Scoop by Evelyn Waugh

This seemed an old-fashioned book to me, and Evelyn Waugh did pride himself on being ‘two hundred years behind the times’. ‘Scoop’ was written long before political correctness, and there’s a strong sense of Britannia ruling the waves. I wasn’t sure how much of this was satire, or Waugh himself.

Some things don’t change though – Newspaper magnates like Lord Copper still ring true, and recent phone tapping scandals show the desperate measures that some journalists still take to create news.

I liked the character of the innocent journalist William Boot, who was far more at home writing essays on badgers than acting as The Daily Beast’s war correspondent. The telegrams flying between a bemused Boot and his newspaper are really funny, as are Boot’s experiences courtesy of his massive amount of weird and wonderful luggage. The inspiration may have come from the famous Bill Deedes, who reported on the Second Italo-Abyssinian War with Evelyn Waugh. Apparently, Bill Deedes arrived in Addis Ababa, aged 22, with almost 600 pounds of luggage.

Although this was a clever and amusing book, I didn’t feel much warmth for it. I thought it was a great concept, but the style and writing did put me off in places. The Book Group thought it was a 3 - 3 and a half star read.

Pam

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Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad: The True Story of an Unlikely Friendship by Bee Rowlatt & May Witwit

This was recently serialised on Radio 4 and is about the close friendship via e-mail between Bee Rowlatt in England and May WitWit in Baghdad. May is a University lecturer who teaches Jane Austen and loves shoes, and Bee is a BBC reporter and mum of three. May's e-mails reveal the chilling reality of everyday life with her husband in a war zone. As the danger increases, Bee makes the life changing decision to intervene.

Available for loan from Onchan Library.

The Jane Austen Book Group by Karen Joy Fowler

‘In California’s Sacramento valley, six people meet once a month to discuss Jane Austen’s novels. They are ordinary people, neither happy nor unhappy, but all wounded in different ways, all mixed up about their lives and relationships. Over the six months they meet marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and, under the guiding eye of Jane Austen, some of them even fall in love…’

 This month’s book choice was quite a light-hearted read, greatly

enjoyed by some members but not so much by others. Those who were enthusiastic liked the style of writing, the humour, and the concept of having the characters choose ‘their own private Austen’ for each meeting, thus revealing something of their own personalities and private lives. Those who weren’t so keen found the characters un-involving, the plot slow and the precept unconvincing. We did all agree, however, that it was not a memorable novel, some members having read the book previously and not being able to recall much about it. We also agreed that reading the same author each month would NOT work for our book group!  Cath

Book of the Month - The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

At a café table in Lahore, a Pakistani man converses with a stranger. As dusk deepens to dark, he begins the tale that has brought him to this fateful meeting...
Among the brightest and best of his graduating class at Princeton, Changez is snapped up by an elite firm and thrives on New York and the intensity of his work. And his infatuation with fragile Erica promises entree into Manhattan society on the exalted footing his own family once held back in Lahore. For a time, it seems as though nothing will stand in the way of Changez's meteoric rise to personal and professional success: the fulfilment of the immigrant's dream. But in the wake of September 11, he finds his position in the city he loves suddenly overturned, and his budding relationship with Erica eclipsed by the reawakened ghosts of her past. And Changez's own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and perhaps even love.


Most of the Group found this to be an absorbing, well-written book which gave a perspective and insight about September 11^th and its repercussions in a subtle yet gripping way. Some members found the method of telling the story through a one way conversation very irritating, but others enjoyed this unusual form of narrative. The ambiguous ending also divided opinion. All agreed, however, that there was much to admire about this novel, bringing, as it did, the complex issues of Islamic fundamentalism and America’s ‘war on terror’ to the fore with great sympathy and balance in an easily readable and accessible way.

World Book Night

World Book Night celebrated books and reading on an epic scale with 1m books being given away throughout the British Isles. 25 World Book Night titles were chosen, alongside 20,000 passionate readers to share these books with their local communities.  

 Mary Cousins, Librarian at The Family Library in Douglas, was appointed as the Island's book giver for Case Histories by Kate Atkinson and donated free copies to Onchan Book Group, and to other local libraries. Sandra Henderson from the Mobile Library service arranged for the mobile library to act as a collection point to help with distribution.

Thank you to Mary and Sandra, who made sure that Onchan Book Group had their books ready for last Thursday's meeting on World Book Day. It's often difficult to source enough titles for everyone to read before the next meeting, so these gifts are really very much appreciated. 

Kate Atkinson's first novel, Behind the Scenes at the British Museum, won The Whitbread Book of the Year. Case Histories introduces readers to Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, and won the Saltire Book of the Year Award and the Prix Westminster.Here's more from Kate Atkinson's web site:

Investigating other people's tragedies and cock-ups and misfortunes was all he knew. He was used to being a voyeur, the outsider looking in, and nothing, but nothing, that anyone did surprised him any more. Yet despite everything he'd seen and done, inside Jackson there remained a belief — a small, battered and bruised belief — that his job was to help people be good rather than punish them for being bad.

Looking forward to reading this as a group, and hearing how everyone got on at the next meeting on 7th April.

Pam

Richard Matheson - I am Legend

Image from www.amazon.co.uk

 I am Legend
I remember a local legendary 'Vampire's Grave' covered in rusty old chains sparking my curiosity about vampire legends, so when Karen offered me the loan of 'I am Legend' I thought it would be my sort of book. But it's not really about the vampires she said, and so it turned out.

It was written in the 50s and set in the future - the seventies! But it didn'treally feel dated to me. A virus created for germ warfare has turned the human race into vampires, and Robert Neville thinks he may be the last surviving man on the planet.

He's living his life under siege, and dreads overcast days when darkness can creep up on him unawares. By day he repairs damage from attacks on his house, stakes vampires in a rather matter of fact way, and hangs up more garlic. He's discovered that crosses only work with Christian vampires, and that, contrary to popular belief, vampires do have reflections. By night, he drinks steadily and uses ear plugs to drown out the jeers of the undead menacing round his home.

Robert struggles to hang on to his sanity and suffers flashbacks from losing his wife to the vampire plague. When he's on the verge of giving in, finding a dog gives him the will to fight on. He goes on to meet a woman who may / may not be a vampire, and that challenges all his beliefs about how he's been living.

Although I'd been expecting dark and gothic, it was more bleak than I'd been prepared for. It's not lurid, and all the more powerful and atmospheric for that. Stephen King described this book as an inspiration.
Pam

Thank You to Chris Ewan

A huge thank you to author Chris Ewan for such an excellent evening at Onchan Library as part of our themed Food for Thought season of talks. Crime and cookies were on the menu as Chris gave an entertaining insight into how he came to write his award winning mystery series - The Good Thief’s Guide.  The guides feature the crime writer Charlie Howard, a good hearted thief with a droll sense of humour. 

The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam’ and ‘The Good Thief’s Guide to Paris’ have both been short listed for CrimeFest Last Laugh Awards. 

Charlie’s exploits then took Chris to Las Vegas, and he’s currently working on Berlin. 

‘The Good Thief’s Guide to Venice’ is being published in April, and can be pre-ordered from Onchan Library, or from local book shops. 

Here's Chris making a Good Thief Style entrance to the library .

"Il m'apparait que j'ai perdu mes clefs"
I seem to have lost my keys

One of the essential phrases from the Good Thief's Guide to Paris...

The Good Thief series has taken off on a worldwide basis, and is published in 10 countries around the world. Visit Chris’s website: http://www.thegoodthief.co.uk/ to find out more. 

Thank you once again to Chris – everyone thoroughly enjoyed the talk, questions & answers session, reading and book signing. We’re all looking forward to more from The Good Thief and reading the new crime novel based on The Isle of Man. 

Thanks also to Jeanette Suddards for the photos, and to the library staff for baking the cookies!

Our next Food for Thought evening  will be with author Trevor Norton on  Tues 26th April.

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Chris Ewan is the local co-ordinator for The CWA Young Crime Writer’s Competition, and entry forms are available from all local libraries.

Hurry – entries must be in by 18 Feb!

Off The Shelf

 William Broderick

A Whispered Name

I have just read William Brodrick's "A Whispered Name" and thought it might be good for discussion at the Book Group some time.  It is a fictional story about a soldier who was shot for desertion in WW1 and is very thought-provoking and sad.  To quote:  "Impressive . . . Brodrick captures brilliantly the sickening nature of the soldiers' task in having to execute one of their own . . . He uses this emotive material to its full potential, spinning out an interior drama that is every bit as gripping as the events themselves . . . Brodrick tells his story skilfully, pacing it well, building up the tension and revealing just enough to keep the pages turning . . . There are some brilliantly evocative and poignant descriptions of the trenches . . . A passionately human story about a most inhuman moment in history."  Irish Times.

Brodrick did do some research into WW1 and trials carried out at the time so this novel does ring true.  The main character is a monk who originally trained as a lawyer - Brodrick did the exact opposite!

I found it an excellent read and, for us sofities, hankies are required!
 Edith

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

Maybe we should have read a Dashell Hammett before a Philip Marlowe, P.I. After all, he came first in 1930 with 'The Maltese Falcon'. Chandler was not Philip Marlowe (he said so himself) but Marlowe took him over...
The Big Sleep was written in 1939, but to me, it could have been written in the sixties. The one-liners are terrific -  " Neither of the two people in the room paid any attention to the way I came in, although one of them was dead."
Marlowe is dedicated to his profession of Private Eye - and the code that goes with it. Like Chandler, he is a strongly emotional man, which shows in the tone of the scenery and is probably why I like the writing.

Maybe best taken in single books rather than reading through the whole series, which span almost twenty years. The last was written in 1958 "Playback" I more enjoyed the freshness of the dialogue re-reading this one than I remembered when I first read them 30 years ago. A four star read for me!
Roger

The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep was the first novel that Chandler's character Philip Marlowe appeared in. The plot is interesting, and the writing very descriptive and easy to read. The style is a bit dated, but perhaps we have grown more used to crime novels emphasising forensic evidence now. I've just been reading the blog of comtemporary crime writer, Chris Ewan, and Philip Marlowe is his favourite fictional hero, which shows the enduring influence of Raymond Chandler. By the way, you can meet Chris Ewan at Onchan Library on Tues 18th Jan at 7 p.m.

Evelyn