Christmas greetings from Laos !

Happy Christmas to everyone!

Looking through my pictures, there is nothing Christmassy, and lots of photos of concrete buildings streaked with damp. So this is fireworks coming from the Thai side of the Mekong - I was on the Lao side of the river, in Tha Khek.

Bises à tous,
Robin

Georg Orwell, BURMESE DAYS

Once again another wonderful book meeting took place on Thurs, 19th December.  Six of us were in attendance (Michel, Phoebe, Helen, Maren, Caroline, Cynthia) at a great place found by Caroline:  Le Bouillon des Colonies.  We were the only table there the entire night, which was a pity, so please encourage your friends to try it out !
The book discussion meandered and stopped and re-started, but overall it was a success.  Those of us who read Burmese Days did enjoy it, although Maren was only luke-warm about it.  We generally seemed to be strongly in favor of Orwell's other writings, with the notable exception being Helen, who was put off from Orwell by her high school reading assignments which she didn't enjoy.  We agreed Burmese Days was less political and didactic than his other writings (indeed it was his first novel) but he still managed to send a bit of a moral message critical of the colonials via the character of Flory.
We all got a strong feeling for life in colonial Burma and felt that the descriptions and metaphors were really well done.  The characters, too, were well described and seemed to represent good stereotypes of the people we could imagine living in that place and time.   This was particularly true of Elizabeth, whose character provoked yet another lively debate à la Alice Adams:  young women with no career, trade, and basically no alternative besides marriage do deserve our sympathy.  On this we all agree.  But does that feeling of desperation excuse bad behavior, contempt for the poor, etc?  It is not easy to determine where the frontier lies, but clearly Elizabeth made Alice look like a Girl Scout.

Besides Flory, there were few really sympathetic characters in the novel.  We could not even agree on the doctor, who was too over-the-top in his slavish admiration for the British.  Flory even at times seemed to lack the full courage he needed throughout the story.  But the single most truly evil character, U Po Kyin, raised the interesting question about whether the very presence of a colonial power will inevitably create people like U Po Kyin, who exploit it and use it as a weapon for their own profit.   I don't believe we ever did resolve that debate.

Cynthia

Yasmina Khadra, THE ATTACK

This time our meeting place was a restaurant, Mezze du Liban, which turned out to be an ideal choice for a meeting: warm reception, wonderful food and not too loud, which made it easy to have a proper conversation. Michel, Helen, Robin, Caroline, Cynthia and Maren were all in attendance.
Everybody was enthusiastic about the book, although there were a few criticisms of the quality of Khadra’s writing style, and it certainly stimulated discussion.

An unexpected and enriching aspect was the fact that the book had already been made into a movie (directed by an Israeli) and our group turned out to be made up of readers only, readers and viewers and viewers only. The movie seems to be well known in Israel and Helen had actually been able to discuss it with some young Israelis she’d met that day. We were therefore able to juxtapose a number of points, particularly as there were some important differences. In the movie, Amin sees a video of his wife Sihem just before the attack, in which she seems to be having second thoughts, whereas in the book all he receives is a very short letter which seems to demonstrate her total commitment to the cause. There is also a significant discrepancy between the two endings: in the book he dies, in the movie he doesn’t. The major difference however was the fact that in the movie Sihem was a Christian, whereas in the book one always assumes, naturally enough, that she is a Muslim. But we all agreed that oppression, no matter what religion one belongs to, will create violence. As Cynthia experienced during her journey to the West Bank, everyone there identifies themselves as Palestinian and/or Arab and no one as Muslim/Christian/Jew – the unifying identification in this region is nationality, not religion. 

Here are a few of the other points raised:

• We all agreed that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems insoluble, and thought it unlikely that anything would be resolved, at least in our lifetimes. One of the strengths of the book was to see it through the eyes of an Arab living as a naturalized Israeli.

• But this fact actually puts him Amin in a frail position, of which he is probably not even aware: it means he has to excel in all domains, professionally and personally, to prove his integration within Israeli society (at the highest level, by moving in well-regarded social circles, living in a residential and expensive neighborhood, going on expensive holidays etc.). He is exposed to offenses, open and hidden, intended and not intended, which he has to accept with calm and understanding. And probably most important, it cuts him off from his own cultural background. One error on his side, even if it is not intended or of his own making, and it will be turned against him. For the Israeli world he is and always will be an Arab.

• Amin leaves his family to become a doctor. With this act he leaves behind not just his family but a whole tradition. Can this be considered as betrayal, even if he follows his father's wish? Or is this a simple loss of identity? A denial? He is not anymore a member of the Arab world, but has become a member of Israeli society. What place is there for him when he is rejected by the society he has tried to make his own?

• In order to try and retrace Sihem’s geographical and psychological itinerary, he has to go back to his own roots and question his own feelings and motivations too. In the end do we feel he has understood and even forgiven her? We mustn’t forget that his job is to save lives). And more widely, is there any way an act such as this can be justified? 

• Is it possible to really know somebody? Cynthia and Caroline felt there was nothing they didn’t know about their husbands. And yet Amin apparently did not really know his wife or at least not well enough – or was he not paying sufficient attention to her needs and real preoccupations?

• Does the fact that the suicide bomber here is a woman make a difference? What makes women become suicide bombers? Desperation? A desire to be equal to men? What about the old saying (thank you, Helen, for quoting your grandmother): “Women are there to clean up the mess when men have finished?” This led us to mention the first female police members in Afghanistan (who don’t wear a veil!) and to the fact that Israeli women have to do military service. Caroline recalled that one of the terrorists in the recent Nairobi shopping mall terrorist attack was a (British) woman and also pointed out that in the Moscow theatre hostage crisis, all the Chechen suicide bombers were women. In the case of the atrocities committed by Mohammed Merah in France in 2012 his mother was certainly aware, if not instrumental, in the killings (although in this case Maren wondered if she had any other choice). 

• We found that all the locations were very vividly described. Tel Aviv was shown as a modern and organized city where one can make a good and comfortable living, in contrast with the chaos reigning in Palestine, just the other side of the Wall. 

• And just for the record, Yasmina Khadra intends to stand as the next Algerian President (presumably under his real name, Mohammed Moulessehoul – his pseudonym is actually his wife’s name!).

All in all we had a very interesting and lively discussion! Thanks to Caroline for this choice!

Caroline & Cynthia

Amos Oz, A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS

Many thanks to Amanda for having us over on Thursday 10th October.   The meeting was surely a success – good discussion, good food, good company !  :o)

Although most of us agreed upon having a hard time reading Amos Oz's A Tale of Love and Darkness, we found many positive aspects in the book. Most if not all of us found it a bit too long with many descriptions/repetitions which did not necessarily bring much added value. Consequently, not everybody made it to the end before the meeting. We also agreed that it would have been very helpful to have a family tree or some kind of index of the individuals, friends, friends-of-friends, relatives-of friends-of-relatives-of-neighbors…. even famous historical characters became confused.  We were often a bit lost with the appearances/disappearances/reappearances of many characters throughout the book. Many had read other books (novels) by Oz before and found them easier to read.  But overall, we agreed A Tale of Love and Darkness was a good choice, and we did appreciate the witty passages, wishing the author could have kept it up throughout the full length of the book.  Everyone found the subject matter extremely interesting, and it is obvious that the situation between Israel and Palestine never fails to stimulate debate and conversation.

While initially Amanda could not recall why she recommended the book, she was able to realize while discussing for a bit that she found the pioneer spirit of the first settlers quite interesting, and indeed it paralleled a bit the experience of North American pioneers. She also noted the relations between the heavily trained intellectuals from East Europe, and the strong, sun-tanned Israelis, born on their own land, building it up with their hands and singing. The contrast between the ones, having everything lost and barely able to support their families, and others, the dynamic pioneers, was interesting. It explained also the enormous disappointment and difficulty that the Eastern Europeans had assimilating and accepting (in the case of the mother, especially) that they had to start over, and that their education was necessarily not going to help them to succeed.

Michel noted how he got a real practical education from reading the book, because his travels to the region in recent times paint only one picture, with Palestinians often looking like victims. The book helped show some of the history which explains perhaps a bit of the Israeli point of view, which a snapshot of the current situation cannot accurately show us. One thing we all easily accepted which was clearly expressed in the book: The British do tend to make a bit of a mess of things when they leave their colonies behind.

Perhaps the strongest debate was on whether the mother or the father was worthy of sympathy. Most believed the mother was sympathetic but two of us thought the father, while annoying as hell, was indeed a sympathetic character and that the mother had to have known what she was getting herself into by marrying him in the first place. The story of the suicide itself was quite built up throughout the book and some found it deeply moving, others thought it was a bit anticlimactic. We also did not really find the narrator very likeable as a child. One could argue that everyone was suffering and struggling, trying his best, and therefore everyone was deserving of sympathy. 

Please feel free to forward us your comments as well !

Cynthia & Maren

Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, HALF OF A YELLOW SUN

There were 6 of us meeting at Maren’s place on Thursday 12th for a delicious Croque-Monsieur night: Cynthia, Robin, Maren, Myriam, Michel and a newcomer, Florence.

After a round of chitchat related to the various experiences  of the bookclub members over the summer holidays the discussion turned to the book which brought us together that night. ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ (HoaYS) by Nigerian female author Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie.

The background and reasons for my choice is the interest I grew in African literature when I moved to Angola for work some years ago and was trying to get a feel  of the place. I realised then how African literature was both flourishing and varied in style but also drastically underrepresented in the international literature market.

I first read HoaYS in that context, and was enchanted by the voice and personality of its young author, Chimamanda Adichie.  A woman I said I would love to meet (the bookclub assembly joined in and suggested we invite Chimamanda for tea and biscuits at a later bookclub session).

Most present that day said they enjoyed reading the novel, whilst Florence mentioned she remained neutral to it, not disliking it although it did not win her over either.

Michel mirrored the novel’s structure by launching the discussion on the central character of Ugwu. The novel starts with the arrival of Ugwu in his master’s house on the Nsukka campus, and he provides the pivot to the story, a sort of witness, as we follow his personal development throughout the novel. Robin mentioned how the reader grows fond of Ugwu and Cynthia asked our reactions to the ‘act’ (gangrape) that Ugwu is involved in during his military days.

We also discussed the characters of the twin sisters Olanna and Kainene, and agreed that their being twins did not bring anything to the novel, and the story may not be different had they been introduced as mere sisters rather than twins.

Maren pointed that the food/cooking and sex themes provide for important and lively scenes of the novel, and are written in a style that made them feel very natural and a ‘true part of life’. No unnecessary taboo and no spoiling the fun.

We also discussed how the author’s style was effective in keeping the reader going, although the atmosphere grows gloomier as the Biafran war progresses, by going back and forth between detailed descriptions and ordinary domestic activities. (Olanna who interrupts her introspection to blow the baby’s nose).

Robin had noted a few quotes she wished to share with us, one being a great illustration of the author’s feminist thinking. Interestingly  this feminist view was part of a line by the upcountry aunty, supposedly not literate and no suffragette herself, but an independent woman all the same.

The quote that Robin read to us is a perfect illustration of the feminist positions that Chimamanda developed in one of her several talks available on Youtube (‘We should all be feminists’. Accessible here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg3umXU_qWc).

We unfortunately did not have time to listen to the High Life music that Olanna is so fond of. So here is a link to try it out on Youtube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOluwt5FSVM

>>> Also, it seems that a ‘HoaYS movie is expected to come out before the end of the year. We said we’d keep an eye out for it. Maybe a good reason for a bookclub outing ?

Myriam

More recommendations by Myriam:

Other recommended talks by Chimamanda: (yes, yes,  I got to select the book AND draft the Minutes, ah,ah ! So additional promotion for Chimamanda…)

‘The danger of a single story’ or why we should look for information beyond the basic clichés that we usually encounter.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg

A talk on her recent book Americanah, where her life in the US, multicultural societies and the author’s obsession with hairstyle are being discussed.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n8LtRi2i8c



Thanks also to Michel for this summary and appreciation of "Half of a Yellow Sun":

Olanna is a perfect woman. Well educated, intelligent, " illogically pretty". Her romance with Odenigbo is an ideal one. They live  apart from the rest of the country, in  an oasis where theoreticians can talk, have drinks , imagine the world. Ugwu is fascinated by Master and Olanna. He wants to own them, almost worships them. Over the years he will start to teach, the way they do, and put together the book that should have been written by Richard. As this " blue eyed, fair haired" Englishman  deeply fell in love with Kainene, Olanna's twin sister, the loop is looped. Our characters are expected to be good : they like, admire, support and respect each others.

But the fairy tale cannot go on. Mother casts a spell over Olanna,  who " did not suck her mother's breasts".Odenigbo makes a village girl pregnant. Olanna leaves him, although she will come back later. But she also faults. Our characters are not ideal. They are fallible. Why did she choose the shy Richard to take revenge? It is her sister who is hurt:: " you fucked my lover" ! While until the end Olanna and Richard will share their guilt ,the determined and strong Kainene will surpass the hardship.

Are the characters  performing onstage? Each chapter begins with  the name of character and tells a bit of  that character's story. The narrative becomes chopped off  while the reader finds himself  ten years or so forward immersed  into the brutal racial war. Unbearable pictures of the war: the aunt's and uncle's corpses lying on the ground, the little girl's head in a calabash, or the body of the  house boy that continues to run  beheaded. The play becomes more confused. Olanna takes care of "Baby". Only later will we find out that Baby is Odenigbo's child and that Olanna has decided to keep the child.

But the war subdues everything. The family ( Odenigbo-Olanna-Baby- Ugwu) has got  to leave. This is the start of a lengthy exodus: Abba, Umuahia,  Orlu  . The war creates splits within the Odenigbo-Olanna couple: all Haussas are complicit in the massacre of the Igbos, including Olanna's former lover, an unacceptable proposition. Yet, the war also bring the characters more closely together.  Biafra, a new country is born. They, as all Igbos, strongly believe in Biafra's victory against the Nigerian vandals.

During the first times of the war, enthralled by their credo, our heroes remain   knit together. Odenigbo is active with Biafran organisations. He goes in the interior to educate the people. Olanna teaches the children. Kainene urges Richard to write press articles to support Biafra. Ugwu also teaches . Later he will start to write  " The world was silent ...". Eventually,Olanna marries Odenigbo. Yet the hardships of the war end up  fragmenting  the couple. When his mother is killed, Odenigbo becomes depressed, openly alcoholic. Ultimately he is likely to have slept with a refugee girl. Olanna will not pardon, keep him aloof. Their love story is dead, as many Biafrans are dead.

Not only death is around but  also  hatred ( "All Igbo women deserve to be raped") while children are starving. Enrolled by force in the Biafran army, Ugwu is forced to rape a Biafran girl. He will be haunted by "the hate in her eyes as she lay on her back on the dirty floor".  Olanna  has no more  food for Baby. Kainene decides to trade with the ennemy to buy protein tablets for Baby. She will not come back. Richard will not console himself. And, although the war is over, Olanna can only keep crying, in Odenigbo's arms eventually.

Booth Tarkington, ALICE ADAMS

Rather than creating a new post, I'll just update the pre-meeting one:

Booth Tarkington is a favorite of mine. He really seems to have fallen out of currency, so I’m always happy to introduce him to new readers. He was a popular and prolific author in the first half of the 20th century, winning the Pulitzer twice, for THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS and ALICE ADAMS. His PENROD books, about a pre-WWI boyhood, used to be standard children’s literature (although their language and style, not to mention unreconstructed racial attitudes, make them adults-only fare today).

I’m fascinated by people’s reaction to Alice Adams herself – people leap to attack or defend her as a person, rather than a character in a book. Always fun at a roundtable!

Tarkington is a very cinematic writer – although he didn’t write directly for the screen, and isn’t averse to entering characters’ minds, he does tend to give you the story in actions and images, e.g. Alice’s violets. He may well be best known today as the author of the source novel for Orson Welles’s mutilated masterpiece THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS. The 1935 film adaptation of ALICE ADAMS is very interesting (aside from perfect casting of Katherine Hepburn and a great Hattie McDaniel cameo) because it follows the book faithfully up to the very end, then slaps on a Hollywood ending (as opposed to the much more interesting and cinematic ending of the book) at the last minute. Perhaps a screening is in order?

Tarkington is great on environments – especially in AMBERSONS, but also here, he shows/tells how a city changes over the years, how neighborhoods come down in the world building by building, how the city spreads into the surrounding country. (Movies again: I’d be fascinated to see how this could be done with today’s CGI.) He’s also a regionalist – while the term wasn’t invented then, it’s nice to have a story set in “flyover country.”

Isn’t it amazing to think that ALICE ADAMS and THE GREAT GATSBY were written and set so few years apart? They’re both about strivers reinventing themselves, but what a difference!

Poor Alice Adams didn’t get much love from those assembled – nor did ALICE ADAMS. (I’ve started reading HALF OF A YELLOW SUN, and I admit the contrast was jarring.) Michel made an interesting comparison to Austen, what with the fluttering mother and the push to advantageous matrimony, while pointing out the very American “money is family” motif. Phoebe went on at length about the weird jester/truthteller/Greek chorus role played by “colored” [very much sic] characters in Tarkington’s works.

Esprit d’escalier (also known as “she who writes the minutes gets the last word”) here, my apologies:  there was fairly heated argument over Alice’s refusal to acknowledge that she did NOT have a place in the world she wanted to belong to, together with thundering condemnation of her way of embroidering the truth. I’m reminded of the reaction to Renée in LA CUREE – there seems to be an expectation that the protagonist obtain, absolutely ex nihilo, standards and resources belonging to our world rather than hers. All responsibility is placed on her shoulders, with no thought given to the shaping force of environment. Don’t forget that Alice Adams is 22 – effectively 18, since she hasn’t gone to college and has pretty much been in suspended animation since she left high school. (Department of “How far have we come, really?”: Has anyone seen FRANCES HA, whose protagonist is 27 and lives in NYC in the 21st century?) To the Comments for ripostes!

Dépit d’escalier, no apologies: Are you nuts? Frank Dowling is horrible.

                                                                                                                                      -- Phoebe

Paul Auster, INVISIBLE

First of all big thanks to Amanda and her family for hosting our meeting in their apartment and for sharing their wonderful terrace. Since there were just four of us this time we had loads of space to enjoy the almost warm early summer evening on top of Paris' roofs.
And we had a first: Robin joined us later during the meeting by conference call. With a little training we might be able to have even video call-in's with people which are far away for the moment but want to participate nevertheless... ? (... Phoebe, Kathleen, Anjuli, ... what do you think?) That way we would get from invisible to visible...

But let's talk about Paul Auster's INVISIBLE: Appreciations of the book varied. There was positive feedback from Cynthia and deception on the side of our most fervent Auster admirer Amanda, who said to be not as satisfied as usual by this novel. For the rest of us... so so... Helen and Maren had difficulties to get into the book. Helen spent even three weeks for getting through it, which is unusual for her as she is mostly reading three books at a time. 
Everybody agreed upon Auster's excellent, as Amanda put it: genious, "technical" skills for the use of words and storytelling. But what could be understood by one as a specific force of Auster's brilliant writing, the changing and shifting perspectives, were for other readers rather disturbing and mentioned as a finger excercise of the author, a sort of show-off.
Although the book provides several references on invisibility, we could not find a real explanation for the book title. Also the question what the book was about, did not get a final answer. Which story was told: Rudolf Born's life or the one of Adam Walker, the impact of a death of a child on the life of the other children in the family, invisible events in people's life and their traces in history? And what to think about the fourth chapter, Cécile's visit to Rudolf Born? Cynthia, who was otherwise very fond of the book, called it pointless.

We turned our discussion also to other topics as for example to the books everybody has sitting at home on its shelves. So the idea was born to bring to our meetings books we would like to propose for exchange amongst our book club members. Please feel invited to bring to our meetings books you would like to exchange!

Maren & Amanda

Why Paul Auster ?

For INVISIBLE, by Paul Auster

I promised that I would write something to explain why I like Paul Auster.   It is far more difficult to explain than I originally imagined.  Ordinarily what I like in a novel is not so much an interesting plot, but interesting characters, interesting observations about the world, human nature, etc.   I also tend toward books that many people can often find depressing (Orhan Pamuk, for example).    Auster is a bit of all of the above, but also he manages to have really interesting plots as well.   The twists and turns of the plot seem a bit unrealistic, but then ultimately I somehow find that I can really identify with the thoughts and actions and ideas of most of the characters.  

I read far too many reviews online for this book and readers either loved or hated it.  This includes the professional reviewers as well as the "regular people" who post reviews on the internet.  No one seems to lack a strong opinion of either the novel or of Paul Auster as a writer in general, and the opinions seem quite evenly divided.  This in itself seems like the right formula for a good book discussion, and therefore was the reason for my selection.  I'm reluctant to write a lot about the book before the meeting, so we'll save a bit more for the minutes.

PS   I suspect that his being originally from Newark, NJ, where I lived, pushed me in the direction of his novels in the first place.  But that was just by chance.

Tan Twan Eng, THE GARDEN OF EVENING MISTS

First of all, many, many thanks to Myriam for a lovely evening of crèpes and goodies … indeed a wonderful time was had by all. We all agree it was extremely courageous and generous to have hosted the meeting during one’s final countdown to motherhood!  

Secondly, the book was overall a 5 out of 5 thumbs up until, predictably, Phoebe arrived and added her “sideways” thumb into the mix. No one doubts, however, that it was a very good discussion, and therefore an great choice for the group.

Additionally, we give a special shout out to Robin for schlepping the laptop to the meeting to share her magnificent photos of Malaysia with us.

Administrative note: due to complexities in managing the monthly assignments for each of us to suggest a book, it was agreed that there are no more assigned months. The agenda will be open and each of us is welcome to fill in any month we choose at any time. It gives us the flexibility to allow people with a lot of great ideas to suggest books more often, while not obliging others to suggest books if they lack either the time or inclination to do so. We’ll also keep a “reserve list” for people to list great reads which could be used in a pinch. June, July and Sept are all defined. Please help yourselves to the free months…reserve list coming soon !

http://www.bookclubdeparis.blogspot.fr/p/agenda.html

The points discussed about the book were interesting and varied:

· Many were confused at the start with all the various twists/narrative perspectives. Caroline even thought the first 50 or so pages were just plain poorly written English, which could have contributed to the difficulty we had to get really hooked into book. Most agreed that once we were into it, it was quite a good read. Phoebe was left with not much strong feeling either way about the book, and felt it was merely a nice evocation of a time and place, but too many threads. Robin did point out that this is quite normal in Chinese culture.

· The male author did a good job of speaking as a woman. YunLing was not a very emotional person, and we agreed it was a deliberate characterization of her, rather than a male author being unable to describe female emotion. We were curious about how often there are female authors writing from the male point of view in modern literature. Several examples exist in the classics due to women hiding their identities, but we did not note any modern examples.

· Most of us thought the love story of Prof Tatsuji’s time in the war was interesting and pertinent. It also allowed us to see the Japanese people as victims of their own country’s military aggression. Many of us admitted to not knowing very much about the inter-connected histories of Japan/China/Malaysia, and even South Africa for a while. Another thanks to Myriam and Robin for their many insights into the subject thanks to their varied experiences in the region.

· It was agreed that Aritomo intentionally departed into the jungle, not wanting to return. We also felt that the design of the garden in combination with the horimono was a clue somehow to his involvement in the Golden Lily program. We also tried to imagine how YunLing would “destroy” the horimono before she died.

Please feel free to add/subtract/correct any info here. I am sure I did not even begin to scratch the surface. I will add these minutes to the blog very soon.

Best regards, and see you in June….location tbd, but meeting date Thurs 13^th .

 -- Cynthia

Manu Joseph, THE ILLICIT HAPPINESS OF OTHER PEOPLE

While our opinions were divided on Manu Joseph’s THE ILLICIT HAPPINESS OF OTHER PEOPLE, we were all stimulated and intrigued. We were sorry the book selector herself, Anjuli, couldn’t be there to discuss her selection and especially some questions raised about its Indian context. Some points – and, as always, please add anything I’ve missed or thoughts that occurred to you later in Comments:

• We were all impressed by the vécu quality of the physical and cultural setting. This was not exoticism for the export trade, it was an (artfully/apparently) unselfconscious immersion in a physical and cultural environment. I’m tempted to say Manu Joseph:Chennai equals Philip Roth:Newark.
• The swaths of philosophy struck us differently: some found them interesting to mull over, some thought they were snappily formulated but questionable; others found them old hat, typical dorm-room musings, and beside the point. They almost seemed like a red herring in the “detective story” of Unni’s death – but, if so, why did they take up so much of the book?
• Some of us were frustrated by the device of the absent character defined by others’ reactions to him. We learned that Unni was charismatic, but didn’t ourselves feel his charisma. This was especially marked in the context of the vividness of other principal characters. Deliberate? To what effect?
• One of the first topics to pop up in our discussion, and a point where we really missed Anjuli: how has India (or, let’s say, the slice of India shown in this book) changed since the early 1990s? Does Joseph show any kind of parti pris in his description?
• Sadly topical, the culture of sexual violence. One incident I couldn’t get a grip on: when Unni tells his mother about going to her home town in an attempt to confront her attacker (frustrated because the latter died, happy and respected, a few months earlier), he finishes his story, “Also, I squeezed his wife’s boobs” and he and his mother laugh. The irony of an avenger of sexual abuse participating unquestioningly in a system where abusing a woman is merely a way to send a message to her man – how does this fit into the book as a whole? Are mother and son laughing together or, horribly, separately?

I know I’ve skipped many fascinating points brought up in our discussion – please do help complete this summary.

-- Phoebe

Amor Towles, RULES OF CIVILITY

Our discussion began with a word from Emily as to why she chose the book: as a complement to BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S, a New York novel with a central, single young woman. Some points in the lively discussion that followed — as always, your additions and comments would be greatly appreciated!

• Is this one of those books that are more fun for the author to write than they could possibly be for anyone to read?
• Why did the author choose a female protagonist and narrator?
• Texts within the novel (The Great Gatsby, Great Expectations): some felt that the novel was not so much inspired by or commenting upon these works as redipping them like used teabags, with a similarly diluted effect. Maren, however, enjoyed the experience of reading them in parallel, and brought up the interesting question of how important the “canonicity” of cited works should be — does it make a difference that the reader with a non-US education can’t be expected to have an automatic knowledge of these works, even if it’s just as a background reference? This spun off into the question of canonical vs. good …
• A cinematic novel? Caroline brought this point up, and many concurred, leading to a brief casting session if the movie were to be made today.
• A New York novel? Robin, our most impassioned Gotham-lover, felt it lacked the tang (“cockroach dung,” she murmured evocatively) of lived New York and seemed more like a product of earnest research. I’d like to ask you all: what’s a real New York fiction for you? How about a real New York movie? I’d like to nominate Dawn Powell’s novels and SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, and implore you to chime in in the comments.

 

Phoebe

 

Emile Zola, LA CUREE

February being what it is, we were a reduced group before the fire at L’Auberge du Clou: Caroline, Cynthia, Maren, Myriam, and Phoebe. It was nonetheless lovely getting together for the first time in 2013.

The book discussed, Zola’s LA CUREE, was generally well received. Here are some of the points I caught tonight – please do add to and comment on them! [Myriam just sent in a fabulous comment by email, which I'm taking the liberty of adding to the post itself.]

• The heavy detail of the book – typically thorough Zola documentation, potentially a strain for the reader, but an effective replication of Second Empire materialism. Comparison made to the accumulation of branded products in AMERICAN PSYCHO.
• Zola’s “ant farm” effect – his hereditary and environmental determinism seems to wipe out the possibility of full characters/characterization – possibly less true for minor characters? Sister Sidonie was applauded as a Dickensian grotesque.
• Renée – some distaste voiced for the emptiness of her character. I feel that, given her background and lack of inspiration (through the people around her or education [Myriam pointed out the relative unimportance of education in the Second Empire vs. its central role in the Third Republic]), she would have had to be some kind of spiritual genius to have developed further than she did.
• An Emma Bovary with money, and no better off for it? There was fairly heated discussion of whether Renée was groping for some sense of meaning and beauty or just swept brainlessly by the tide of her surroundings.
• Woman’s role in the Second Empire – diminished by the replacement of legitimacy by money as a social touchstone. The Isak Dinesen quote I forgot to bring was: “In a world to which legitimacy is the primary law and principle, woman acquires a mystic value. She is more than herself, and holds the office of the ordained priest who alone among the people possesses power to transform the grapes of common earth into that supreme fluid: the true blood.” -- Isak Dinesen, “Copenhagen Season,” Last Tales
• Second Empire vs. Third Republic: Cynthia brought up Colette, very appropriately, as we were discussing the demimonde. This led to a mention of how, in LA CUREE, courtesans model themselves on society women (as in the disappointing evening Renée crashes with Maxime), whereas by the Belle Epoque, the imitation is all the other way: Colette describes herself scolding a conventional society friend for attempting to “have it all” by being seen in the same nightspots and at the same hours as a courtesan, but still get up and take care of the household and the children like a good bourgeoise (“De quoi est-ce qu’on a l’air?,” Les Vrilles de la vigne.)
• Zola: do you have a favorite? What would you suggest as a first book in the Rougon-Macquart series?

Phoebe

Myriam's comment:

I realised that one point we did not discuss is the very title of the book (and its translation). And it got me started on a chain of thoughts, which I wished to share with you.

Probably a good portion of what I write below was obvious to you as you read the book, but I realised that I personally was wrong about the point in time where the Curée could be said to take place in this novel.

La Curée is the leftovers part of the hunt that is thrown to the dogs, after the excitement of the hunt is over and everyone (including the dogs) goes to rest. (I see there is a curée froide, after the hunt, as opposed to a curée chaude, immediately after the animal is caught by the dogs, maybe closer to the English translation of ‘the kill’).

Of course, there is the figurative sense, which is the avid scramble for any piece of wealth, food. And the verb 'curer', with probably no direct etymological link, but a near-homonynous verb which is ‘to clean through dynamic scrubbing’ (my definition of it, not le Petit Robert).

After our interesting discussion of last night on Renée, and the values at stake in the book, I realised how important it was to place the curée in its political and philosophical context.

We mentioned the Empire was a materialistic period. I think it was even more so as the Empire was only the ending of an era, but never provided for continuity nor a new beginning.

Both the Monarchy values (status through birth) and the revolutionary ones (status through Republican virtue and fervour) are down, all corrupted by Napoleonian fakes (fake dynasty, fake symbols, plated glory - status through acquired money) which nevertheless tried to grow on the remnants of the previous social orders.

In itself, the Empire offers no ideology or philosophy that would help the nation grow. It is all just a vast Curée, the hunt and spoliation of previous eras, previous eagerness to rebuild the Nation through more virtue and more justice. It is a Curée froide, and the country may be tempted to go to sleep, fed on unjustly acquired meat.

Anyway, this is the message that Zola, very much a 3^rd Republic character, could have attempted to transmit to his readers in the early days of the 3^rd Republic (the book is from 1872), which was still fragile and unsure of its intentions (it initially was meant to be a transitional regime until a monarchy could be established again).

Basically: Keep virtue, (and Zola would rather keep the revolutionary one) and you'll help the Nation grow.

In that sense, I think Renée is the Curée herself, the part fed to the Empire-business world dogs. She is the old-world values being corrupted all along by her husband through wearing the Empire demi-mondaine’s jewellery, then by falling into an incestuous relation to the father and son. She is being tread down and doesn’t realise it, until in the end she tries to distantiate herself from the company of her husband’s social acquaintances. My interpretation is now therefore that she feared her incestuous adultery would be found out because of her fear of scandal (old world fear), craved for excitement (a revolutionary creation), but never realised the worst was already taking place. She was the show herself, being degraded and unwillingly taking part in it .

My Kobo Experience

With no January meeting this year, and thus no summary, I can't resist to take advantage of the space left on the book club blog and to jump in to share my Kobo experience. 
After a long private debate (Kobo - Kindl - or still something else - or no reader at all?) I gave myself a shove and my boyfriend the tip that the Kobo would be a very welcome Christmas present.
In the end the final decision maker for Kobo was the ePub format. Although Amazon permits to convert ePub into their propriatary format I take myself for to too lazy to do so.
And, probably even more important, rummaging already in advance on the web sites of the different eBook suppliers I got annoyed by Amazon's "Sorry, this book is not available in your geographical zone." Reading in Europe also American literature in its original language I would quite often be confronted with this message - so nope, bye bye Amazon and welcome Kobo.
Well, as dreamed of, I held my new darling on Christmas eve at 1am in my hands and had the first book loaded at 2:30 am. Not to mention that in the meantime the evening festivities were to finish, farewells to bid and the way back home to be taken. In other words: It is easy to get started!
Next surprise: The lighting came in handy sooner than expected (yes, it's a Kobo Glo!). Holidays mean staying long in bed, and while my other darling was still snorring besides me I could spend long and delicious hours with Zola, our next book club assignment. Since then my Kobo doesn't leave me anymore. During the time I would have just gotten through the next reading group assignment, I went easily through 3 books!
Handling is in general easy, although by professional deformation I can not restrain myself from mentioning some points which one might need to adapt to:

• Changing pages takes a small, but still a moment.
• Somtimes changing pages induces for whatever reason a change of two pages at once. Not yet found out why.
• Gosh, how wonderful to have dictionaries and translation dictionaries directly at hand (standard), but why aren't they fully furnished? No use to have a wonderful dictionary, if you can't use it, because three quarters of the words looked up are not available (happened so for English - German dictionary).
• Strange behaviour, indeed very strange behaviour when in comes to annotations and highlighting. Sometimes they are kept and sometimes they aren't. There's no rule... which was at certain moments a real test for the quality of our relationship...

And besides the fact that I can now carry around with me a whole library in the dimensions of a paperback, here some features I love about Kobo too:

• The charge is keeping very well, even using the light, but only if you stay disconnected from WiFi.
• The additional functions: Sketchbook, Sudoku (why are they hidden so deep in the menus?)
• The Kobo support team: Even at Christmas I had a personalized answer to my question (! - how often one gets an answer with no relation to the initial question...) in less than 24 hours.
• The sleep cover.

But there are two things Kobo can not deliver: The paper contact and browsing through the pages, I can not deny, one may miss on the long. And the pleasure of lending out a book to a friend.

If you would like to share your experiences with your reader, whichever it might be, you are more than welcome to leave a comment!

Maren