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Sunday 7 February 2010

Book Club the Forth

I made this: Unknown at 11:33 pm
Book Club the Fourth - AVIDREADER - 07-02-2010
Agreed on: Company of Liars by Karen Maitland (BookElf)
Agreed on: Firman by Sam Savage (AvidReader)
Discussed:
- The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
- The Company of Liars by Karen Maitland
- 'Alice in Wonderland' 2010 Tim Burton Film
- I am a Cat by Soseki Natsume

SPECIAL GUEST STAR - Lela

We welcomed our guest, discussed the fantastic (imho) Alice in Wonderland, and began our session. 

The first book to be discussed was Company of Liars.

BOOKELF
  • The final two chapters absolutely ruined the book for her, making Phee so angry that she wanted to throw the book out of the window!
  • Still, easier to read than the Shardlake books, and enjoyed the scene setting immensely. 
AVIDREADER
  • Completely agreed, finding the first two thirds to be fantastic, but the final third to let the book down. It actually felt like two different books, one awesome, the other shockingly bad. 
BOOKELF
  • Thought that the blindside - the Wolf - appeared too late in the book to actually make an impact. 
  • We all agreed that the relationship between the brother and sister degenerated and wobbiled a bit in the middle. 
  • The superstitions were beautifully explored and there were many aspects to enjoy but in the end the book, which had been based on a rational world, became a fairy tale, with an evil magical child who did it all, purely because she could. 
Ok, when it comes to the voting process, the notekeeper (me, obviously, hense the need for a title) interjected, indicating voting patterns in the past, as I felt that the initial votes were too high given the negative responses that we had all encountered.
In the end, the dynamic duo agreed and the end results were

BOOKELF 6.5/10                  
BOOKN00B 6/10                  
AVIDREADER 5/10

Our guest Lela, strangely enough, decided not to read this one. 

We then moved onto the Book Thief (which came highly recommended by my mate S)

Oddly, and I still can't remember why, the votes took place first with this book, and were...
BOOKN00B 10/10  
AVIDREADER (Spinal Tap moment) 11/10  
BOOKELF 6/10

 BOOKN00B
  • Particularly liked the first chapter, and the relationship between the protagonist and her adopted father. 
  • Cried at the ending
AVIDREADER
  • Completely agreed. Cried twice at the book. 
  • Liked having Death as the narrator. 
BOOKELF
  • Did enjoy the way that the relationships were portrayed.
  • However, felt that the device (Death writing the book) was unnecessary. In fact, felt that there were too many devices throughout. 
  • Moreover, she couldn't read the narrator bits without hearing the Terry Prachett characters voice. 
  • Really didn't enjoy the first chapter (I believe the word toss was used). 
  • Didn't think that it was a bad book, and would certainly recommend it to others to read. 
  • Thought the story was beyond solid, but didn't need the jazz, or the need to go 'Quentin Tarantino on your ass' ***(quote of the month)
AVIDREADER
  • Enjoyed the set up, the initial separation of the mother and child.
  • Loved the use of poetry, and images - most obviously in the book within a book aspect of the story. 
BOOKN00B - Particularly liked the character of the Mayor's wife. 
AVIDREADER - Liked that we could see why she behaved the way that she did.
BOOKELF- Whiney, whiney, whiney (much hilarity ensued when we realised that she was pouring me a glass of wine and not in fact commenting on the book.)
BOOKELF - Good relationship, and friendship.

Lela had already decided to read this, and borrowed my copy!

We also briefly looked at I am a Cat - an unfinished book from a few month ago.


BOOKN00B
  • Loved the parts outlinging the Cat's life but struggled more with the Master aspects. 
  • Will not be finishing the book. 
  • 3/10
BOOKELF
  • Concurred.
  • Will not be finishing the book, as there are other books she is more enthused by. 
  • 3/10


A very enjoyable evening!

Original LBC

Meeting 08 - A Chat
Meeting 05 - Firman - Sam Savage






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