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 !
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 13th .
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 13th .
-- Cynthia
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