Apologies & Jane Austen

A series of apologies are in order.

First, for my failure to thank Caroline and Peter on behalf of the Book Group and this blog for hosting such an enjoyable evening with the men in January. The food and wine were delicious and plentiful, the company excellent and our discipline in sitting down and discussing the books we had read quite remarkable. I have a feeling that we were on our best behaviour in order to impress the men.

Secondly, for my failure to record our reading and discussion. For the record we read This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsyn and, in light hearted contrast, Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan. Most of us had read at least 2 of these books. Sweet Tooth gave rise to a surprisingly animated discussion (to the extent that Ann, who is Ian McEwan phobic is tempted to read it). Everyone was moved by the extraordinary story of the 19 year ordeal of a group of Moroccan political prisoners in the exquisitely moving and strangely beautiful and spiritual  This Blinding Absence of Light.  As a generalisation, those who had read A Day in the Life as teenagers or young adults were less moved by it on re-reading whereas those who were discovering it for the first time enjoyed it very much.

Thirdly, for my failure to confirm details of our next meeting: we are at Maria's on Thursday 7th March and the book involves a mood change and a move to the Far East with The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng.

Finally, an apology to Jane Austen (my all time favourite author) for failing to acknowledge the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice on 29th January. I was so distracted by the many photos in the press of Colin Firth in a wet shirt that I forgot to do a blog entry.

As for the future, this blog is going into semi-retirement over the next few months as I return to the workplace.