Food, glorious food
Book group last night was food for the soul indeed.
It was so nice to get together with friends that I hadn't seen for quite a while. It was almost an hour before we even started talking about the book.
Everyone loved Atonement, despite the gruesome World War II section. Oh, it's very hard to relate our discussion without getting into particulars of the plot. Let's see. We discussed the motivations of the various characters. We discussed whether the house was ugly or not. We discussed what parts of the story were "true" (if you've read it, you know what I mean). We discussed the proper pronunciation of the name Briony. We discussed WWII-era hospital procedures. We compared the two sex scenes. We noted some themes in common with last month's book, Loitering with Intent. And on and on and on!
I just have to say again, this book Blew Me Away. A couple of days ago my parents were discussing their upcoming trip to Europe and I came thisclose to saying, "Oh yeah, I was just there." That's how immediate this book is. I found myself totally identifying with characters that (I hope) I have nothing in common with. HOW did this 60ish male author get so perfectly into the mind of a 13-year-old-girl???
Food for the body, too. Our hostess, who lurks here but so far has never left a comment (hint hint, Gillis!), made lemon-limeade using my recipe, but with a little less sugar. It was super-pulpy and sooooo good! She also served this fabulous creamy, soft, Brie-ish, bleu-ish cheese, and this amazing dip/spread/chutney thing from Trader Joe's.
Ahhhhh.
It was so nice to get together with friends that I hadn't seen for quite a while. It was almost an hour before we even started talking about the book.
Everyone loved Atonement, despite the gruesome World War II section. Oh, it's very hard to relate our discussion without getting into particulars of the plot. Let's see. We discussed the motivations of the various characters. We discussed whether the house was ugly or not. We discussed what parts of the story were "true" (if you've read it, you know what I mean). We discussed the proper pronunciation of the name Briony. We discussed WWII-era hospital procedures. We compared the two sex scenes. We noted some themes in common with last month's book, Loitering with Intent. And on and on and on!
I just have to say again, this book Blew Me Away. A couple of days ago my parents were discussing their upcoming trip to Europe and I came thisclose to saying, "Oh yeah, I was just there." That's how immediate this book is. I found myself totally identifying with characters that (I hope) I have nothing in common with. HOW did this 60ish male author get so perfectly into the mind of a 13-year-old-girl???
Food for the body, too. Our hostess, who lurks here but so far has never left a comment (hint hint, Gillis!), made lemon-limeade using my recipe, but with a little less sugar. It was super-pulpy and sooooo good! She also served this fabulous creamy, soft, Brie-ish, bleu-ish cheese, and this amazing dip/spread/chutney thing from Trader Joe's.
Ahhhhh.
posted by Julie on
7/12/2005
8 Comments:
I love books that make you feel like you were really there. Sounds like a great book-club meeting. Mine is next Tuesday.
posted by
Heather on 11:39 PM
This almost makes me want to try the book again. I stopped reading it after a few chapters because I thought I could detect where the story was going and I didn't want to tag along. You think I should try again?
posted by
Suzanne on 8:57 AM
As a guy who teaches about WWII, I probably would have found that part the most interesting.
Thanks for the review and possible tip.
posted by
Fred on 10:50 AM
Heather, I hope you'll write about your meeting afterwards! In fact, we talked about Wicked as a possible choice for next month.
Suzanne, hmmm. The plot is not the most exciting part about it. Rather, it's the prose and the characters. Your idea of where the story was going was probably pretty close, and indeed there were aspects of the plot that I didn't completely buy; nevertheless it might be worth another try. I guarantee the last few pages will make you gasp out loud.
Fred, it was a detailed account of the retreat from Dunkirk. Fictional, of course, but (I'm sure) very well researched. Very powerful description of the confusion on the beach.
posted by
Julie on 12:23 PM
You have really made me want to join a book club. Of course, free food gets me most places, but to be able to have more of an excuse to read is always good.
posted by
Running2Ks on 12:49 PM
I want a Trader Joes! Everyone on the Maud Hart Lovelace list raves about the place and we don't have one!
posted by
Unknown on 3:53 PM
I loved Atonement too and wanted to discuss it with your book club. How can I join?
And Guusjem, you do so want a Trader Joe's in your neighborhood. It's the last thing missing in Israel: we got an Ikea a few years ago. (One. For the whole country, which is much smaller than Texas.)
posted by
SavtaDotty on 3:41 AM
R2ks and Savtadotty's comments have reminded me of an idea I've thought about before -- what about an online bookclub? We could start a separate blog just for that. On the other hand, Savta, if you happen to be in Ann Arbor MI on the first Tuesday of the month, you are most heartily welcome to join us in person. :)
In the meantime, if you want to read along, next month's book is Cry, the Beloved Country.
posted by
Julie on 8:24 AM
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