Katherine’s pick

Susan Sontag was one of the great intellectuals of her generation.  She is considered an authority on American Popular culture.

She wrote books of essays, novels and a well known book on photography.

Her son, David, edited her first diary and it is a fascinating account of the coming of age of a precious and brilliant mind.  It begins when she is just 14 years old and charts her impressions, thoughts and ambitions as a university student, her young married life, motherhood and finally her escape from a suffocating marriage.  Finally it places her squarely into the milieu her future life will follow – that of intellectuals, free thinkers, academics, writers and artists, first in Paris and later is New York City.

Sontag is fearlessly and rigorously honest to herself in these diaries and espouses her credo throughout which is "That the most important thing in the world is freedon to be true to oneself".

Sontag sadly died in 2004 having fulfilled most of her life’s ambitions.  Always a great role model for young women, she proved that a satisfying and successful career could be forged in the world of letters, no matter who you were, just as long as you believed ijn yourself and strived to be the best you could be.  This publication is the first of three volumes.

Eat, pray and love is a touching memoir written by Elizabeth Gilbert.  It was the reading choice for our Second Tuesday Reading Group.

  It tells how Elizabeth Gilbert set off to find herself within three different cultures – Eat (exploring pleasure) in Rome Italy, Pray (exploring devotion) in Ahram India and Love (balancing the two) in Bali in Indonesia. The group thought the book was something they could relate to.  That is was spiritual and encouraged self reflection.  They thought it was a great relationship starter and did indeed lead to some interesting discussions within the group.

                                                                                                  Sarah’s pick

The sudden death of Richie Rossiter changes the life of his partner, children and wife.  Richie married Margaret when he was a young and struggling musician.  They had a son, Scott.  Richie later left them to live with Chrissie, who managed his successful career and had three daughters with him.  All these people are affected in different ways by his death.

Chrissie finds it hard to acknowledge reality and move on with her life.  Two of her daughters are selfish and unhelpful.  It is the youngest daughter, Amy, who can see things clearly; however this insight is hurtful to her mother.

Now Richie’s first family and second have contact with each other; initially due to the funeral and the will, then through Amy’s curiosity about her father’s early life.

Richie’s death is also a catalyst for change for Margaret and Scott, even though they had no contact with him for over twenty years.

Throughout the book the issue of why Richie never divorced Margaret to marry Chrissie is raised.  She starts to question whether he really loved her when she finds out he has left something valuable to Margaret and Scott.

The book os mainly set in London and also Newcastle and Tynemouth in Northern England.  It is easy to read with unbelievable characters.  My favourite characters were Margaret and Amy.  I found the ending satisfying.

If you like this book there are many other Joanna Trollope novels to try, or perhaps try these authors – Caro Fraser, Libby Purves and Elizabeth Buchan.

Imagine an Australia transformed by the War on Terror; Canberra destroyed in a nuclear attack; Australia in the grips of a police state where civil liberties have been suspended; suspect nationalities have been impounded "and worse – no one wants to play cricket with us any more". 

This is exactly the scenario proposed by Andrew McGahan in Underground, the book chosen by the Wednesday Book Club.  The group thought the subject matter interesting but not particularly well written.  The plot did draw the reader in and although it was far fetched at times it contained an overall plausible theme.  The bungles which occurred were believable.  The group did not think the destruction of Canberra was believable.  The group all agreed that the Prime Minister in the book, Bernard James, was a parody of John Howard – some even thought he was a mirror image. His brother, Leo James, is not an Australian Everyman.  He is a "chancer", a political, get rich quick guy but not a "decent guy".  The Group felt that Leo’s thoughts on the "Australia that was" at the end of the book was very well written.  The view may not be completely realistic but aspects of the Australian outlook were well depicted; that Leo’s thoughts on the parallel of society and the Roman Empire are very perceptive and do give him some decency. The discussion then moved to current views on multiculturalism and the immigration policy.  The group believes media over emphasise the amount of boat people as the total percentage of immigrants coming into the country.  Comments were made regarding immigration becoming a campaign issue for the next election.  The group also discussed the fact that mainstream TV is always in English or has English voiceover rather than being subtitled so that bilingual people can understand.

                                                                                                                                Sarah’s Pick

 In best selling Jodi Picoult’s latest book we meet Jacob Hunt, a teenager with Asperger’s syndrome.  Jacob has an obsessive interest in forensic analysis; and often knows more about a crime scene than the local police.  When his tutor, Jess, goes missing and her body is later found wrapped in Jacob’s quilt he is questioned by police. 

They do not understand that his avoidance of eye contact and inappropriate gestures and comments can be attributed to his Asperger’s syndrome.

I was interested in Jacob’s explanation of how the world appears to him and how he struggles to make his way in it,  He is easily upset by change to his routine or an over stimulating environment.  he likes routine and to follow rules (hence the title of the novel).  He knows he is different to the other kids at school.  He says "For me, being in social situations – whether that’s school, or Thanksgiving dinner, or the line at the movies – is like moving to Lithuania, when you haven’t studied Lithuanian."

It is also interesting to see the effect on Jacob’s mother, Emma.  Her husband left her when Jacob was three and his younger brother, Theo, was a baby.  She has organised her life around Jacob – working from home, constantly trying to make his path easier.  This is sometimes to the detriment of Theo who has his own secret that will effect Jacob’s trial.

The book is told from various perspectives in brief chapters.  This allows readers to see things from various sides of the story.  Mainly we hear from Jacob, Emma, and Theo but also from Jacob’s inexperienced lawyer and the police officer investigating the disappearance and death of Jess.  The brief chapters also keep the reader interested and wanting to read "just one more chapter" until the conclusion.