Our Next Book

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The Girls of Slender Means

 

 

The Wolfson Contemporary Reading Group will next meet on Wednesday, 21 March 2018 at the usual time of 7:30pm in Plommer A. We will be discussing Muriel Spark's 1963 novella, The Girls of Slender Means.

The novel is set in London in 1945 at the end of the war in a shabby/genteel boarding house for young ladies called the May of Teck Club. We meet the titular girls of slender means and follow their lives and love affairs over a few weeks until a shocking event transforms the wry comedy of their existence into something suddenly tragic and baleful.

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We really hope that you will join us at this meeting. However, if you are unable to be with us, please email your comments and scores so that they can be shared with the group.

The book is available in local libraries, and in paperback and Kindle edition from Amazon* and other booksellers.

*Please remember to use the link on the Wolfson Alumni & Development website if you choose to buy from Amazon, as College will benefit from the sale: http://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/alumni/amazon/ 

February Review: 'The Night Circus'

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Book: The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern

Publication date: 2011

WCRG meeting: 21 February 2018

Rating: 4


Thank you to all who either attended in person, or submitted their reviews in advance of our meeting on 21 February where we discussed The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

I’m afraid the group could not find much to commend/recommend the book so most of our comments are rather bleak.

The group struggled to find out what the book was actually about, most had come along to find the answers, to which there were none! Several found it long and going nowhere. There was little development of the main characters and plot. It was suggested it was more targeted at the young adult audience, and would appeal to Harry Potter readers. Interestingly the 2016 edition of the book has an appendix with descriptions and more details of the characters.

The descriptions of the circus and the illusions (magic?) were more detailed but repetitive. The circus colours were black and white, names were unimportant – just labels. (all very confusing)! However, we all enjoyed the lavish meals and the food descriptions were good, if repetitive. Clothes were described in great detail and all the characters seemed to enjoy reading.

The story plot as described on the advertisements “a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors.” This was misleading as again this theme was not developed in any cohesive way. Celia’s father was cruel and remained a ‘ghost/shadow’ constantly criticizing her efforts; whilst Marco was much loved but his character was less developed, so the reader didn’t identify with either of them.

One reader noted that the author had entered a writing challenge which formed a basis for her novel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Novel_Writing_Month This is the National Novel Writing Month (often shortened to NaNoWriMo)), an annual, Internet-based creative writing project that takes place during the month of November. Participants attempt to write a 50,000 word manuscript between November 1 and November 30.

The group did enjoy the originality of the title of the book and the potential the novel presented but didn’t achieve. All felt it could be developed into a visually stunning film. The scoring definitely reflected the 'Marmite' analogy as we received votes of 9 and 1.

The final mark was a disappointing 4.

Our Next Book

Image may be subject to copyright

The Night Circus

 

 

The Wolfson Contemporary Reading Group will next meet on Wednesday, 21 February 2018 at the usual time of 7:30pm in Plommer A. We will be discussing Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus.



The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors.

_________________________

 



We really hope that you will join us at this meeting. However, if you are unable to be with us, please email your comments and scores so that they can be shared with the group.

The book is available in local libraries, and in paperback and Kindle edition from Amazon* and other booksellers.

*Please remember to use the link on the Wolfson Alumni & Development website if you choose to buy from Amazon, as College will benefit from the sale: http://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/alumni/amazon/ 

December Review: 'The Sympathiser'

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Book: The Sympathiser, by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Publication date: 2015

WCRG meeting: 13 December 2017

Rating: 7.5


Thank you to all who either attended in person, or submitted their reviews in advance of our meeting on 13 December 2017. We met to discuss this novel about the struggles of the divided mind to find a way of believing in something when the answer that he seems to find is ‘nothing’. As usual the group was divided too but not passionately. Most of us had found something worthwhile in the mixture of philosophy, humour and history and we had the patience to learn something about a country that only one of us had seen at first hand.

The discussion began by considering the way in which the first person narrator whom we know as the Captain described himself from the beginning as being divided, in two minds. He begins and ends with this division and the whole novel shows all sorts of divisions. We spoke about the problems of the expatriate as the narrator is one of the Vietnamese who leaves Saigon when the Americans abandon the country to its fate. He spends some of the narrative describing the ways in which he both wishes to be Vietnamese and yet finds himself needing to live in a foreign country which is alien to him. Doctors and lawyers are janitors and work in supermarkets.

The theme of homelessness and displacement plays out in many ways, and we noted the way in which sexuality is introduced but is not allowed to develop into satisfying love. He himself is illegitimate and blamed for this. In spite of the conclusion that it all comes to ‘Nothing’ this book was satisfying in a way to most of us. We noticed the alienation of the writer being a communist not long after the McCarthy era in the United States and the way in which history, in the form of his film is written so that he and his fellow /sympathizers’ are written out. He is not named, but nor is anyone else. All have nick-names given to them such as the ‘Crapulent Major’ but have no names of their own apart from Madame Mori.

One of our group asked us to consider how we would describe the kind of fiction that the book represents and we found that an illuminating question as it was difficult to answer. Is it history? Well not really and yet it makes us think about the way in which the west fights wars that it thinks are in its interest and then walks away leaving ‘nothing’ We were shown of course that there is a bleak wasteland of the places where the forest and the natural habitats of the land were flattened and destroyed. Yet it is not sentimental in any way. He even points out that they didn’t need the Americans to spoil the country, they were perfectly capable of doing that for themselves. Still, crammed into a boat his final thought is ‘We will live’. The revolution has still to be found but they will go on seeking it. We enjoyed the humour and the philosophy: ‘life is a suicide mission’ as well.

Overall score given was 7.5.