2019-October The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy

Everyone was disappointed with this book and many gave up half way through or less.
Nervous laughter greeted the usual enquiry as to who had read the book. Of the seven present only three had  got to the end, and that for two of them at least had involved semi-demi-skimming at best. The common reaction was “oh good! It’s not just me”, and “this was hard work”.

Searching for credit  found instances of excellent descriptive passages, and vivid accounts of some experiences, notably in the Kashmir section, but overall there was considerable disappointment. People found the characters hard to identify, partly because of their names, partly because of the complexities of the various castes, their culture and clothing and partly because, apart from Anjum and Musa, they did not engage us. The early interest roused in the unusual life of the hijiras, more oucast than the untouchables but a part of everyone’s life for celebrations, was left unsatisfied as the book moved to political themes, known only superficially by most western readers, and largely tragic eg Gujarat, Srinagar and Shiraz. The fantastic setting in the graveyard, while well imagined and described was so unlikely to have gone un- noticed or persecuted by the police for hush money over 20 years that it lost credibility, and it’s “Utmost Happiness” at the end was presumably ironic.

It had taken 20 years to write, during which many ideas and sub-plots had occurred to the author, many of which would have made good stories in themselves, but we felt that she liked so many places and episodes so much that she could not bear to leave them out. It desperately needed a thorough edit.

The Indian life style is not that well known here and the references to different items of clothing, castes etc. were not understood.

The many characters were difficult to keep up with.

The story is of clashes and fighting between India and Kashmir. Major Amrik Singh is a cruel leader who appears to kill for fun.

There was an interesting piece well into the book where Tilo and Musa escape into Kashmir to spend some time together and Mr Singh somehow discovers the river boat they are hiding on. Singh believes he has killed Musa when in fact it was the boat owner who died.

The couple meet up again later in the story.

The time scale was around late 1980's early 1990's and maybe Asians would find the book very interesting but not our group.

The people entitled to mark it gave  it   3,  4,  5. Average 4

My comments:

This book should be called the Ministry of Utmost UNHappiness. It is depressing from the first page. I didn't know whether the name used was between trees or other plants talking to each other or what. Then I discovered it was about a child born as a hermaphrodite who as he grows up goes to live in a hostel of either prostitutes or other hermaphrodites, it is not made clear, that are rented out to parties among other things.

Not my type of book. Page 38 is it.

2019-September The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce

First off, this book does not compare to the Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, other that the main character is a loser.  It's a more pleasant read with a nicer ending.

My initial comment was that it is a love story about Frank and Ilse. Frank has a record shop in a run down area of Stockton, and Ilse collapses in front of it. She says she wants to learn about music and has weekly meetings with him, where she falls in love with him. Then they learn that she is actually a musician but can't play any more and they fall out and she returns to Germany while he goes downhill and his shop collapses. 20 Years on Ilse returns from Germany and finds his friends and then him and Love blossoms again.

Different people liked different characters in the book, basically Peg and Kit.
Frank didn't have the nerve to be positive in life, basically due to the overpowering upbringing by Peg. Philip Larkins poem about parents was referenced.

The waitress in the cafe where Frank and Ilse met sort of reminded you of Julie Walters in the Acorn Antiques skits.

No one guessed that Ilse was a musician. We thought that Frank would be humiliated by finding out that he had been tutoring a musician who probably knew more than he did.
Pegs information about the composers was interesting.

It was pointed out the interesting commentary about racism  in the daubings on the walls.

There was not much plot or story in it. It was somewhat like a Nick Hornby story with some Mills & Boon thrown in. A bit sacharine. The gap of 20 years was just a convenient fiction element.  Could Ilse with the arthritic hands pick up an unknown, untuned violin and play the Messiah?

Carrie and I both thought that it was a pleasant read in half-hour sections. But we kept reading! Other comments were that it spent a pleasant hour and had a few laughs. But we wouldn't bother reading another by her.

Marks came out at 6 1/2.

2019-July - The Whistler - John Grisham

The Whistler - John Grisham - July 2019

High Peter, thought you could perhaps copy or print out my notes on the book, for the folder.

Judge Claudia McDover has pushed through legislation to build a Casino on an Indian reservation, backed by Vonn  Dubose, a rich property building giant and the Chief of the Indians. It turns out to be a huge success, and is added to by building condos on the land.

All the Indians benefit by receiving payments from the proceeds of the Casino. Dubose and Claudia and their staff cream off the proceeds of gambling to line their own pockets.

An unknown 'Mole' is aware of the goings on and via Greg Meyers, tells Lucy and Hugo who's job is to ensure that all Judges are Clean and beyond corruption. They endeavour to find the truth of what is going on.

Lucy and Hugo are asked to meet someone on the reservation late one night. They drive into a trap where their vehicle is hit head on and Hugo is so badly injured when his seat belt doesn't work, and he dies. Lucy is also badly injured and their boss ask the FBI to investigate the crime. They have video

footage from a store where the criminals parked waiting for the arrival of Lucy and Hugo.

The end result is the end of judge McDover and the breakup of the ‘Coast Mafia’ gang.

Margaret

This one got marks of 8 from those present.

2019-August - No Book Chosen

We discovered that there was not a book on our book list for August, so after an email discussion suggesting we choose a classic, with the suggestions of 'Jude the Obscure' and 'Siddhartha', we wait to see what people have read. Both these books are available as free ebooks from Gutenberg.org.

Jude the Obscure:
This could be made into a modern film I think, witha pregnant girl, in a shabby run down council flat, leaving the boy who has pretensions of getting an education. Well, maybe that last bit  differs.

I am up to page 62 on the ebook and he is making his way to Christminster, which is at the north of Wessex, where the leisurely Thames  strokes the fields. This can only be Oxford to my mind.

2019- May Coffin Road by Peter May

We passed around another book by him last year. It was about crimes in a vinyard, where the body was discovered in a vat of wine. The book was 'the Critic'


Reclusive scientist washes ashore with no memory. In trying to find out who he is, and simultaneously his daughter looking for him, he awakens the big business forces against him. It ends with an Agatha Chrisitie everybody gathered together in one room scenario, then a shootout at the OK corrall, then the Cavalry arrives, and Nature rises up to wash away two baddies.   Some unexplained things- Who killed the godfather, where did the suitcase of money in the loft come from? 

A good concept - a serious message about the bee problem.

Reminiscent of Jason Bourne from the Robert Ludlum stories, an Amnesiac who keeps finding a bit about himself and his powers. 

Mysterious wathcer, who is revealed at the end as the statistician member of the team. good one!
Second partner who is the bad guy suborned by money from the big bad business.   What was Billy's motivation? 
Why did third partner go to the remote lighthouse island to be killed by Billy? 

A lovely big red herring in that he beleives himself to be the person whose ID he has found (who happens to be a colleague who died) and the daughter of this colleague doesn't recognize him. The Author deliberately set out to trick us with that? 

Was Karen's godfather who gave her the letter early and was killed in a car crash accidentally killed or was it deliberate? 

An enjoyable but irritating book was one comment. Not a deep read (Thank goodness for once)

Marks 7 and just a bit

2019-April Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This month we had a new thing for us as we had a WhatsApp conference with Chris and Ali who were away on holiday.

Here are the comments that I noted as we talked:
- Too many Pages
- Too much talking about race
      Interesting perspective about being non-american black  in US of A.
- Lots of explanations needed about how she got to US of A.
- Discussion about difficulty of pronouncing names when we have never seen them before, leading into the complexities of the English language. Not just us but also in the media too.
- Did enjoy it very much, though contrived at times. Fascinating about the class system in Nigeria.
- Learnt a lot about African hair.  - Lots of discussion about hair
Other  african  things we have watched/read
         TV - The Widow (March-April 2019)
         Heart of Darkness
         Blood River

- Interesting take on B. Obama - too light/too dark for either camp
- Relationship with Aunt
- Threads  keep comng back - echos of other relationships

Marks:  8-7-6-7-9 --> 7   Peter did not get on with the book, though the writing was easy to read,
Peter & Ali - no score.

2019- March - Rebels and Traitors, a Epic Novel of the English Civil war by Lindsey Davis

A long book, but it kept me reading. It was very detailed about the battles of the English Civil war, but didn't really tell how Cromwell came to be the Protector. It showed what a difficult task he had trying to put Britain together after the war. 

The story is the entwinement of four major characters from their upbringing through to adulthood and making their lives. There is Gideon Jukes, apprenticed to a printer, who joins the Parliamentary army and fights all over England, Orlando Lovell, a Royalist, and his plotting and scheming who somehow stays alive through it all, Juliana who marries Him and has to put up with never knowing where he is, and the tyke Kinchin Tew from Birmingham who shows the very poor side of things and is a thief, nearly a prostitute and eventually a brewer. 

After the war, with Gideon and Juliana trying to settle down together and Lovell thought dead, but still plotting against Parliament, it all comes to a head with perhaps a weak ending. But I give it a mark of 9. It could have used more maps, not so much of the country, but of London. 

2019-February - The Blood Of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani.

The Blood of flowers

At first I thought that I would not enjoy this book about a young uneducated village girl who has fallen on hard times. Once she got to the big city I was interested in the life she was forced to lead, both within the household and later when she was thrown out. I now see it as a story of emancipation brought about by having a talent and using it and building it. She had a talent for learning, drawing and carpet making and learnt quickly from her uncle. It was placed in 17th Century Iran city of Isfahan. She also enjoyed her sex after a poor start, but wasn't going to let that rule her life. The book kept me reading, despite the fictional stories that kept interrupting it.

2019 January The Oligarch's wife - Blundy, Anna

                       The Oligarch’s Wife  - Anna Blundy   

A book should draw you in. This one repulsed me. I jumped to the middle to see if it was any better, and didn't think it was.  Gave up.   PM - mark - Hard to give it a 1. 

OL comments: Was rather bored by that at the beginning, but it livened up in the

denouement. An easy read give it 6.

That was my thoughts. Others were a bit more ambivalent about it. One said that yesterday she had decided not to read any more, but did finish it and quite enjoyed it at the end. Another said that she didn't like the end.  There was a reasonable amount of discussion, mostly using the word 'contrived', such as how he got his wealth was contrived. 

Marks 7,7,6,7 and me a 0.

2018- December - The buried Giant

The Buried Giant -Ishiguru

Following the death of King Arthur, Saxons and Britons live in harmony. Along with everyone else in their village, Axl and Beatrice, an elderly Briton couple, suffer from severe selective amnesia that they call the 'mist'. Although barely able to remember, they feel sure that they once had a son, and they decide to travel to a village several days' walk away to seek him out. They stay at a Saxon village where two ogres have dragged off a boy named Edwin. A visiting Saxon warrior, Wistan, kills the ogres and rescues Edwin who is discovered to have a wound, believed to be an ogre-bite. The superstitious villagers attempt to kill the boy, but Wistan rescues him and joins Axl and Beatrice on their journey, hoping to leave Edwin at the son's village.

The group heads to a monastery to consult with Jonus, a wise monk, about a pain in Beatrice's side. They meet the elderly Sir Gawain, nephew of King Arthur, who was tasked decades ago with slaying the she-dragon Querig, but who has never succeeded. Wistan reveals that he was sent by the Saxon king to slay Querig out of concern that she would be used by Lord Brennus, king of the Britons, to kill Saxons. The travellers are treated with hospitality at the monastery, but are informed by Jonus that most of the monks are corrupt. Sir Gawain has spoken to the abbot, believing he will protect the four. Instead, the abbot informs Lord Brennus who sends soldiers to murder them. Sir Gawain realises that the monastery was originally built as a fort, and he makes use of its structure to trap and kill the soldiers. They escape.

Sir Gawain, riding on alone, recalls how, many years earlier, King Arthur had ordered the extermination of many Saxon villages. The massacre had been a betrayal of the peace-treaties brokered by Axl, who had at the time been Arthur's envoy, although he has now forgotten it. Arthur also ordered that Querig be brought to the lair where she now lives, and that a spell be cast turning her breath into an oblivion-inducing mist, causing the Saxons to forget about the massacres.

Axl and Beatrice become separated from Wistan and Edwin, and they travel on alone. They are persuaded by a girl to take a poisoned goat to Querig's lair. Sir Gawain joins them and shows the way. Travelling with Wistan, Edwin has been hearing a voice that he identifies as his lost mother, calling him to her. Wistan realises that Edwin's wound has been caused by a baby dragon and that Edwin can lead him to Querig. As they approach, Edwin becomes increasingly crazed, and has to be restrained.

Sir Gawain reveals that his duty was not in fact to slay Querig, but to protect her in order to maintain the mist. Wistan challenges Gawain to a duel and kills him. He proceeds to slay Querig causing Edwin's madness to depart and the mist to dissipate, restoring the people's memories. He laments that "the giant, once well buried, now stirs": his action will cause the old animosities between Saxon and Briton to return, leading to a new war.

Axl and Beatrice are finally able to recall that their son had died many years ago of the plague. They meet a ferryman who offers to row the old couple over to an island where they can be close to him in perpetuity. Normally, he says, married couples have to dwell on the island separately and always apart, but in rare cases couples whose love is deep and profound may remain together. The ferryman tells Axl and Beatrice that they qualify, but as they are about to be rowed over the waves increase and he informs them that he can carry only one person at a time. Axl is suspicious that the ferryman intends to trick them into separating forever, but Beatrice believes the man to be truthful and asks Axl to wait on the shore while she is taken over. The novel ends without resolution, as Axl reluctantly agrees.

My Review

As a fantasy (- a bit in the style of the Hobbit?) This was not a book I particularly enjoyed. I found the progress of the story very slow – although I could see that Ishiguro uses some beautiful language. And the love that Axl and Beatrice have for each other is very touching.

Although the description of the descent through the tunnel and the killing of the monster was exciting, overall I found the effect of the book on me was to engender a real feeling of melancholy so ended up leaving out a chunk after the escape from the monastery. I’m sure that the book is full of symbolism but sadly this was lost on me.

I thought the characters were well drawn, and there was a definite if slow moving storyline. The skilled use of language roused a range of emotions but I suppose I just like my reading rooted in greater reality!

On that basis I would give it 7.

Margaret: I agree with Maggie about The Buried Giant, bored me to tears in the end Give that a 5

Peter M The Buried Giant:

A tale woven around an old couple in Saxon/Briton and Arthurian times. Is it an allegory of religion? an old couple whose memory is dimmed are finding their way to their son's village and keep meeting Sir Gawain of Arthurian fame and Wistan a Saxon knight. There has been peace of a sort since the dragon Querig has been around, and Sir Gawain is supposed to protect her, while Wistan wants to slay her. If slain peoples memory will return and they will remember Saxon/Briton fights and slights and start fighting again, But the old couple will remember the way to their son, and have their memories back. Good Memories or evil ones? Mark: 6.

Margaret:

Read both books, quite enjoyed The Private Patient Give that a 7

Best Wishes, Margaret.. 

Book List for 2019

Minster Readers 2019 Book List

The dates here are not the months that we read the book, but should be thought of as the month that the library gives us the books for the following month. So we have read 'The Oligarch's Wife in February. 

January             Anna Blundy                          Oligarch’s Wife
February           Anita Amirrezvani                   Blood of Flowers
March               Lindsey Davis                         Rebels and Traitors
April                 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie    Americanah
May                  Peter May                                Coffin Road
June                 John Grisham                          Whistler
July                   Rachel Joyce                          Music Shop
August              Arundhati Roy                         Ministry of Utmost Happiness
September        Daisy Goodwin                       Victoria
October            Madeleine Thien                     Do Not Say We Have Nothing
November        Tracy Chevalier                       New Boy

December        Liz's last parting gift to us - No book for December