There was only small(ish) turnout to discuss Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett but the discussion was fairly lengthy. There was a lot of discussion about the absurdist nature of the dialogue, skitting from subject to subject as the characters interacted almost mindlessly. I thought it spoke of how each day in our lives is essentially the same, only differentiated by our memory of what has gone before. Without that memory we are fated to just repeat what we've done before. That loss of memory is reflected in Pozzo and Lucky's loss of their different senses in the last act, Pozzo going blind and Lucky becoming dumb, and how that impacted them and their relationship.
I wound up reaching the end of the book and feeling like it had something to say and having quite enjoyed it. I hadn't felt like that at the start: I was confused and a little irritated at the lack of direction.
I also noted how the characters were all tied together in their orbits: Didi and Gogo tied to their quest to meet Godot, Didi and Godot in this seemingly dependent relationship that they couldn't leave although they had tried, and Pozzo and Lucky's relationship were they are literally tied together.
Next month's book is Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. There was a little discussion about whether we should try a different meeting place but I think we'l be back at The All Nations next month. Check here for final details!
Also please send me suggestions for books. I'll put up a page here on the blog with possibilities for us to read.
Note: as the April 4 meeting falls in the holidays the next official book club meeting will be on May 2. Note that there will be an extraordinary book club meeting on April 4 at The All Nations.
