Discussion Summaries 2019
Wednesday, December 11, 2019: The Salt Path by Raynor Winn:
We started the discussion by talking about our November book again which some liked and some found boring. We agreed there is no right way to judge a book. Reading is always personal and subjective. We were eager to discuss The Salt Path and were fortunate to have a new member attending who had hiked the path from Maidenhead to Bude in mostly good weather, having her luggage transported to hotels. Even so, she found it tough going and often very steep. It is hard to imagine how Raynor and Moth could manage to walk almost the whole 630-mile Southwest Coast Path in their circumstances, lugging all their gear and camping wild. Not everyone liked the book. How much was true? Why keep switching writing styles from personal to informative? How could Raynor not have a hat or protect her nose from the sun? Wouldn’t they have had better options than taking that trail? We admired their determination to carry on in spite of storms, hunger and Moth’s serious health condition. They even made more sacrifices at times to help others who were also homeless. We were moved by their caring and loving relationship and their happiness to have at times the ‘luxury’ of being one with nature. Most of us were inspired by the book to hike more. We shared experiences of encounters with homeless people, also in Basel. Most of us will now forevermore keep at least a few coins handy in our pockets for the homeless. Some participants are giving this book as a Christmas gift to friends. DD
Wednesday, November 13, 2019: Henry Himself by Stewart O'Nan:
This novel focuses on the everyday life of protagonist Henry Maxwell, 74 years old, retired, married to Emily for almost 50 years. The two live in their family home together with dog Rufus. Their children are grown up, have families of their own and live in different areas of the United States. Family reunions are not just happy, but overshadowed by the worries that Emily and Henry have about their children – but cannot talk about. With precise sentences O’Nan conveys a picture of the life of the American middle class in the formerly prosperous, but now declining industrial belt around Pittsburgh. He portrays the life of the Maxwell family with such words that you feel drawn into their life, you can hear, feel, smell what they feel. You stand next to Henry at his workbench always repairing something, you accompany him on his frequent trips to the hardware store or on the Golf course with his longtime friends, you sit next to him in the car, when he makes a forbidden U-turn, you set the clocks with him, feel his anger, when he forgets the coupons with which he wanted to get a discount on the detergent, you worry with him about the children, you're upset about the dog who keeps peeing in the freshly sown lawn. You spend time with the whole family, learn of their problems – which we are all familiar with, be it from our own families, be it because we know it from friends. Many in our discussion group could not relate to the book. “Why should all these banalities of everyday life be of interest to me?” Yes, why should one read this book? Maybe because it celebrates everyday life. Or because the book conveys a feeling for how precious an unspectacular life can be when one can still spend the time with one's loved ones, when one is still able to give one's best and care for one another – and because maybe one realizes that the last stage of life can still be full of little treasures. This novel is the third of a trilogy. With Emily, alone and Wish you were here you can learn more about the life of Henry and Emily Maxwell. UA
Wednesday, October 16, 2019: Souls at Night by Kent Haruf:
This slim, simply written novel sparked one of the more lively and candid discussions we’ve had. With one exception, we all liked the book, despite or maybe because of the lack of plot or suspense. Set in a typical small midwestern town, widow Addie asks her widower neighbor Louis, if he would consider spending the nights with her since they are both lonely. One participant wondered if we would have felt differently if it were Louis making the proposal to Addie instead. Another felt that Addie uncharacteristically gave in to her son’s demands at the end of the novel. We also wondered if the novel might have been stamped as chicklit had the author been a woman. For most of us, the pared-down descriptions of this unglamorous place and workaday world of ordinary people allowed a glimpse into the fabric of human experience. The film adaptation of the novel is available on Netflix. MH
Wednesday, September 11, 2019: The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti:
Several participants remarked they would never have picked up this book and how glad they were it was on our list. It was translated from the Italian by Erica Segre, a native Italian speaker, and Simon Carnell, a prize-winning UK poet and writer. It has been published in 38 languages and has won many literary prizes. We liked the descriptions of mountains and of the outdoors, of the relationships, the portrayal of incredible loneliness, of preparing for a climb, the details of constructing a simple mountain hut or playing with big stones to try to redirect a stream. We agreed that when reading it, we felt like we were right there immersed in the whiffs of the misty and mossy forests, the sweaty and sooty old huts and smelly barns. Pietro’s father seemed often negligent, but in comparison, Bruno’s was a beast. Why were father and son such lonely types? Why do people do dangerous things like rock climbing? Are there different interpretations of the symbolism of the ‘eight mountains’ in the book’s title? We agreed that this novel does not romanticize the mountains. It brings out the glory and joy as well as the discomfort and sheer terror to be found in them. One participant shared with us the experience of losing a brother in an avalanche, then a year or so later of being caught by one while skiing. We had some quiet moments. It was not the lively discussion we usually have — maybe because not one of us had misgivings about this being a very good book. Or maybe it is because the snacks at hand of Alpkäse, Alpine bread, blackberries and Engadine nut tarts put us in the peaceful Alps, content to be at a loss for words. DD
Wednesday, August 14, 2019: Machines Like Me by Ian Mc Ewan:
McEwan’s foray into science fiction fired our imaginings of a future of living cheek by jowl with artificial intelligence and reflecting on what makes us human. Setting the novel in a fictional 1980’s Britain (the UK loses the Falkland War, the Beatles are reunited, Alan Turing is still alive and the level of technology is far more advanced than it is now) confused and irritated some of our group. We decided that the author was being playful; indeed the tone of the novel is light and often humorous. Some in the group were put off by the whole subject of AI. Some felt that the author went too far in showing off his expansive knowledge about the mind, science and society in long discourses throughout the book. We talked about how we communicate differently today, admitting to our attachment to our smart phones while lamenting their ubiquitousness. MH
Wednesday, July 17, 2019: The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman:
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” could describe our group’s discussion of “The Italian Teacher,” Tom Rachman’s latest novel. Some members were impressed by Rachman’s skill at describing the worlds of contemporary art and academia, his brilliant satire and broad cast of characters. Other members thought that the novel had too many clichés and that most of the characters never developed throughout the novel. Despite our differences of opinion, we enjoyed discussing the main themes of the novel: Can the artist be separated from his work? Does great art compensate for--or require--egotistical behavior? Can children ever escape from the influence of their parents? These themes have come up in many of our previous discussions and it was interesting to take a fresh perspective. We also made a long digression to talk about the differences between representational art and conceptual art, which many of us admitted we are puzzled by. ML
Wednesday, June 12, 2019: The Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak:
The author introduces us to three young Muslim women who meet during their studies in Oxford. Peri, from Istanbul, the protagonist, grew up with her father, who identifies strongly with Atatürk’s Kemalism, and her mother, a religious Muslim. Shirin, an atheist, had fled from Iran and has since adopted a ‘Westernized’ lifestyle. Mona, with Egyptian roots, is a believer, a feminist and wears a headscarf. They were brought together by a seminar they attended of Professor Azar about ‘God’. About half of our group found this an interesting novel focussing on an important topic of our time. The other half thought the story was too implausible and too constructed and felt that the characters became mouthpieces for the idealistic concepts of the author. Ideas about humanity, religion and philosophy strewn throughout the book were considered by some of us to be too didactic and also banal since they are – or should be – a natural part of everybody’s correct and respectable behaviour. The book goes back and forth in time, showing us in the first chapters a middle-class and married Peri who could be angry, violent and fighting for her life. Throughout the book however, this character is a girl/young woman who is insecure and full of self-doubt. For some of us it was difficult to understand what caused this change in Peri’s character, leaving us with many open questions: Why did Peri try to commit suicide? What happened after she left Oxford? Where did she meet her husband? Some in our group thought the character of Peri was being used as a bridge between opposites. Then finally in 2016 she came out of her shell, did not tolerate being pushed around anymore and bravely faced life. The dinner party of the wealthy provided an interesting glimpse into the political and social situation of this class in Istanbul although one participant found this scene to be full of clichés. We touched the topic of religion in general: What determines one’s choice for a certain religion? Is it defined by where and into what culture you are born? Why do so many people leave churches nowadays? Why are the evangelical movements getting stronger? Unfortunately, there was not enough time to deepen these threads of the discussion. UA
Wednesday, May 8, 2019: The Razor's Edge by Somerset Maugham:
This novel was an ideal choice for our reading group and we had one of the liveliest discussions in months. Most of us felt that Maugham’s depiction of his characters is very even-handed, critical but not sarcastic; even Elliott, the social climber, is sympathetic. We particularly enjoyed Maugham’s technique of having the narrator interject himself, which gives the characters a sounding board and makes them more believable. We had different opinions about Isabel and Larry, but we agreed that some of the minor characters were more interesting, including Suzanne, the French professional 'companion' who develops into a painter, and Sophie, the idealistic young woman from Chicago who becomes an alcoholic and drug addict. Most of the readers found the writing style clear and enjoyable; however, the structure of the novel is loose and episodic, and the ending seems like it was pulled together quickly. Written in the 1940s, the novel’s themes—the search for a meaningful life, the meaning of love, the vanity of riches—are still relevant today. ML
Wednesday, April 10, 2019: The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes:
One participant would have preferred a straightforward biography to this fictionalized version of the Russian composer, Shostakovich. The rest of us felt the author succeeded in conveying the terror, shame and even heroism of the composer’s accommodations with “Power” and this knowledge affects the way one hears his music. The question of whether you can separate the artist from his art was argued. As a non-musician, one participant was glad that there were not any detailed musical descriptions to be slogged through. The Marx quote “when tragedy becomes farce” came up several times in the novel, and we tried rather unsuccessfully to understand it. We had other unanswered questions, for example, who was the “the one who remembered”? MH
Wednesday, March 13, 2019: The Order of the Day by Éric Vuillard:
How does one describe evil? In this slim book, Éric Vuillard describes the greed, arrogance and megalomania that fueled the Nazi’s rise to power in the 1930s. The book focuses on a few crucial events to show how politicians and industrialists, out of fear, weakness or complicity, allowed the Nazis to systematically chip away at democratic ideals. As one member of our group said, the book is more effective at depicting the evils of Nazism than many of the gore-filled World War II novels. Our group struggled to define the genre of the book: it combines historical facts with the techniques of movie-making and poetry, and the author’s voice is constantly present, sometimes sarcastic and joking, other times moralistic and condemning. We found the book especially appropriate now, with the rise in populism and the use of the Internet to spread nationalist and racist propaganda. ML
Wednesday, February 13, 2019: Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart:
Our discussion group was split into two groups: the “ayes” who thought the book was a brilliant satire, and the “nays” who thought it was boring and unrealistic. The ayes enjoyed Shteyengart’s sense of humor, his huge cast of characters and his ability to describe an entire social class in just a few words. The nays thought that most of the characters were poorly developed and that the extensive dialog was little more than a movie script. Despite our differences of opinion, we had a lengthy discussion over the main themes of the book, including the role of greed, capitalism and consumerism in American society, the increasing divide between rich and poor, and the immigrant experience. ML
Wednesday, January 9, 2019: A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr:
We met during the first snowfall of the season to discuss this short novel set during the idyllic English summer of 1920 where a damaged WWI survivor finds healing in nature, community and art. For much of the discussion, we read out passages of masterly prose, both poignant and humorous. Most of us found this quiet novel moving and beautiful but also challenging with its many unfamiliar words and Britishisms (for the non-British among us). What luck, discovering that the film based on the novel is available on YouTube! MH