Holes:Louis Sachar

About the Author:

Louis Sachar was born in East Meadow, New York on 20th March 1954. When he was nine years old he moved to California where he completed his schooling. He went to Antioch College in Ohio, he left after the first semester following the death of this father and returned to California to be near his mother. He worked as a salesman before returning to university and went to University of California at Berkeley and majored in Economics. To earn university credits he assisted in Hillside Elementary School as a teachers aide. His first novels were based on his experiences there. Sideways Stories From Wayside School was published whilst he was studying law at Hastings College. He is married with a daughter and enjoys playing Bridge.

The Review: Stanley is just an ordinary boy until he is found guilty of a crime he does not commit. The story tells of a family curse that has 'blighted' Stanley's family for several generations. This bad luck lands Stanley in a very odd correctional institute in the Texas desert. The warden a frightening character, has all the inmates digging holes in a dry lake bed. The story weaves interesting tall tales linking local folk lore and Stanley's family. The relationships among the juveniles in the camp are interesting to follow. Stanley finds a good friend, treasure and learns to like himself.

The book received some mixed views from the members. The group appeared to be split quite clearly down the centre. It was a novel that receieved no mediocre reviews, it was either loved or detested. One person particularly found it undemanding and boring having read the book in a very short space of time and stated strongly that they did not enjoy it, he could not remember reading a book in less time!. It is of course a novel for teenagers which was apparent at the time of choosing. One member actually decribed it as horrid and 'evil for no reason'. They described it as having a hopelessness about it, digging holes and survival in a bleak environment. There was a sense of desperation in a boot camp where in reality some children actually died.

However the contrasting view was that it was about survival. Suchar described how Stanley adapted his behaviour so that he would indeed survive. There were touching moments between the boys and examples of good depths of character with heartwarming and strong relationships between them and some wonderfully humourous moments. Suchar described team work with examples of leadership amongst the boys. The story develops the relationship between Zero and Stanley, becoming good friends and relying on each other.

A couple of members felt the book had a message to deliver about taking responsibility for yourselves. Where as Stanley and his family had blamed the family 'curse' for the family's misfortune, he began to realise that you are responsible for your own fortune. A stronger bond was forged between Zero and Stanley following their subsequent absconding. The story of the folk lore and their past is slowly revealed. Their paths unbeknownst to either of them had crossed in their previous lives and this resulted in Stanley being at boot camp. The friendship outweighed any feelings of blame or retribution that may have otherwise been apparent and their survival since running away depended on them working together and relying on one another. A bit of Disney ending though - hence the film!

Most members said that they would not have chosen it to read ordinarily but were glad that they had read it.

This book was generally felt a bit low level for the reading group, the host felt a need to counter that and offered some quite challenging titles for the next read.

The books offered were:

The Music of Primes:why an unsolved problem in mathematics matters: Marcus du Sautoy

Hypatia of Alexandria: Maria Dzielska

The Cult of Amateur:how today's internet is killing our culture and assaulting our economy: Andrew Keen

Bad Thoughts: a guide to clear thinking: Jamie Whyte

Tom and Cathrine both liked the look of Hypatia (clearly a 5th century feminist) and it was held to be admirably brief; it was agreed that the Cult of the Amateur looks like an important book. Most were put off by the sneaky appearance of an equation in the book on prime numbers (although it was agreed that Charles would probably enjoy the book). However, the ladies liked the appearance of Jamie Whyte (and his book looks interesting, informative and even useful) so Bad Thoughts was finally selected as the next book for the group to read.

Many thanks to Rolf for hosting this meeting.

Dissolution - C J Sansom

About the Author

CJ Sansom was educated at Birmingham University, where he tool a BA then a PhD in History. After working in a variety of jobs , he retrained as a solicitor and practised in Sussex until becoming a full time writer. Dissoloution is the first novel in the Shardlake series and his standa-alone thriller Winter in MAdrid was a top five Best Seller. He lives in Sussex.

The Story

Set in 1537 at the time of the dissolution of the manasteries, when Henry VIII proclaimed himself as Supreme Head of the Church, under orders form Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners were tasked in overseeing the de-commissioning of the monastries. One such monastery at Scarnsea, events had spiralled out fo control with the previous commissioners, Robin Singleton was found dead. From this the story wound its way through the historic references linked to Anne Boyleyn, the reader was taken through a journey of suspicion and intrigue as Shardlake uncovered the truth about the death of Robin Singleton.

The Review


The revieweres consdiderd thebook to be an easy and interesting read - a good holiday book. It was a teasing detective novel told in the context of strong resonnance of real events in history. The detailed description were vivid and evocative - almost smelling the putrid air in some scenes, the habits of the time were portrayed in great detail and placing the reader in a voyeurisrtic reltionship to the main characters as they tackeled every day living and routines.

Reading the book gave us a better understanding of the history of the time, you got a real sense of what it must have been like to live through this period of history, the lack of sanitation, travelling on horseback and boat both of which would have been quite dangerous. One member commented on the time everything took, for example to travel from Sussex to London took two days involving boats and horses. Now with our reliance on instant communication it is difficult to imagine having to wait two days for a messenger to arrive. It came as no surprise that Sansom is a historian he gives a very detailed account of the times.

A clear theme through the book was the corruption of the times, the greed and constant striving for power. The real winners of the time were the new class of gentry who, either bought the land from the King at bargain basement prices or were given the land free as a reward for nefarious deeds. One member identified a reference to Thomas Cromwell's own activites in Peter Ackroyds - London a Biography, where he extended his poperty and commandeered some neighbours land for an extended garden to his house.


The principal character Shardlake is portrayed as a humanist with strong reformist beliefs that are constantly challenged by the evidence including the blatant admission from Lord Cromwell that certain confessions have been falsely obtained. As an interesting aside Shardlake is presented as a hunchback and his imperfection is seen in direct conflict with the monasteries religious belief of spiritual perfection.

The book was well balanced and even contained some humour when the head of the victim was felt rolling around in the coffin during the burial.

Overall the group felt that it engaged everyone as a good read, it was felt that there was historical accuracy. No-one fell for the market ploy of introducing a whole chapter of the next book and for some it was off putting.

The books that were offered for the next read were:

After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell

The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

Holes by Louis Sachar


The one with the most votes is Holes by Louis Sachar.

The Welsh Girl: Peter Ho Davies

About the Author-

Peter Ho Davies was born in 1996 in Coventry to Welsh and Malay-Chinese parents. He studied physics at Cambridge and English at Manchester. In 1992 moved to the USA where he now teaches Creative Writing at the University of Michigan. He previously published two short story collections in 1998 and 2000. The Welsh Girl is his first novel.

Review

Set in North Wales in the Second World War the novel mixes fact and fiction. It opens in 1944 as Captain Rotherham (a German Jewish refugee) is sent to a safe house in Snowdonia to interrogate Rudolf Hess. The majority of the book then intertwines the lives of Esther a Welsh farm girl, Karsten a German POW and Jim an evacuee from Liverpool. The book then returns to the opening participants with Hess and Rotherham meeting for the last time. Hess is returned to Germany .Rotherham subsequently returns to North Wales where touring the work camps he meets Esther, where he is reminded of their mutual connection to Karsten before the story ends leaving him still an outsider.

The general consensus of the writer’s style was that although the scenes could be visualised, there was much anticipation in the story line which did not develop, however a couple of members felt that this was the intrigue in the novel. The writer wrote in a style which did not grasp the readers’ attention, and one member described each chapter as being a story in its own right. Indeed some considered that as this was Ho-Davies’s first novel that much of his technique was still rooted in that of a short story. The inclusion of Rudolph Hess as character was puzzling, but as one of the members commented no one was quite sure of his relevance except to allow the introduction of Rotherham- a German Jewish refugee working for British Intelligence. Some members felt the pub scenes were long-winded and found the characters un-engaging emotionally – two dimensional.

One of the group members, who enjoyed the book, commented that for them there were a lot of reminiscences, not least regarding the naivety of youth and felt it echoed the period accurately.

The author goes to some length to explain ‘cynefin’ a flock’s sense of place or territory, passed down from mother to daughter. It was considered by some members that the author had attempted to draw parallels by linking the ‘cynefin’ to the concepts of identity as told through stories of the main characters featured in the book - German, English, Welsh, Jewish. The issue of identity may have reflected an autobiographical account of the author, indeed a review in the Guardian suggests that Ho-Davies is a doppelganger for Rotherham a German Jewish refugee, - perceived as an Englishman in a Welsh pub. Ho Davies agrees; - “the way he is caught between these various cultures and the struggle he has with people assigning him his identity- these things feel very personal to me.”

Next Book: Dissolution by C J Sansom

The Revenge of Gaia ; James Lovelock

The Revenge of Gaia ; James Lovelock.

About the Author: - James Lovelock is author if more than 200 scientific papers and is the originator of the Gaia Hypothesis. He has written three books on the subject. He worked wholly as an independent scientist but retained links with universities in the UK and USA. He has been described as ‘one of the great thinkers of our time’(New Scientist) and ‘one of the environmental movements most influential figures’(Observer).

The discussion was opened by asking whether the book was loved or loathed. This elicited a strong response from some members, who said that they loathed the book.

Even though this was the case a lively discussion followed and the views can be summarised as follows;

Style: - The style of writing did not engage the members, it was described as ‘facts being thrown at you’ many had the sensation that they were reading the words and not absorbing what was being described. Members who selected chapters to read did not feel as if they missed out on any part of the book and had obtained sufficient understanding of the concepts of Gaia. The members concluded that the book resembled an academic essay.

Many of the claims were recognised by many of the members as being theories that had been debated in the forum of ‘Global Warming’ However the outcomes and timescales that were presented should be viewed as a possibility. The writer himself had even admitted to changing his own view point in the chapter that related to renewable energy and had transferred his allegiance form that of an opponent of nuclear powered power stations to that of an advocate. Members of the group concluded that the book raised more questions regarding the subject matter of global warming and felt that the conceptual claims may have been over simplistic.

Interestingly some members had considered what had triggered the writing of this book. It transpired that this was the third book on this theme by this author. It was likened to a faith or belief and the author wanted to spread the word.

Most of the members would not have ordinarily chosen to read this book and would not necessarily have been attracted to it. Although the book was not considered an enjoyable read, people generally felt a sense of achievement and it had also become a talking point within families. At the meeting the book fuelled the conversation for an hour and ten minutes and it was apparent that it had caused people to think quite deeply about the concept and the possibilities that fell out of it. This level of debate shaped the recommendation that the book should be seriously considered as recommended reading for GCSE.

Next Book: The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies

The Very Beginning

It was in early April when the first idea of creating a Reading Group was uttered, needless to say this took place as the end of a bottle of a very delicious, chilled Chablis drew near.

The group membership was quickly agreed to be friends and neighbours from within Poets' Corner. Within minutes there were twenty names on a list. The next day the idea was 'market tested' by posting letters through letter boxes and two days later many had responded with enthusiasm.

During the days that followed, the internet was searched for strategies and guidance on the setting up and running of Reading Groups. Many of the groups that we researched were either all men or all women groups and one thing we were both agreed on was that our Reading Group should consist of both men and women and this was already reflected in our membership.

Very soon the date was set for the inaugral meeting and our invitations were keenly accepted.

The first meeting was hosted and the following was agreed:

Purpose :-

• Expand our reading choices


• Enlighten members with new ideas and perceptions


• Encourage the reading of books


• Encourage the exchange and debating of views


• BE GOOD FUN AND GENERALLY SOCIAL!

It was decided that the groups should meet every six weeks, hosted in rotation and the current host will direct the discussions and guide the strategy of the group up to the next meeting. It was felt that this would enable even the slowest of readers (me) to finish the book in good time. It was jokingly suggested that the book be between 350 - 500 pages long - which as it turns out is an excellent idea!

The strategy for the first group was for the host to facilitate the selection of the next book by proposing two or three books, one of which the group will choose to read before the next meeting so that each member will read the book ready for discussion at the next meeting.

We had not considered any books to offer for the first session and before we knew it many of our friends had run into their own homes and returned with so many and such a range of books that it was decided to put the choice to the vote.

The books that were put forward for reading were:

• The Time Travellers Wife -Audrey Niffenegger


• Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell


• The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon


• The Almond Picker - Simonetta Agnello Hornby


• The Interpretation of Murder - Jed Rubenfeld


• On Green Dolphin Street - Sebastian Faulks


• The Revenge of Gaia - James Lovelock


• The Game - Neill Strauss


• Thirteen Moons - Charles Frazier


• The Road - Cormac McCarthy


• The Testament of Gideon Mach - James Robertson


• The Rise of Political Lying - Peter Oborne


• The Chilling Stars, a new theory of climate change, Henrik Svensmark & Nigel Calder

The book with most votes was The Revenge of Gaia, James Lovelock

and next time you will read what we thought of it!