discussion

Insole Book Club Notes – June

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Kelly

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

I’m going to use the excuse that I’ve been on my holidays for the reason that this post is so late, but we all know that I am just very easily distracted at the moment. Instead of writing this up, I have decorated my lounge and re-arranged the dining room. But today, with July’s book club meeting mere days away, I thought I’d finally get the notes typed up!

I’d say that there was an almost universal love for this book from the book clubbers. And we’d timed it really well with Radio 4 broadcasting an adapted version throughout June, and Evaristo winning Author of the Year at the British Book Awards. We very much seem to have our fingers on the pulse at the moment!

Although the style took a little getting used to, with the lack of punctuation, most of us adapted to it quickly and found that it added to the experience. One member mentioned that the informal style reflected the fluidity of identity of women. We loved that there was enough from each character to truly dive into their lives, and found that the interweaving of the stories made for a hopeful and optimistic ending. The stories were often heart-breaking, but were told with such energy, that they felt uplifting.

We felt that Evaristo did an exceptional job of highlighting the inter-sectionality of the experiences of black women in the UK and brought these often untold stories into the light. There were moments of such touching sisterhood, but these never felt cliched or unrealistic as they were balanced by challenging relationships.

We thought that the exploration of generational divides were particularly interesting and Evaristo make it easy to relate to each character. The different generations of women provided opportunities for humour, like Hattie’s desire for her family to just sod off and leave her alone.

Girl, Woman, Other is in the running to win the George Orwell prize, which is for political fiction. We discussed that many of us hadn’t considered it overtly political but we can see through the perspectives that she presents that it is a commentary on society, and in particular anti-racism/anti-sexism and inter-sectionality.

I was delighted to see that there is a Spotify playlist that includes all of the music mentioned in the book and I managed to find several character maps which were crucial during our discussion, and lent themselves well to a Zoom chat! I can’t begin to link to all of the online articles in which Girl, Woman, Other or Evaristo feature at the moment, but there’s plenty of further reading out there for anyone interested in her unique perspective.

This month, we’re also reading:

The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
The Accidental Apprentice by Vikas Swarup

On Tuesday 28th July, we’ll be meeting to discuss Lanny by Max Porter. Feel free to share any book club recommendations below!

Insole Book Club Notes – May

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Kelly

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

In the three weeks or so since the book club met to discuss Why I’m No Longer… , Eddo Lodge has become the first Black author to top the UK bestseller charts (The first. In 2020. Unbelievable) and has widely and publicly discussed her mixed feels on her success – Guardian article here.

Despite being released way back in 2017, record sales have been prompted by the death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter protests world-wide and the recognition that we all have a role to play in educating ourselves. Performative anti-racism, allyship, antifa and white privilege have become mainstream conversations and I feel like these have shifted awareness into a new and more productive place.

The bulk of our conversation around Why I’m No Longer… initially revolved around our complicity as white people/people with particular privileges, and how it is important that for many of us, this wasn’t a comfortable read. A few of us noted that chapter on feminism was particularly difficult, but also insightful.

Throughout the book club, we’d read a number of books by international black authors, so we felt that it was interesting and very useful to read a British perspective and there were many issues that Eddo-Lodge raised that were new to us.

Pretty much all of us had never heard of the Cardiff/Newport riots, which is appalling, and we collectively found the history chapter enlightening and were also shocked at how much history had been erased within the education system.

We found Eddo-Lodge’s explanations of systemic racism in UK informative and found it useful to discuss it in comparison to prejudice. We reflected on diversity versus inclusivity. Particularly in workplace environments where sometimes action is taken because its the law rather than a true commitment to diversity; doing something because its the right thing to do and a creating a workforce that is stronger for its diversity. One member shared a really useful HR example about innovation and how diversity is crucial for new ideas. ‘You don’t know your own blind spots’

We talked about positive discrimination and how those that oppose it often come from a place of idealism, stating that we live in a meritocracy. We also discussed how the press have had a central role in making out that positive discrimination has failed.

We examined Nick Griffin’s theory, citing Professor Coleman from Oxford University, that by would Britain become majority non-white, and his beliefs that that would be a bad thing. We talked at length about the far rights arguments around ‘British’ values and the white working class. We were shocked at the statistics Eddo-Lodge presented on poverty and how it disproportionally affects people of colour. We don’t talk about class anymore, we talk about socio-ecomonic deprivation.

Considering the ingrained biases in education, what impact will Covid19 have on the futures of black children, when students are given their predicted grades as exam results? The reality of having to work twice as hard to get half as far echoed through so many of the books that we have read through book club.

Ultimately we took on board the authors message that its on us to do the work and for us to seek out information to educate ourselves and we’d recommend Why I’m No Longer… as a great place for people to start.

Insole Book Club Notes – April

Posted on May 19, 2020May 20, 2020 by Kelly

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

We have to thank our friends at NDCWales Book Club for this recommendation, it was great to share recommendations with another book club. In turn, we suggested My Sister the Serial Killer for them, which is a quick read that we’d pretty much all enjoyed.

It was great to get together again with the lovely Insole Court Book Clubbers, albeit digitally. It was interesting to talk about how our reading habits had changed over the past month, during lockdown.

Some found The Seven Deaths easier than others. It seemed to quite often hinge on whether you could give it a few hours of solid reading at a time. Reading or listening to it in short bursts made it quite difficult to follow.

We talked about the various different tropes that the author used, body swapping, etc, but how it may have gotten a little overly complicated. In particular, revelations about Anna felt a little tacked on. Especially as the twist had already been revealed at that point.

For some of us, the twist felt a little bit rushed and could have benefited from fleshing out for us to buy into it. But we also chatted about the fact that the reveal didn’t leaving us with too many questions, so the author achieved an entertaining murder mystery.

We all were intrigued by the descriptions of the various personalities and how they were cumulative, pushing in more and more as the book developed. This was cleverly done and unusual. We were interested in which of the physical behaviours ‘stuck’ from each character and how this helped with the plot. This reminded us of The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; how much of who you are is made up of your memories?

We made comparisons to The Good Place, and Dante’s Hell – and the premise of a hell of your own making. The vividness of the world was captivating, and probably successful because of how you relive the world through so many different perspectives. The image of the ramshackle stately home is also well-known in mystery novels, so quite easy for us to grasp.

We spent some time discussing the title after discovering that it is published as The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle in America. It doesn’t appear that the number in the title relates to deaths in the novel, but is more about sensationalism.

Generally we would recommend this to our friends/family – reviews are good, and its been well received. We felt that the violence, although dark, wasn’t voyeuristic or gratuitous. And its a solid enough mystery to keep you going through, at least until the reveal.

I thought it might be interesting to share what we’ve been reading, as we normally finish our meetings with recommendations. So to continue the tradition, whilst quarantined, many of us are comfort-reading Bill Bryson, as well as:

Hillary Mantel
Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts, so please feel free to comment along below!

Kelly

Insole Court Book Club Notes – March

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Kelly

Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese

Way, way back, one week into the UK lockdown, almost 3 decades ago now, Insole Court Book Club attempted its first digital meeting. In advance, we agreed to have a crack at using Zoom for our discussion, and met at our normal time, but in our own houses, rather than the beautiful Reading Room at Insole Court.

One of our lovely regular attendees recommended Cutting For Stone, as she had previously read it and thought it would be a good book club pick. And I think it was a great suggestion, as we were definitely divided over it and had a good old chat about it. A couple of us loved it, a couple struggled/didn’t love it, and one or two weren’t able to finish it. It’s a big read, and we chatted about how this particularly time in history isn’t always conducive to getting stuck into anything too big.

Initially, we chatted about the pacing of the book, and how for some of us, it got harder to read the further along it went. We also discussed how some of the coincidences that occur during the book could make the reader feel a bit emotionally manipulated.

Interestingly, nearly all of us enjoyed reading about the setting, the hospital and Ethiopia, and most of us found most of the characters unlikeable. My caveat to that is that I loved Hema. I mentioned that I thought that Verghese was inspired by John Irving, and in this, I could see similarities to the way that the narrator is a fairly dull character, but is surrounded by very colourful characters, that drive the narrative. Many of us thought that there were other stories to tell, from the other characters perspectives.

Prompted by a question online, we discussed how the book represents the emotional lives of Drs. Some book clubbers felt that it was an accurate reflection of the emotional detachment that Drs have to develop to do their jobs. It’s a matter of survival. We also chatted about how single-faceted Marions life becomes, and whether this was informed by his childhood that was all-consumed by hospital life.

We talked at length about how Verghese doesn’t give a particularly clear answer the the big mystery that threads through the novel, that of the twins conception. And in turn, we talked about whether someones childhood/life experiences can excuse later betrayals. This led to whether we felt that Marion had been able to forgive some of the characters by the end of the book. We felt that it wasn’t necessarily given voice to but was implied. Some of enjoyed Marions rather teenage-angsty actions when he broke into Stone’s apartment.

According to Verghese, he wanted to ‘tell a great story, an old-fashioned truth telling story’. One of the suggested book club questions asked what human truths does the story tell. We felt that the story was centred around family, and that family doesn’t have to be blood-relations, and can be chosen.

Overall, the book covered a wide range of topics, and we found them to be interesting, particularly the medical aspects. The difficulty for some came in the pacing and size of the book. Some parts of the book were completely forgotten by us, like the section about Stones childhood, which is pretty long. And we were in agreement that parts of it were beautifully written. As I have said before, I often think its as much about ‘when’ you read a book, as to what its about. And the uncertainty of a looming global pandemic is not always the best time to take on a mammoth book.

Insole Court Book Club Notes – February

Posted on March 1, 2020 by Kelly

Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li.

I must apologise, I was not altogether awake for this months meeting. Luckily, the group is more than capable of chatting away without my input. We used some of the suggested book club questions in the back of the book so guide the discussion.

Almost all of the group had read the book and found it to be a fairly quick read. Readers were definitely divided over their enjoyment of it, but most found exploring the Asian-American experience and Chinese culture interesting.

Thematically, we discussed the three different love stories, which varied due to age and experience of the people involved. We also chatted about the recurring theme of feet in the novel, and the toll that working in hospitality had on the characters feet.

We explored the differences between the generations, and how the American culture had impacted on the relationships between the characters. The concept of survival was strong throughout.

None of us found the characters particularly likeable. They were presented as controlling, and mostly selfish. Nearly all of them lacked self-reflection. Many of the older characters seemed disappointed in the next generation. Jimmy is the only one who seems to resolve his feelings and seems to come to an understanding about his Father, who is a strong presence throughout the book.

One reader described the characters that working in the restaurant as ‘knocking together so often that they end up fitting together’ which I thought was a really beautiful way of expressing the family-like relationships.

There was some division in the group about the language and style of the book, some found parts of it poetic, others found the vulgarity off-putting. We chatted about the fact that much of the book is written as if its Jimmy’s stream of consciousness, which could be a bit jarring when it changed perspective.

Overall, we felt that the book offered very little lightness, showing an often tragic side the characters experiences. It felt like some of the story-lines weren’t fully resolved. Generally, we didn’t love the end. Some of us wished for a different outcome, and some of us don’t like the six-months-later epilogue style.

Insole Court Book Club – December

Posted on January 4, 2020 by Kelly

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

This month saw us being welcomed graciously into the Insole Court Volunteer festivities, and for many of us, seeing a Mari Llwyd for the first time (worth a Google if you are unfamiliar with this Welsh tradition).

The Mars Room caught my eye after being short-listed for the Man Booker prize in 2018, having recently read Telex from Cuba, Kushner’s debut novel. I was really pleased that it prompted such interesting discussions for the group, of which you can read more below, and as always, comment if you feel like it!

Quite divisive. Some found it hard work. Some couldn’t finish it. Some found it very compelling.

Very sad, no feeling of hope.

Really felt like you knew Romy.

Indictment of the US judicial system.

Some of us read it quite quickly, others read it in chunks.

First third of the book slower than the rest.

Reflected on how hard it must be to have so little information about the outside world, we were shocked.

Interesting how they made their own lives behind bars.

At times could be quite amusing, some dark humour.

Tremendous characters.

But paints such a bleak picture – particularly the woman slumped on the bus at the beginning.

So hard for rehabilitation to happen in that environment.

Many of the characters are the victims of circumstance.

Shared histories and history repeating. Cycles of poverty. Hard to survive.

Romy was close to making a better life for herself before Jimmy betrayed her.

Jumping between time lines was clever but didn’t always work out.

It definitely didn’t reflect the San Francisco that we picture, and we felt that many American cities aren’t what they seem, like Washington DC. Every city has a darker side.

Her memories, although often at a distance, are very specific.

Juxtaposition of the Mars Room and prison.

Discussed what would happen to Jackson if it were in the UK.

Jackson represents hope and goodness, the only character in the book to do so.

At the end, she reflects that she gave him life, but is it such a good thing?

Her use of train tracks to present life and inevitability.

Kushner is very good at writing different view points. Reflections of different classes.

The chapters written in a different font were Ted Kaczynski, which was totally missed by some of us (me.)

Prison is a primitive way of dealing with crime. Lack of resources and will for rehabilitation.

She doesn’t talk much about race in prison, which is often a key focus of many prison dramas in the US.

Kayne West says that 1/3 black men have been in prison in the US.

Discussed the classism of crack cocaine vs. cocaine use.

Discussed institutionalisation, routine, living alongside other people.

Discussed what books we would pick if we were giving books to people in prison.

Responsible Boy on BBC
Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner
Manhunt: Unabomber on Netflix
Freakonomics by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner

Better late than never with the notes, I hope! We’re always keen to hear your thoughts, so please comment below.

We’re next meeting on Tuesday 28th January at 7pm, where we’ll be discussing My Sister, The Serial Killer by Okinyan Braithwaite. See you then!

Kelly

Insole Court Book Club – November

Posted on November 30, 2019 by Kelly

Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

This month, we took a slight departure from reading new releases to discuss the 1980’s classic, The Remains of the Day. It was lovely to catch up with the group again and welcome a new member, despite it being a dark and damp evening. As always, thoughts and further reading/watching below. Please feel free to comment.

Nearly all of us had read it and finished it.

Heard Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson’s voices while reading it (the stars of the film).

Very slow-paced, could be a bit samey.

Some found it an easy read, but not massively engaging, due to a lack of action.

Dignified.Duty, dignity and grit come up many times throughout.

What has Steven’s missed out on? Does he know?

Back then, butler’s didn’t marry. But his father must have?

His mother is never mentioned.

Steven’s is an odd character, very set in his ways.

Some still feel like its a love story. All that is unsaid.

Some want to shake him! But also angry at the way he was treated by people. The classism.

Some felt sad that it took a stranger to remind him to make the most of his time.

The most English story ever.

‘Too much Celt in me to enjoy it!’ in reference to Steven’s saying that only the English make good butlers.

Does Steven’s have autistic tendencies? Social awkwardness.

His pride in how he managed his fathers death. Felt very tragic, despite the fact that he felt peace with it.

He has no social norm to adhere to as he doesn’t socialise and has no social group.

In some ways, he is self-aware. Analytical and critical.

Insight into the upper classes.

Moderism/modernisation/transistion. Britain is changing.

There was immaturity on the side of Miss Kenton too.

Sense of duty.

He didn’t leave the house whereas she did.

He must have known what was going on with Darlington.

Interesting that he always attributes opinions to others.

Similarities with Downton Abbey.

Wondered if some aspects were inspired by the book.

He’s a spectator. He compartmentalised everything.

The odd request of Steven’s to have the birds and the bees conversation. There to show that he has some awareness? A moment of dark humour.

Why doesn’t he correct the townspeople when they assume he’s a Lord of some sort. maybe he wants to spare their embarrassment?

Marked difference between when he is talking about his ‘tour’ compared to reflecting on the past.

He gains a wider perspective on the outside world. Freed from the job.

His lack of concern for her when her Aunt died!

Just hearing snippets of the Darlington story made us really intrigued. We would read a book about that!

A good picture of life as it was then.

Do people still have staff?

Steven’s and Miss Kenton were stuck in the social structure of the day.

Their jobs would have been desirable/sought after.

Faraday really seems taken with the English way of life.

She did love him. he would have infuriated her though, if they were together. He might have changed under her influence.

Hers was also a story of duty. Heart-breaking.

Never hear her perception.

We then discussed whether we were satisfied with the ending, and then endings in general!

The Remains of the Day Film (plenty of Oscar noms!)
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
A Pale View of the Hills and An Artist of the Floating World (first two novels by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro (very different)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

For something completely different, we’ll be meeting on Tuesday 17th December to discuss The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner, with some mince pies! Our 2020 books are up now and should be in the Insole Court Visitors Centre before Christmas so plenty of time to get ahead of the game.

Insole Court Book Club – October and birthday!

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Kelly

Amateur by Thomas Page McBee

Huge thank you to all those who braved the horribly dark and grim evening on Tuesday to come out and humour my excitement at the Book Club reaching the grand old age of one! It was lovely to have celebratory cake (rather than just our normal Tuesday cake) and a drink at the Maltsters afterwards, and as always, it was great to welcome new faces.

Amateur prompted some really fascinating discussions, which I’m not sure I managed to fully capture in short hand, but I’ll do my best!

When he talks about his own story, it is very compelling.

Some found the first section of the book quite hard-going.

Some really enjoyed the passages directly related to boxing.

Author was extremely self-aware and great at unpicking his own thoughts and feelings. Not typical in men?

For some, the book gave them an insight into the patriarchy and built in stereotypes. The assumption of competence being very interesting.

Such a unique perspective, not just because he is a trans man but also because of his ability to ‘pass’.

Many reflected on feeling like an ‘ornament’ around men; not listened to, talked over etc. and connected to the passages about feeling vulnerable on the streets, vulnerable in our own bodies.

Great insight into the mental/emotional transition.

F. Scott Fitzgerald: ‘The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.’

We loved the passages about his mum: ‘A golden core’

Similar to Born a Crime by Trevor Noah in that the mother is present throughout.

The physical touch and its acceptability in the boxing ring; tender and intimate.

The duality of the boxing ring.

Would love to hear what boxers think of this book.

Does that fact the he’s a journalist explain why the first section of the book felt a bit more disjointed?

Boxing is what makes it special, it wouldn’t have the same impact if he’d trained at tennis or joined a team sport. Boxing is such a good metaphor for life.

Really liked both of the coaches.

A great insight as we tend to see and hear from more trans women in the media.

The fact that McBee reports that every time he’s on TV, there’s always another man there to tell him why he’s not a man.

The argument that this offers ‘balance’. Some things don’t need balance. No-platforming.

The ‘snow-flake generation’ and the health and safety analogy. Just making sure people are safe.

Having to constantly out yourself, as well as there always being images online of you pre-transition. Removing images from Google, will become more of a thing in the future?

McBee is the masculinity expert for Vice.

Womens fear of men is ingrained. We are taught from a young age how to protect ourselves, boys not necessarily taught to look out for girls.

We really liked Jess.

Workplaces and emotional intelligence.

Maggie Nelson quote ‘sitting with someone uncurling his hands, then holding them out to you, open, so that you can behold all the hard-won strength, insight, agility and love to be found there’.

The ‘crisis of masculinity’ in America. Is it because of its unique culture? The Greatest Country in the World philosophy. What happens if you’re not living up to the ideal?

Insole Court Book Club – September

Posted on October 1, 2019 by Kelly

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. Notes by the very wonderful Grace Capper who hosted last months meeting.

“Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. ”

On a wet Tuesday evening, with the summer a receding memory, there was a definite back-to-school feel to this month’s book club. Luckily, the book that was chosen for this month was a thoroughly enjoyable read filled with interesting discussion points and some ridiculously funny true stories. It was lovely to see some familiar faces, and welcome some new ones too.

A summary of our discussion:

This is the first book that we have had in a long time where everyone in the group really liked it!
One of our members had listened to the book as an audiobook which was narrated by the author, which added an extra dimension as his use of different languages and accents is such an important element of the book which is harder to convey in print.
Apartheid as the setting for his early years. Growing up mixed race in apartheid and how this has shaped his life.
The segregation between Black/White/Coloured and how this labelling means something totally different in America.
Belonging to different communities, and several places where this choice was made for him, and the difference when he was able to choose for himself eg school, jail, the ghetto
We discussed how various labels/signs can cause completely different reactions in different cultures and how easy it is to be completely unaware of how something is interpreted if you come from a different cultural background or lack historical knowledge eg There is a section in the book about how the name Hitler was fairly common in the black community in SA as European history was not taught as a priority in the black schools – which set up a very, very funny anecdote that could not happen anywhere else.
Trevor Noah was born in 1985. This sparked some debate on a couple of issues
- Shock at how recent apartheid was. When reading the book it felt like some of the incidents described belonged to a much older time.
- For such a young person to have written an autobiography of his life already shows a remarkable life, and also a remarkable ability to reflect on it in a very considered way. This was followed by some discussion of terrible celebrity autobiographies written before the author had really done anything of note. Luckily this was not the case with this book!
How tragedy and comedy intertwine and how comedy can make it easier to discuss serious topics such as race
Domestic abuse and the lack of support from the police in reporting incidents and prosecuting his stepfather. Highlighted the institutionalised racism and sexism. Police attitudes throughout the book were very depressing.
The high level of violence in the book and how this affects relationships between the people in it
Some of the side characters were incredibly funny and memorable, there was an element of Delboy around some of them
His mother is an exceptional human being to have been able to raise him so well in such difficult circumstances and to have had such aspirations for him.
The lack of father figures and male authority figures not being present or not being good people to look up to.
How he talked about the shooting and his stepfather was incredibly mature and nuanced
Discussion of meritocracy and access to resources and how he acknowledges that he needed help to get to where he is now “People love to say, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” What they don’t say is, “And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.” That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing.”
As the author he could have portrayed himself as more of a hero battling adversity throughout but he didn’t – the person he made the most fun of was himself, especially with his dating misadventures, and he was incredibly honest about his decision paying for his mother’s’ medical bills. The honesty made us warm to him more
Was his mother’s survival a miracle?
There is a film being made of this book and a new book following on from it that is due out later this year.

Insole Court Book Club – August

Posted on September 2, 2019September 2, 2019 by Kelly

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. Translated by Ginny Tapley Takamori.

This months book club pick was recommended to me by a friend and has popped up in many discussions since then, and has been reviewed widely online. Its also lovely and short so perfect for a quick read during a busy Summer. It was lovely to welcome some new members to the group this month. As always, I’ll share a summary of our discussion below so that you can join in in the comments.

Reminded some of us of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine in the way that the characters think.. Eleanor was worse.

Keiko always wants to be better or normal. But the author never explicitly says whats ‘wrong’ with her.

Writing suggests that she is autistic but some behaviours don’t ring true.

‘On a different beat’. High functioning.

She’s just copying – observing behaviour.

True narrative or not?

The other characters also took on each others behaviours. We all do it with accents.

Strange as a child – extraordinary.

Quite sad that all she wanted was to be normal. Huge societal pressure.

Ending was quite odd.

Structure, transactional environment of the convenience store. She seemed happy here. Manual for life. She excelled. And she belonged.

Cultural differences between the UK and Japan.

How her social valued increased when she was ‘with’ Shiraha.

He was a user, exploitative. But was there mutual benefit? His words were awful. She shrugged it off.

Better to be unhappy in normal parameters. Expecting everyone to conform.

The convenience store as a distilled version of society at large.

Japanese culture more conservative than the UK. Conflict between a culture of working hard vs. a drop in population.

Was it written to shine a light on alternative ways of thinking/communicating? Raise questions?

Makes less sense if you’re not familiar with that culture.

Translation is very good. Had a conversation about how you tell tell when something is translated well.

Offense in different cultures. ‘Finishing schools’ for future ambassadors etc.

Its a natural desire to want to fit in.

What do you do? Being defined by your job.

Books written for neuro-divergent people about how to behave in social situations.

Discussion about the difficulty of how we talk in the UK. Use of colloquialisms and lack of directness. Challenging if you take things literally.

Keiko seems resilient, in control, quite happy. Shiraha seems like someone who just repeats things that he has seen/read, rather than actually being prejudice. Some believe he was genuinely manipulative. Some believe he lacked the ability (and charm) to be manipulative.

Changing generations and how acceptable language changes. What will we look back on in 50 years and find unbelievable? Homelessness, the environment.

Message at the end, you don’t need to conform.

Kathy Burke All Woman – Channel 4
Blinded by the Light (film)

Great discussions around this book and lots to think about. Next month (Tuesday 24th September) the book club will be meeting to discuss Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, now available in the Insole Court Visitors Centre.

Offbeat Book Club

exploring literary voices from around the world