EM’s Book(ish) Club: Our June Book

Righty ho, then.  The very first challenge for our fledgling book group was Alexandra Fuller’s Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight. 

First off, I would say that this is not my usual reading material, which tends to be either cookery books or nasty, grisly Mark Billingham-esque murder mysteries.  Having said that, the whole point of a book club is to challenge oneself to read books outside one’s ‘comfort zone’ shall we say.  I suppose I enjoyed this book; I liked Fuller’s honest, nostalgia-free style of writing and found her descriptions of her childhood Africa highly evocative.  I found the way she wrote of the loss of two of her siblings incredibly moving.  I didn’t, however, find it a page-turner and felt that I was forcing myself through it.  I also found some of the language and opinions unpalatable (well, we’re talking white settlers in 1970s Rhodesia with the inevitable black household staff, to be fair).  She relates all this, however uncomfortable, without judgment or criticism, and I like the fact that the reader is left to draw their own conclusions.

So.  If you read it, what did you think?  And any views on our next foray into the heady world of literature?  Nutty reckons we should go with something lighter and, dare we say, girlie, seeing as it’s the summer.  Anyone want to suggest something they fancy reading?

Posted in Book club, Diary |

37 Responses

  1. englishmuminireland Says:
    July 5th, 2008 at 5:25 pm

    Ooh, I think this looks good:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Resurrectionist-James-Bradley/dp/0571232760/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_a

  2. Mum Says:
    July 5th, 2008 at 5:46 pm

    Yes indeed, looks my kind of book…whether or not we have it as book of the month I’m gonna get it!

  3. Mum Says:
    July 5th, 2008 at 5:55 pm

    …and regarding the Alexandra Fuller book, my co-sec, who was born and brought up in Zimbabwe, thought it was great - a true representation of life there as it was at the time…

  4. Don't Bug Me! Says:
    July 5th, 2008 at 6:49 pm

    What I really don’t understand is why they wanted to stay there? Let’s face it, none of them seemed content or happy. It was obviously a very hard childhood with a lot trauma and experiences that I can’t even imagine, having grown up in a sheltered part of Hertfordshire. The fact that the author was born in the same month and year as me made it particularly interesting to compare the experiences of her childhood with mine, knowing that we were exactly the same age throughout. As with EM, I found the attitudes of the whites towards blacks hard to swallow - but times were different then and expectations about people’s behaviour was different. That doesn’t make it right, just like slavery was never right, but it was acceptable, it was the norm at the time. I found the style of writing somewhat difficult, very staccato, jumping rapidly from one time and place to another and there was never really a true flow to the book, which did prevent it from being a “can’t put down book”. It was a bit like reading a book for school - I kind of enjoyed it, but I probably wouldn’t have read it otherwise. My main disappointment with the book was the lack of Africa - the author really didn’t immerse the reader in the country. I wanted to read more about the beauty and the wildness, the animals and the scenery - not just heat, humidity and insects. Southern Africa is one of the most beautiful and exciting places that I have been, and the book almost ignored this side of continent.
    There, a bit more than “well, it was OK, I suppose”

  5. englishmuminireland Says:
    July 5th, 2008 at 7:55 pm

    Ma: Me too. Right up my alley, that one.

    And yes, I think that’s the crux of this book - anyone born or brought up in that part of the world would love it, after all, the descriptions of the country are beautifully crafted - you could almost be there. x

    Bugs: Yes, I agree with a lot of what you said - it certainly didn’t flow, and there wasn’t a ‘timeline’ as such. Although I thought she was quite clever at ‘transporting’ the reader to Africa at certain stages in the book (I could practically smell it!) I felt very much the same as you regarding the lack of animal action and a feel of Africa as a whole. And yes, A+ for that - much better than ‘meh, it was ok’ !!

  6. Baino Says:
    July 5th, 2008 at 9:38 pm

    Thanks for this, I might follow your progress. I’m not a great reader and need to be ‘pushed’ to pick up a book so if you do it every month, I’ll get the inspiration I need to pick up a book (I have four on my bedside table all in varying states of unreadness!) Can you let me know what you’re reading for July?

  7. Moon Says:
    July 6th, 2008 at 3:50 am

    Oooh, nothing at all to do with this thread/blog…. but I know you will read this !… need your address to send you a wedding invite !

  8. Moon Says:
    July 6th, 2008 at 6:08 pm

    ooh Ooh Ohh (said jumping up amnd down with some excitment !!), I have thought of one of my fav books, but it quite a thick one .. Papillon …. awesome read, and a true stroy … might be a little long for a book club though ….

  9. englishmuminireland Says:
    July 6th, 2008 at 7:33 pm

    Baino: Will do me ol’ fruit. Any suggestions?? What’s on that bedside table?? x

    Moon: Sent you an email. Great film - never read the book - mind you, that’s cheating, you’re supposed to suggest something you’d LIKE to read!!

  10. Baino Says:
    July 6th, 2008 at 8:58 pm

    At the moment, The Bronze Horseman, Mao’s Last Dancer and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter!

  11. Don't Bug Me! Says:
    July 6th, 2008 at 9:31 pm

    I just read the Memory Keeper’s Daughter, but I have forgotten what it was about! Seriously, I am not good at remembering books that I have read. Quite handy really, since it means that I can read them all again. I do recall that it was quite good and I did enjoy it. God knows how I managed to get two degrees!?!

  12. Tara Says:
    July 6th, 2008 at 11:36 pm

    I liked it quite a bit (not a big surprise, since I’m one of the two who recommended it). Re: Don’t Bug Me’s comment about why they stayed– I read it years ago when it first came out and I remember some line in it still about the mother in the book hating ‘England with its drunk driving laws’ which made me see them in a different way, and why they stayed there. There is a kind of common sensical (that a word?) nature to life in less developed countries that I think especially appeals to people who are risk takers, or renegades. Or somewhat mentally ill, which I think that mom turned out to be, right?

  13. Don't Bug Me! Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 4:10 am

    The mother had manic depression and ended up spending two years in a hospital, mostly in a drug-induced stupor. Right at the end of the book, when the author returns to Africa after spending time in Canada and Scotland, she says “I want to open my arms into the sweet familiarity of home. The incongruous, lawless, joyful, violent, upside-down, illogical certainty of Africa comes at me like a rolling rainstorm, until I am drenched with relief.” Home is home, wherever that may be.

  14. Aidan Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 9:37 am

    I read that book a few years back and I was impressed by the way it gave a voice to a forgotten group. Yes it is a none too flattering portrait of her family but it is very raw and honest. I agree that its was not exactly a page turner though. It’s the kind of book that is good to say you’ve read at a dinner party but actually reading it was not such an endearing experience.
    In terms of suggestions for your EM Book Club might I suggest something by Anita Shreve who is often typecast as a woman’s writer but I actually think that she is a great chronicler of real lives, very similar to Anne Tyler.
    ‘Light on Snow’ is certainly a masterpiece but many of her other books like ‘A Wedding in December’ are very touching. I am actually starting ‘Body Surfing’ now. I recently contacted her agent about doing a Q&A for my blog and I might have a chance in the Fall (as they say). I am a big fan of hers.

  15. englishmuminireland Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 10:11 am

    Baino: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter looks good:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Memory-Keepers-Daughter-Kim-Edwards/dp/0141030143/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215425204&sr=8-1

    Jen would love Mao’s Last Dancer, as she loves Chinese culture:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Maos-Last-Dancer-Li-Cunxin/dp/1904132758/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215425323&sr=1-2

    And The Bronze Horseman? Wow, looks like a bit of an epic!

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bronze-Horseman-Paullina-Simons/dp/0006513220/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215425428&sr=1-1

  16. englishmuminireland Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 10:15 am

    Bugs: It’s that mad professor thing. #1’s got it too. Faster brain than all of us put together but walks out to the car in the morning without socks on!

    Tara: I think that was one of the parts I didn’t like - the way their mother was. It made for uncomfortable reading for me, her lack of nurturing for them all.

    DBM: I remember at the time reading that and thinking ‘What, and that’s what she loves?’ it would send me running away screaming x

    Aidan: Wow, what a coup if you get to interview her. Body Surfing does look good actually:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Body-Surfing-Anita-Shreve/dp/0349119015/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215425075&sr=8-1

  17. Aidan Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 10:44 am

    @EM
    Here is a tip for your Book Club. The cheapest books these days are normally the ones you can buy through Amazon Marketplace or Playtrade (on Play.com).
    If you look at the cheapest options you normally see the Book Depository as a choice but I realized that it is even cheaper to buy directly from BD (http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/).
    They price in Sterling and have free delivery worldwide. This is my main book source these days.

    On Anita Shreve, let’s see if it happens first. I will write her agent another fan mail in October or so.

  18. nuttycow Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 12:43 pm

    Really interesting to read your comments on this.

    Like you all, I didn’t find the book un-put-down-able, more “meh, ok”

    Because I’ve been bought up in Africa the idea of a black/white servant relationship didn’t bother me but naturally, the way in which it was carried out, did.

    As a writer, I didn’t find Fuller’s style particularly engaging. Quite hard to follow and maybe it’s this which makes the book fall into the “meh” category?

    As to books to read next, am easy. I will let you lot decide for me :)

  19. englishmuminireland Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 2:01 pm

    Aidan: I agree. I’ve used them a couple of times via Amazon and they’re very good.

    Nutty: Funny that we all had pretty similar ‘meh’ views. With regard to the next book, I’m definitely leaning towards either The Resurrectionist or The Memory Keeper’s Daughter.

  20. Aidan Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 2:17 pm

    ‘The Memory Keeper’s Daughter’ definitely appeals to one’s feminine side, it’s a good book and not heavy going at all.

  21. englishmuminireland Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 3:54 pm

    Aidan: Well I’m impressed that you’d even admit to having a ‘feminine side’! x

  22. jennynib Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 4:46 pm

    Will read Julys… Promise…

  23. Aidan Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 7:05 pm

    Note the use of one not my ;-)

  24. englishmuminireland Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 7:35 pm

    Aidan: Ah. Didn’t spot that. Clever!

  25. englishmuminireland Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 7:36 pm

    So. If Bugs and Aidan (and nearly Baino!) have already read The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, what do we think about The Resurrectionist or Body Surfing. Any votes??

  26. Moon Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 7:41 pm

    Razzle ?

  27. englishmuminireland Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 7:54 pm

    MOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I’ve already had to explain to my blessedly innocent Jen what you mean by the ‘other’ Animal Farm, and now this! Anyway, I prefer Playboy - the articles are better *whistles innocently* ;)

  28. Moon Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 8:04 pm

    Educating the masses !, but I did forget Auntie and other innocents read you blog !

    I also don’t think they sell Razzle over here, maybe Big Jugs Weekly ….? Hubby would know, and if he says he doesn’t, then he is lying !

  29. englishmuminireland Says:
    July 7th, 2008 at 9:00 pm

    Moon: Tsk. You’re in for it when me Ma reads this! And Hubby says he doesn’t know what you’re talking about :roll:

  30. Don't Bug Me! Says:
    July 8th, 2008 at 4:55 am

    My vote goes for the Resurrectionist.

  31. jennynib Says:
    July 8th, 2008 at 8:19 am

    Moon, I.O.U. One Slap. :)

    I’ll second the Resurrectionist!

  32. englishmuminireland Says:
    July 8th, 2008 at 9:37 am

    DMB: Duly noted! x

    Jen: Bags I dish out that slap! And noted again. x

  33. Aidan Says:
    July 8th, 2008 at 9:53 am

    I am for The Resurrectionist too as it is available in the library 5 mins from my house (yippee!!).

  34. Wee Jen Says:
    July 8th, 2008 at 11:47 am

    I promise to read the book for July! Sorry I missed out on this one. Lots of good suggestions for next time around. I’d also suggest Bad Food Britain:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Food-Britain-Nation-Appetite/dp/0007219946/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215516865&sr=8-1

  35. Medbh Says:
    July 8th, 2008 at 7:01 pm

    I read it when it was released in 2001. I remember that I enjoyed the book yet there was this disturbing sense that she never really came to terms with the fact that her family was part of a long legacy of violent colonialism and racism. She shows her family’s racism to some degree but it just sort of stands there without commentary.

  36. Coastal Aussie Says:
    July 9th, 2008 at 4:33 am

    I’m with Bugs and Aidan for The Resurrectionist. xx

  37. englishmuminireland Says:
    July 9th, 2008 at 7:23 am

    Aidan: Ooh Resurrectionist sounding very popular!

    Wee One: I’m DYING to read that one too!

    Aussie: Righty ho - got lots of votes there, then!

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