The Hand that First Held Mine
By: Maggie O'Farrell
This book was chosen by Liz as the
title requested by O'Farrell was not available. The consensus was
that it was a bit contrived, though it was an OK read – a 'passing
the time of day' read. It was also said that it was long-winded,
the reader was desperate for something to happen.
It was commented that the title is
terrible. It looked to be chick-litty, and some thought it would be
“Maeve Binchy” ish.
Some found it infuriating that in a
book where different chapters occur in different years, that the year
was not given at the top of each chapter, especially when it is
jumping between two characters 50 years apart. The book was
completely written in the present tense, which didn't help when
chapters were separated by decades. This was not obvious as there
were people who thought that it was completely at the earlier time
and surprised when mobile phones were used, and people who thought it
was all in the current day.
There was the comparison between the
two different experiences of child bearing – Lexie took it in her
stride, yet 50 years on, Elinor fell to bits. Ted was annoying about
the way that he treated his wife after child-birth.
The word contrived appears again when
discussing how both of a couple died in mysterious circumstances, and
at the ending where Ted discovers the cache of paintings.
The score was 6 varying from 4 to 7.
Liz commented that we shouldn't write
off O'Farrell on the basis of this book.
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The Dissident – Nell Freudenberger
An obscure book – Liz scoured the
basement for a book no one else was doing.
The Chinese side of the story was quite
good; the American side was 'posey' – an unhappy prosperous empty
family. The American characters were considered stereotypical.
Opinions about the book varied from 'wouldn't recommend it to anyone'
to 'loved it and thought it was full of great characters'.
One of the thoughts about the early
part of the book was where was it all going? The actions of the
American participants and what was going to be the outcome between
Cece and Phil and why did it matter were part of that confusion. The
Americans had strange expectations of their Radical Chinese
Dissident- Why did they put him to teaching art in a girls high
school?
It was an easy read, but not that
gripping. One didn't mind being interrupted in one half of the story
to change location for the next chapter. The writing was excellent,
easy to read, and clear. After saying that there were some of us
that did not understand that the young man Yuan who came to America
was travelling under false pretences as the papers were actually in
the name of his dissident radical cousin. Also some people thought
that it was difficult to sort out characters.
There was also the dichotomy of
ownership of art between 'X' the dissident who practised live art
experiences,called 'installations', some times not to the approval
of the government, and the photographer who photographed them and
then claimed ownership of the event through his photographs. The
events could never be reproduced and have the same meaning as the
originals. It brings out the thought that X planned Yuan's trip to
America and helped him go as an art experience in itself. Was the
idea that all Chinese look alike and therefore he would look like his
older cousin, but would be found out by Harry Yin, the American
Chinese art scholar?
The idea of counterfeiting through
Yuan copying an ancient art and the comparison with him coming to the
US of A as a counterfeit of X was made. It was sad that Yuan
couldn't express his own artistic talents.
It was nominated for the Orange Prize
for fiction but not shortlisted.
Conclusions: An easy read, mixed
opinions, she could do better. Marks 6. =/- 1
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