The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Bits and bobs

Hello,

I've been doing some research into the questions to look at in our next book club meeting and have come across the following website containing interviews with the author etc. I thought they would be interesting to read so i'm emailing them out to you.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9442022/Rachel-Joyce-My-Man-Booker-longlisted-novel-was-dedicated-to-my-dying-father.html

http://www.richardandjudy.co.uk/books/The-Unlikely-Pilgrimage-of-Harold-Fry/271
There is a podcast on this page but it can't be accessed within work.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/books/the-unlikely-pilgrimage-of-harold-fry-by-rachel-joyce.html?_r=1&

I do hope you're all enjoying this book.

American Gods

Due to previous engagements this was not a very well attended book club meeting. Of the people attending no-one had actually finished the book, although one person was only a few pages away from the end. Everyone said that they wanted to finish the book because they wanted to discover the answers to some of the questions they had about the book. The reason why most of the book club members  did not finish the book may be because it is very much out of most of their comfort zone with regards genre, it was also a very long novel.

We felt it was interesting how the various gods in the book are made to be humans, we wondered whether Shadow is also a god but is unaware of this. We were hoping this would be explained later on in the book, as much as anything is really explained in the book!

The book appeared very confusing to us, we weren't sure about the amount of time everything took, we also weren't sure of some of the motivations of the characters. For example, why did Shadow have an obsession with Laura? We also found that the sheer number of different characters and their godly alter-egos was confusing, trying to keep a track of who was who was tricky. There were also a lot of random bits within the book where we left the main story and watched some other characters, often in a different time and place to the main story. Some book club members found this to be distracting although others felt that it added an extra dimension to the story.

We went on to discuss the difference between a belief and a religion, when does one become the other, or are they very different things. We also spoke about the reasons behind the book, possible morality issues such as modern technology making us as humans become more isolated from our surroundings. We seem to be creating our own online communities rather than looking to those people who live in the same street or town as ourselves. Is this a good or a bad thing?

Only one person had ever read a Neil Gaiman book before, and they mentioned that this book is very different to the others they have read.

Overall we gave this book 6 out of 10.

American Gods - Questions

Hello,

Firstly if you aren't going to make this weeks meeting please let me know, it's useful to be able to plan for the baking.

Secondly, i hope you've all been enjoying the book this month, i know i have been. Here are some questions to consider prior to the meeting:

- What is the cultural significance of the war between the gods of old and the "new gods of credit card and freeway, of Internet and telephone, of radio and hospital and television, gods of plastic and of beeper and of neon"? In what ways have Americans transferred their devotion from spiritual to material and technological gods? What are the consequences of such a shift?

- Late in the novel, the narrator says that "Religions are, by definition, metaphors.... Religions are places to stand and look and act, vantage points from which to view the world." Would you agree with this assertion? What are the gods in American Gods metaphors for? What is the difference between a world view based on worship, sacrifice, and belief in the divine and a world view based on the accumulation of material wealth and comfort?

- What does the novel imply about the reality of life in small-town America? What darker truth lies behind the pleasant idyll of Lakewood, Wisconsin?

- What makes Shadow such a compelling protagonist? What are his most appealing qualities? At what crucial points in the novel does he demonstrate courage, compassion, intelligence, a willingness to sacrifice himself? What does his relationship with Laura reveal about him? What is the significance of his obsession with coin tricks?

The Long Earth

Most of the members of the book club had finished the book.

This book was based on a short story written by Terry Pratchett prior to writing The Colour of Magic which was then picked up again and made into this book and The Long War. We felt that this wasn't a particularly good example of what either of the individual writers could produce, in fact it was a bit of a let down.

We felt that although it was a large book there wasn't actually much of a story within the pages, it could easily have stayed as a short story, or maybe a series of short stories. It felt as though the writers were a little bit lost while writing the book, they stuffed in new elements throughout with little or no explanation. It almost felt that this was their original brainstorming session rather than a finished book. Each of the little stories in the book on their own were interesting but they weren't expanded enough to fully capture us as readers. Although having said that we did enjoy the way that some of the creatures found on the other earths were used to explain fairy tale characters, but again we wanted more information.

We could notice the two different writers voices, even though only a couple of members of the book club had previously read books by Terry Pratchett. There were often jarring elements where Terry Practchett came through with a ridiculous name, or piece of information. These were juxtaposed with the much more dry, hard science elements from Stephen Baxter.

The main issue we all had with the book is the lack of details in the different worlds, and a bit more explanation as to why things were the way they were on the different earths. Things just seemed to be seen and stated with little reason as to why and how they all linked. We understood that we were following a scientific experiment and that the scientists involved didn't have the answers but maybe some discussion would have helped us to understand the different earths a little better. The fact that these were all earths of exactly the same age, just one step sideways with regard to the things that had happened to them caused us a bit of confusion because normally in books of this nature they involve time slips rather than earth slips.

Overall we gave this book 3 out of 10. We found it to be ultimately disappointing.

The Long Earth - Questions

Hello,

 

Just a quick email to make sure you're all enjoying this months book, here are some ideas and questions to think about while you're reading:

 

- why do you think people have to make or at least finish the stepping devices themselves? Do you think this links with the idea of natural steppers at all?

 

- when the great danger was revealed how did you feel about it, did you understand it or feel it was a bit of a let down?

 

- Did you find that Pratchett and Baxter worked as a writing team or could you see different writing styles as you were reading? Have you read anything by either writer before, and if so could you notice their style in this book?

 

- what would you do if faced with infinite pristine earths, would you step and if so, how far and with what purpose?

 

I hope you're all enjoying your books, and i'll see you on Thursday 29th August.

The Long Earth - videos and questions

Hello,

 

I hope everyone is enjoying this months book. I found this online last week and thought i would share them with you.

 

http://www.richannel.org/collections/2012/terry-pratchett#/the-long-earth-questions

The Bell Jar

We felt that this wasn't a book to be read and enjoyed with a strong story line, it was simply a book trying to make the reader understand what it is like to live through mental illness. This makes it uncomfortable to read at times especially given the author actually went through similar things to the protagonist in her own real life. For example, she was treated at one time using electro-shock treatment a particularly nasty experience. This gave the story a large dose of realism which probably added to the readers ability to empathise with the character. We then went on to discuss the use of electric shocks as a way of treating mental illness, and although we could see the logic to it, we couldn't understand how it could actually be used on fragile human beings. We talked about how we're still very much only just learning how the brain actually works, and what happens when it breaks a little.

 

We also discussed who the characters in the book might have been given that Sylvia Plath was obviously the lead character. Maybe her then husband Ted Hughes might have been one of the characters, possibly the professor?

 

With regards the lack of storyline, we felt that it was very much a stream of consciousness rather a story with a plan. This meant there was often not much explanation, it felt more like a person writing a diary who doesn't need to explain anything because it's something only the writer will ever read. The book didn't seem to have a beginning middle and end as most books tend to have, it was as if the reader had just picked up one diary from a series of diaries and read that with not much context. The ending showed this particularly well.

 

The book seemed to be easy to read with regard to the writing style, it flowed easily despite the uncomfortable subject matter. However, it wasn't a book that many of the members of the book club felt compelled to pick up, probably because of the lack of a strong story line. Once it was picked up though it was enjoyed.

 

An interesting point made by one member of the book club was the symbol of the bell jar itself seeming to represent the fact that the person within cannot hear those outside and vice versa, meaning that they cannot understand each other. It could also mean that the person inside the bell jar feels themselves to be some kind of science experiment with other people watching her but not interacting with her.

 

We found the descriptions of depression and mental illness to be very interesting, we felt that the person with mental illness may not even realise that this is waht they're suffering from. They may simply believe that they are having difficulty sleeping or concentrating when really they are severly depressed.

 

Overall we gave this book 5 out of 10.