“The Warden” by Anthony Trollope (3 February, 2016)

It was slow start to the book group last night with most attendees arriving late for various reasons.  There were only two of us who had actually read the book, The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, which I thought was a pity.  It’s really well written and tells its story as if a narrator is speaking to an unnamed acquaintance in a market in Lahore.  The story is of a Pakistani who’s successful in the US, falls in love with a damaged girl and ultimately turns his back on the Western way of life.  It’s set across the time of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York and speaks of the change in US attitudes over that time.  I really enjoyed it.

The first book for next year is slightly longer than usual, Anthony Trollope’s first book in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series, The Warden.

This seems to be available for free from the Apple iBooks store, here’s a link.  It almost certainly available electronically elsewhere presumably because it’s out of copyright.

"The Reluctant Fundamentalist" by Mohsin Hamid (2 December, 2015)

I think people were happy to have read Periera Maintains by Antonio Tabucchi – they enjoyed the way that the pace built steadily through the book as Periera's conscience grew as he noticed society changing around him in pre-war Portugal.  There was also a subtext that immersing yourself in the culture page (or perhaps to translate to the current day, paparazzi journalism) and just digesting what's in the established media can lead one to a rose-coloured view of the world, through someone else's glasses.  There was wide agreement that the book's cover really oversold the story itself and that let the book down.

After quite a deal of discussion (largely about page count), we agreed our next book is The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid.

The next book group will be the last official one for the year and will be at The All Nations Hotel as it has been.

"Periera Maintains" by Antonio Tabucchi (4 November, 2015)

Evelyn Waugh's Scoop was a terrific read that everyone enjoyed.  We were surprised at its currency: even some 70 years after it was written, it felt like you could just have replaced some the names with Rupert Murdoch and Rebecca Brookes and still have the same feel to the story.

There was also a lot of discussion about the China trip which was very thoughtful and enjoyable.

Mark strongly recommended Periera Maintains by Antonio Tabucchi and we agreed to that in spite of him having another fine looking book (whose name I've forgotten) and then there was some discussion about following on from Scoop with another gonzo journalism style book, Hunter S Thompson, William Burroughs or similar.  That might be a theme that we can return to later.

The next meeting will be back at The All Nations on 4 November, 2015.

"Scoop" by Evelyn Waugh (7 October, 2015)

[I forgot to put this up]

Great discussion about Marilyn Robinson's Housekeeping which was a challenging read about a dissolute wannabe actress drifting through her life.

"Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson (2 September, 2015)

There wasn't a big turnout to discuss Halldòr Laxness's The Atom Station perhaps because it was such a bitterly cold and wet evening but the consensus was that it was a very enjoyable book.  Very forward thinking with its discussion of The Cold War in 1948 as well as having strong female characters and challenging the role of the church.

Our next book is Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping which Mark suggested seemingly on the basis that after he'd read ten pages he felt that he was reading the work of a master writer.

We'll be back at The All Nations Hotel on September 2.  Note: Change of venue: We’re going to meet at the Park Hotel on Nicholson St, Abbotsford instead.

“The Atom Station” by Halldór Laxness (5 August, 2015)

I was really surprised at the reception to Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion.  While there weren't many people in attendance at the pub on a cold winter night, the people who had finished thought it was a really interesting story than told a different story than the usual Hollywood myth of the transformative journey from anonymity to success.  Written as a string of scenes playing out through the lives of second tier actors and auteurs, it's a less attractive view of people lost in a journey to stardom.

We toyed with a few books for the next book group meeting but settled on Mark's suggestion of The Atom Station by Halldór Laxness, a Nobel prize winner for literature.

Hope to see everyone at The All Nations Hotel on August 5.  There has been some discussion about trying Moondog Brewery as an alternative location.  Perhaps we could try that with an ex-curricular meeting on July 1?

“Play it As It Lays" by Joan Didion (3 June, 2015)

[I apologise that I’ve put this up a few days late – I’ll have myself beaten]

The discussion of The Sense Of An Ending by Julian Barnes, last month’s book, was really interesting: there were a group of us who really enjoyed it, and another set who thought that the story was a bit “confected” and implausible.

The next book, Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays was chosen with an uncharacteristic lack of fuss.  Many thanks to Tom and Edward for bringing some books along for us to consider.

Hope to see everyone at The All Nations Hotel on June 3.

“The Sense Of An Ending" by Julian Barnes (6 May, 2015)

It was a smaller turnout than we’ve been seeing but there was a very good discussion Javier Marias’s A Man Of Feeling.  While the book was a little slow to start, it became compelling as the story progressed.

That led to a long discussion about the next book and the sorts of things that we’re looking for.  Mark had bought along a fistful of good books which were discussed and also used to spark wider discussion of others.  After considering a number of alternatives we settled on “The Sense Of An Ending” by Julian Barnes.

The date for this meeting was originally April 1 but as that falls during the holidays, the "extraordinary meeting" rules apply.

“The Man Of Feeling" by Javier Marias (4 March, 2015)

Unusually there were quite a few people who hadn’t read last month’s book, How To Be Alone by Jonathan Franzen, me included, though I was over halfway.  The discussion about it was a bit curtailed due to the need to discuss extensively Tony Abbott’s political travails in Canberra.

We also had a little book group excursion across the road to acknowledge the astonishing work that Rohan has done to the school and in particular the new entrance from Lennox street.  Ben gave a brief acknowledgement and then Quinn and Mark both read some poems that they’d both written, each of which was really touching.

The next book is Javier Marias’s book A Man Of Feeling.

We’ll be back at The All Nations Hotel on March 4.