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.