Wolfson Contemporary Reading Group

Friday 28 February 2020

Book Review: 'The Shepherd's Hut' by Tim Winton

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Book: The Shepherd's Hut, Tim Winton

Publication date: 2018

WCRG Meeting: 22 January 2020

Rating: 6.8

For years Jaxie Clackton has dreaded going home. His beloved mum is dead – and he wishes his dad was too, until one terrible moment leaves his life stripped to nothing. No one ever told Jaxie to be careful what he wishes for.

And so Jaxie runs. There’s just one person in the world who understands him, but to reach her he’ll have to cross the saltlands of Western Australia. It is a place that harbours criminals and threatens to kill those who haven’t reckoned with its hot, waterless vastness. This is a journey only a dreamer – or a fugitive – would attempt…

Overall, the book was praised as being very Australian and getting things right about the language, landscape and society it described. This was also confirmed by our guest attendee who lives in Australia. Incidentally, one of our Irish members mentioned how well Fintan’s character was done and that she almost instantly knew that he was Irish, well before this was confirmed in the book (however, others found his Irishness “twee”).

One member was disappointed that the book wasn’t more about the landscape, as they expected from the description. However, this was questioned by other attendees who felt that the book did indeed describe and gave the reader a very good feeling of the landscape. Many of our readers liked the description of the ‘spiritual’ side of the landscape and were also impressed on the insight of life and survival in the outback.

Many appreciated the structure of the book with its three acts, and how we are first alone with Jaxie for half of the book. Having the story told by Jaxie himself we got to know him intimately and it was pointed out that otherwise we would just see him as a thug, but because we knew his inner thoughts and his grit, resolution, humour and ethics, we saw him completely differently.

The book felt more intense because it was narrated in the first person. We liked the relationship that developed between Jaxie and Fintan, it was strong without being sentimental. We also liked the relationship between Jaxie and Lee, which seemed sweet and innocent. However, it was also pointed out that we only get Jaxie’s view.

Overall the story was psychologically very convincing; in a situation like Jaxie’s you either retreat or become a ‘bruiser’ yourself.

Almost everyone commented on the amount of swearwords in the book. It also took a while to get used to the language, but it was generally felt that it was certainly worth persevering with the book. The voice and tone used was unique and “mesmerizing”, with some very beautiful expressions.

Many liked that we did not get all the answers, however, others did not (at all).

The book received a very respectable 6.8 points.

One of our members contributed the following:

"Re our last book, here's some background which may help explain the priest character. The insert of the 'wild colonial boy' was significant by Winton and would be well recognized in Ireland and possibly Australia. 'He robbed the rich, he helped the poor, he shot James McAvoy. A terror to Australia was the wild colonial boy.'" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3QJPxiLOPo

Friday 14 February 2020

Our Next Book

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What the day owes the night, Yasmina Khadra

The Wolfson Contemporary Reading Group will next meet on Wednesday, 18 March 2020 at the usual time of 7:30pm in Plommer B. We will be discussing What the day owes the night by Yasmina Khadra.

Younes' life is changed forever when his poverty-stricken parents surrender him to the care of his more affluent uncle. Re-named Jonas, he grows up in a colourful colonial Algerian town, and forges a unique friendship with a group of boys, an enduring bond that nothing - not even the Algerian Revolt - will shake. He meets Emilie - a beautiful, beguiling girl who captures the hearts of all who see her - and an epic love story is set in motion.

Time and again Jonas is forced to to choose between two worlds: Algerian or European; past or present; love or loyalty, and finally decide if he will surrender to fate or take control of his own destiny at last.

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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.

*If you choose to buy from Amazon, click here so that Wolfson College may benefit from the sale through the Amazon EU Associates Programme.

Tuesday 3 December 2019

Our Next Book

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The Shepherd's Hut, Tim Winton

The Wolfson Contemporary Reading Group will next meet on Wednesday, 22 January 2020 at the usual time of 7:30pm in Plommer B. We will be discussing The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton.

A boy on the run meets a disgraced priest as the big themes of faith and salvation are explored amid the visionary splendour of the burning saltflats.

A most enviable writer, both lauded and bestselling, Winton has a particular gift for making the vernacular lyrical.

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Thursday 24 October 2019

October Review: 'The Wall'

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Book: The Wall, John Lanchester

Publication date: 2019

WCRG Meeting: 16 October 2019

Rating: 6.6

Thank you for a lively debate last week when we discussed John Lancaster's The Wall; described in one media review “as a taut dystopian novel that blends the most compelling issues of our time—rising waters, rising fear, rising political division—into a suspenseful story of love, trust, and survival”.

The emotional impact of patrolling the Wall, the boredom and the difference between two types of cold were well developed and described. The structure of the writing indicated this well with the sporadic use of poems about the cold/sky/sea throughout the novel.

Characters were developed in a patchy manner; Kavanagh, the storyteller’s dialogue was considered dull in parts, but his need to survive the tedium for the next two years, was reflected in this introspection. His relationship with his team started well when he was nicked named ‘Chewy’ by his teammates, after his experience of the snack bars. There was an easy rapport within this small team. The reading group felt it was a missed opportunity that the female interest, Hifa, was not given a fuller supporting role until the end of the book.

The Captain was considered by several of the group to be the best developed, with his back-story being drip-fed through the book until the betrayal (which I was not expecting)!

Events after this were felt to be a little unbelievable, however, the strangeness of their final destination of the oil rig for Kavanagh and Hifa was well written. His fear of heights was very believable and his need to overcome this to survive. Some of the group saw meeting the hermit and learning to share his resources as a convenience. There were flaws that the group struggled with, ‘who were the Others’, where had they come from, were there other walls restricting the flow of human movement?

Many felt it was a book for our times, relevant and in some respects plausible. The current world theme of walls, barriers, restrictions and controlled movements were also seen as themes in this book. The comparisons of our current generational gap of the young ‘blaming’ the older generations for the planet’s impeding demise was reflected in the novel, with the youngsters remote and blaming their elders for the catastrophic event known as the Change.

To quote one of the group: “ Lanchester’s Wall is whatever the reader wants it to be, without limitations as to allegory, analogy or other interpretation”.

The group’s final score was 6.6.

Friday 18 October 2019

Our Next Book

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Noughts & Crosses, Malorie Blackman

The Wolfson Contemporary Reading Group will next meet on Wednesday, 27 November 2019 at the usual time of 7:30pm in Plommer B. We will be discussing Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman.

Sephy is a Cross: she lives a life of privilege and power. But she's lonely, and burns with injustice at the world she sees around her.

Callum is a nought: he's considered to be less than nothing - a blanker, there to serve Crosses - but he dreams of a better life.

They've been friends since they were children, and they both know that's as far as it can ever go. Noughts and Crosses are fated to be bitter enemies - love is out of the question.

Then - in spite of a world that is fiercely against them - these star-crossed lovers choose each other. But this is love story that will lead both of them into terrible danger . . . and which will have shocking repercussions for generations to come.

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Our Next Book

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The Wall, John Lanchester

The Wolfson Contemporary Reading Group will next meet on Wednesday, 16 October 2019 at the usual time of 7:30pm in Plommer B. We will be discussing The Wall by John Lanchester.

Ravaged by the Change, an island nation in a time very like our own has built the Wall—an enormous concrete barrier around its entire border. Joseph Kavanagh, a new Defender, has one task: to protect his section of the Wall from the Others, the desperate souls who are trapped amid the rising seas outside and attack constantly. Failure will result in death or a fate perhaps worse: being put to sea and made an Other himself. Beset by cold, loneliness, and fear, Kavanagh tries to fulfill his duties to his demanding Captain and Sergeant, even as he grows closer to his fellow Defenders. And then the Others attack. . . .

Acclaimed British novelist John Lanchester, “a writer of rare intelligence” (Los Angeles Times), delivers a taut dystopian novel that blends the most compelling issues of our time—rising waters, rising fear, rising political division—into a suspenseful story of love, trust, and survival

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August review: 'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine'

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Book: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman

Publication date: 2017

WCRG Meeting: 28 August 2019

Rating: 7.5

Many people loved the book, and said it was wonderful and outstanding. It was an easy read and compelling in terms of what would happen next. However, for others it ‘did not click’.

The first part of the book seemed to be the most divisive, with some members sensing that something was not quite right but being curious and engaged to find out more. Others felt it was a painful read or felt embarrassed when reading about Eleanor, her disability, struggles and trauma in such a lighthearted manner. Did we laugh with her or at her?

The book explored the themes of loneliness, kindness and friendship. However, some questioned why a book which aims to explore the topic of loneliness needs to include such a traumatic childhood to do so.

The book had some profound takeaways: don’t judge people by their cover, be kind to each other, the importance of friends and a support network. However, it was a bit of an odd mix between serious and funny; very real descriptions of everyday struggles and hyperbole, literary devices.

Overall the booked seemed too lightweight for such a heavy topic. It was interesting however, that members who loved the book still could see it shortcomings, and most who did not like it could see why others might enjoy it. It seemed that the book tried to be too many things at once, and it very much depended on the reader on which parts they focused and therefore how they perceived the book.

The majority enjoyed the book, despite its flaws and the overall score the book achieved was 7.5 out of 10.

Tuesday 27 August 2019

July Review: 'Circe' by Madeline Miller

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Book: Circe, Madeline Miller

Publication date: 2018

WCRG Meeting: 17 July 2019

Rating: 6.1

Miller’s Circe is a retelling of the story of Circe, Witch of Aiaia from Greek mythology. Circe only appears as a minor character in these original stories - the best known is The Odyssey - which gives Miller the freedom to freely re-imagine Circe and her story.

The group was split on this book, many agreed that it was a fairy tale or fantasy book, however the split lines were along if people liked this or not. Another divide in the group was between readers finding the novel quite boring, whereas others really enjoyed the book. It was interesting to see that there wasn’t really a correlation on what members thought about The Song of Achilles, Miller's previous novel.

Many liked the character development of Circe throughout the book, but again, others did not see much development of the character.

A question asked was, where the myth stopped and Miller’s re-telling began. The book also inspired some members to go back to reading some classical myths again.

Many enjoyed the exploration on the theme of immortality; although it did put you off of wanting to be immortal! Another interesting theme was ‘divinity’ and what it means to be divine. Although unfortunately this was not much further explored in the book.

Many liked the use of language, although sometimes there was an overuse of new, odd words and also some very archaic sentences, which were trying to mirror the myths.

A discussion ensued on why the author picked Circe as a character. There are not many female main characters in the original Greek mythology, also the book used ‘motherhood’ as a main theme, something which is not much explored in classical mythology.

Two other important themes explored in the book was class and the different levels of gods, as well as ecological aspects, nature and the experience of nature/environment.

Below the review we got from one of our overseas members who, together with her friend, sums up the main issues discussed by our group in two paragraphs:

“I loved the book - I read it in two sittings over the course of just over 24 hours. It completely gripped me and I loved the fast pace, tripping from one event to the next.
I think that Miller did a very good job of drawing the disparate narrative strands of Greek myth and tragedy together into one cogent whole. I appreciated the jolts of familiarity as we encountered familiar figures from the myths through Circe.

A friend of mine criticised the book for a lack of depth and for its mere recitation of events, but I didn’t find this at all. I think there was character development and introspection and that any more interrogation of Circe’s mind and motivations would have been too much of a departure from the original stories. The myths are more like fairy tales in style and so prioritise story over character development.”

The book received a score of 6.1 with scores ranging from 3 to 10 (definitely a Marmite novel then!).

Wednesday 31 July 2019

Our Next Book

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Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine

The Wolfson Contemporary Reading Group will next meet on Wednesday, 28 August 2019 at the usual time of 7:30pm in Plommer B. We will be discussing the runaway success and winner of the 2017 Costa Book Award, Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine, by Gail Honeyman.

Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend.

Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything. She has learned how to survive but not how to live.

One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she s avoided all her life.

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than... fine?

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Tuesday 16 July 2019

Our Next Book

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Circe

The Wolfson Contemporary Reading Group will next meet on Wednesday, 17 July 2019 at the usual time of 7:30pm in Plommer B. We will be discussing Madeline Miller’s Circe.

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

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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/