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.