News from Ambridge

So at last, the WI and Young Farmers is not enough to keep the locals entertained and the power of the book group is to be felt in Ambridge.  It's about time too.  Usha Gupta (local solicitor, married to vicar) is starting one and has asked best friend Ruth Archer (irritating Geordie farmer) to join as a way of distracting her from the stresses and strains of juggling calving and the running of Brookfield Farm with her responsibilities as a mother of three and her marriage to David (guilt ridden and frequently absent after death of brother-in-law Nigel Pargetter - even the non-Archers fans must be aware of this).  The big questions, for those of us who care about these things, are who else will Usha invite to join the book group, will they drink wine and gossip and what will they read. So far all we know is that they won't be starting with War and Peace (which I would judge a wise decision) and, astonishingly, she has invited a man - Jim Lloyd - to join. Since Jim is a retired professor of History, perhaps we can expect an interesting selection of books and some high quality discussion....... just like us!

Distant Memories

Thank you, Maria, for adding to the Book List.  How exciting to see mention of some of the books that we have read and which I, at least, had forgotten.  So, for example, The Europeans by Henry James which I loved, but had totally blanked from my memory has appeared on our list.  Of course, there was a good reason to blank out Snow by Orhan Pamuk (I thought it was a ghastly book although I have a vague recollection that Ann was a fan). The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd (which we read in 2007) was an interesting one and a good illustration of why it is worthwhile keeping a record.  I've just looked at the Amazon summary to remind myself; I knew it was set in the Far East but that was about it (is age responsible for this phenomenon?). In fact, I remember it now as a lovely book - set in the early 20th century, it is the story of young woman from Scotland who travels to the Far East to marry a man she barely knows and who all but abandons her, has a scandalous affair with a Japanese warrior, an illegitimate baby and ends up introducing European fashion to Japan.  It was an interesting story of one woman's efforts to be herself and to be independent at a time when women were struggling to be heard.  The Book List is still out there on googledocs to be updated - so do please add to it when you have a moment.

Never Let Me Go

For those of you who haven't seen Alison's post on the blog, she has suggested a group outing to the movies to see Never Let Me Go which I think has just been released and which we read some time ago. At the time we thought it quite edgy and even disturbing; but it has obviously become mainstream as it is on the A level syllabus (as contextual reading for Celia's dystopia module last year) and is now a movie with Keira Knightly and Carey Mulligan. Alison will organise our trip to the movies if you contact her to let her know if you are interested.  Popcorn or maltesers? What a dilemma.

TV alert

Faulks on Fiction starts this weekend on BBC2 and it looks like a worthwhile TV date.  Sebastian Faulks says his intention is to distract attention away from novelists (rather ironic given his profile) and back to the characters in British novels.  This weekend it is Heros - including Robinson Crusoe, Tom Jones, Becky Sharp and Sherlock Holmes.  This is followed by episodes on The Lover (inevitably, Mr Darcy - couldn't resist the picture, Heathcliff, Tess, Lady Chatterley and others), The Snob (for example, Emma, Jeeves, James Bond, Miss Jean Brodie and Pip from Great Expectations) and finally, The Villain (including Fagin, Count Fosco from a Woman in White, Steerpike from Gormenghast, Jack from Lord of the Flies and Barbara Covett from Notes on a Scandal).

Incidentally, Robinson Crusoe is an interesting one.  It was on Angus' required reading list for uni and I wondered why.  On checking it out, I discovered that it is, arguably, the first of a new literary genre: the novel. It was published in 1719, went through four editions in its first year and enjoyed sustained success for years and years. I have never read it. Angus' verdict: very hard work. Anyway, I'm tempted to try to come up with a KGBG list of (fictional) British heros, lovers, snobs and villains - a sort of parlour game after a few bottles of wine - I doubt our list would include Robinson Crusoe.

The only disappointment about the Faulks series is the scheduling: the BBC obviously think that people who read books don't have a social life as a 9pm slot on a Saturday evening is perfectly ludicrous.  So it will have to be one for iplayer.  No "major TV series" of this type would be complete without the accompanying book!