2024-September - Hamnet - O'Farrell

 For fans of Shakespeare, a terrific read. Although the final sentence about 'remember me' does not match with my copy of Hamlet. 

We all liked it, marks of 8 or 9 all round. Must be the best book that we have read in a Looong time. 

H didn't read it. Maybe she will now.

A couple of us read it in 1 or 2 days at the last minute - couldn't put it down. 

J cried when Agnes was in deep grief over her loss. 

The writing was good, there was clarity in it. Also it was superb writing and research about how the plague got from Egypt to Henley via Venice, though I think I have read this before.

About Agnes, eldritch doesn't suit her, but she was knowledgeable about the use of herbs and plants for treatments, I am not sure about the dead frog on the stomach, but I think this was the Doctor, not her.  Her ability to diagnose things by touch was discussed, and the nearest that we got was that she was psychic.  She seemed to know about the future, and was frightened when she couldn't tell the gender of her unborn child. 

It was noted that we were sorry for her other children when they were abandoned in her grief for the dead child. 

It was interesting how the author has kept the Shakespearean plays out of the body of the work.

Highly recommended. 

2024-August- The Woman Who Went to Bed For a Year - Sue Townsend

 It is a book that is written as if it is supposed to be funny, and because of that it goes over the top and is silly. It is hard to find a reason to keep reading it, aside from the fact that it is a reading group book. If you look at it more seriously, what is wrong with Eva? 

The person who recommended this book to us commented that she found it shallow and not funny. H said it was funny to start with. Other comments were that it had great characters, it was very frivolous, very disgruntled when it ended - true- it was a poor ending in my view. There were two occasions in the middle of the book - Christmas and the faculty meeting about bonking in the broom cupboard that others said were brilliant. 

It was suggested that it was a takeoff on so many things that happen in real life, but it ran out of steam. Not many families have an autistic husband and autistic twins. I suppose that that is part of the going over the top. 

The author at the time that this book came out was legally blind, had received a kidney from her son and had degenerative arthritis that meant that she was in a wheelchair.

Marks from 3 to 8, average 6.

2024-June - Klara and the Sun - Ishiguro

Klara is a humanoid robot that is of the sort bought for children as a companion in a totally different world to what we know.   She can observe, analyse, store data and make decisions based on her knowledge. There doesn't seem to be an Internet where she can access a pool of knowledge. She is a model B2 , but is better than other B2s in the story. She also has the ability to regain her balance quickly like some AI robots available today.

She is bought for Josie, who at this point in the story I think is not well with some recurring problem. 

Later in the book it became much less of a Science-Fiction novel, and more of a fairy tale. It is hard to know where it is all happening, but a few clues indicate America, with an origin in England, and Housekeeper going to California. Time is not consistent either.   First mention that I noticed of being on-line was on page 247, as was the comment about genetic engineering of people. At best I would give it 6. 

Interesting read about why Robots should be humanoid. It references the R2-D2 vs C-3PO  debate. 

https://sixdegreesofrobotics.substack.com/p/the-human-form-is-flawed-so-why-do

We will have a BILLION humanoid Robots by 2040

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/six-degrees-of-robotics_activity-7207908002949906433-cp1W/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/intersubjective/202105/becoming-human-discussion-klara-and-the-sun

Today's news: 

📅 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐬!! The newly formed 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 under the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society umbrella will hold its kickoff meeting on July 17th at 10 am US Eastern time.

Meeting 27/6/24. Only 4 present and me on WhatsApp call. Marks were 8,8,6,6,4 = avg 6.

Ali thought it reminded her of 'Never Let me Go'. 

Rick was the only nice character in the book. Others picked up that Josie had been genetically Engineered "lifted" and this had not worked well which is why she was sick.  Had the mother been lifted? We thought that this was a recentish innovation in the culture. Everything about the society in the book was quite vague. The idea of all the children learning in isolation on their 'oblongs' at home  as in the story pre-dates the Covid lockdown where this happened as the books was published before this. 

There was a comment about Guardian reviews of the book and whether an AF would be capable of love. 

A dog is programmed from birth to give unconditional love. Made me think of the three laws of robotics.

FW has not read any Sci-Fi really in the past, and enjoyed this as it was a simple read. At the ending she wanted to know more about other people. She thought that Klara needed more introspection. 

How tall was Klara? - about the size of a 10-12 year old we thought. 

50 years on - will people have AFs?  AW thought that they were already partly available in old peoples homes, particularly in North America. 

It was brought to an end quite quickly, Usually the thing of an author who has not got a satisfactory ending. AW  thought Klara was like a discarded toy that Josie had grown out of, and quoted 'Puff the Magic Dragon' .

2024- May - Crow Court by Andy Charman

 A murder mystery in Wimborne Minster. A number of short stories loosely tied together that develop the finding of the culprit  while showing the development of Wimborne and the changes in Technology through the middle of the 1800's.   Very cleverly written.

We thought about asking the author to talk to us, but as he no longer lives locally didn't bother. 

I have read it for the second time and really enjoyed it again. I suggest that it is compulsory reading for local people with an interest in past times of Wimborne. 

There were 5 of us at the meeting. The marks averaged at 8. 

It was well written, and a couple of us mentioned the old-fashioned style of writing that gave it some atmosphere.  One of us liked it so much that she bought a copy. 

Some comments that I found around the net that help to flesh it out [ and find some of the locations mentioned]:

"Another West Borough resident was the Rev. Edward Butt, who lived in ‘a curious old house on the south side of Luke’s Lane [now Prior’s Walk]. He was always kind to children and young men and generally popular in the place,’ says Druitt"

http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2004/12/a-glimpse-of-pre-victorian-wimborne/

...

https://www.opcdorset.org/WimborneFiles/WimborneDirectory1865.htm

Questions that arose. Was there really a Squire Guthrie, and where did he live?  When William married Emily Bankes, had he inherited the Guthrie farm? 

2024-April - Billy Connolly Windswept and Interesting, his Autobiography

 Me: 27 chapters that are sort of like he says his shows are - unscripted and wander from one topic to another. Chapters are not too long, and you get a feel for the things that he has done in his life, the ups and downs. I enjoyed reading it, but can't say that I learned anything useful. At one point I thought that I was reading someone else's autobiography while my life was going on.   Give it a 6?

P: I really enjoyed Billy Connolly and read the whole book in a Scottish accent!!  You probably have to like the guy in the first place, which I very much do, and I found it fascinating to learn more about his back story.  It left me with great feelings of admiration for all he's achieved and marvelling at the humility he seems to have maintained in spite of his fame, and also his respect for others (except those who need a punch in the face!!).

It's hard to score, but based on entertainment, I'd give it a 7.5.

We thought that the chapters devoted to name dropping were  boring, but otherwise it was pleasant to read.

It was a good discussion around a wide range of topics that kept on coming back to the book. The marks ranged from 5 to 8, and averaged at 6.9.

2024- March - The Importance of Being Interested- by Comedian Robin Ince

" There are two categories of Idiot: The curious idiot - a category that includes all scientists - and the Idiot, a category that includes all who are certain." p XV1 - Brian Cox. He doesn't mention flat-earthers. 

Some very good statements in this book that I can't find when I go back to look for them. 

It is almost philosophical - the meaning of life etc as far as I have got (p 13)

At about page 100 I am beginning to think that he is just writing to make pages to make a book, with nothing totally factual or stimulating enough for me to want to continue reading. 

I'll try as it is a reading group book.   Peter M mark - 3

Overall marks: 3,4,9,5. ( 3 not scored) =5 avg. 

Agree with the comment about Science:- It seems to work this way.     

H didn't like the fact that he argued both sides of the discussion, she prefers people who come down on one side of an argument firmly. 

P loved the book, thought it was well written, though she listened to it as an audiobook. 

Sweeping comments, really interesting - some of the comments.

It was pretty much agreed that we were glad that we had the book, and that we didn't read just fiction. 

The next book is an autobiography. 

2024-February - Ripper by Isabel Allende

 A one-legged tough guy vet, a beautiful voluptuous massage therapist, a brilliant daughter who runs a on-line game at 14, Father who is the police chief, and then a very rich suitor with erectile disfunction, I think that the Author is taking the mickey out of American super-hero novels. Oh yes, Police chief has a super PA who is a martial arts person and dresses like a weirdo teenager. And the denouement in a ruined fort. I notice the questions that we had at the end:

Is Brunswick a play on the word wolf? Answer - Brunswick, a manufacturer of billiard tables, have one called the Black Wolf

Why did he only Taser the dog and not shoot it?

Why did he crucify Indiana?

----

H Comments: Here are my thoughts about the book...

I reached page 170 before I decided I had better things to do with my life.

I enjoyed the first 20 pages, interesting details and the plot had lots of potential. I actually looked forward to the rest of the book. But then the number of characters escalated and I couldn't work out who was who or remember key details about them. My brain switched off from the plot, I didn't identify with any of the characters and didn't care what happened to any of them. Too many details slowed everything down and made reading like trudging through porridge.

The editor must have been a real rookie to pass the manuscript. I'm giving the book a score of 1 because for one short evening I looked forward to reading the rest of the book.

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Marks: 6,5,6,2,4,1. = 24 gives average 4.