And not only the restaurant was delightful, also the discussion went on very smoothly. The discussion started with the movie, which stars the very appreciated (a special reference to our British expatriates) Kristin Scott Thomas. Not everybody did see the movie – and Robin did not have the occasion to read the book due to a delivery dysfunction at the French postal service - so that we had much occasion to exchange about the differences between both and particularly about the seemingly completely altered relations of the characters at end of the book.
We talked of course about the different figures:
- Dr Alfred Jones, lovely guy, but isn’t he a bit simple-minded?
And of course the question: he and Harriet, did it or did it not happen? No answer found… - His wife, Mary Jones, for whom nobody had really sympathy – why did Alfred stay with her? (at least in the book, as the film choses a different ending)
- Kristin Scott Thomas’ character
in the film, but a man
in the book: Peter Maxwell, also a figure which seems overdone, but is
he?
This character led to: Do politics really work that way? General conviction: YES, but how horrible !!!
This couldn’t pass without a short dip into current developments in French and British politics, especially elections and the Brexit referendum to come. - Harriet Chetwode-Talbot for whom Clare didn’t have any sympathies but who was very much defended by Caroline. From here we took on about the way military impacts family life and the destiny of people, and some of us could even contribute by some personal experiences (thanks, Robin and Clare!).
- the cheikh, Muhammad ibn Zaidi bani Tihama, who made deep impression on everybody and earned a lot of sympathy.
The longer he thought about the book and the cheikh’s character, the more it got for Mark a serious and philosophical touch : What does it take to believe in the impossible? At this he would share a personal story as well about trust in a public institution. - the cheikh’s gillie, Collin McPherson, who was adorable and « such a great guy » for Robin,
- and, last but not least, the poor guy assigned to be an assassin, who chose the wrong tartan.
There was a moment when we talked about the events in the wadi and Maren admitted her disappointment, which transformed almost into a general feeling of betrayal by the author. The phenomenon described seems to be a well-known type of incident, which all people living close to a wadi are likely to know about. So it seems completely unthinkable that with all the preparation work, and even the cheikh being involved, such an event was completely left out of consideration. It just doesn’t seem to be realistic.
All in all the book was much appreciated, with some reservations on Maren’s side. This book was a real page turner for everybody, thanks to Philippe for this selection!
Maren (& Philippe)
