Thumbs Up For Geraldine
August 30th 2006 02:05
Image: www.geraldinebrooks.com
Well, Geraldine Brooks gets the thumbs up from our book club this month. Her novel Year Of Wonders, which covers a year in an isolated village that becomes infected with the plague when a bolt of fabric arrives from London, was thoroughly enjoyed by most everyone. We did have a huge attendance this month, a total of 16, which can make discussion a little difficult (not to mention noisy!), and we meet in a library! But generally everyone managed to get an opinion in. The positives were many—accurate research, great setting with a real feel for time and space, plenty of believable characters, even if our heroine Annie was a little on the ‘super-woman’ side. Brooks does a good job of portraying what life would have been like in a small country village during this time, and I’m sure this is one of the appealing aspects of this book. We are so far removed from that kind of life nowadays, it becomes a big pull on the imagination to set ourselves in these characters shoes.
It was also pointed out that in many ways, our society has not really changed all that much, what with prejudices, beliefs and superstitions of old hiding just under the surface still. All these things conspire to destroy this tortured village throughout the book, and we all remembered quite clearly what things were like when AIDS first came to light in our society. So you can see, this book brought on a thought provoking discussion that left everyone quite satisfied.
It never ceases to amaze me what great discussions can come from a book. This one in particular had a huge scope, as it dealt with so many human trials and tragedies. If you are an avid reader and don’t belong to a book club, go out and find one, or start one yourself. It’s not hard to do, in fact, it’s dead easy. All you need is a meeting place, check out your local library if you don’t have somewhere of your own. They are usually more than keen to get readers in. Decide on a list of books you want to read. Everyone can contibute to this. You’ll find yourself reading books you never would have thought of picking up. And enjoying them. If you are short of friends to ask (for whatever reason) post a notice at the library or local book store outlining your idea. There are plenty of readers out there looking for someone like-minded to share their thoughts with.
Sorry, I managed to get off the track of our book. That tends to happen too. Don’t panic, it’s normal (at least in our group).
So, if you like history and a good, well thought-out yarn, try Year of Wonders or her latest title March, which won Brooks the Pulitzer Prize this year. She is also the author of Nine Parts Of Desire, about the hidden world of Islamic Women. Could her Middle Eastern ties have influenced the conclusion to Year Of Wonders? Whoops! I’ll say no more.
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