"Entertaining Mr Sloane" by Joe Orton (Mar 6, 2019)

It was a sultry night at the All Nations when we met to talk about The Sellout by Paul Beatty.  We shouted over the sound of the rain about what an interesting book it was with a really lovely turn of phrase and quite a thoughtful (and meandering) exploration of race politics in America.  I noted that while there's usually there's a bit of catching up and chit chat at the start of our meetings, people couldn't wait to get started talking about the book.

Next month's book is Entertaining Mr Sloane by Joe Orton.  It was written in 1964 and was considered scandalous at the time. I'm interested to see what we make of it 50+ years later.

See you at the All Nations Hotel on March 6!

"The Sellout" by Paul Beatty (Feb 6, 2019)

There was a really good turnout for the last book group meeting of the year and we had a long talk about Gerald Murnane's The Plains.  Everyone agreed that it was a very difficult book to read, we kept wondering when some sort of insight was going to be revealed or a point to the story was going  to be disclosed.  But there wasn't.  I had this inkling that "the plains" and the ruminations upon them described so endlessly in the book weren't a metaphor for peoples' lives, that they just unfold in a featureless way until you look closely at their detail.  When I thought of this it made me wonder if I should start reading it again to make sense of the story in a deeper way.  But I didn't.

We wondered if it would be published today.  There was no mention of the first people who inhabited the plains – the aborigines – but is that just a contemporary preoccupation?  Or is it beside the point? Or women.  There was just the sketchiest mention of the landowner's daughter or the woman in the library whom he had designs on but that seemed to be it.

The preface to the book was wonderful: beautiful lively writing that painted a picture of a work rich with meaning and skill, a picture that seemed so at odds with the book itself.  My feelings about the book were so at odds with its description that I kept doubting I'd really understood it.  The writing was very good but it just seemed that I'd missed something.

We managed to settle on our next book very early in the evening and with very little debate so we're reading The Sellout by Paul Beatty, a Booker prize winner which is a good recommendation (IMHO) right there.  See you at the All Nations on Feb 6 next year!

"The Plains" by Gerald Murnane (Dec 13, 2018) [change of date!]

There was quite a lot to say about The Lebs by Michal Mohammed Ahmad.  We thought that while it was nicely written it lacked an overall story to tie it all together, it just felt like a string of "this happened, then this happened ..." rather than a coherent story.  That made a bit more sense at the end when in the epilogue it emerges that it was written as a thesis.

The way he describes his school life was really vivid and engaging, the swearing and the relentless vying for social kudos and the discomfort of trying to find your own identity.

Our next book is The Plains by Gerald Murnane.  There was a long discussion about which book we'd do next and eventually we settled on fiction rather than non-fiction which I think was probably a better decision and more in the spirit of the book group.

The next book group meeting – the last of the year – will be at The All Nations Hotel at 8:00pm on December 5 December 13.

"The Lebs" by Michael Mohammed Ahmad (Oct 3, 2018)

While we had a smaller turnout this month the discussion about Fight Like A Girl by Clementine Ford was lively, extended and far reaching.  We felt it was an important book and I was really pleased to here that there were several people – myself included - who said it made them question how they behave and to want to improve that.  It made me think that the aim of the book was a success, although it's certainly directed squarely at women as a rallying call to not just accept the status quo but to expect and demand better.  The anger in the book is genuine and justified.

I found a couple of things in the book really disturbing: one was the level and amount of vitriol that has been dealt out to Ford by on-line trolls.  It just never occurred to me to speak to anyone like that, and besides what on earth does it do to help anything?  Secondly, I felt that there was no place in the book for me.  I know I'm not the target of the book nor that as a man that I should be the centre of any narrative but as someone who tries to support women and call out offensive behaviour it's a bit like we don't exist in the writing.  I feel like I'm committing some sort of heresy for saying that – it's a very hard book to say that you disagree with.

We have an extra month before the next meeting at the All Nations again.  Our next book The Lebs by Michal Mohammed Ahmad should be an interesting look at contemporary society.

”Fight Like A Girl” by Clementine Ford (5 September, 2018)

It was a great book group meeting: lots of talk about the changes to the school after the safeguards for the school put in place by the state government following the opening of the injecting room next door and the (misguided) public sensitivity about that. If I may editorialise for minute, having been at the school for 8 years, I have seen the drug problem in the area.  I do not see how a public injecting room can do anything other than benefit both the users and the neighbourhood.

We also had a live cross via internet to two group members at Mt Hotham which while of dubious worth was a lovely diversion.  Sorry Grant for directing you to the wrong book because of my mistake on the website.

Great to see a couple of faces reappear, Quinn and Mark.

The next meeting will be at The All Nations on 5 September.

”The Getting Of Wisdom” by Henry Handel Richardson (1 August, 2018)

[Oops! I made a mistake with the book for the next book group meeting when I originally put the post up, I had misremembered it to be "My Brilliant Career" by (Stella Maria Sarah) Miles Franklin.  The book in the title is correct now.  I blame my mistake on being “tired and emotioanl” after the last book club meeting]

There was a great crowd at The All Nations to discuss A Horse Walks Into A Bar by John Grossman and while there was quite a bit of discussion about it, no-one really cared for it that much.  It just seemed to be a sorry tale of man's life played out on stage.  Everyone was enjoying having a drink a really having a very nice time together until late in the evening.  It was great.

Our next book is My Brilliant Career by (Stella Maria Sarah) Miles Franklin which Tom suggested after the usual long debate about what to read next.

Note that because the first Wednesday of July falls in school holidays, the next meeting will be in August.

"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!