980’s Glasgow and a portrayal of addiction, courage and love  (available in paperback from 15 April)

The Testaments – Margaret Atwood – long awaited sequel to the Handmaid’s tale and join winner of the 2019 Booker prize looking at the demise of Gilead from 3 different viewpoints.

And the winner (after using the transferable voting system and a casting vote) was Shuggie Bain. 

Looking forward to a good discussion (with Glaswegian translations) on 10 May.

‘The bodies in the library,’ Colonel Mustard said.’ ‘Come this way’

Afternoon all.  Seems we’ve been zooming a year now - far from ideal but better than nothing. We convene over the ether to discuss David’s choice  - Snow by John Banville 

David started off with a biog of this successful Irish writer. We learnt he was born in Wexford in 1945 and has both a brother and sister who are published authors. He took on a succession of different jobs before becoming a writer. As well as writing short stories and screenplays he also publishes crime novels under the pseudonym of Benjamin Black. A well respected wordsmith and apparently a candidate for the Nobel - although it seems he’s had a ‘ You’ve been framed ‘moment being told he was nominated by phone only to find it was some sort of joke/wind up or balls up - we’re not sure which.

The book started memorably with a body of a young Priest being found in the library of a faded grand house in Ireland. So far so Cluedo - apart from the victims meat and two veg having been severed as a grizzly add on not found on anyway Cluedo board I’ve seen. The book seemed to be going along its ‘who dunnit’ course but slowly transforms in to something else - about the time of the rather memorable caravan scene the narrative shifts to include larger, wider themes - guilt,abuse corruption and the stifling omnipresent power of the Catholic Church in mid 50’s Ireland. All bathed in a chilling combination of menace,secrets,freezing cold under a blanket of thick snow. One or two set pieces really shone - the caravan scene and the meeting between  the detective and the Archbishop for sure but there was plenty to keep the plot moving along very pleasingly. The book was unanimously enjoyed - the atmosphere generated and the authors supreme skill in the writing made for a great read. One or two found holes in the plot and some were uncomfortable with the passages re Father Toms earlier life being dropped in mid way but generally a well received book.  

I for one thoroughly enjoyed it - good choice David  

A general chat followed - Ireland, Catholicism , Independence, Vaccine jabs and of course  Parking 

My nominations were
Night boat to Tangier  Kevin Barry
Strangers on a Train Patricia Highsmith
It couldn’t happen here Sinclair Lewis 

It was close but the casting vote went for Strangers on a Train. Hope you enjoy the book and look forward to hearing your views next zoom

Till then Derek

Geoff  began our meeting on Offshore with the rather bleak personal history of Penelope Fitzgerald. Born 1916 in Lincoln into high achieving, upper class, emotionally rigid Knox family, she went to Abbey School and then did very well at Oxford (Congratulatory 1st in 1938) but gradually lost her way, not helped by a disastrous marriage to alcohol dependent Desmond Fitzgerald, who was a distinguished soldier in WW2. She lead a pretty alternative lifestyle in Hampstead, editing, teaching and writing, increasingly marred by poverty arising from dissipation of Desy. Periods of homelessness, bookshop working and life on a house boat followed as she struggled to support her three children mostly  by teaching. She launched her literary career in 1975 at the age of 58, with "scholarly, accessible biographies". It was not until a late, improbable renaissance (according to biographer Hermione Lee) that she achieved success. She achieved a lot of attention following unsuccessful nomination and then award of the Booker prize (The Bookshop then Offshore in 1979, not least because she emerged as winner only because the Panel could not agree their first choice (by giants VS Naipaul vs William Golding). Although her autobiographically based short novels, The Bookshop (set in Southwold) and Offshore are widely liked, Geoff suggested that her later, longer historical novels were more influential in establishing her reputation ( in 2008 The Times listed her among "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945". The Observer in 2012 placed her final novel, The Blue Flower, among "the ten best historical novels"). She continued teaching until her 70s. She died in 2000.

Geoff loved this book, enjoying the” diverse characters needing emotional restlessness”. He liked the sparse writing style with interesting touches such as the naming of the boats. He thought the period setting was well captured, if not a few years out of sync with the sixties.

I agreed with Geoff. Nick stated emphatically and very briefly that he liked the book. Rob liked it but felt it could have been twice as long, as there were many omissions. Simon was reminded of depressive, awful characters to be found on the River Lee. He found the  exception was the German boy. But despite this, he loved the book.

John liked it (I think),  thought it had a great sense of place, it was naturally engrossing, but it was all about flotsam and jetsam. Alan was impressed by the way all the characters supported each other.

Theo found it quite enjoyable soap opera. He most enjoyed the search for the husband, interestingly enough not set on the boats. He also liked some other sections, such as those with the German boy. But the book lacked emotion and emotional engagement.

Jonathan was interested in the autobiographical hell it portrayed. While he engaged with it, he wondered “where the real pain was”. Who was it written for?

Steve did not enjoy it much at all. It was a nether world of its own, twee and dated, written from an upper class perspective. He could not engage with the characters.

Several of us found the two kids well described and interesting. Judging the mood of the Group overall, it would not have won the Booker if we had been on the Panel………

I presented my 3 choices of book:

The Forgiven by Lawrence Osbourne

Snow by John Banville

West by Carys Davies

You selected Snow by John Banville. Once again I must apologise that it is not available in paperback. I did check early on and it appeared to be listed at Amazon. However, as Rob found, it was listed but unavailable for several months if you clicked through. Exactly the same error was made initially by me for the supplementary choice, The Abstainer by Ian McGuire, but when I was copying the front page I saw it was unavailable until June.

 Dave

We gathered on Zoom, courtesy of Nick, with Jonathon as host for the evening. All were in attendance with the exception of Simon, recovering from co-vid, look forward to seeing you next time Simon.

Jonathon gave us a full description of Achebe’s incident packed life and described the background to the book’s publication.  All the while though I, for one, felt Jonathon’s demeanour to be that of a losing contestant on Masterchef, as his enthusiasm for describing Yam FooFoo, Alligator pepper, Cola nut and Palm wine was eclipsed by his disappointment in not being able to serve these to us in person.

‘Thing Fall Apart’ is acknowledged as a seminal work presenting African life and culture in its complexity and richness, in stark contrast to the colonial perspective of writers such as Conrad. We all felt a debt of gratitude to Jonathon for enabling this selection and agreed that it deserved its high regard.  It established Achebe as the father of contemporary African literature.

For many of us, it broadened our awareness of African tribal culture whilst at the same time we identified parallel concerns; comparisons were drawn between African rituals surrounding the after-life and our home grown mix of pagan and religious symbolism (including the extensive use of allegory from the natural world) as well as between the African and European history of patriarchy and the common adherence to attributes of masculinity. John remarked that their civilisation was based upon a respect for the Earth, sadly lacking in our own.

The genius of the story is to represent the African continent at the point of transformation from encroaching Christianity and the alien power of the ‘white man’ through the personal arc of one man’s trajectory, succinctly summed up by Steve as, ‘Pride before the fall’.

Okonkwo’s personal story, although distinct and powerful, deploys the familiar literary trope of a self-made hero who has to overcome the handicap of a wastrel father (albeit one with endearing musical talent and a life affirming conviviality) and through hard work and perseverance goes on to become a substantial community leader. He accomplishes high status with his prowess for wrestling and his diligence in growing yams.  After an initial leg-up from a ‘wealthy benefactor’ he becomes a formidable and forbidding ‘macho’ man, harsh on his family and alert to any signs of ‘feminine weakness’ in his son. His personal chi has served him well, but the spirits or fates are soon to alter his destiny, change his life and lead to his downfall and eventual suicide.

Christianity is the external threat that ultimately facilitates this, alongside the perfidious Colonial administrators; a striking contrast, whilst the African spiritual leaders rule by tradition, which in many instances is brutal, they do so with honour and integrity, whereas the Colonialists say one thing and do another.

We wondered why the Africans were so accommodating towards the white invaders (Achebe has a character remark ‘ Never kill a man who says nothing’)  to do otherwise invites punishment from the spirits. The first missionary Mr Brown is a benevolent presence and accommodation is possible, his successor Rev. James Smith the opposite and a showdown becomes inevitable.

We agreed that Achebe accomplished this classic story with great style and economy. The latter quality being greatly prized by our group was evident in in our next choice, a similarly brief 180 pages of large’ish print, ‘Offshore’ by Penelope Fitzgerald, and everyday story of 60’s river folk. This defeated, over 2 rounds, the runner up ‘The Western Wind’ by Samantha Harvey and ‘Restoration’ by Rose Tremain. We meet on Zoom once more on 8thFeb. at 8.30pm, courtesy of Nick.

Geoff  began our meeting on Offshore with the rather bleak personal history of Penelope Fitzgerald. Born 1916 in Lincoln into high achieving, upper class, emotionally rigid Knox family, she went to Abbey School and then did very well at Oxford (Congratulatory 1st in 1938) but gradually lost her way, not helped by a disastrous marriage to alcohol dependent Desmond Fitzgerald, who was a distinguished soldier in WW2. She lead a pretty alternative lifestyle in Hampstead, editing, teaching and writing, increasingly marred by poverty arising from dissipation of Desy. Periods of homelessness, bookshop working and life on a house boat followed as she struggled to support her three children mostly  by teaching. She launched her literary career in 1975 at the age of 58, with "scholarly, accessible biographies". It was not until a late, improbable renaissance (according to biographer Hermione Lee) that she achieved success. She achieved a lot of attention following unsuccessful nomination and then award of the Booker prize (The Bookshop then Offshore in 1979, not least because she emerged as winner only because the Panel could not agree their first choice (by giants VS Naipaul vs William Golding). Although her autobiographically based short novels, The Bookshop (set in Southwold) and Offshore are widely liked, Geoff suggested that her later, longer historical novels were more influential in establishing her reputation ( in 2008 The Times listed her among "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945". The Observer in 2012 placed her final novel, The Blue Flower, among "the ten best historical novels"). She continued teaching until her 70s. She died in 2000.

Geoff loved this book, enjoying the” diverse characters needing emotional restlessness”. He liked the sparse writing style with interesting touches such as the naming of the boats. He thought the period setting was well captured, if not a few years out of sync with the sixties.

I agreed with Geoff. Nick stated emphatically and very briefly that he liked the book. Rob liked it but felt it could have been twice as long, as there were many omissions. Simon was reminded of depressive, awful characters to be found on the River Lee. He found the  exception was the German boy. But despite this, he loved the book.

John liked it (I think),  thought it had a great sense of place, it was naturally engrossing, but it was all about flotsam and jetsam. Alan was impressed by the way all the characters supported each other.

Theo found it quite enjoyable soap opera. He most enjoyed the search for the husband, interestingly enough not set on the boats. He also liked some other sections, such as those with the German boy. But the book lacked emotion and emotional engagement.

Jonathan was interested in the autobiographical hell it portrayed. While he engaged with it, he wondered “where the real pain was”. Who was it written for?

Steve did not enjoy it much at all. It was a nether world of its own, twee and dated, written from an upper class perspective. He could not engage with the characters.

Several of us found the two kids well described and interesting. Judging the mood of the Group overall, it would not have won the Booker if we had been on the Panel………

I presented my 3 choices of book:

The Forgiven by Lawrence Osbourne

Snow by John Banville

West by Carys Davies

You selected Snow by John Banville. Once again I must apologise that it is not available in paperback. I did check early on and it appeared to be listed at Amazon. However, as Rob found, it was listed but unavailable for several months if you clicked through. Exactly the same error was made initially by me for the supplementary choice, The Abstainer by Ian McGuire, but when I was copying the front page I saw it was unavailable until June.

 Dave

Book group on a Tuesday?  At least I’m pretty sure that it was a Tuesday?

Welcome to 'new normal’.

My Zoom screen on gallery view, with a 3 X 3 grid, resembled a very surreal edition of Celebrity Squares, minus Bob Monkhouse. Also absent were Simon, (congratulations again) and Nick who would join us later, after his latest heroic bridge battle.

The young, and slightly less young ‘gods’, met once again, to discuss the latest offering. Steve had presented us with ‘A Thousand Ships’ by the (wonderful) Natalie Haynes. It quickly became apparent that Steve is quite a fan of this multi talented writer, broadcaster, classicist, and comedian. We discovered many facts about her glittering professional career, but not too much about her personal life. Maybe something to do with your firewall settings

Steve? For the record she’s 46, and married to the actor Dan Mersh. She’s also on Twitter as @officialnhaynes, and has her very own website, with lots of links to her previous work at www.nataliehaynes.com

And so to the book…On the whole ‘A Thousand Ships' was well received. It seemed to be that the majority felt the re-telling of the story of the Trojan War from the perspective of Helen, and other female characters, was an interesting viewpoint. A viewpoint that really did shed new light on to these tales. Some of us, myself included, felt slightly hampered by having a very basic prior knowledge of the Classics. I really enjoyed the vivid second

chapter, Creusa, but quickly got the feeling that the book seemed to be just a collection of short stories, linked together by Troy.  Somehow this wasn’t enough of a narrative for me, and the perspectives were sometimes

too brief for me to get a real feel of the characters behind them. That said, it was a book that many enjoyed, and I’m sure that some of our readers would definitely go to war for the (wonderful) Ms. Haynes.

In time the conversation turned to Achilles, Radio 4, Donald Trump, Nero (the emperor, not the caff), Bill Clinton, gun laws, Stephen Fry, fire-pits, building works, Jehovah, vaccines, and many, many other Echoes

Next month we are meeting, most likely virtually, on Monday the 14th December to discuss:

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha (320 pages Published 2020) 

The other choices were:

Waterline by Ross Raisin (272 pages Published 2011)

City of Thieves by David Benioff (400 pages Published 2009)

Stay well, and hope to (literally) see you all soon

Rob x

Courtesy of Zoom, we met on the 12th October to discuss the above book - a Chinese ci fi book by an author who certainly in China and indeed internationally is apparently well regarded. The only non attendees were Simon and Rob and the book prompted a lively if somewhat one sided response. If nothing else, the book was ambitious in its scope covering (and this list is not necessarily comprehensive):

1. The oppression of the scientific intelligentsia during the cultural revolution

2. The eventual rehabilitation of such of the scientists who  survived albeit suffering the emotional scars of their experiences

3. A game playing exercise involving the destruction and subsequent regeneration of extra terrestrial civilisations many times over millions of years.

4. An attempt to problem solve the chaotic effect of the seemingly random movement of three suns (the three bodies).

5. The dissatisfaction with contemporary society predominantly due to environmental issues.

6. A view of quantum physics that enabled the oh so clever extra terrestrials  to produce a super proton.

This list is not altogether exhaustive but gives an indication of the range of issues featuring in the book. Unfortunately, the overwhelming problem was not with the three bodies described in the book but with the human bodies that had to read or attempt to read this book! There was a strong consensus that this book was a turkey (sorry, Xmas in mind).

This view was not altogether unanimous. In the sci fi corner, Nick gave it somelukewarm response but the opposing corner was heavily crowded with “rejectionists”. Dave, Theo and Derek couldn’t come even close to finishing it and I ploughed on to the bitter end out of a sense of duty (perhaps also out of a sense of contrition for failing to present on the previous occasion). No punches were pulled by Derek who described it as one of the worst books he had ever read (luckily Derek was not a member when a previous Chinese offering was savaged by the group). Nick made a fair point by suggesting that the writing style had a certain Chinese flavouring that was not perhaps suited for the western palate but even allowing for this, the feeling was that this did not excuse the disjointed and rambling narrative. Jonathan suggested a need for some savage editing but when you have a book where the narrative and characters do not engage, there is not much left of value. Finally, I feel that Rob should be made to give a 5 minute discourse on the book at the next meeting having voted for it and despite suffering from voting remorse being unable to attend the meeting. Penance is required!

We finished with some social chit chat regarding members of the street. The unfortunate individual photographed as being a suspicious character was revealed as a neighbour of Jonathan’s and very nice. Jeff’s next door neighbour despite having a Range Rover and a Porsche and being a property developer and being a Jehovah’s Witness was revealed as being very nice. This led Theo to disclose his Jehovah Witness credentials- his brother in law is one. Of course the main difference between a Jehovah’s Witness and Theo is that Theo believes that the Messiah is with us right now under the name of Gareth Bale.

The choice of books for the next meeting were between:

Mrs Osmond by John Banville

Nickel boys by Colson Whitehead

A thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

A Thousand Ships was the winner perhaps somewhat surprisingly pipping the Nikel Boys.

We will have the chance to reveal our feminist sympathies at the next meeting

on the 9th November.

Don’t know who is next up for presenting. Consult the website!

Steve

Apologies from Derek and Jonathan.

Unanimous enjoyment, spending most of the evening discussing the accuracy of Larry's portrayal of women.  Getting under Ruth's skin - every bit as much as Sonny was on top of  her skin - showed an insight that Alan felt was lacking in the portrayal of Jacy.  Lost and unable to conform to small town mores, Alan nonetheless managed to enjoy the rest of the novel. (Sorry Alan!)  The book was received well for the hauntingly authentic evocation of the hopeless, fin de siecle small town Thalia. The quality of the writing made the book of the "unputdownable " variety

The film on the other hand was excoriated....

Steve was due to present book choices but was caught unawares....."I'm in Southwold and all my books are at home..." We must assume that the books in Park Avenue South included his diary ! He will present at our October  meeting.

John gave us

A Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole)

The Break (Marian Keyes)

The Three Body Problem (Cixin Liu)

This last book was chosen after a (not very tense but unusually tight) first round of voting. Running against "The Break" Cixin Liu romped home the winner. The first in a trilogy, unashamedly Science Fiction, and detailing Earth's response to a profound external threat, I advise you to write names down as you come across them with a brief CV for each...

We met once again in a virtual sense though the miracle of zoom. It was a full house but for Derek who sent apologies. I think I may be able to claim a new record for furthest away participant at a PAS Book Group meeting, speaking to you as I did from a dowdy B&B on the Isle of Wight with only a bottle of Jamesons for in-room company.

We discussed ‘A Place Called Winter’ by Patrick Gale, a prison officer’s son and former Winchester School chorister who now lives with his husband in Cornwall. The book tells an early 20th Century tale of a disgraced homosexual who is forced to give up a comfortable bourgeoise existence in England for the hard life of a pioneering farmer in the Canadian wilds.

Some misgivings were expressed but it was largely considered a good read thanks to its compelling, pacy plot. The main character, intriguingly named Harry Cane, wasn’t entirely convincing to everyone given his apparently seamless transition from a man who’d never done a day’s work in his life to a ditch-digging dynamo that could run farms single-handedly.

It was generally agreed that the book’s most compelling character was its villain, the charismatic, predatory bisexual Troels Munck. Less impressive was Harry’s prairie beau Paul who Steve, for one, considered wanting in depth and plausibility.

The book’s main plot was suspended occasionally in order to visit Harry in a kind of experimental asylum where we learned a bit more about his psyche. This device was not unanimously liked.

Modern themes such as homophobic discrimination and persecution, racism and abortion set the book apart from contemporaneous sagas written in past times.

New titles presented for consideration were Tom Wolfe’s ‘Bonfire of The Vanities’,

Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s ‘Fleishman Is In Trouble’

Larry McMurtry’s ‘The Last Picture Show’ which emerged triumphant without the need for a second vote.

We floated the idea of staging the next meeting for real in my garden, weather permitting, and agreed to come to a decision nearer the time taking into consideration the Covid state of play.

However we do it, I look forward to seeing you all on September 14.

Dear Readers

Sorry for the late summing up.  Fitting a kitchen last week, exhausting.  Weekend relaxing. 

I was really hoping that this last meeting would have been our last on Zoom but alas it seems we will be meeting virtually again next time.  I am comforted by the thought that “this too will pass” but sadly, not yet.

Nicks choice of book “Galactic Pot Healer” by Philip K Dick had a bit of a mixed response from dislike to mild amusement.  It was felt to be a bit like a comic and did have some funny parts.  Messages in toilets, how weird is that?  Maybe a 50/50 split.  I just thought it was rubbish.  However Nicks intro revealed an interesting but deeply troubled author verging on psychosis in his later years before dying of a stroke.  He must have had quite a large following to have written 121 short stories and 44 books.  I think his biography would have made an interesting read, more so than the book.  With the arrival of artificial intelligence we may find that his take on the nature of reality is closer than ours, now there is a thought!

I thought I was presenting a selection of interesting books to get your teeth into but was instead deafened by howls of protest of the “not a novel” variety.  I don’t actually read many novels so it was a bit of a last minute task to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat but, by complicated voting, which I don’t understand, (thank you Alan) you chose “A place called Winter” by Patrick Gale, which is a novel.

I do get that it would be a different and possibly less safe type of discussion if we were to go down the non-fiction route as Steve pointed out so I am happy that this has been made clear.  We have read many novels over the years which I have very much enjoyed so I will read a few more and hopefully avoid a similar debacle next year.

Have a lovely month guys, I hope you enjoy the book and I look forward to another head a shoulders encounter on the 10th August, second Monday right?  I guess Nick, you will be host and send out the appropriate email to herald the event?

Yours Simon

Firstly, thank you Zoom for another glitch free meeting.

A good turnout for the evening, sorry you couldn't make it Dave, we wish you well.

The Zoom format doesn't lend itself to idle chit-chat, so we were straight in to Alan's résumé of the life of Jermain, sorry, Daniel Defoe.

Daniel Foe was born in London in 1660, and died aged 71. His first novel, Robinson Crusoe was published when he was 59. Prior to that he had been a business man (going  bankrupt and spending time in a debtor's prison), and a religous and political pamphleteer. His non-conformist views led to him being pilloried and sent to Newgate prison. He was released from prison in a deal that allowed him to promote the Act of Union, and he was a spy for the Tories, having been accepted into the Church of Scotland as an English non-conformist.

Defoe published hundreds of pamphlets/journals/books, often under a pseudonym, before writing his first novel. It is said that Robinson Crusoe is second only to the bible in the number of translated editions. As with many of his novels, it was presented as a true story, written by the protaganist.

Journal of the Plague Year was another apparently true story, written by "HF". Defoe had an uncle (Henry Foe) who was a saddler and lived in Whitechapel, so he may have been a source for the tale. There has been much argument over the veracity of the events, the statistics of deaths are from parish records, and the measures taken by the government, church, and mayors are correct, but the characters stories are imaginary.

Opening the discussion to the group led to a broad consensus that we were glad to have read the book, but wouldn't want to read another like it. The main criticism was of repetition, and that the nature of a journal means that we are not following a particular character through the story. What is obvious is how our current pandemic has been dealt with in such a similar way to the 1665 plague, self isolation, social distancing, quarantines, travel restrictions, conspiracy theories, and concerns about a "second spike". But no overnight trips to Durham during the Plague. We were concerned about how Watchmen and Nurses had to endure proximity to Plague victims.

We enjoyed the details about specific streets and taverns, and especially the section about Tom, John and Thomas as they tried to escape the plague by travelling north through Hackney, Hornsey and Epping.

We moved straight on to next month's selection. I offered -

New Hope for the Dead by Charles Willeford

Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon

Galactic Pot Healer by Philip K Dick

I was surprised that the excellent Wonder Boys got a solitary vote, and even more surprised that Philip K Dick triumphed, even though it may have been purely on page count.

Enjoy the wonderful world of Dick, which is safe if used as directed.

There is a 1994 Arena documentary about PKD on YouTube, with a guest appearance by Elvis Costello.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cK2MPgAHRk

Nick

Gentlemen – a good evening and discussion – summary below.

The book group convened again last night, reliant on Nick’s video conferencing arrangements, our manly technological expertise (thank you Fiona) and the power of Wi-Fi for the second month in a row. Minus Dave and Rob but still a lively bunch.

After the initial warm-up: Derek’s art collection gaining the best of background award; Theo’s interesting account of Lloyd Cole’s contribution to his podcast series; and Steve’s running skills (so Bolt-like he was renamed for the duration of the meeting) …we moved on to the discussion of the month’s selection – Ragtime, written by E L Doctorow.

Derek provided the background. He was born in January 1931 in the Bronx of Russian Jewish extraction. Writing was his ambition from an early age. After the draft in 1954/5 he returned from W Germany and started work in New York as a reader in the motion picture industry, most of the movies being Westerns. His first book, published in 1960, was a ‘brutal’ atypical Western novel.

 As a book editor he worked with Ian Fleming among others but left publishing to write full time and was visiting writer at various universities. Ragtime was published in 1975.

He died in 2015 (age 84) of lung cancer having smoked all his life.

Ragtime was universally acclaimed by the group. Comments included that it was beautifully written and structured; it hasn’t dated and the addition of real historical characters to the plot added to the narrative (Was Houdini a metaphor? Was he striving for the American dream but never achieving it to his satisfaction? Did J P Morgan really spend the night in a pyramid?). Women were generally perceived to be the stronger characters and the book ‘moved up a gear’ with the discovery of the baby and the subsequent events leading to the destructive escalation of events following the wrecking of the Model T.  

No-one was sure who the ‘narrator’ was or why the family were never named but this didn’t detract from the storyline.

We concluded noting that it had been made into both a film and a Broadway musical and then went on to discuss all manner of strange libido inspired mishaps. Men in wardrobes, climbing out of windows, naked running past a bus in Blackpool and naked sleepwalking. Clearly getting late and the drink was kicking in.

Before we totally ran out of steam the books were presented for reading for next month’s discussion:

Something Happened – Joseph Heller

Fallen Angel – Chris Brookmyre

A Journal of the Plague Year – Daniel Defoe

Theo kindly handled the voting process in a very laid-back manner. A close call between something happening and the plague but on Steve’s abandonment of the fallen angel the selection was A Journal of the Plague Year.

If our connections hold up until then our next Zoom meeting will be on Monday 8 June.

Look forward to seeing you all then.

Stay safe and well

Alan

Greetings

Apologies for the delayed write up. As Simon said earlier an interesting meeting.

Thanks to Nicks efforts we convened via the wonders of Zoom wizardry.

Great to see that both Steve and Jonathan have recovered from their bouts of the dreaded virus - look after yourselves fellas.

Geoff filled us in with background on author Tim Winton - a man who has written 29 novels - 29! This seemed to be one of the book choices  enjoyed by all - everyone seemed to feel the characters and storyline worked well although they’re were one or two who wondered why Jaxie felt he had to leave town immediately when he hadn’t done anything and also, at the books climax, why he chose to do nothing when Fintan was being tortured. The almost Biblical nature of the story was discussed and it was felt Winton brought great sense of place to the Western Australian badlands.

A very atmospheric novel enjoyed by all - great choice Geoff

We more or less moved straight on to the draw for next months reading .  offered up

Absolute Beginners - Colin MacInnes

One flew over the Cuckoos Nest - Ken Kesey

Ragtime - EL Doctorow

Well - it was settled with one round of votes - the majority plumped for Ragtime

Certainly not as much fun or as comfortable as meeting up in the same room it was still better than not meeting at all. I hope you’ll all be at no 7 for our next soiree - I fear we will be sitting isolated discussing Ragtime and wondering still when life will get back to some sort of normality

Till then - look after yourselves

Best

Derek

Hi All

We have all become familiar with the Tottenham Outrage in recent weeks. I refer not to Jose, but to historic antecedents of misfortune and self -destruction, the 1909 anarchist gunfight and the Hasisidic ‘terrorist’ killings, chronicled by MH Bayliss. A full squad of 11 readers, all fit and eager, ‘turned up’ on the night and put on a display of finely honed skills of discussing, reminiscing and drinking. Jonathan’s game plan unfolded as a thing of beauty and  involved a ‘second to none’ cheese board.

Jonathan had sleuthed the bio details, although these are scant. Born in Nottingham in 1971, MH Bayliss (Matt) grew up in Southport. He was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School, Crosby, and Trinity College, Cambridge.  Matt has written a trilogy of Rex Tracey, Haringey-set crime thrillers, ‘Tottenham Outrage’ 2014  was his fourth novel, and the second in the series. Although the stories centre around the East of the borough he lives in Highgate. He is married to ‘the beautiful Emma’ (dedication in Tottenham Outrage) and they have one son who attends a local junior school where he is an involved parent (book group comment).

Matt works hard to make a living out of writing. As a journalist he has written for a number of newspapers, including the Guardian, Telegraph, Sunday Times, and the Mail. He writes a daily TV review column in the Daily Express. As a screen writer, he has worked on 'EastEnders', and been jointly involved in creating TV soap series as well as Romantic and Thriller films in Kenya and Cambodia. He says he has a lot in common with his fictional hero, Rex Tracey, we hoped this didn’t include an addiction to codeine and cheap Polish lager.

Most of us enjoyed the read and were engrossed in the many strands of the plot as the mystery deepened. The familiarity with the geography added to the engagement. Few of us had any insight into the Hasidic communities of Stamford Hill and admired the blend of fact and fiction that Bayliss weaved in his portrayal of this. Jonathan revealed that the Duckovchiner sect was an invention. We felt Bayliss captured authenticity in his observations of street scenes of Wood Green, with the Turkish and Muslim communities, his knowledge of local pubs and of the struggles to make local newspaper profitable. It was a good paced read with many humorous passages. The past anarchist chapters were successfully interweaved.  Rex Tracey was a vivid character who could easily translate from page to screen and this was also so for many of the characters representing the newspaper,

the police, the shopkeepers and the Jewish leaders.  Dave remarked that there were also astute authorial comments popping-up to give you pause for thought.

There was some dissent from this warm glow, mainly from myself and Rob. We were less taken with the ‘who dunnit genre’ and more critical of plot contrivances and ‘red herrings inevitably thrown in.

The conversation spring-boarded into a discussion of all things Hasidic as we shared our experiences and prejudices. We lamented the aggressive piloting of Volvo’s in local roads, the brand of choice because it featured no parts from Germany. We puzzled over practices such as ‘eruv’, the simple act of roping a discreet area which gives licence to orthodox Jews to ignore the strictures of the Sabbath and party like gentiles. Apparently within Hasidi gatherings much singing, dancing and drinking does take place, at least amongst the men. Steve revealed that he had been subjected to recruitment entreatments when he lived in the Suburb, on one occasion his neighbour serenading him with a ram’s horn, and on another a mobile unit appeared in the street inviting potential recruits into the wagons and plying them with whisky. Steve escaped the Suburb with no apparent harm.

The conversation moved seamlessly on to discuss Jehova’s and Jumpers, with Theo featuring principally in both, respectively, his Brother-in law’s abrupt conversion after 30 years of marital pressure and his sartorial style of holes in each armpit of his jumper, a grunge style most of us

couldn’t carry-off. We ended with a nicely rounded return to the theme of personal threat as John announced a council suggestion to shift Priory road parking into PAS !!

We were relieved that Alan had returned to fulfil duties of Chief Returning Officer, but this time the count was straightforward; Tim Winton’s  ‘The Shepherd’s Hut’ the clear winner. The also ran’s were Simon Mawer ‘Prague Spring’ and Kamila Shamsie ‘Home Fire’.

The next date has been subject to great uncertainty as we manoeuvred to avoid a Bank holiday and a potential football fixture.  I can now announce that we will follow the principle of avoiding Easter Monday and meet on Tuesday 14th April, with apologies to any who can’t make it.

Look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at 69 PAS. 

To be fair, let me share some of the pain.

Chapter one...after Clem had knocked Jane about and then eaten her sausages: I read...

‘Her fitness turned into possibly less sound than it regarded to be; one could have as compared to her, not now to some piece of exuberant ordinary flora, however instead to a rank, evilly smelling boom.’

But most of you read....‘Her health was probably less sound than it seemed to be; one would have compared her, not to some piece of exuberant normal vegetation, but rather to a rank, evilly-fostered growth.

I could go on...but shrugging that off...it was fine evening to be had at Rob’s new nest in Tottenham. A smart cottage down All Hallows Lane just where the beloved Hotspurs all began.

Rob introduced us to George Gissings,( 1857-1903) a Victorian novelist who packed a lot into his 46yrs. Born in Yorkshire eldest of five he schooled in Wakefield and Alderley Edge, a bright student he excelled and won a scholarship to the forerunner of Manchester University. Further academic prizes followed but his academic career ended in disgrace as he was found guilty of stealing from fellow students. His defence was that he needed to support a young prostitute and keep her off the streets. A month’s hard labour and a year in the USA followed. Returning home he self published his first novel and married Nell the prostitute. Married life was plagued by poverty and Nell’s alcoholism. During the 9 years of their marriage he wrote 4 novels and 11 short stories funded largely by teaching. 3 years after Nell died he married Edith another working class woman and together they had 2 children. The marriage was unhappy, they separated after 6 years.  A relationship with a young French woman developed during his separation from Edith and they moved to France, eventually Edith was committed to an asylum. Gissings died (probably of TB) near Biarritz attended by his friend H.G.Wells. He left 23 novels and 12 collections of short stories to his name.

Rob's research let him to suspect much of this history is suspect and Gissings may well have been privately funded.

Briefly moving to the book, (having put my detailed notes in the recycling). It was generally well received. Everyone enjoying the sense of place, his well drawn characters and a capacity to involve the reader in the realities of the lives of the Victorian nether world underclass. Arguments centred on his capacity to complete a linear story line. Some character led blind alleys seemed underdeveloped whilst others overblown. Motives in

relationships, the relentless poverty, the temptation of inheritance and the lack of a happy ending exercised some of us.

The power of the book was best shown by the passionate discussion that followed. The similar suffering of the underclass today, the state of housing and the lack of compassion in the ruling class. Rob reminded us of his 30 years studio work in Gissing’s described neighbourhood and others knew it well. We moved on to PAS building news, property prices and films watched.

Three Books were offered for our 9th March meeting at No 15. Alan back on duty but deprived of much fun as the voting was straightforward...

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon 2 votes

The Tottenham Outrage by MH Baylis 5 votes

I Capture The Castle by Dodi Smith 2 votes

Many thanks to Rob for lavish victuals and beverages and our very best wishes to his new venture.

Cheers Jonathan

Good morning all

On the evening of Monday 13th January 2020 we met, in hushed silence, at No.72 to discuss ‘Reading Allowed: True Stories & Curious Incidents from a Provincial Library’ by Chris Paling.

There were 3 absentees, Alan, who was on (another?) holiday. Theo, who was busy interviewing Clive Allen. And Steve, who was involved in a crucial, bridge (too far) match.

We learnt that Mr Paling was born in Derby in 1956, studied social sciences at the University of Sussex, and started working as a studio manager for BBC radio in 1981. He now lives in Brighton, is married with 2 kids, and works at the local communal library.

The book had come to John’s notice via the Radio 4 programme ‘A Good Read’, where the panel liked the whimsical nature of the opening chapter, and the distinctly political direction of travel in subsequent chapters.

I think that it would be fair to say that Theo summed up the general consensus perfectly in his email: 'I thought it was largely unremarkable, but enjoyable enough. It read like a feature from the weekend Guardian’. Others found it unreadable, although they were re-assured that the book had improved after page 80. A long, lively debate ensued as John was asked why he had picked this book. The honest answer was that he had wanted us to pick ‘Wilding’ by Isabella Tree, which is surely another example of how relying on tactical voting, or voters intelligence, is mis-placed faith.

There followed a nice reminiscence session on libraries, how we had all used them as kids, and whether they have become another out-dated institution viewed through rose tinted virtual reality headsets.

The first proper mention of parking was at 21:51

Many thanks to John for a hospitable evening, with much fine cheese, laughter, and lots of wine, beer & mocktails.

The next meeting is on Monday February 10th, with a trip to the east of the borough.

My 3 (novel) proposals were:

The House on the Strand: Daphne du Maurier

Nobber: Oisin Fagan

The Nether World: George Gissing

After a North Korean voting process, conducted by Geoff, which would have made Alan’s hair and toes curl, the eventual winner was The Nether World.

I look forward to seeing you all in February.

Cheers,  Rob (112 Church Road, N17 8AJ)

Good morning all

On the evening of Monday 13th January 2020 we met, in hushed silence, at No.72 to discuss ‘Reading Allowed: True Stories & Curious Incidents from a Provincial Library’ by Chris Paling.

There were 3 absentees, Alan, who was on (another?) holiday. Theo, who was busy interviewing Clive Allen. And Steve, who was involved in a crucial, bridge (too far) match.

We learnt that Mr Paling was born in Derby in 1956, studied social sciences at the University of Sussex, and started working as a studio manager for BBC radio in 1981. He now lives in Brighton, is married with 2 kids, and works at the local communal library.

The book had come to John’s notice via the Radio 4 programme ‘A Good Read’, where the panel liked the whimsical nature of the opening chapter, and the distinctly political direction of travel in subsequent chapters.

I think that it would be fair to say that Theo summed up the general consensus perfectly in his email: 'I thought it was largely unremarkable, but enjoyable enough. It read like a feature from the weekend Guardian’. Others found it unreadable, although they were re-assured that the book had improved after page 80. A long, lively debate ensued as John was asked why he had picked this book. The honest answer was that he had wanted us to pick ‘Wilding’ by Isabella Tree, which is surely another example of how relying on tactical voting, or voters intelligence, is mis-placed faith.

There followed a nice reminiscence session on libraries, how we had all used them as kids, and whether they have become another out-dated institution viewed through rose tinted virtual reality headsets.

The first proper mention of parking was at 21:51

Many thanks to John for a hospitable evening, with much fine cheese, laughter, and lots of wine, beer & mocktails.