A Pale View of Hills

A Pale View of Hills by Kazuko Ishiguro

Blog summary by Sharon

Better on the second reading
Interesting book on people and how they interact

Really liked the book but not maybe enjoyable. Very thought provoking. Stayed with me for a while. Meredith is saying that Sachiko is Etsuko !

Was this more than one person’s experience ? Jiro etc
To what extent does the war and the bomb play a part in this ?

Title is suggestive that this is all quite vague. You get a bit more of the picture but not really the whole picture.

Sachiko - damaged and making poor choices.

Sarah - quite a lot of ambiguity. He is troubled by the ending himself. Eerily and tense book. Didn’t warm to any of the characters. Reading a ghost story.
Japanese folklore and sad. Everyone is damaged in it. The dialogue being so ambiguous adds to it.
Is the sign of a good book that it lingers and we keep coming back to it in our imaginations ?

Sally - a bit like poetry. Father in law confronts the young educator. Show a divide of the generations. My reflections today...was like reading a rather long sad poem on these themes ...I wonder the significance of the daughter’s friend writing a poem about Etsuko with an old calendar image of the pale hills. I like to think the smiling wave at the end could suggest once retold/written for herself,  E found some peace with it all.

Meredith - Am still thinking about the book.
Is the story about Mariko upset seeing a mother drown her baby both a reflection on the despair at the time AND perhaps etsuko drowning her child? After all she was pregnant, this could be the child who drowns and then she takes Mariko to England and has Nikki...

Marty - loved the way it was written. A bit slow moving but that’s the style. Mariko - something is going to happen but ? Maybe he didn’t know how to end this first book ?

Lee - linear way. The way he wrote in English about the mannerism and life style is so spot on. Her relationship with the father in law so authentic. His argument about the classmate of Jiro   Old Japan vs the new Japan post war. Woman drowning her baby is horrifying and a symbol. There are so many stories of Japanese war brides - they don’t fit in. Did Mariko become Keiko and was adopted. Niki - an enigma.

Melissa - I’m sure this is the sign of a good book! And I just love the confidence of a work that is not all neat and tidy and wrapped up for us but rather creates space for the reader to bring so much of themselves to the story. Just thought to add other themes that remained with me after reading this book -

* the unreliability of memory (pale view)

* intergenerational misunderstanding - between the children, the parents and the grandparents… (then and always? But particularly between those who experienced the war and those who didn’t.) And the confusions in relation to the developing experience of equality between women and men, rich and poor.

* and of the point and purpose of looking forwards and backwards…
There is a repeated line throughout the book about there being no point in looking back - and yet often they are haunted by their past - and perhaps need to confront it…  This is symbolised in the irony of Etsuko being nervously pregnant in the past reflections with a frightening example in Mariko... and having tragically lost a child in the present reflections. Our children are our “future” and yet… is their future any better than their traumatic past…?

Eg. Excerpts from pg 111-112
Sachiko:  “How right you are Etsuko, we shouldn’t keep looking back to the past. The war destroyed many things for me, but I still have my daughter. As you say, we have to keep looking forward.”
“You know, “ I said, “it’s only in the last few days I’ve really thought about what it’s going to be like. To have a child, I mean. I don’t feel nearly so afraid now. I’m going to look forward to it. I’m going to be optimistic from now on.”

Sachiko…. “you have a lot to look forward to…. we must look forward to life…. there’s a lot to look forward to…”

I also found the book fascinating from a writer’s point of view - the mystery and inferences leaving space for the reader to decide, the spiral structure, the fluid method of taking the reader back and forth to the past and present, the subtlety and the incredible depth of tension underlying scenes that initially seemed superficial like the chess game or the gift of the binoculars during the day trip (pg 108 - excruciating).


8,8,8,6,8.5,8,8
Gently compelling, intriguing haunting and curious




Our next book is The Weekend by Charlotte Wood at Lee's on April 23, 2020

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Our last book of the year 2019 !
Blog written by Marty

Characters

Kya (Catherine Danielle Clark). The Marsh Girl
Tate (primary romantic interest)
Chase (considered the local hero)
Ma (mother)
Jodie (one of the brothers)
Pa (father)
Jumpin (local shop attendant and friend)
Mabel (his wife)

The book is a unique account of a young girl deserted by her entire family including her mother. Kya the main character cannot comprehend how a mother can leave a child ( even animals don't leave their young to fend for themselves). "this little piggy stayed home"

A truly hearty story of a small child left to care for herself (feed,cook,earn wash etc). With the help of her friend she learns to read and she educates herself through her incredible knowledge of the wild life and her affinity with the nature of the district.

The early part gives some description of her relationship with Pa before he leaves her totally isolated.

Most felt the book was well structured and neatly put together..some found the flashbacks were sometimes confusing when referring to the murder and subsequent trial. Part narrated in the 50s and story in the 60's.
The introduction of "who done it?" if it was a murder added intrigue to the story even though no attempt was made to describe how Chase may have met his death. "It was a mystery wrapped in glorious lyrical prose".

Was the verdict a surprise considering the village folk's attitude was prejudiced against Kya (the marsh girl).
When Tate found the shell necklace (that would have been the primary exhibit). After Kya's death did one feel perhaps justice was served?
"Was it sweet revenge?"

The majority of our book club (those that read the book) thoroughly enjoyed "Where the Crawdads Sings".
The language and description was delightful.
It was compelling reading even if at times not totally believable.
But it is a NOVEL (Fiction)

"Most of what she knew, she'd learned from the wild. Nature had nurtured, tutored and protected her when no one else would. If consequences resulted from her behaving differently, then they too were functions of life's fundamental core."

The author Delia Owens obviously has immense botanical and biological knowledge of the wild life in that marsh area.

I personally loved the quaint romantic courting touch of Tate leaving a feather for Kya

Crawdads refers to a type of crayfish in that area.


Score 8.5.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Holiday season and all the best for 2020!

To the Lighthouse

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Blog by Lee

I thought that by choosing To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf for my book club evening it would present a challenge to the group but I didn’t realise how much of a challenge it it would turn out to be.  Disappointingly only two of us had read it and Megan was halfway through.  Marty listened to an audio book version which we agreed in no way did justice to the writing, and as for those few others who attended, no one else had read it but most enjoyed the discussion with Melissa beamed in from Watson’s Bay by FaceTime.  A techno first for our book club and done very successfully.

Others enjoyed the discussion and Marty commented that she thought that the best part was the title.  I myself thoroughly enjoyed the book as a brilliant piece of stream of consciousness writing and found myself going back to reread passages and then having finished the book starting all over again and continuing to delight in Woolf’s writing and the thoughts and observations of her characters.  It is a book which reflects the influences and personages of Woolf’s life and family and deserves to be read with a reference to her biography to fully appreciate her characters.  It could almost be seen as a book without a narrative, it is the characters themselves that form the story not what happens, although some characters do eventually realise their trip to the lighthouse many years later.

To The Lighthouse has been listed as one of the one hundred greatest books of 20th century English literature and I would tend to agree.  An early feminist work without the social criticism of later feminist works, but a gradual recognition of the poverty and appalling misogyny of male attitudes to women in society and academia which is still so relevant today.

From Litcharts.com:

Stream of consciousness is a style or technique of writing that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's extended thought process, often by incorporating sensory impressions, incomplete ideas, unusual syntax, and rough grammar.
Some additional key details about stream of consciousness:
Stream of consciousness writing is associated with the early 20th-century Modernist movement.
The term “stream of consciousness” originated in psychology before literary critics began using it to describe a narrative style that depicts how people think.
Stream of consciousness is used primarily in fiction and poetry, but the term has also been used to describe plays and films that attempt to visually represent a character's thoughts.
Understanding Stream of Consciousness
Stream of consciousness writing allows readers to “listen in” on a character's thoughts. The technique often involves the use of language in unconventional ways in an attempt to replicate the complicated pathways that thoughts take as they unfold and move through the mind. In short, it's the use of language to mimic the "streaming" nature of "conscious" thought (thus "stream of consciousness"). Stream of consciousness can be written in first person as well as the third person.

What Makes Stream of Consciousness Different?
Traditional prose writing is highly linear—one thing or idea follows after another in a more or less logical sequence, as in a line. Stream of consciousness is often non-linear in a few key ways that define the style: it makes use of unusual syntax and grammar, associative leaps, repetition, and plot structure.

Stream of consciousness also makes use of associative thought. In this style of writing, writers transition between ideas using loose connections that are often based on a character's personal experiences and memories. The idea is that this technique helps writers convey the experience of human thought more accurately than they could by using  a series of ideas connected with clear, logical transitions. Associative thought can seem "random" as it leaps from one thing to the next, with the help of only ambiguous or seemingly nonexistent connections, even as it can also feel similar to the actual random leaps that are a part of people's everyday thoughts.
As an example, characters' thoughts are often presented to the reader in response to sensory impressions—fragmented observations describing what the character sees, hears, smells, feels, tastes, and so on.

From Melissa:

I have had a copy of this book on my shelf for many, many years, with a view to reading it. Of course I was attracted to the title, let alone the famed history of Woolf’s work, which I had never read. And I think I may have tried to dip in a couple of times in the past but it hadn’t held my attention or wasn’t right for the time. So when you set it for bookclub I was thrilled as I knew I would finally embrace the challenge.

When I commenced the book I was initially disappointed. I wondered how I could possibly wade through what felt like a thick swamp of density to be able to see anything beneath the murky waters. I pushed on, with the same resistance that water provides. It was the extraordinary the dinner party scene, Chapter 17, that suddenly provided an incredible vision of clarity for me. It was not unlike the experience of staring at a 3d picture which, after being bewildered for some time at the scrambled puzzle of it all, it suddenly becomes brilliantly comprehensible. Somehow then, I entered Woolfe’s world - and mind - and from thereon, thoroughly enjoyed and fully appreciated the rest of the journey.

I would personally describe the work as ‘tediously brilliant’. And Woolf as a tortured genius - and true feminist long before her time. Impossible to move through life with such an astute hyper-awareness of what everyone is thinking and feeling - simultaneously - (perfectly depicted the dinner party scene - which is like a camera moving, in slow motion, around the table with insight into everyone's secret perspective - especially the women's) and to live peacefully with that degree of sensitivity. It’s no wonder she put rocks in her pockets. Poor thing. So glad she was at least able to express it - express the way people experience simultaneous thought and feeling - and so cleverly - like no-one else I’ve ever read.

Ever so thankful to her (and you Lee) for the opportunity to read this work. Quite extraordinary. The middle part which depicts the house from the wind’s perspective (no less) is so cleverly experimental - and would be extremely difficult to make work - yet she did.

Some lines and passages are so extraordinary I had to reread them to believe them - like this poetic and metaphorical passage which seems to underline the whole essence of the book - from Ch 9 The Lighthouse - pg 204
[The sea without a stain on it, thought Lily Briscoe, still standing and looking out over the bay. The sea is stretched like silk across the bay. Distance had an extraordinary power; they had been swallowed up in it, she felt, they were gone for ever, they had become part of the nature of things. It was so calm; it was so quiet. The steamer itself had vanished but the great scroll of smoke still hung in the air and drooped like a flag mournfully in valediction.]

Overall, the book seems filled with the weight of melancholy, no heavier than that - of grief - yes - the drowning depths of grief. A ghost story - in the true and aching sense of the word ghost. There is such an emptiness in the sense of the missing person/s, the lost opportunities (to go to the lighthouse when they should’ve, could’ve…) and the sorrow of all things lonesome, unrealised, unrealisable, concluded or unfulfilled.

Thank you Lee, reading this bought a richness to my literary knowledge and experience and I’m so pleased it was you who inspired me to embrace this book.
I wish I could be there to celebrate this with you tonight.

Melissa
xo


Ps. The Penguin version has exceptionally helpful introductory notes and footnotes which I highly recommend. They were almost as interesting as the book, helping to explain the brackets and the simultaneous nature of the work and the process and purpose of its creation.

Our next meeting is on May 2 at Meredith's and our book choice is Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance.

God Help the Child

God Help The Child by Toni Morrison

Blog by Sharon

I've been meaning to choose one of Toni Morrison's work for a while now for the book club and am glad I finally decided on this one.  With the current news of the many child abuse cases coming to court and the perpetrators finally answerable, this is a timely choice.

Some of Toni Morrison quotes from the book :
"What you do to children matters. And they might never forget".
"You are about to find out what it takes, how the world is, how it works and how it changes when you are a parent.  Good luck and God help the child".

In an interview with Stephen Colbert, Morrison said : " There is no such thing as race...Racism is a construct, a social construct. And it has its benefits.  Money can be made off of it. "  The darkness of Bride's skin has certainly changed from being the cause of Sweetness repugnant attitude to her child to something that Bride used to her advantage later in life.

Our ratings for the book were 9,8,7,9,7,9,9 and we described it as disturbing, enlightening and hopeful ending, may the cycle not continue !

Our next meeting is on April 11 at Lee's and our choice is To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.

Home Fire

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Blog written by Sally

Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire is an extraordinary contemporary novel about English Muslim PhD student Isma and her younger siblings, 19 year old twins Aneeka and Parvaiz. The family’s history, community and their experience as Muslims living in London is fascinating. Religion, politics, family, love, and violence are central to the story that follows. It is harrowing to read the grooming of Parvaiz to join ISIS. Anneke’s passionate affair with Eamonn and his fractured relationship with his father are engagingly told and unsettling. Based on Sophocles’ Antigone, the ending is truly tragic.

We all liked this book. We admired Shamsie’s exquisite story telling, and appreciated reading a Muslim-told story.

The words we chose to describe the book were: thought provoking, topical, intelligent, insightful and sad. Brave, ambitious and cleverly structured.
We gave it an average rating of 8.5

BBC podcast with Kamila Shamsie talking about Home fire and Greek tragedies

https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/books-and-authors/id331296649?mt=2&i=1000391510769

Our next meeting will be at Robyn's on Oct 24 Wednesday and we will be discussing Unbreakable by Jelena Dokic.

The Museum of Modern Love

The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose

Blog written by Meredith

The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose, winner of the 2017 Stellar Prize, proved a very popular choice.
Woven around the true story of Marina Abromovic and ‘The Artist is Present’ in 2010 at MoMA, this novel is based around the characters who were drawn to Marina during this time, their personal lives and loves.
Over the course of three months, for eight hours a day Marina sat silently across from an empty chair and waited as people took turns to sit and lock eyes with her.
This performance was the inspiration for Rose’s 7th novel and led to her Stellar Prize.
It was muted that perhaps Marina was the main interest in the story, however, it was argued well that we probably wouldn’t have read it if it hadn’t been a novel.
A beautifully written novel about life and art, courage and fear, and the fulfilment of love and marriage.
Our bookclub awarded this novel no less than an 8 out of 10 and even received one 10 out of 10.

Highly recommended.

Our next meeting is on Sept 19 at Sally's and our selection is Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
Blog interpreted by Sharon from Sarah's notes

A few of our members (Sharon, Jane and Meredith) went to the Sydney Writers' Festival and heard Jennifer Egan and Min Jin Lee ( Pachinko) speak about writing historical novels.
The depth of their research is much appreciated and their hard work validated.

Jennifer Egan is kind of a role model being only 55 and successful. The character of Brianne was well liked and Anna is an admirable heroine.  Although some of her endeavours appear far fetched, we didn't mind it because of the clean writing.  The through lines we felt were of the sea, the underworlds, feminism and strong women.

We rated the novel 8/10 and Melissa described is as "excellent, praiseworthy, intelligent, clean, so well written and well researched".  She found quite a few metaphors she liked : examples on pages 307, 310, 365 and 369.

Comments from Lee :
I finished Manhattan Beach a few nights ago and agree with a few comments that it was a most enjoyable read. Another coming of age story but with so many different unexpected twists to the story, that also included many other stories of the various characters. Apart from Anna’s story, which did I enjoy most? Maybe the harrowing story of Eddie on the merchant navy ship and the wreck, but would have liked to have known more about how he survived although a little was revealed later. Brianne turned out to be quite a surprise and it was tragic to read that her pretend life had been a front for her sad destitution and then she took on the heroic stance to help Anna to move to California and raise her child. Anna herself is an amazing character and in reading the acknowledgements at the end to discover that there were actually hard hat women divers during the war was surprising. The surprises revealed in the narrative about women in war service and the prejudice they faced was so different from the usual women in war work in arms factories. Never would I have imagined hard hat divers! The character of Dexter Styles was so interesting, but I thought that there had to be more to the development of the relationship before the amazing one night stand, a scene worthy of Hemingway and “the earth moving”. I wasn’t quite sure why Dexter was killed, but he seemed to know of his impending demise but sadly didn’t have the Houdini like skills of Eddie to escape his death. And what role did his father in law have in Eddie’s execution?? Many sides to many characters. And the father in law must have somehow had links to Dexter Styles....

I did like “the happy ending”. Anna was going to be a wonderful mother after all the care and love she had given to Lydia. And the writing throughout was imaginative and the detailed descriptions, so that it was easy to imagine the grim world of the New York docks and the contrast of the tranquility of Manhattan Beach. While the Country Club world of New York society and their social prejudices was easy to visualise from the many movies, TV shows and books that we all have seen. And their ignorance of the fate that awaited their sons as they went off to war.

Our next meeting is on June 21st at Melissa's and our book choice is Extinctions by Josephine Wilson.