"A Horse Walks Into A Bar" by John Grossman (6 June, 2018)

There was only a small turnout to discuss Cannery Row by John Steinbeck which was a shame, everyone agreed it was a great book, with crisp and beautiful prose, vivid descriptions and a lovely turn of phrase.  Really enjoyable.

There was a long but productive debate about what the next book would be and people seemed more prepared for that discussion than in the past (perhaps it was just me). We finally decided on Tom's suggestion A Horse Walks Into A Bar by John Grossman, an Israeli author, published in the last 5 years and funny.

I've added a new page with books which have been suggested so send me any suggestions and I'll add them in.

Our next meeting will be on June 6 at The All Nations.  Look forward to seeing you all there!

"Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck (2 May, 2018)

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.

"Waiting For Godot" by Samuel Beckett (7 March, 2018)

Very few people managed to make it through to the end of Benang by Kim Scott, I think I was the only person who finished it.  I'm not surprised: the book was harrowing reading, dealing with the treatment of the aboriginal people and the relentless rape, murder, institutionalised victimisation and psychological battering to oppress them and remove them from the country.  There's barely a moment's respite in the story.

The story unfolds in a disjointed style without a strong sense of narrative direction and it was difficult to keep track of who was whom and, with a lot of jumping back and forth through time, when things were happening.  I wondered if that was perhaps a part of aboriginal story telling but maybe it's just the way that Scott has pieced together his family history with other historical sources.

I found myself asking myself how I would have behaved if I'd been there at that time.  I want to imagine that I would have been "enlightened" enough to be revolted by the actions of those around me, but I know I'm shaped by my culture and society's values.  It left me feeling very uncomfortable.

There was a lot of discussion about the next book which was finally resolved by a vote for Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett.  We'll be back at the All Nations Hotel on March 7 to discuss that.  See you there!

"Benang" by Kim Scott (6 December, 2018)

Unfortunately I didn't get to this book club meeting because I had an appointment with Sir Paul McCartney that evening.  I have spoken to a few people and Remains Of The Day seemed to be well received.  I really enjoyed the book myself: in spite of its gentle pace, I found it a real page tuner and loved its view of the upstairs/downstairs relationship from a downstairs point of view.

The next meeting will be on February 7 at the All Nations hotel.  Look forward to seeing everyone there.

"The Remains Of The Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro (6 December, 2017)

We enjoyed talking about Jason's suggestion Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind.  There was a good discussion talking about parts of the novel – what was the point of seven years in the wilderness, the "fluidum vitale" – which made us dig back through our memories to recall the story, it had been two months since we read it.  We thought that it was a fascinating premise, a man with no scent of his own but an uncanny ability to smell everything else, that gave him an extraordinary ability but also seemed linked to a flawed character.  It reminded us of Shelley's Frankenstein which we read before.

Next book is The Remains Of The Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, which seems kind of appropriate given that he just won the Nobel prize for literature.  There's also a film of the book for those who are time poor.

Next meeting will be at the All Nations Hotel on December 6 at 20:00.

"Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" by Patrick Süskind (1 November, 2017)

There was a good turnout to discuss Tirra Lirra By The River by Jessica Anderson.  While the book started out a little bit slowly, I found myself becoming more and more involved in the story as Nora's life seemed to drift from one turn to the next, the story itself being told as she reflected back on her life after returning to Brisbane her old age.  In the copy of the book I read, there was an excellent epilogue written by Anna Funder which talked about how much she had loved and been influenced by this book which she'd had to read for her HSC back in the day.  Coincidentally, she also mentioned another book,  The Green Road by Anne Enright, which we'd read only the month before.

We had a suggestion from a newcomer to the group, Jason (welcome!), which was for Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind.  I'd seen this book discussed on the ABC's Tuesday Night Book Club and they'd spoken very highly of it.

Next meeting will be on 1 November at The All Nations Hotel.  I am quietly hoping the weather will be warmer and we won't need to be surrounded by heaters blazing like searchlights from sentry towers around a prison block.

"Tirra Lirra By The River" by Jessica Anderson (6 September, 2017)

We sat outside at the All Nations huddled under the warmth of an array of heaters around us to talk about last month's book, The Green Road by Anne Enright. The consensus was that the book was well-written and had moments where it really took flight and carried the reader along but there were other parts where that momentum was lost.  I thought the setting for the story was a bit corny: the dysfunctional family, the gay son, the alcoholic daughter, the do-gooder, the daughter who married into money and a mother who's losing her grip on the family and her mind.

We had a long discussion trying to choose the next book and eventually settled on Tirra Lirra By The River by Jessica Anderson, an Australian author and the book won the Miles Franklin award in 1978.