The Omnivore

A little reminder, for those who have not yet explored it (we know that Alison has already wasted an afternoon there) of www.theomnivore.co.uk.  It's a wonderfully quick (?) and absorbing way of taking the critical temperature of a book, film or play.  They claim to have reviews for over 5,000 books on the site and say that with 40 books a week being reviewed in the national press, the archive is rapidly growing.  The headline star rating is their own: an "ominscore" which is their interpretation of the aggregate of the published critical opinion.

Of course, critics are not always right (she says pompously).  For example, I disagree with their views of Isa & May by Margaret Forster which I thought was an disappointing, pointless and tedious read and of which, mostly, they seem to have  approved.  I must be a poor judge as when the Times writes "This is a sensitive and intelligent novel with passages of beautifully modulated pathos while being, in parts, hugely funny" all I can think of is how quickly I can finish it and how the characters seem to display as little self awareness and emotional intelligence as it is possible to imagine.

In contrast, the assembled reviews of The Hand That First Held Mine are much more in keeping with my own thoughts about the novel and are worthy of skimming through before our next meeting.  In the meantime, here is a picture of a cuddly omnivore which rather took my fancy.  Not all bears are omnivores, apparently, as Polar Bears are carnivores (there being a lack of vegetation on the ice cap I suppose) and Pandas, of course, are herbivores as they munch away on bamboo shoots most of the time. I didn't know that ravens are omnivores.... but Wikipedia assures me that they are.

Canadian PM a Philistine?

Did anyone see the wonderful recent article about the attempts by Yann (Life of Pi) Martel to get the Prime Minister of Canada to read?  Apparently, Stephen Harper, a bland looking chap, is not a reader. Martel struggles with the idea that his PM never reads books: "I don't care if ordinary people read or not. It's not for me to say how people should live. But people who have power over me? I want them to read because their limited, impoverished dreams may become my nightmares".


So, engaging in some positive action, Martel has sent the PM a book every two weeks for the last four years.  Harper has now received 100 books from Martel, each one accompanied by a letter explaining why the book is recommended.  The first one was Tolstoy (The Death of Ivan Ilych which we should read as it is only 60 pages long!) and the 100th was something obscure and French.  Having had nothing but the odd acknowledgment from Harper's office, after 100 books Martel has abandoned his attempts to persuade the PM to read. The whole selection, Martel's letters and details of the story, can be found on the website: www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca

Warning: you can easily loose yourself in the website and Martel's letters are more interesting than the selection of books. The letters suggest to me that the exercise has been an excuse for Martel to write and self publish without having to go the the trouble of writing a book; so it has much in common with this blog!

At a quiz I went to a year or so ago, there were two Life of Pi questions: what is the name of the Tiger and who else was in the boat with him?  Answers on a postcard please.

Our March meeting

In a radical departure from years of tradition, we made an early start last night and those of us left at the end agreed that a 7.30pm start was an improvement - another sign of age perhaps (not applicable to the youthful Catherine of course).  Thank you to Sally D for hosting (and to Ian for selecting a delicious red wine).  We had a good discussion on Madame Bovary which included reflecting on the challenges for the translator in a book which is so delicately descriptive by an author renown for painstakingly searching for "le mot juste". We mused on Flaubert's love hate relationship with his protagonist and although his characters have few redeeming qualities and are mostly self obsessed, the book is compelling. Alison was quick to point out erotic imagery in the bedroom in one of the encounters with Leon - something to do with gleaming brass on the fender and sea shells on the mantlepiece which was no doubt used in evidence in the obscenity trial and which, alarmingly, had passed the rest of us by.

We decided that classics are "A Good Thing" and that, as a group, we usually find them both enjoyable and stimulating and good fare for discussion.  Certainly, moving swiftly from Madame Bovary to Isa & May by Margaret Atwood as I did a few evenings ago, feels to me like sitting on an Ikea chair rather than stretching out on a Chesterfield sofa - insubstantial and lightweight.

Sally D suggested another classic for later this year, inspired by a mention in the Sebastian Faulks TV series.  Fanny Burney has been described as Jane Austen's literary grandmother and Sally suggested we read Evelina (published in 1778) at some point.  There was a good deal of wracking of brains to remember in which Jane Austen novel Fanny Burney was mentioned and our resident doctor got it right with Northanger Abbey.

However, we now need a good modern novel fix and decided that our next read should be something more contemporary; so we have agreed to read Maggie O'Farrell's Costa Novel winning The Hand That First Held Mine.  We have fixed to meet at Catherine's new home (she'll send us details) on Wednesday 13 April.

Inspiration from other groups

I thought it might be interesting to see what other local book groups have read recently or are now reading; would any trends emerge? The results of my random research are not ground breaking but may offer us some inspiration for our next read. 

From Ealing, the report is:  "The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen which after a slow start I really enjoyed. Themes of family bickering, sibling rivalry, elderly parents' illnesses, marriage problems, depression - what's not to like or identify with..... It is however strangely compelling & actually quite amusing".  An American book, published last year, it looks like it is good book group fare and was the winner of the US National Book Award for Fiction.  

From Chiswick (there must be loads of book groups in Chiswick) a report of the Hare with the Amber Eyes (which won the Costa biography award: see blog entry for 19 January) and also the curiously named Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen.  Look it up - it looks like a thoroughly entertaining read and might be a good choice for us. 


Another Chiswick group is presently reading the Booker long-listed The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas.  It seems to have provoked very mixed reviews on Amazon and I'm not in a rush to read it as a result (which is probably harsh but there you have it).

From a rival Kew book group another Costa choice - Witness the Night by Kishwar Desai (again, see blog entry for 19 January).  This could be a good one for us - I'd certainly be keen to give it a go.  Any first novel written at the age of 54 is surely something to marvel at (as, if this photo is half accurate, is Kishwar Desai - I wonder what products she uses). 


From a cross border Barnes/Hammersmith group which is also presently reading the Hare with the Amber Eyes, I have received the following fulsome report: 
"in the eight or so years we've been meeting this [the Hare etc] is the first non-fiction book we've read. Before that, the last book we did was Firmin (most of us were underwhelmed) and before that The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, which was POSSIBLY the most depressing we've ever read. Hmmm, actually maybe The Road wins that title. Totally recommend The Jungle, though; who knew that the meat packing industry in Chicago at the turn of the century could be so rivetting? (Having said that I think we all skipped the socialist diatribe at the end).  Have you read the Helen Simpson short stories Hey Yeah Right Get a Life.  Seem to remember at least one of them was set in Kew so it would be a perfect choice for  your book club."

Having investigated the latter, I'm not sure I could face it despite its Kew connections, as it is a collection of short stories about the "hectic day to day whirlpool of women's lives". Personally, I like to read to get away from all that.


I'm not sure what I draw from this high level research other than the fact that The Hare is a popular read at the moment and the extent to which groups choose books from prize lists.  For discussion on Thursday?