Thanks for Tess from the Library for sending in this info about the Reading Group. I’m just waiting to hear whether there’s room for more people to join, but in the meantime, here’s what she has to say about it.
Ventnor Library’s Reading Group meets every month or so to read and discuss a wide selection of books. We are an eclectic group with a common interest — we all love reading and talking!
The most recent books we read were Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehranand Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost. Here are some of the comments made at the meeting.
Reading Lolita in Tehran
“..an important book ..we need to know more about other cultures..�
“..it made me angry and glad I live here..�
“..how brave they were…what a way to have to live..�
“..not easy to read but worth it in the end..I jumped a lot of the literary criticism…�
“..the literary criticism whetted my appetite for the books discussed…maybe I’ll read Lolita!..�
Anil’s Ghost
“..the characters were curiously unsympathetic ..I felt detached from them..�
“.. I knew next to nothing about the conflict.. ..interesting from that point of view..�
“..disjointed..I sometimes lost where I was..�
“..enjoyed the archaeological elements and the references to the religious..�
“.. I wanted to know more about what happened to Anil in the end…haven’t read any other Ondaatje…don’t think I will!..â€?
We are now reading Anchee Min’s “Empress Orchidâ€?, a novel based on the life of the last courtesan Empress of China, and Julian Barnes’ Arthur and George about the creator of Sherlock Holmes and a miscarriage of justice. As you can see we don’t like all the books we read but we usually get something from them. They are not all “worthyâ€? prize-winners, in fact the next books will be a thriller based in Sweden and a classic D H Lawrence — so there will be some blood and gore, as well as some literary sex!
From Tess, Ventnor Library
