Notes on a Scandal

Next time -- Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller.

14 November, at Justin's.

This one's a bit sexy, lads...

I think the cover picture tells us what we're in for. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller, is "immense, life changing, sexually provocative," according to Amazon readers, and "a ranting, randy book, carried along by a deep sensual enjoyment of living", according to the front cover.

Saddo cheapskates can read the full text online. There's also a movie with Miller played by Rip Torn.

But, all that to one side, we all know we're only reading it because James thought it was about a different Tropic of Cancer.

We're meeting on 17 October, at Omar's.

More Vonnegut anyone?

I've finished Slaughter House Five and can lend my copy on, if anyone wants it.

If anyone wants more Vonnegut, I've got about ten others of his around. In many of them characters from Slaughter House Five get to play a bigger role.

Particularly interesting, because it's set in the war and relates very closely to Slaughter House Five, is Mother Night. the full story of Howard W Campbell, who did evil too openly, and good too secretly.

If you want to see him do pure science fiction, try Cat's Cradle or Sirens ofTitan.

Peter

Slaughter House Five

"Poignant and hilarious, threaded with compassion and, behind everything, the cataract of a thundering moral statement."

It's the anti-war novel that says everything Catch-22 does, and more. in fewer pages.

If you find this too short for a summer read, feel free to pick up on his other boosk - Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, and so on.

Or read the books we passed over: Don Quixote, James Hogg's Confessions of a Justified Sinner, or John Sladek's Roderick.

We're meeting at James', on 5 September.

Bloody Foreigners

This month's choice is Bloody Foreigners by Robert Winder. A book on immigration to Britain which got plaudits from all the newspapers including the Daily Mail. "Erudite yet readable", according to an Amazon reviewer.

So, for those who weren't there, let this be a lesson. Miss a Book Group and you could end up reading a 500 page non-fiction tome.

We passed over

• Affinity by Sarah Waters


• Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut


• The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru


• A History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Levycka

We are meeting on 27 June at my house. Unless Togo is playing an exciting match th

Peter

Ficciones

Persevere Chaps- the first two stories are the most difficult!

The library of Babylon and Funes his memory are particularly good.

Angus

Fictions

Was it because Michel Houellebecq sounded a bit crap, because Aldous Huxley's the Island sounded like Californian pretension, and the Sky Burial sounded too much like the Kite Runner?

No, much simpler. Jorge Luis Borges' Fictions was the oldest and the shortest book on offer. It therefore gathered the "give us classics" vote and the "lazy" vote, and won by a landslide.

So we have a month to read it... and find our inward lives utterly changed. Amazon

Some reviewers don't rate the Hurley translation we see here, and some of the stories are available in other translations, notably by Irby.

This Havana book ...

...seems to be a sardonically witty book about a middle-aged man out of his depth in life, with a teenage daughter.

Is there any particular reason why it seemed suitable for our group??

Just wondering....

Our Man in Havana

Omar will be our man in Havana, as he takes a break there. Meantime, the rest of us will read the book - Graham Greene's second appearance at the group.

Meanwhile, there's a movie, from 1959, by some woman called Carol Reed. I haven't seen it, but it's got Alec Guiness and Noel Coward in it.

Meeting, 25 April, at Angus'

Cloud Atlas Thoughts

There's more interesting stuff about this on the web (well, the Guardian) than there was for Kite Runne. A S Byatt's Guardian review has some good thoughts - but don't read it till you've read the book. David Mitchell talks about how he wrote it.

And there's a book-group style analysis in four parts, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4., but it doesn't really say much more than the last comment: "Is there really a greater whole?" (and does it matter?)

And then there's the references and related books - Huckleberry Finn, Riddley Walker, Hawksmoor, Raymond Chandler, any more?

I've finished Cloud Atlas

And I'm not going to give away the ending -- I mean the beginning!

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

We're meeting on 28 March at Omar's to read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.

Runner up in the Booker and winner of a Richard and Judy book club award, it gets mostly raves on Amazon. "Facinating but not always readable" says one, but my favourite is "it took flight...from my bedroom window to my front lawn." Over on Amazon US, we have "post-modern literature at its best" and "witty, soulless, meaningless".

There's an interview at the Washingon Post, but I'm not going to read that till I've finished it. And I'm not even going to link to any reviews, because they all give too much away....

Kite Runner online

OK, I've read the book. what else is there? How much of this book comes out of Hosseini's own life?

There's a little bit about it on his site, including a bit about his own return to Kabul

There's an interview on Barnes and Noble - and a picture of Hosseini actually smiling, which is a big relief.

Amazon.com has 1180 mostly favourable reviews, and the whole text online if you want to search for something.

There's a site which links to lots of reviews, including one from The Observer.

There's a somewhat patronising Penguin Reading Group Guide ("discuss the relationship between Amir and Baba...").

There's a film in pre-production, and endless discussion on the IMDB message board about which Hollywood/Lollywood actors should be in it (Ben Kinglsey for Rahim Khan?). .

Next Time -- the Kite Runner

Next up, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. Chosen by a mysterious process I didn't quite understand, this one, which only had one vote in the first round, leapt ahead to scoop the votes in the third round.

It's a book about a boy in Afghanistan. And it's astonishing, heartwarming and lots of other things, according to the Amazon reviews.

We meet at Craig's on 21 February!

Thursbitch, by Alan Garner

Next rime round, it's Thursbitch by Alan Garner. I'm not sure, but I think it's set somewhere about here.

If you want to see more of where it's set, try these views. I have a strong suspicion that all the places are real....In fact, the Alan Garner site looks worth an explore - it has a whole page of Thursbitch links that I'm leaving till I've finished the book.

Things Fall Apart

That's the next book. By Chinua Achebe.
It's at my place on 13 December.

Found: Prester John

Doubt not. The real Prester John is revealed! I cite that reliable source: the Fantastic Four, where he first appeared in Issue 54.

This being the Internet, there is of course a full indexed chronology produced by scary obsessives.

And for those who aren't going to read the whole of Baudolino,

• the interesting love scene is on pages 441-442 of my edition, chapter 34.
• The set-up for the whodunnit is in chapter 25 on p.305
  
• Who killed Frederick (and who has the Grail) is revealed in chapter 38.
  
• Well, actually in the next chapter, on p. 511
  

Next Up -- Oryx and Crake

Next time round, it's Oryx and Crake by Margaret Attwood.

We're meeting at Mark's on 15 November.

So how much of this Baudolino is real... ?

There seems to be a lot in Baudolino that relates to real events or real writings about not-quite-so-real events.

I've finished the book (ahem - had a couple of long waits at airports last week) and I want to know what was real and what was made up, so I've got on over to Wikipedia's entry on it. I've tried not to link to anything that will spoil the story.


As you would expect, Frederick 1 is a real character, and so is Beatrice, who has quite a few children and "encourag[ed] chivalric ideals". The canonisation of Charlemagne happened, and all the business with popes and antipopes.

The city of Alessandria exists (I'd never heard of it) and according to this review, it was the birthplace of one Umberto Eco. Here are some pictures. The original Cathedral (which may or may not have some significance in the Grail quest) was pulled down by Napoleon, and was replaced in 1810. Baudolino's father is based on an Alessandran legend.

Frederick does indeed die mysteriously, according to Wiki, though perhaps not as mysteriously as in the book (for those who've got to that bit).

The Poet, Boron and Kyot are all real (or nearly real) characters who wrote stuff. The Poet apparently wrote some of the text for the Carmina Burana (or did Baudolino write it?).

Otto of Friesing was indeed a fan of Prester John, and the Letter of Prester John apparently has Hebrew influence (so that's why Solomon comes in).

I haven't found a medieval Zosimos yet, but there is a 3rd century Greek gnostic of that name, who seems to have dreamt of barbers, and blood... (and there was a Pope Zosimus in the 5th century).

But what about Abdul? Ardzrouni? Hypatia? Sciapods? Only Google and Wiki can tell us the answer. Unless they are lying...

There's a nice interview with Eco here.

Baudolino is in the Library

I got one from West Norwood Library. There's one more on the shelf there. The Lambeth catalogue says there's about 16 copies in the Borough in Brixton, Streatham, Clapham and all over.

Now, as to actually starting to read it.... to get in the mood, here's some quotes from the Amazon reviews:

"I finally staggered to the end of this one after about 200 rounds spread out over four months. I couldn't take more pronlonged sparring.... all I can say is "Oh how the mighty have fallen!"... He "used to be" a contenda. "

"This book is a chore."

"This book is sort of like Forrest Gump for medievalists... If you're not really in the know about the period, this won't be much fun unless you like Googling a great deal."

"This is one of the worst books I have ever read. "

"A rollicking book, bawdy, humorous, visual and full of enough symbolic stuff to keep any 'seeker of secret knowledge' turning the page."