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/

Reviews - Jan-May 2019

MAY 2019

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Book: Station Eleven, Emily St John Mandel

Publication date: 2014

WCRG meeting: 15 May 2019

Rating: 5.9

Station Eleven is a post-apocalypse novel in which most of the world was destroyed by a pandemic. “A virulent new strain of flu that "exploded like a neutron bomb over the surface of the earth", wiping out 99% of humanity; characters holed up in tower blocks while the world collapses around them; "unspeakable years" in which the unlucky survivors walk blasted roads in search of vestiges of civilisation; crazed prophets leading murderous cults and "ferals" leaping out from behind bushes.”.

The flu pandemic which was the catalyst for the story was viewed very differently across the group. For some this was felt to be very believable, whereas others felt that this was just a very easy and not very believable plot device and compared this to other dystopian novels, such as Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which has a much more nuanced and worked out backstory to explain how we arrived at the world in which the book takes place. Other members again agreed that it was clearly a plot device, but still felt the use of the flu pandemic plot was needed and appropriate.

It was pointed out that some kind of dictator/prophet always comes forward in times where structures fall apart.

It was interesting to see the different ways people deal with extreme situations: from believe in something spiritual to people wanting to archive /preserve.

To many the book felt disconnected between the two stories (‘aftermath of the flu pandemic’ and ‘the actor and his three ex-wives’). Many members felt that the links between different people didn’t work, that it was difficult to keep track of characters and especially that some chapters giving background to main characters (for example Arthur) came too late in the book.

What people liked about the book was that it was an interesting and different way to approach the topic. It was not purely a dystopian novel but also covered many other topics, such as what really matters, memory, regret, literature, adult/modern life etc. It also had some good metaphors, e.g. connectedness (through phones/internet, air & sea travel). Some also liked the use of the genre of graphic novel in the book. There was hope running through the book, with towns being established and Shakespeare still being played.

One criticism which repeatedly came up during our discussion was that some things didn’t ring true. It was interesting to see that different readers picked up on different points on this one (electricity, survivors, flu pandemic), and let other points go or were not bothered by it. Many liked the motto of the Travelling Symphony ‘Survival is insufficient’.

Overall, many found the book a bit too simplistic, and thought it needed a lot more work; more than one member of the group said, that it felt like a first book and that the author seemed a bit self-indulgent. However, others just enjoyed the read, and the way it made them think. The group’s average score was 5.9.

MARCH 2019

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Book: The Shepherd's Life: A Tale of the Lake District, James Rebanks

Publication date: 2015

WCRG meeting: 13 March 2019

Rating:

REVIEW TO FOLLOW

JANUARY 2019

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Book: Milkman, Anna Burns

Publication date: 2018

WCRG meeting: 23 January 2019

Rating: 7.3

Thank you to all who meet, or submitted their observations, to our meeting last Wednesday, where we discussed Milkman by Anna Burns.

Even though this is a novel about the Troubles in Northern Ireland and takes fear and division as its subject, the group was able to discuss it amicably. We were lucky to have one member who had lived there and was able to say that from her first-hand knowledge this gives a very good image of the life there.

We began with a discussion of the way the book is written and consequently read. Everyone agreed that the way it is put down on the page makes it difficult at first as the paragraphs are long and not broken up. One of us had listened to it on Audible rather than reading it on the page and had very much enjoyed the discursive, stream of consciousness nature of the telling.

We also considered the narrator’s habit of using titles rather than names which had caused some dismay in reviews but which most of us found funny and also sobering as a reminder of the dangers that were always present in the society where a false move could get you shot and betraying a friend or a relative was easily done. The titles were sometimes descriptive as in ‘Maybe Boyfriend’ and sometimes dismissive as in ‘Third Brother in Law’ and yet reminded us of the complexity and inter-relatedness of the society being described.

We went on to discuss the language and the way in which the writer is fascinated by language and invites us to understand something of the sensitivity where there were prescribed and proscribed names that could be given to babies and you could easily indicate that you were from the wrong religion or the relationship and put yourself beyond the Pale. Even though we heard about Nuns and St Teresa of Avila, we were not made to take sides.

The writer takes a subject where great delicacy of touch was needed and manages to stay sufficiently impartial so that no reader will feel alienated. Our Irish colleague said that to her there were enough signs to indicate one religion more than the other but we could still admire the skill with which we were left to see the stories of the individuals especially the narrator or ‘Middle Sister’.

We thought about the description of poisoning and what place it had in the story. Was it just an indication of a mad, sick society or was it about the way in which people damaged each other? It gave a role to the neighbours considering that no-one could go to hospital in case they got involved with the police or were seen as an informer. The neighbours took on a role almost as a Greek chorus foreboding trouble unless their advice was taken.

The question of the ending was raised. One person in particular thought it was weak and that it lowered the success of the whole book. The first sentence does link to the ending and perhaps makes some kind of structural unity, needed more when the subject is totally about disunity and fear.

We were glad to have written input from some absent members of the group. They had the same division of views as the rest of us- hard to read the long paragraphs, there being no names was disorientating but the overall effect was powerful , rewarding and worth the effort.

The general conclusion was that most of us really liked and appreciated this book and the average score was 7.3. One person suggested that if we took the mode instead of the mean it would have been 9.

December Review: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

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Book: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, Haruki Murakami

Publication date: 2013

WCRG meeting: 5 December 2018

Rating: 6.4

Thank you to all who meet, or submitted their observations, to our meeting last Wednesday, where we discussed Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami.

Initially, several readers found the start of the book to be sterile; ‘lost in translation’ was one observation, possibly because Murakami writes for an American audience, any translation is going to be challenging, and may compromise the integrity of the book or the message it conveys. Once we started to unpack the book, more subtle threads were uncovered. The use of colour has significant meaning in Japanese culture, and Tsukurs’s friends were identified as follows, white which means mourning (Shirane); black –mystery (Kurono); red-passion (Akamatsu) and blue fidelity (Oumi). Whereas his name had no colour in it. The air of melancholy running through the text reflected Tsukuru’s pilgrimage, through friendships as they came and went in his life. This was noted as being a theme of other books Murakami has written, but he does do ‘melancholy’ well. The use of elaborate similes for Tsukuru’s mental state pepper the novel.

The curious phrase in the title: “Years of Pilgrimage,” is a reference, to Franz Liszt’s celebrated piano works about his travels around Europe: his Années de pèlerinage (S.160, S.161, S.163). The specific part of the Années de pèlerinage, Tsukuru Tazaki, refers to throughout the novel is number 8 of the first year of pilgrimage: Le Mal de Pays (Homesickness), or as another character in the book, Haida (name means gray), translates it “a groundless sadness called forth in a person’s heart by a pastoral landscape.”

(Another book by Murkami is Norwegian Wood which begins with Toru Watanabe, a middle-aged man who feels overwhelmed by a sense of nostalgia as he listens to the song 'Norwegian Wood' by the Beatles. Hearing this song sends Toru tumbling eighteen years into the past to a time when he was still a college kid - sound familiar?!)

Generally, the group felt the book never reached it is potential, several story lines started but the themes drifted off and were never revisited. The storyline of a young man seeking answers to his abandonment by his friends as teenagers, with his subsequent visits to see them ‘back home’ sixteen years later, (why did he wait so long), led to some interesting but mainly unsatisfactory stories. Many in the group enjoyed the descriptions of Tsukuru’s trip to Finland, a complete adventure, the images of the silver birches was evocative. His relationship with Sara, the catalyst, to his pilgrimage was felt to be shallow and manipulative, what were her motives?

The group awarded the book a score of 6.4 out of a potential 10.

Sunday, 25 November 2018

Our Next Book

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Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

The Wolfson Contemporary Reading Group will next meet on Wednesday, 5 December 2018 at the usual time of 7:30pm in Plommer A. We will be discussing Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende.

Tsukuru Tazaki had four best friends at school. By chance all of their names contained a colour. The two boys were called Akamatsu, meaning ‘red pine’, and Oumi, ‘blue sea’, while the girls’ names were Shirane, ‘white root’, and Kurono, ‘black field’. Tazaki was the only last name with no colour in it. One day Tsukuru Tazaki’s friends announced that they didn't want to see him, or talk to him, ever again.

Since that day Tsukuru has been floating through life, unable to form intimate connections with anyone. But then he meets Sara, who tells him that the time has come to find out what happened all those years ago.

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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/

October Review: Ines of My Soul

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Book: Ines of My Soul, Isabel Allende

Publication date: 2006

WCRG meeting: 31 October 2018

Rating: 7.3

Thank you to all who meet, or submitted their observations, to our meeting this Wednesday, where we discussed our latest choice, Isabel Allende's Ines of my soul.

Our regular member Olga, from Peru, had recommended this book to the group, and introduced it at our meeting. It was wonderful to have someone who knows the country and culture to give the book extra vitality and poignancy.

Historically correct the style is a good mix of real and imaginary characters. The group noted the development and growth of Ines through the book, as she leaves home and Spain, innocent and naïve, to travel to the New World accompanied by her niece, at the time, this was a hugely brave thing to do. She goes in search of her husband, but finds so much more…….adventure, war and love.

The descriptions of the battles between the Conquistadors’ and the Mapuche, the indigenous people, were graphic and some members found these passages difficult to get through. These was a sense of guilt by some of the group around these acts of European domination.

The romantic story that runs alongside these acts of aggression helped keep some readers attention. The everyday lives and the struggle to survive was evident in the natives needing to protect their land and animals, as this meant they were feed and had a level of freedom. Several other female characters played an important role in the story, including Catalina, a native servant with a great knowledge of herbs and their healing powers, and who became Ines best friend.

The structure of the language was sometimes confusing; written only from Ines' perspective/views, her speech would periodically shift to talking to Isabel, her daughter.

One reader summed the book up as: “Powerful. Gruesome. Compelling.”

The group gave this book a well deserved 7.3 out of 10

Our Next Book

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Ines of My Soul

The Wolfson Contemporary Reading Group will next meet on Wednesday, 31 October 2018 at the usual time of 7:30pm in Plommer A. We will be discussing Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende.

The vibrant novel from Isabel Allende takes her back to her homeland of Chile, and tells the story of the first Spanish woman to arrive on its shores with the Conquistadors in the 1500s.

A real historical figure, Ines Suarez came to Chile with the Conquistadors in 1540, helping to claim the territory for Spain and to found the first Spanish settlement in Santiago. In this remarkable novel, Isabel Allende one of the world's most spellbinding storytellers re-imagines Ines's life and that of the two men who become her lover and husband respectively.

Ines of My Soul’ evokes the conflict and drama of the Conquistadors' arrival in Chile, as well as helping restore the reputation of Ines, a powerful woman long neglected by history and a patriarchal society. It also finds Allende returning to territory beloved of her and her readers imaginative historical fiction, evocatively told and to the familiar landscape of her native country.

The novel gives Ines the recognition and glory that are rightfully hers; but more than that it is an epic tale of love and conquest, lyrically written and enchantingly told by a writer at the peak of her powers.

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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/

September Review: 'All the Light We Cannot See'

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Book: All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr

Publication date: 2014

WCRG meeting: 19 September 2018

Rating: 8.3

Thank you for those of you who turned up to our meeting in September, where there was a lively discussion on the novel All the light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr:

The book was very well received by our reading group. The beautiful, lyrical language was what many found most appealing and outstanding. Great imagery was created on the page. One member who sent in his review via e-mail, could hardly stop himself from just quoting passages from the book.

Some would have preferred a chronological narrative, and others found the short chapters to be tedious and making the book feel too long. Many were also disappointed by the ending, having preferred a shorter more poignant ending than the drawn out ending over decades.

We enjoyed how the different stories intertwined, however some found it a bit frustrating that we knew all along that Marie-Laure and Werner would meet, and we were just waiting for the when and how.

The title was a play on words, showing how much there is to see in life. The book was felt to be also very effective to show the effects war has on people caught up in it, showing the waste of life, skill etc., which made the book basically an anti-war book.

Interestingly, many members read the book previously after the book was recommended to them, a couple of our book club member even discussed the book at other bookclubs.

The book received an impressive score of 8.3 out of 10.

Our Next Book

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All the Light We Cannot See

The Wolfson Contemporary Reading Group will next meet on Wednesday, 19 September 2018 at the usual time of 7:30pm in Plommer A. We will be discussing All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

A beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. ‘Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.’

For Marie-Laure, blind since the age of six, the world is full of mazes. The miniature of a Paris neighbourhood, made by her father to teach her the way home. The microscopic layers within the invaluable diamond that her father guards in the Museum of Natural History. The walled city by the sea, where father and daughter take refuge when the Nazis invade Paris. And a future which draws her ever closer to Werner, a German orphan, destined to labour in the mines until a broken radio fills his life with possibility and brings him to the notice of the Hitler Youth.

In this magnificent, deeply moving novel, the stories of Marie-Laure and Werner illuminate the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another

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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/

June Review: 'The Heart's Invisible Furies'

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Book: The Heart's Invisible Furies, John Boyne

Publication date: 2017

WCRG meeting: 27 June 2018

Rating: 7.8

It is a long novel encompassing the life of a homosexual man in Dublin from the 1930’s. It is very much an Irish story and conveys a great deal about the life of a gay man in a very restrictive society dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. Several members of the group had themselves experienced life in Dublin and one at least had considerable feeling for the experience of being gay in that environment.

The group thought that the main theme of the book was the sadness and frustration of the gay man who, for much of his life, could not acknowledge what he felt and what he wanted. As a result he had short sexual encounters in back alleys but found the experience of love for a man very difficult to fulfil. When he found some of the experience of being a father with Ignac, even that was full of violence and loss

The other main theme was Ireland itself and in particular the suffering caused by the Roman Catholic Church both to women and to gay men. The way in which girls were driven from their homes by the cruelty of priests, was echoed by the general population. Smoot in Amsterdam gives a very fierce condemnation of Ireland or at least of this aspect at this time and by that stage we know some of the reasons for it.

Several of us were critical of the coincidences in the plot although we also recognised that some of the very best writers eg Shakespeare have also made free use of coincidence. One person found the way in which the characters were revealed and the action developed slowly was satisfying because that enabled greater understanding. We thought that the characters were well drawn and were set into a believable context. Dublin was made vivid through Mary Margaret and the Avery couple but Amsterdam perhaps less so. The language was discussed and we liked the way in which Irish was suggested but not intrusive.

Overall, there was appreciation and no-one had a very negative response to the book.

The score given to it was 7.8 out of 10.

Monday, 28 May 2018

Our Next Book

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The Heart's Invisible Furies

The Wolfson Contemporary Reading Group will next meet on Wednesday, 27 June 2018 at the usual time of 7:30pm in Plommer A. We will be discussing John Boyne's latest novel, The Heart's Invisible Furies.

The novel opens in the small west Cork village of Goleen, in 1945, during mass in the parish church. Instead of giving a sermon, Father James Monroe rises to denounce 16-year-old Catherine Goggin, recently discovered to be pregnant. The priest calls her up to the altar to shame her before family and congregation, before kicking her out of the church and banishing her from the parish. Boyne introduces this scene by informing us that it will be known later that this priest has himself fathered two children in the area, and his brutality is inflamed rather than tempered by hypocrisy.

Catherine’s journey to Dublin is the beginning of a picaresque, lolloping odyssey for the individual characters and for the nation that confines them. As the novel begins, Ireland is a young republic and effectively a theocracy. The church writes and enforces the laws controlling sexuality and social behaviour. The opening episode is narrated by the child in Catherine’s womb. He grows up as Cyril Avery, adopted child of a famous Irish female novelist, and tells the story of his life up to 2015. By then the permanent, unquestionable structure of Catholic Ireland will have all but vanished, as the power of the church dissolves in scandal and shame.

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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/

May Review: 'A Gentleman in Moscow'

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Book: A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles

Publication date: 2016

WCRG meeting: 16 May 2018

Rating: 7.4

The vast majority of our book club members loved this book. They especially liked the main character (‘a real gent’) and found it charming and whimsical. Members described the book as very elegant, humorous and a clever book, well written. A lot of what was mentioned during the book, and especially in the first chapter, was later picked up again and became meaningful, “the first chapter contained basically the whole book”. Readers also liked the many different characters and the description of them. We also liked the referencing of classic books and movies.

Some criticisms were that the book was a bit long and a slow read, however it still managed to keep the readers curious as to what would happen next. Although everyone liked the count and found him an endearing character, some felt that he did not really develop as a character during the book; especially considering for how long the book followed him.

All chapter titles began with an ‘A’, but because we couldn’t really find a reason for this, it felt more gimmicky than clever.

Some questions about the book remained. Did it give readers an insight into Russia and Russians, or was it a bit too detached from the real world outside the hotel? The awareness of the difficult times in the background was very subtly depicted - perhaps too subtly. Also, some episodes did feel quite unrealistic and left readers wondering.

Overall, the book was a very nice read, albeit some readers were left somewhat bored and wanting some darkness or tension to enter the narrative. However, these members were in the minority and most loved reading it.

The final score was 7.4 out of 10.