Tag: Bookclub

The Unconsoled – Kazuo Ishiguro

READ FOR BOOKCLUB Chosen by Rachel Ryder, a famous pianist, arrives in a European city to perform a concert. However, he appears to have lost most of his memory and finds his new environment surreal and dreamlike. As both hero and anti-hero, he wades… Continue Reading “The Unconsoled – Kazuo Ishiguro”

2007 Bookerthon

In 2007 we began our Bookerthon journey. We’d kept up to date with Man Bookers of the past and we’d shared thoughts and comments. In 2007 there were a couple of attractions to the shortlist. First of all Lloyd Jones, a New Zealander, featured… Continue Reading “2007 Bookerthon”

On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan

READ FOR BOOKERTHON In this novella a newly married couple reflect on their pasts and as a result question their marriage while honeymooning on Chesil Beach. ⚈ “The opening line of On Chesil Beach sums up the rest of the content: ‘They were young, educated,… Continue Reading “On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan”

Mister Pip – Lloyd Jones

READ FOR BOOKERTHON In the world of Mister Pip, reading Dickens represents salvation for a community ravaged by conflict. ⚈ “Lloyd Jones’s novel is set in a village on the Papua New Guinean island of Bougainville during the 1990s civil war. Jones covered it as… Continue Reading “Mister Pip – Lloyd Jones”

Darkmans – Nicola Barker

READ FOR BOOKERTHON A jester haunts this book, possessing the characters at inconvenient moments. They are a collection of interesting folk living in Ashby, England. An erratic, embitted old man; a drug dealer; a chiropodist with mysterious bruises; a man with schizophrenia; a boy building… Continue Reading “Darkmans – Nicola Barker”

Animal’s People – Indra Sinha

READ FOR BOOKERTHON In 1984 Union Carbide released 40 tonnes of lethal gas from its pesticide factory into the city of Bhopal in India, killing thousands and contaminating drinking water. Indra Sinha writes of this atrocity in Animal’s People, replacing Bhopal with the fiction city… Continue Reading “Animal’s People – Indra Sinha”

The Gathering – Anne Enright

READ FOR BOOKERTHON Liam Hegarty has drowned himself a river. He is one of 12 siblings who all like to drink, though he was afflicted more than the rest. His family, a large, Irish kin, come together for the funeral. His sister Veronica narrates events,… Continue Reading “The Gathering – Anne Enright”

The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid

READ FOR BOOKERTHON Over one night, a Pakistani man tells an American stranger about his love affair with a woman and his forced abandonment of America post 911. The resulting chaos of 911, especially for men of his ethnicity, causes Changez to abandon his wish… Continue Reading “The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid”

The People’s Act Of Love – James Meek

READ FOR BOOKCLUB Chosen by Suzy A renegade Czech army unit is stranded in a community of religious fanatics in a small, remote town in Siberia.  ⚈ “The People’s Act of Love is set in 1919 in Yasyk, Siberia, a small town on the… Continue Reading “The People’s Act Of Love – James Meek”

The Red Tent – Anita Diamant

READ FOR BOOKCLUB Chosen by Rachel Dinah, daughter of Jacob and sister of Joseph, is a minor character in the Bible, but the author has given her a voice in The Red Tent. ⚈ “The Red Tent tells the story of the biblical character Dinah,… Continue Reading “The Red Tent – Anita Diamant”