The Paris Review - Capote Interview

Hello!

This is the link to the Paris Review's interview with Capote. It made me love him even more!

http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4867/the-art-of-fiction-no-17-truman-capote

See you all tomorrow,

N

Oryx and Crake

This month’s book was Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. This was Priya’s choice – hosted at the inner city home of Greg and Chez. It was an intimate affair; present: Marnie and Nicole (Marnic), Greg, Chez and Priya. Priya provided paneer, roti (aka chipati but we’re trying to alliterate here) and rice.

Ratings for the book were as follows: Marnie 7, Nicole 8.5, Greg 8, Chez 8.5, Priya (whilst “trying to be objective”) was 10. Marnie found it a book of two halves. Initially thinking, “how will I get through this?” she found the latter part of the book riveting. Nicole enjoyed the book because of Atwood’s ability to craft a story around a far-out concept. Greg, while iffy about the structure, particularly enjoyed the character Crake, whom he felt accelerated the story. While Chez enjoyed the book, she found the science “sometimes unconvincing” but on the whole, sound. She found science and technology an interesting tool used by the writer to explore the weaknesses of humanity. Priya found Atwood’s writing a particular strength (she owns every Atwood book!).

Oryx and Crake is an interesting book as it essentially ends with the climax. For those who are interested in reading further on this post-apocalyptic journey, Year of the Flood is the parallel story. Priya, perhaps you will choose this book for your next book club! An interesting part of our discussion was the timing of the book. Marnie and Nicole estimated that it was at the end of the 22^nd century. Priya and Chez (the scientists among us) postulated that this book was staged much earlier – at the end of this century. Greg thought it was set around 2250.

Priya, though a new member of Marnic, hosted an excellent evening – it was a pity others couldn’t have been there.

Kite Runner

Rebekah chose Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini for book club. Its title is a reference to the Afghani passion for dueling kites, which is an integral part of the plot. Rebekah, Nicole, Georgia, Maite, Paul, Lona, John, Greg, Chez, Marnie and Anne were present. Jonny's presence was sprinkled throughout the evening and Priya skipped it to go to the premiere of Harry Potter. Daniel was called to work at the last minute but did leave his comments and a score. Rebekah served up a lovely platter of healthy nibbles to satisfy even our fussy lactose intolerant/gluten intolerant contingent, of which there is one. Nicole.

Hosted at the Prasad's, Rebekah's evening saw the highest scores yet to hit book club. It is fair to say that Kite Runner, while not considered "high brow", was a crowd-pleaser. Our hostess with the most-est scored the book a perfect 10. She loved the style of writing, the roller-coaster plot - it was her book equivalent of Titanic. Nicole found it a compelling and emotional tale, scoring an 8.5. Georgia scored the novel a 9, finding the author's effective writing style a particular strength. Maite found it gripping, giving a score of 9.5. Paul referred to Hosseini's masterful story-telling; though not a "massive" novel. Paul too scored 9.5. Lona really enjoyed it - he loved the escalating emotion, sometimes finding it emotionally exhausting. Lona, like Rebekah, thought it deserved the perfect score as well. John considered it a captivating story and wonderful read - another 9.5. Greg enjoyed the simple story-telling, but did not enjoy the dream sequences which were peppered through the story. Still, he scored it a 9.5. Chez commented similarly on the dream sequences, but otherwise enjoyed it - another 9.5. Marnie also gave it 9.5, particularly enjoying the characterisation - especially Baba - and catching a glimpse of an earlier Afghanistan. Anne scored the book a 9, finding the story-telling captivating.

Many of the group commented on the vivid characters in the novel. While Hassan was the most popular character, Amir drew conflicting emotions - at the end he showed real heroism, contrasted with his earlier cowardice. Redemption was considered by the group the most powerful theme of the novel.

An highly-enjoyed text Rebekah!

PS. For those in absentia: Daniel 8, Priya 7.5.

PPS. For those who arrived early, the other text was rated as follows. Paul 6, John 7, Marnie 7, Anne 7, Nicole 6, Greg 6, Chez 5.

Announcement: Jonny has declared himself "on a break" from bookclub. Jonny, would you consent to your mother deed-polling your name? She thinks that Ross may well be a better fit.

Always the Outsider

For Anne's book club round, she chose something we had not done before - an autobiography. Always the Outsider was written by Colin Amery, someone who Marnie knows, and who later agreed to come to our book club night with his wife Yvonne. Held at Anne's home, book club members who were able to make it were Marnie, Nicole, Greg, Chez, and of course Anne. Colin and Yvonne both provided great insight into the creation of the book. It was an enjoyable night, with Anne welcoming both book club members and guests with a beautiful spread. We plan to further discuss the book at a future book club meet as several of our members who have read the book were not able to make book club on this evening.

Norwegian Wood

Andy chose Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, translated from the original in Japanese. This is Andy's "favourite book in the whole world...ever". This evening was held at 87 with Andy providing a nice spread.

Present were: Andy, Nicole, Paul, Marnie, Chez, Greg, Priya, Georgia, Anne and John. This book was received well by most members. Priya gave it the lowest score - a 6. She found the story quite deep for a male author but commented there was "too much death". John and Nicole finally arrived on 7 as their scores. John found it very readable, though sad in parts. Nicole found it an enjoyable read but at times found some of the language florid (...perhaps something more to do with the translation from Japanese to English). Paul most enjoyed its quirky aspects, especially the narrative, and said he was more satisfied at the end of the book than he thought he would be at the start. Paul gave it a 7. Georgia and Marnie gave it an 8, both commenting on how they particularly enjoyed the strong character portrayals. Marnie seemed to demonstrate a personal connection to the zany Midori. Anne, Greg and Andy all rated the book with a 9. Anne enjoyed characters, the strong emotions evoked (for example the melancholia and love of music) and the strong "rites of passage theme". Greg thought it was an amazing book...a gripping read - simple and poetic. Chez gave the book a 10, being unable to cite any weaknesses.

Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises

Daniel was the host of our Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises (by Ernest Hemingway) evening, which was held on 14 April.  It was held at 87.  The book is a classic, recognised as one of the greatest in American literature.  It is often chosen as a text for university literature studies...part of the reason why Daniel chose it. It's set in 1920s post WWI Europe and is a commentary on ex-pats living there at the time.  Present were: Anne, John, Marnie, Paul, Andy, Jonathan, Greg, Nicole, Chez, Rebekah, Daniel and Priya - our new member.

Most people gave the book a fairly good rating; Anne, John, Chez and Rebekah being the exceptions. (Rebekah had not finished the book and so her rating was provisional.) Anne and John each gave the book a 5, both commenting it was dull. Chez and Rebekah rated it 5.5. Chez thought much of it was mundane. Priya awarded a moderate 6.5. Greg rated the book 7; both Marnie and Jonathan gave it a 7.5. Jonathan considered it of great style - restrained, complex - and portrayed beautiful scenes. Marnie thought it was well written and found book II, when the protagonists went to the bull fights in Spain, enthralling. Daniel and Andy both awarded the book an 8, Daniel enjoying Hemingway's skillful juggling between the various scenes and themes. Andy considered it beguiling. Nicole...the perfect score, loving especially the stilted dialogue.

American Gods

Our American Gods (by Niel Gaiman) evening was held at Paul and Maite's place on the 3 March.  Again we were treated with a spread of ethnic foods to nibble on throughout the evening.  Present were: Rebekah, Lona, Maite, Paul, Chez, Anne, Nicole, Greg, Marnie, John and Georgia...a good turnout. The book engendered some very lively discussion - and on some issues, divided the room. In one camp was Paul, a Gaiman fanatic.  In the other, Marnie, who thought the book sadly lacked a good editor. 

This is how everyone viewed it in a nutshell. Lona said he imagined the novel as a movie, saying "everything worked".  He scored the book a 9. Greg thought the digressions added to the richness of the book, and enjoyed it as a commentary on America, giving it an 8. John got drawn in "despite the genre", scoring it an 8. Anne thought the descriptions were brilliant, giving it a 7. Georgia enjoyed the diversity of characters but found it in some places disjointed. Georgia gave it 6.5. Nicole admired the telling of classical stories in a contemporary setting, scoring the book with a huge 9.5 - her favourite so far. Chez liked the digressions, but thought there were some parts of the story-line which were unnecessary. Chez gave the novel 6.5 - still higher than Oscar Wilde! Maite enjoyed the mystery aspect, but thought it was not that well structured in places and may have worked better as a collection of short stories. She commented that it was like a soap opera in parts.  She scored it a 7. Marnie thought that he was, overall, a good story-teller but abhorred his "gratuitous horror" ie. his progressively decaying undead wife. Marnie scored it a 7, "loving the ending". Rebekah hadn't finished the book but had really enjoyed what she read, giving it an 8. Unsurprisingly, Paul gave it the perfect score - 10 - finding the book transported him...."it was ambitious"..."by far the most layered book we've done so far".

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night

Lona picked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.  Book club was held at Anne's place.  Rebekah and Lona had organised a lovely platter of cheeses, salami, crackers and sweets.  Present were: Lona, Rebekah, Chez, Marnie, John, Anne, Paul, Greg, Daniel and Nicole.  The novel was an upbeat choice which reflected Lona's passion for the sciences. We had earlier teased him that he would not be permitted to choose a physics textbook for book club, but he cleverly managed to choose a novel which featured a protagonist with a strong scientific bent.


The novel's protagonist, Christopher is an autistic teenager who struggles socially.  Christopher's affliction is a strong theme in the book and the story is coloured by Christopher's unique world view. Amongst the group there were varying reactions to this, from gloominess to irritation to real humour. One of the key discussions was the relevance to the author's life.  Haddon is recorded as having no particular experience or knowledge of autism, which to some seemed implausible given his apparent familiarity with higher level autism. It should be noted though that Haddon does not state that Christopher is autistic.


Enjoyment level of the book varied from the perfect score (Rebekah) down to 6.5 (John, Paul and Nicole).  Other scores were: Greg and Anne - 7, Marnie and Chez - 7.5, Daniel - 9, Lona - 9.5.  

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The choice for our Christmas Book Club meeting was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (hereinafter “Guernsey”). (This book was recommended by Marnie when we last met at Georgia’s as an interesting read to discuss at our restaurant meeting on 13^th of December).  It was held at Circus Circus in Mt Eden.  We had originally booked a private function room for our Circus Circus night, but due to a mix up in the Book Club date, we had to rebook.  Our rebooking meant that we were in the general restaurant area, which on a normal night would have been fine, but on this particular evening we were placed immediately adjacent to a large gaggle of geese who honked loudly and excessively most of the evening.  (For our Christmas meeting in 2011, we must remember to book a restaurant private function room early to avoid a similar situation again.) Despite this, we had a lively and enjoyable discussion.  Present were: Anne, Marnie, Rebekah, Lona, Daniel, Laura, Nicole, Georgia, John, Chez, and Greg.

Book Club achieved a new level as our absentee member Paul provided detailed notes on all the discussion points.  It was unanimously agreed that Paul’s notes should receive an A+ grade.  (Again, a member of the Paul-Maite team excelling at Book Club.) 

Guernsey is written in an unusual style, that of the correspondences of the various characters in the book.  The book is not restricted by its form; for example plot and character development are achieved well.  Also, considering it was written by two authors (due to the untimely death of the original author), it maintains remarkable consistency. 

There was a diverse response to Guernsey, with scores ranging from 6.5 to 10!  Our lowest scorers were, Greg, Daniel and Georgia.  Georgia thought the book was ‘nice, but not riveting’, that she “didn’t engage with the characters”, and thought that the book could have benefited from the inclusion of prose.  She was tempted to categorise the book as “fluffy chick-lit”.  Greg thought that the book was “glorified gossip” and that it suffered from having “no events”.  Greg also considered the book needed some prose.  Daniel agreed with Greg in terms of the book needing prose, as otherwise, he felt the “information is diluted”.  Our second lowest scorer, at 7 was Nicole who considered that Guernsey lacked intensity, though she “enjoyed it, against her will”.  (In posting this blog, Nicole (in a revisionist mood) has decided that on further reflection, the book deserves a higher score than what she gave it on the night.) 

Lona enjoyed the historical aspect of the book, but otherwise tended to agree with Greg’s viewpoint, nevertheless giving the book an 8 for overall enjoyment.  John gave it an 8.5, particularly enjoying the development of the characters.  Rebekah gave the book a score of 9.  She found it easy to read and thoroughly enjoyable.  Paul also gave Guernsey a mark of 9 – his highest score yet.  He found the book accessible and well researched.  Marnie gave the book a 9.5, purely for enjoyment level and the clever contrast between the two parts of the book.  Laura, Chez and Anne all gave it the perfect score of 10; finding it easy to read and thoroughly enjoyable.  For Anne, it had a special relevance, having grown up in post-War England and having recently travelled to Guernsey where she had seen many of the sights mentioned in the book.

Part of the discussion involved a new Book Club question of who we would cast as particular characters for a movie based on the book.  (What a great cross reference in such a visually obsessed world!) 

Administrative matters: we agreed at our December meeting that Book Club night for 2011 will vary between Wednesday and Thursday night, depending on suitability for members each month.  

The Alchemist

Georgia chose The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.  It was held at Georgia’s home in Papakura.  Present were: Laura, Nicole, Greg, Chez, Rebekah, Georgia, Marnie, Anne, John and Paul.  Food included an exciting array of cakes and cookies.

On the whole, The Alchemist was found to be an enjoyable read.  Georgia chaired a pleasant discussion of the book.  Many had enjoyed its fable-like characteristics and the positive feeling that ensued.  Although Coelho’s narrative style in the book is simple, most agreed that nevertheless he poignantly told Santiago’s story.  Many comments were made about the beautiful portrayals of many scenes in the book.  Rebekah was our lowest scorer for The Alchemist giving a 6.5. Paul and Marnie scored at 7; Nicole and Chez scored at 7.5; Greg, Georgia, John and Anne all gave the book an 8; with Laura our highest scorer giving an 8.5. 

This book club highlighted our current ability to consume books through different media.  Greg and Chez had downloaded the audio book and listened to the story that way.  They played a snippet of the story, with the familiar voice of Jeremy Irons as the reader. 

Thanks Georgia for introducing us to such an uplifting book and for hosting a thoroughly enjoyable night.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Chez’ novel of choice was Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.  This Book Club night was held on 11 October out at Chez’ home in Karaka.  Present were: Chez (of course), Laura, Jonathan, Greg, Nicole, Marnie, Anne, and Georgia.  Food included petites pastries and a fruit salad.

It was a great night, though regrettably, Chez was not particularly taken by her own book choice!  Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde’s only novel, published in 1890.  The book follows the fortunes of Dorian Gray, who trades his soul for eternal youth/beauty.  The novel develops themes of the human relationship with the soul and provides a commentary of society at the time.  Most members found that Lord Harry was a charismatic and entertaining character; extremely articulate and a lover of all things fine.  One gets the feeling that Lord Harry was closely modelled on Oscar Wilde himself.  Everyone scored the book highly, aside from Chez, giving an all time low score of 3.5/10!  Laura loved Dorian and gave the novel the perfect score of 10/10.  Nicole and Anne also loved the book, giving the very high score of 9/10.  Jonathan and Greg gave scores of 8.5/10; with Marnie and Georgia giving a score of 8/10.  Chez found the book frivolous and did not enjoy the characters that Oscar Wilde had created in this novel.

Wide Sargasso Sea

Maite, the Mexico division of our Book Club chose Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys.  It was great to have Maite here for one of our book club nights.  It was held at Paul and Maite’s place in Glendowie.  Maite and Paul provided a delicious spread of Jewish delicacies including a chopped liver pate and the traditional plaited bread.  Sweets included a fabulous chocolate mousse, which Greg enjoyed (to excess).

Maite took Book Club to a new level, in that she had prepared a PowerPoint presentation, which truly did add to our experience.  (Maite, you must be a very engaging Philosophy lecturer).  Present at Wide Sargasso Sea night were Marnie, Lona, Rebekah, Maite, Paul, Nicole, John, and Greg.  This was Lona’s first night at Book Club…hopefully the first of many.

Discussion was lively and at times almost heated; the main point in issue being the mental state of the protagonist Antoinette.  Jean Rhys herself became a topic of fascination as we learnt more about her life, personality and antics.  Learning about these elements of Rhys’ life gave the novel more poignancy and relevance.  She was originally from the Caribbean and her knowledge of the Creole experience and the physical surroundings gave an authenticity to her writing.  It also helped craft a distinct new perspective on the classic Jane Eyre.  On the whole, the members found that the book was a powerful piece of literature but sometimes a harrowing read.
 

Almost everyone agreed that it was a cleverly written book but there was some variation in scores given.  Maite and Greg scored highly, both with a 9/10; followed by Lona, Paul and Nicole, each giving a score of 8.5/10; Rebekah gave 7.5, with Jon and Marnie providing the lowest scores, 7/10.

The Beach

Greg chose The Beach by Alex Garland. Book club night was again held out in Papakura at the Pryor residence. Present: Greg, Laura, Rebekah, Paul, Marnie, Georgia, Chez, Anne, Nicole and Jonathan.

The Beach evening was thoroughly enjoyable. Conversation was thorough and lively due to the contrasting feelings held toward the novel. Everyone had read the book too, which was conducive to engaging discussion. Unfortunately, Paul had not quite finished it – so the rest of the group took great pleasure in spoiling the ending for him! Members more critical of the book were Marnie, Jonathan and Paul. They felt that the novel exemplified a typical ‘first novel’ of a young talented writer. Others such as Georgia, Rebekah and Laura were wholeheartedly backing the book – all who gave the book an A+ grade. Marnie, Jonathan and Paul only gave it a ‘B range’ grade. Paul and Marnie believed that Garland had focussed on a few literary techniques and over-extended them.

Most people found Jed to be their favourite character. The character with most influence was Sal. This highlighted to us how none of the female characters were particularly appealing. The members noted that many of the authors we have read were mildly misogynistic!

Overall, this to be one of our best book club nights.

The English Teacher

Laura chose The English Teacher by R.K Narayan.  Book club night was held at Laura’s house in Papakura.  Present: Laura, Rebekah, Nicole, John, Marnie, Georgia, Chez, Greg, Andy, Trina, Daniel and Jonathan.  Laura had prepared some bruschetta; together with other snacks.  The buttery Montana Chardonnay was enjoyed by many.

Notably, several members had failed to read the book.  This made discussion stilted at times.  Because of this, small splinter groups formed and discussed other things, which was disappointing. (Even with the greatest stretch of the imagination, Narayan’s themes did not extend to useless Japanese inventions.)  A major point of discussion was spirituality in the novel.  Some members considered this reduced enjoyment levels – others were comfortable to experience the spiritual journey with the protagonist, Krishna.  On one end of the spectrum were Marnie and Jonathan who clearly felt uncomfortable with the flagrant spirituality in the novel.  On the other end were Laura and John who were quite taken by the spiritual journey.  Fence sitters included Nicole and Chez who could understand how people used spirituality as a tool to manage hard times but failed to personally connect with Krishna’s experience.  The other members seemed to be perhaps, not well acquainted enough with the story to comment.

The favourite character was varied; there was an equal division between Krishna, Leela and Susila.  More unanimous was the expression of distaste at the actions of the headmaster of Leela’s school – aside from Georgia who was pleasantly bemused by his bold decision to leave his family.

Daniel, our resident Narayan expert (he had just completed Cambridge exams on The English Teacher) shared some critical perspectives on the novel.  It is widely held that The English Teacher is seen to be a book of two halves – something that our readers related to.  For this reason, it is not considered to be Narayan’s piece de resistance.  Our readers seemed to feel differently upon learning that the book was largely autobiographical – although they were happy to read about spirituality in a work of fiction, it was more difficult to digest when put into an autobiographical context.

All in all, it was an interesting night.  It showed us how important it is for everyone to have read the book for us to have an in-depth and engaging discussion.  Furthermore, it highlighted the importance of our absent members - Kirsten, Paul and Anne who always add depth to our discussions.

Film club?

A few of the members have mentioned starting a film club. Who would be interested in this? Let's discuss this at our next meeting!

Came a Hot Friday - Ronald Hugh Morrieson

John chose Came A Hot Friday by Ronald Hugh Morrieson.  Book club night was held at John's place 'out West'.  Present: John, Anne, Chez, Nicole, Georgia, Kirsten, Andrew and Marnie.  (Numbers were somewhat down – especially due to University exams being on.)  We still had a great discussion of the book (and of a certain judge, in the warm-up part of the evening).  John (aided by Kirsten who had made a glorious lime cake) excelled on the food front; the emphasis being on dessert.  It was a freezing night and many were amused by the antics of John's cat.  The funniest part was the cat's rendition of the dunce.

Everyone had read the book, but there was divided opinion on enjoyment level.  We had a lengthy discussion about provincial New Zealand  at that time.  There was reference to there being a certain Kiwi cringe element; others enjoyed it for what it was; some didn’t like it at all.  The response to reading distinctly Kiwi literature was fascinating.  While some were comfortable with (and amused by) this part of New Zealand culture, some felt very uncomfortable about it.  This strongly correlated with reading enjoyment level.  Our reactions to New Zealand small town culture portrayed in literature were varied.  It reflected how although New Zealand is 'growing up' culturally, there is still a sense of 'looking up' to European and North American culture.  Andrew strongly identified with this perspective, seeing such Kiwi 'hick' towns as reaching extreme heights on the 'hickness' barometer. John however, raised the important point that these isolated, hick communities exist all over the world.  

The most popular favourite character was Don's father.  Andrew's favourite was Sel Bishop. Most found Sel Bishop an extremely unsavory character.  Several found the Te Whakinga Kid annoying/implausible; and many thought that Wes Pennington was an unlikeable character due to him being highly egotistical. 

Chez found the alcohol abuse shocking. Others, particularly the criminal lawyers amongst us, found this a sad but realistic portrayal of many New Zealand families and an accurate representation of New Zealands' drinking culture.  (Perhaps this is an extension of Morrieson's own relationship with alcohol.  It is popularly understood that Morrieson had alcohol issues.)  Kirsten and Marnie thought that The Scarecrow was his better book of the two.  Some said they would now read The Scarecrow though RHM won't benefit from the royalties!

Although on one level, the book is comedic and indeed in parts hilarious, Morrieson had cleverly juxtaposed this quality (intentionally or otherwise) against a level of sadness in the community.  Kirsten strongly related to this idea, in relation to the portrayal of women in the novel.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey

Nicole chose One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. We held it at Marnie's again on the 10/05/10. Munchies included - a cold roast vegetable salad with pita bread. A lot of people struggled to 'get into' Cuckoo's Nest and everybody seemed slightly depressed by what they had read. Nicole, Anne and John had soldiered on and completed the book. Marnie had got within 20 pages of the finish line. Others got to various parts through the book.

Present: Anne, Marnie, Daniel, Nicole, Georgia, Laura, Jonathan, Greg, Chez, Paul and John. (It was great to have Greg and Chez able to join us!)

Although many hadn't finished the book, everyone had read enough to appreciate Kesey's text and the atmosphere of psychiatric care in the US in the 1960s, and we had a great discussion about the book, characters and subject matter within the historical context.

As members of a new book club, we agreed that we need to think carefully about the placement of books, and the fact that we had chosen two classic American novels with serious themes side-by-side was perhaps not, in retrospect, ideal.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Marnie's To Kill a Mockingbird night was held on 14/04/10 at her place.

Present: Nicole, Laura, Georgia, Daniel, Jonathan, Paul, John, Anne, Kirsten and Marnie.

This was the inaugural book club night and it seemed that everyone had a great time! Curry aplenty was available. We enthusiastically discussed the prescribed questions (used as a guide only for discussion) and it was cool to see that this seemed to be a 'universally' enjoyed choice. It was also exciting to see our younger members go head-to-head with more experienced members (eg. Kirsten, our resident Atticus Finch expert).

Mockingbird, though published in 1960, still has an appeal and a relevance today.

All in all, a very successful first meet!