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| A clean Mystery |
The environment came in for much attention in our 2 books - both its importance, and its fragility - and this set the scene for some troubling discussions later on. But first, here is Julie's take on the discussion about the first book Limberlost by the ABC Radio National's Book Show favourite, Robbie Arnott.
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| Robbie Arnott |
Quite a bit of discussion but most bookclubbers were interested to press the return button and live in parental childhood, with Ned and his family. We reminisced about country living in depression times and before the war. Few cars and little chance to visit other places.
The thrill for Ned when taken by his father in a boat, with his siblings to view the whale, set the scene for Ned`s desire for boat building. The capture of a quoll, its release and its rehabilitation resulted in Ned finding his future wife. The capture of rabbits and selling their pelts was the means for both these events.
Tasmanian country life is at the heart of this novel, as Ned works on the family apple orchard.
The novel slips backwards and forwards which most bookclubbers found annoying, making it difficult at times to know with which family Ned was living, however the conciseness of the novel and the connections to the environment, made the novel satisfying and personal.
"Arnott, I think, isn’t sentimental. Ned’s failures and errors aren’t presented as moments of transformation or growth. They are allowed simply to stand, as part of the whole.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/07/limberlost-by-robbie-arnott-review-a-sweet-and-moving-song-of-man-and-landscape
The general view overall was 50/50 for the book (I think - or maybe that was for Creation Lake? or maybe both books??) - here is the link to Julie's notes for the book if you want to limber your eyes and get a little more lost in the book.(scroll down because the notes are out of order - I'm blaming Mystery - life has been a bit of boondoggle the last few days). https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k5l6cdaK46M39rQaULp8U4iK3DiZdeCIR7xoaVBw66M/edit?usp=sharing
Then, just in time, the late arrival arrived, and we wandered waist deep into Creation Lake, by Rachel Kushner. It wasn't your usual spy thriller, and nor was the narrator Sadie Smith a normal heroine. Manipulative, deceptive, unfeeling are just three of the words we used to describe her. Some thought there was no saving her - others suggested maybe there was a core to her and the book - suggesting it came out on pages 208-211 giving a clue (not quite a SPOILER ALERT) to the ending.
Pascal's character was also the subject of commentary, laced as he was with the arrogance of privilege along with the emptiness of oratory, leaving the farmers in the lurch. The ending was either unresolved/ambiguous/satisfactory/unsatisfactory depending on your reading - but in all cases, had the effect of making the reader reflect. (Apparently Kushner was going to give Sadie her comeuppance in the end but decided against it, so maybe we were all correct.) As Cherrie commented, the book did make you reflect on the extent to which objectors now need to go in order to get their message across (recent example given by Cherrie was cementing/locking arms to cars and other immovable objects in Limberlost country).
If you want to hear a short interview with RK try this - and my brief notes are in the above google.docs link.
Conversation turned to the state of the environment (COP 29 now on with the 2 big emitters not there), and how the orange blob is going to make the environment, and everything else, so much worse.
Before we got too dark, Cake time was called. Its not often that a cake ends up in a jar, but sadly it was the fate of the chocolate roll cake that never was -
this is what it should have looked like
(Mary Berry eat your heart out - oops that is MB's cake!)
But if the cake didn't turn out for the better, we all agreed the election in the USA took the cake for being a disaster. While not wanting to get too depressed, we all worried about the future of the planet and whether we shouldn't return to the cave just like Bruno - which may be where we end up if the orange blob and his unelected wingman Elon keep heading in the direction they're going.
Trying to steer away from the demise of the USA (again), and reassure Mog that Lainie won't be deported (but could be lucky if she was!), we turned to Series 2 of The Diplomat, then on to pigs (don't go there!), and back to two of Mog's lighthearted jokes to end the evening:
- What borders on insanity? - Canada and Mexico 🤣
- After driving with an older friend through 3 red lights, she felt obliged to ask the driver if she knew she had driven through a red light. Answer - am I driving? 🙏
Good to end of an uplifting light note. The schedule for 2025 is looking something like this - based on the second Wednesday of alternative months
12 March Cherilyn and Barb
14 May Mog and Cherrie
16 July Megan and Kathy
10 September Margie and McLassie
12 November Julie and Sue
No books yet decided so stay tuned, and not sure who is hosting though it maybe first person listed - but put the dates in the your diary, or if you're hosting, let everyone know if the listed date is a problem and we'll reschedule. Holiday readings didn't get much of a mention, although Elizabeth Strout's new book Tell me everything was suggested given the author's past successes in telling stories about characters, lives and relationships. Also suggested again was The Forest of Wool and Steel by Natsu Miyashita. Does that mean its Zen time in the rest of the world for the next 4 years?
Happy reading until 2025.
UPDATE: Books for 12 March 2025 have come through the internet wire and are:
- Cherilyn - Noble Ambitions by Adrian Tinniswood
- Barb - The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng
Brilliant - as always Sue - especially since you wrote this as if you were with us for the entire night AND not at all stressed out. Bless you girl! 👍👍👍
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