Venue: Arcadia Bar
Date: 18th August 2011
Time: 5pm - 7pm
Discussed: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Agreed On: The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
While it was a fun and awesome book club - as always - unfortunately not many people had managed to finish the book. In fact, only two of us had managed to hit the finish line, though everyone had at least started it!
Some failed to finish because they were stuck in other books at the time, others because they had become hooked on a new series and literally couldn't put them down and still more due to various life commitments or having left it a bit late to start.
Now, if we were truly a dedicated and obsessive book club; I should have left there and then in a huff - reciting the rules of book club fight club stylee; cussing and fuming about life, the universe and everything. But - thankfully - we aren't arses.
Instead, we discussed the bits that we could. I (and one other) offered sage and wise thoughts on our reading of the book and then the chat became - as it so often does, a general natter about...well...life the universe and everything (which mostly means Leeds and Doctor Who for me)
All of us had been intrigued about life in Iran - the book club members and how they lived their lives. We found them to be compelling and very unfamiliar - so different from our lives. The time jumps were fascinating to some; deeply irritating to others, We so much wanted to find our what happened to each of them that the literary meandering became a little distracting, rather than being the point of the book. Sometimes, the time leaps seemed totally arbitrary - if there was a point or a logic - it passed that majority of us by.
On the other hand, repetitive phraseology - such as the title 'Read Lolita in Tehran' started to drive us barmy. It's a clever title - it brings with it powerful imagery - but over-use has the potential to render it utterly meaningless. One person compared it to reading someones thesis.
The tone of the book also irked some. The opinions expressed are very definite - as though only one viewpoint could possibly be valid. Without having always read the books being broken down; there is a particular sort of arrogance that was a bit annoying at times.
Of the books that their book club covered that we had read - Lolita, The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice - we were fascinated by what that book club pulled out. How the differing context of their everyday life seemed to highlight particular aspects that we hadn't necessarily considered. Even those points that we had noticed were seen in different ways. Again, the counter point of that was if we hadn't read those books, aside from feeling like 'illiterate idiots' (NOT MY PHRASING), we felt pulled away from the emotional core of the story.
And there we have it. Though we toyed briefly with describing the plot in more detail - well I did...I'm a bit evil...we settled on detailing a few of the highlights to torture the others. Which was fun.
Some failed to finish because they were stuck in other books at the time, others because they had become hooked on a new series and literally couldn't put them down and still more due to various life commitments or having left it a bit late to start.
Now, if we were truly a dedicated and obsessive book club; I should have left there and then in a huff - reciting the rules of book club fight club stylee; cussing and fuming about life, the universe and everything. But - thankfully - we aren't arses.
Instead, we discussed the bits that we could. I (and one other) offered sage and wise thoughts on our reading of the book and then the chat became - as it so often does, a general natter about...well...life the universe and everything (which mostly means Leeds and Doctor Who for me)
All of us had been intrigued about life in Iran - the book club members and how they lived their lives. We found them to be compelling and very unfamiliar - so different from our lives. The time jumps were fascinating to some; deeply irritating to others, We so much wanted to find our what happened to each of them that the literary meandering became a little distracting, rather than being the point of the book. Sometimes, the time leaps seemed totally arbitrary - if there was a point or a logic - it passed that majority of us by.
On the other hand, repetitive phraseology - such as the title 'Read Lolita in Tehran' started to drive us barmy. It's a clever title - it brings with it powerful imagery - but over-use has the potential to render it utterly meaningless. One person compared it to reading someones thesis.
The tone of the book also irked some. The opinions expressed are very definite - as though only one viewpoint could possibly be valid. Without having always read the books being broken down; there is a particular sort of arrogance that was a bit annoying at times.
Of the books that their book club covered that we had read - Lolita, The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice - we were fascinated by what that book club pulled out. How the differing context of their everyday life seemed to highlight particular aspects that we hadn't necessarily considered. Even those points that we had noticed were seen in different ways. Again, the counter point of that was if we hadn't read those books, aside from feeling like 'illiterate idiots' (NOT MY PHRASING), we felt pulled away from the emotional core of the story.
And there we have it. Though we toyed briefly with describing the plot in more detail - well I did...I'm a bit evil...we settled on detailing a few of the highlights to torture the others. Which was fun.
The Verdict
7/10
Next Month's Book
The Great Gatsby - By F Scott Fitzgerald
* * * * *
Arcadia LBC
21 - Nov - Hard Times - Charles Dickens
20 - Oct - The New York Trilogy - Paul Auster - GUEST - @CultureLEEDS
19 - Sep - The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins - GUEST - @CultureLEEDS
18 - Aug - The Princess Bride - William Goldman
17 - Jul - A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini - GUEST
16 - Jun - Cry the Beloved Country - Alan Paton
15 - May - 1984 - George Orwell - GUEST - @CultureLEEDS
14 - Apr - BloodChild and Other Stories - Octavia Butler
13 - Mar - The Year of the Hare - Arto Paasilinna
12 - Feb - Heat Wave - Richard Castle
11 - Jan - The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint - Brady Udall
10 - Nov - Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
20 - Oct - The New York Trilogy - Paul Auster - GUEST - @CultureLEEDS
19 - Sep - The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins - GUEST - @CultureLEEDS
18 - Aug - The Princess Bride - William Goldman
17 - Jul - A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini - GUEST
16 - Jun - Cry the Beloved Country - Alan Paton
15 - May - 1984 - George Orwell - GUEST - @CultureLEEDS
14 - Apr - BloodChild and Other Stories - Octavia Butler
13 - Mar - The Year of the Hare - Arto Paasilinna
12 - Feb - Heat Wave - Richard Castle
11 - Jan - The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint - Brady Udall
10 - Nov - Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
09 - Oct - Grace Williams Says It Loud - Emma Henderson
08 - Sep - The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
07 - Aug - Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi
06 - Jul - The Line of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst
05 - Jun - Soulless - Gail Carriger
04 - May - Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
03 - Apr - Touching the Void - Joe Simpson
02 - Mar - The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
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