Olive Kitteridge

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Blog written by Melissa

Olive Kitteridge is a Pulitzer winning  “novel in stories”, set in a town on the coast of Maine, USA. The interlinked short stories form a cohesive whole with a through line focus on the ‘unapologetic’ and ‘controlling’ protagonist called Olive, and her relationships with family and community.

What’s particularly interesting about this middleclass maths teaching character, is that, in the words of the New York Times review by Louisa Thomas, “She isn’t a nice person”.  Much of our book club discussion focused on our varying degrees of sympathy or distaste for this character. All felt she was a woman who was ‘stuck’. Some felt she should work to become ‘unstuck’ and therefore a happier and more loving person. Others perceived a sadness that this seemed impossible for her.

Discussion ensued about people we may have experienced in our lives who showed a similar inability to express love, especially within their family context and the impact of this on their own wellbeing and those around them.

I think all agreed the book is written in a beautiful, sensitive, detailed and highly naturalistic style, with a sophisticated, original and pleasing structure. One or two members were unhappy with the last story. Some members found the content and atmosphere of the book ‘too bleak’, due to a focus on tragic and emotionally painful situations and the requirement to journey within Olive’s uncomfortable interior landscape. Others found the focus empathic, realistic, intriguing and moving. Some found aspects comical and endearing. Most enjoyed reading the book.

An interesting literary technique is used in this book and illustrated well in the NYT review:
“Just as Olive’s self-awareness and empathy develop over the course of the book, so does the reader’s. Strout’s prose is quickened by her use of the “free indirect” style, in which a third-person narrator adopts the words or tone a particular character might use. “The tulips bloomed in ridiculous splendor” is a narrative statement — but “ridiculous” is very much Olive Kitteridge’s word. Similarly, in a description of a pianist, the clucking of communal disapproval creeps in: “Her face revealed itself too clearly in a kind of simple expectancy no longer appropriate for a woman of her age.” These moments animate Strout’s prose in the same way that a forceful person alters the atmosphere in a room.”

One member shared her enjoyment of the adapted tele-series, saying the casting of Frances McDormand in the lead was inspired and that all the characters perfectly reflected the provincial location. She discussed how they interpreted Olive’s husband in the film version as being somewhat questionable in relation to his pharmaceutical assistant. Readers disagreed with this choice, perceiving Henry to be an endearing man, yearning for love, warmth, someone to care for - but in a non-lecherous manner. One member imagined Kathy Bates in the lead role of Olive which others agreed would also have suited well.

The main focus of discussion was on Olive’s complex character and the degree to which she was able to see herself as well as her capacity, or challenge to change.  As the NYT review states, ‘The pleasure in reading “Olive Kitteridge” comes from an intense identification with complicated, not always admirable, characters… There’s simply the honest recognition that we need to try to understand people, even if we can’t stand them.”

Some themes that were discussed included:
• Those who have an inability to express and receive love, particularly with their intimate family.
• People’s capacity to change
• Hope versus hopelessness
• Narcissism and it’s impact on self and others. People’s capacity to ‘see’ themselves.
• Betrayal, grief and emotional hunger.
• What could make a person stuck in the first place and what might render them unable, or able to change.
• People’s capacity for kindness, empathy, understanding and the need for these.

We rated this book 8 out of 10 for those who wished to give it a rating
It was described as "brilliantly written"

Our last meeting of the year will be on Thursday Dec 10th at Marty's and we will be discussing The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker

The Girl on the Train

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins
Blog written by Lee

The Girl On The Train is a first time thriller by Paula Hawkins a
journalist by profession.  It is a well plotted story with an ending
that thrills, and unlike a number of literary works it does have a
satisfying and surprising ending.  The parallels between the narration of their stories by the three main characters is easy to compare with Gone Girl which is a much blacker story with a less resolved ending but one that provokes more debate on the 'who dunnit' ending.  In The Girl On The Train there is no question as to who the killer is as the confession is clearly made and in doing so the perpetrator even more clearly shows his disdainful character and shows his socio-pathological personality, managing to blame all those in his life for his becoming what he is.

None of the main characters win our sympathy, Rachael is an unpleasant alcoholic manipulated by her ex-husband Tom and is forever apologising to the extent that no one can believe her.  Cathy her long suffering flat mate is just another character in the back ground and very little is revealed about her other than she seems to have infinite patience. Anna is a very shallow housewife and mother and nothing she says can endear her to the reader, while the victim, Megan, is a complete mess unable to cope with any relationship.  Each of these three woman have been unknowingly manipulated by Tom, their lives intertwined and ruined by his lies and seemingly good looks.

The premise of the story, the fantasing of the life and relationship of a couple that Rachael observes each day in their garden and terrace as she passes by on the train as it slows down near the backyards is familiar to anyone who has ever done a regular commute on a train. Melissa observed that it was great idea but a pity that now it has been used no other writer will be able to elaborate on it.  The
idealistic fantasy that Rachael creates soon turns to a nightmare, worse than anything she could imagine, as she sets out to 'help' in what Megan's husband Scott describes as her playing at Nancy Drew.

As far as stories of domestic violence go, and it has been a theme in several of the books we have read this year, this one is a doozy.  The malevolence of Tom in his relationships with three women leaves you gasping but easy to imagine.  This is not just a story of a wife beater but a psychological sociopath who so easily manipulates all those who love him.  We thought that the red headed man was a 'red herring' but he is actually the catalyst for Rachael recalling the details of the crucial events that she can't remember through her drunken haze.

Everyone agreed that it is a good page turner and an easy read but possibly because it was difficult to feel empathy for any of the characters, it wasn't a pleasant read.  And certainly not an inspiring literary work.

We rated this book 6.5 to 7/10.

Our next meeting is on November 26th Thursday at Melissa's.  The book is Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.

Your Voice in My Head

Your Voice in My Head by Emma Forrest

Our group met at Robyn's and unfortunately, your blogger could not attend the meeting.

I gather that the book was not well liked in general. However, it did generate an good discussion.

Rating 2/10

Our next book is The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and we will meet at Lee's on Wednesday Nov 12, 2015.

All the Light We Cannot See

All The Light We Cannot See 
by Anthony Doerr

Blog written by Meredith

This wonderful book is the 2014 Pulitzer Prize winner for a reason.
Richly researched and beautifully constructed with well developed characters in a sobering setting, this book was a definite crowd pleaser.
Probably our highest rating book of the year with at least half our book club members giving it 9+ out of ten.

It took the author 10 years to write this book, benefiting from an enormous amount of research.
The compelling tale of young French blind girl weaves its way along the tale of her German counterpart, a young orphaned German boy who rises from the Orphanage to the specialist army radio unit, their paths converging in the bombardment of St. Malo, albeit brief but memorable.
A truly compelling journey that will delight you and sadden you at the same time.  All the characters are superbly developed with both sides of the war coming to life with empathy and understanding.
Some of our club suggested that had there been a more feminine influence in the world perhaps there would have been a better outcome, or was it just a case of universal human nature?
Nobody was too sure about the subplot of the Sea of Flames. This story of the precious stone may have seemed a bit strange at first but it was generally agreed that it added to the magic of the story.  The fact that Werner threw the stone into the sea, keeping Marie Laure’s model instead was heartwarming, showing what really mattered in life.

My dear friend Stacy gave me this book because she thought I would enjoy it.
I loved it so much I put it up for the bookclub who loved it too!
Our average rating for this book is 9.2/10
They described it as brilliant, moving, interesting, thought provoking, delicately written and beautifully constructed.

Personally, I think it was a standout!

Our next meeting is on Thursday Oct 15 at Robyn's and the book we will be discussing is Your Voice in My Head : A Memoir by Emma Forest

The Strays

The Strays by Emily Bitto

Blog to be written by Sally



















Our rating for this book averaged 7.5/10 and it was described as "verging on frustrating", "interesting story and good for discussion but not sure I would recommend it !"

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

Blog written by Sarah

Spoiler alert – these notes assume the reader knows the plot already.

Published in 2013 and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2014, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves was partly inspired by the author’s childhood experiences of living with a psychologist/mathematician father who ran experiments with rats in mazes. Karen Joy Fowler is also author of the well-known “Jane Austen’s Book Club”, which has also been made into a movie.

Our group enjoyed reading about a family who had lived a very different experience of family life through the introduction of a primate into their midst by their scientist father. Living with chimps as the basis of animal study was repeated by many researchers through the first half of the 20th century, until Jane Goodall famously turned the tables in 1960 and went to live with them in the wild. Seems like an obvious approach now, but back then it was revolutionary in scientific terms. Adaptation to living with a chimp, the highs and many lows were all explored in the novel and the fraught nature of dealing with family members who are somehow different was raised. Interesting how humans are domesticated to live with species like dogs and cats but that without the benefits of millennia of mutual adaptation, chimp adoptions were generally disastrous, especially long-term for the chimps’ wellbeing.

We discussed animal rights, animal language and experimentation, as well as dysfunctional families. The role of memory in writing history when recalling childhood events was discussed, and Sally highlighted the seeming lack of honesty and functional communication amongst the adult members of the sisters’ family. In the end no one talked about Fern in a way that felt as if we understood her, but everyone expressed their sadness of her plight. The defining nature of Rosemary’s guilt about Fern and Lowell’s extreme self-destructive activism was further testimony to how this experiment damaged the lives of the participants.
For me the high point of the book was the moment Fern’s identity was revealed and most of us agreed the second half lost it’s way somehow. Meredith commented on how it began to feel journalistic and a little preachy, and Melissa pinpointed how as the writing changed, we stopped caring about the sisters in the second half. The ending felt a bit neat and formulaic and Madame Lafarge, the puppet, was widely disliked, as was the character of Harlowe. Lee and others wondered about Kafka’s work quoted at the start of each chapter – “A Report for an Academy” – maybe a read for another time!

Despite the drawbacks, the novelty of Fern’s presence and the unique perspective of a girl whose sister was a chimp generated lively and wide-ranging discussion and the average rating awarded was 7-8/10.


It’s a good bookclub book for getting people talking about issues that are not standard fare whilst at the same time being full of food for thought about those novel staples - human relationships, families and communication.

Our next meeting is on Thursday July 16th at Sally's and her book selection is The Strays by Emily Bitto.

Sophie's Choice

Sophie's Choice by William Styron

Blog written by Sharon

This novel was written in 1979 and won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1980.  Most of us have seen the movie starring Meryl Streep but many have forgotten the storyline so it was interesting to read the novel this time round.

We agree that the choice of the title is a clever one as it doesn't apply only to one choice that Sophie had to make, but rather several choices throughout the novel : between her children obviously, between Nathan and Stingo, between lying and telling the truth, between choosing to live or die...

I personally thought that Styron was clever to introduce slavery into a Holocaust story.  He says  : " It is important to regard Auschwitz as the recrudescence of slavery, the first in western civilisation since the American Civil war".

Which brings us to the many elaborate and complicated vocabulary throughout the book -- made me appreciate reading it on the Kindle with a built-in dictionary !!

Music is an important strain in the novel as are literary figures and works mentioned. In particular the poems of Emily Dickens and works of Tom Wolfe.

I thought that Styron was skilled at creating multi dimensional characters but may have portrayed the women in his novel skewed from a male's viewpoint.

The average rating of the book was 8/10 with quite a few 9s.  It was described as "harrowing".
We agreed that it generated a lot of interesting discussions and points of view.

Our next book is We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler and the meeting will take place at Sarah's on Wednesday May 20th ( instead of Thursday May 21st ).

Big Little Lies

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Comments from Sarah :

I enjoyed the book, found the domestic violence harrowing and thought the characters were well written. Thanks for the choice, I didn't know anything about Liane Moriaty before I bought it. Thought it a salutary take on suburban life and the deceptiveness  of appearances!

Other members described it as :
"Interesting story and format"
"Seemed like the Slap initially"
"Touched on domestic abuse and kind of ropes you in"
"Compelling reading"
"Characters were well written"

We rated the book 7/10

Our next book is Sophie's Choice by William Styron and we will be meeting on April 23 Thursday at Sharon's.

The Gold Finch Feb 2015

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Our first meeting of the year and we met at Jane's  in Feb 2015.

The book has been described as "brilliant" although some felt it was a bit of a let down at the end.

Lee's comments :
"Huge book, I loved every page until towards the end with the strange business in Amsterdam and the conclusion and the author's summing up as it were at the end.  I didn't feel that it was a particularly 'literary' work but nevertheless a great read."

Ratings averaged 7-8/10

Our next book is Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty and will be on Thursday March 12 at Megan's.

Hundred Year Old Man

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared
by Jonas Johasson

Blog written by Marty

Allan Karisson, the centenarian, decides to leave his nursing home and avoid the imminent celebration in search of adventure (to which he is no stranger as we learn).

Having climbed out the window (slippers and all) he embarks on exploits of magnitude somewhat unbelievable. He befriends would be criminals hotdog stand owner an elephant and owner and a future partner all made possible by the acquisition of a case of money.

In a Forest Gump style his life background purports to have experienced and witnessed many important 20th century events relating often to explosions. This was indeed his early life passion. His travels and meetings include encounters with Stalin, Churchill, Truman, Mao,
Franco and de Gaulle.

The book keeps one quite intrigued as to who the next character will be and what anecdote will be revealed with the use of flash backs in time.

The general opinions were:
A fun bouncy clever story
Quirky
Cartoonish
A bit long and wearisome
Coenesque
A geriatric fairy tale
Slightly unbelievable
Well written

The average rating was 7 out of 10

From "A Novel Approach" :
Thank you so much Marty for a beautiful end of year meeting.  Hope everyone has a restful and enjoyable holiday.
Our next meeting is at Jane's on Feb 12th 2015, Thursday.
We will be discussing the Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Please bring along your 2015 book selection.