The Free-Range Bookclub
Bookclubbers without boundaries in Nelson, New Zealand
Back Booker 2006
Before we get onto this year’s Bookerthon we’ll sneak in another Back Booker.
This time we are looking at 2006 which had a huge variety of narratives and settings, yet each tale delivered the authenticity of a lived experience. Being lost in the story as if you’re there, as if you can hear and see and smell what the characters do imparts the book on your brain like a memory. And such books are expected on award shortlists!
Here’s what we read:
Carry Me Down features John Egan a 11-year-old with a man’s stature and intellectual capabilities that baffle many around him and interfere with his ability to assess the emotional turmoil that is affecting his family. He undertakes drastic action to counter family events and the repercussions of that fill the pages.
In The Night Watch, four characters relive their war time experiences backwards – we meet them in 1947 and the pages work backwards until 1941. There is much more than war time tales in this novel, there are many experiences that are indicative of the era and very moving.
In The Country Of Men is a story about Libya under Gaddafi’s regime. It is told from the perspective of narrater as a child and as such is engaging, emotive and educational. The fluid writing style offers an experience, and many aspects to war and conflict we had not read about before.
The Inheritance of Loss is set both in a dilapidated house in the Himalayas and fancy New York eateries. A retired judge has links to both through his children and recollects his memories in order to accept the two variations of living. Snippets of electric descriptions highlight the discord between the two worlds.
Mother’s Milk is moving book, albeit a bit disturbing. It details a mother’s obsession with her sons to the detriment of her family’s progression and happiness. Patrick Melrose is dealing with the neuroses of both his wife and his mother in a book that deals with big topics like parenting, adultery and assisted suicide.
In The Secret River William Thornhill is transported to New South Wales in 1806 as a punishment for theft. He and his wife set up home but must forge relationships with the natives in order to live a peaceful life. Interesting, but we did agree it was a shallow portrayal of the injustices carried out on Aboriginal People by settlers, compared to the NZ stories we are used to.
In the end, after what felt like a trip around the world in a time machine, we concluded that any could have won it this year and we would have been okay with it. However, for Suzy, her fave was The Inheritance of Loss and for Rachel, her top pick was In The Country of Men. Chosen for the reasons already stated, that they were so evocative and we closed the pages feeling like we’d been there and lived the life of the characters.
Best book 1-6: Rachel:
In The Country Of Men
The Inheritance Of Loss
The Night Watch
Mother’s Milk
The Secret River
Carry Me Down
Best book 1-6: Suzy:
The Inheritance Of Loss
The Night Watch
In The Country Of Men
Mother’s Milk
The Secret River
Carry Me Down
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Books read:
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