Haven by Emma Donoghue - May 29th, 2023

Linda was our host this month as we discussed Janet’s book choice, Haven by Emma Donoghue. We were missing three of our group, but Marg, Janet, Colette, Marilyn, Carla and Shirley were there to enjoy the food and wine Linda provided as the book was discussed.

Our club previously read another of Donoghue’s books, The Wonder, so we were familiar with the author’s style of writing. Janet chose the book following a trip to Ireland where she visited the area where the Skellig are found and which is the setting for this stark book.

Ms. Donoghue's books always have well developed characters and a character everybody hates, and this book is true to form. We all come to detest Artt, his meanness, and intransigent attitude. The book is set in the 7th century; Christianity has existed in Europe for only a few hundred years so scholars such as Artt are revered. 

Cormac, who came to the monastery and Christianity late in life, sees his selection as a means to be more useful than just prayer, but he is torn by Artt's attitude. He wants to believe God will provide, as Artt tells him, but his life experience leaves him with doubts that they can survive without proper preparation of their own. The innocent but skillful Trian just wants approval and forgiveness, believing that his parents have left him at the monastery to serve as he can.

The description of the landscape, the birds and fauna are extraordinary, as is this author’s signature style. Donoghue’s description of several scenes such as when Trian is capturing the young puffins breaks your heart as it does Trian's. She is excellent in allowing you to visualize scenes and nature.

Mindlessly following any dogma, whether political, cultural, religious, scientific, turning a deaf ear to your inner voice for fear of being outcast will lead one down a dark societal road. In this case, Cormack and Trian doubted, questioned and inherently knew that what was being asked of them was the folly of a delusional egoist.

We are ready to yell "Go for it!" to Cormac when he finally decides he has had enough of Artt and convinces Trian to get in the boat. It gives us a feeling of satisfaction that the good people will survive. And though we don't know for sure if they make it to civilization in the small boat in winter and if Artt finds a way to survive alone, we can make up an end that allows us to believe in the goodness of human nature.

The Lincoln Highway – October 24, 2022

Colette, Marg, Carla, Janet, Linda and Shirley were hosted by Betty for our October book club where we discussed Janet’s book choice The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. Betty had a delicious assortment of cheeses and crackers to munch on with our wine. She also had chocolate covered almonds that make frequent appearances at our meetings and, as per our usual custom, were devoured. With a nod to the book’s character Sally who was known for her strawberry jam, dessert was fresh scones with strawberry jam and whipped cream. 

Janet went above and beyond in researching this book for us. It included a road trip following parts of the Lincoln Highway while listening to the audio book, a playlist including songs named for towns along the highway, and, of course, photo evidence of the plaque at the San Francisco end of the highway. 

The Lincoln Highway is Amor Towles’ third novel and the third one we have discussed in our group. Towles was an investment professional for over twenty years before publishing his first book, Rules of Civility, followed by A Gentleman in Moscow. Towles has a distinct writing style with unusual characters written with a touch of magic realism. This book was easy to read, a ‘good yarn’ as one member described it. 

The Lincoln Highway covers the lives of its characters over the course of ten days and the days are counted down very deliberately. In his Rules of Civility, the time period was exactly one year while A Gentleman in Moscow covered thirty years. This book is told in the voice of the various individuals, each with a distinct voice which was easily understood and which enhanced character development. There remained questions about some of the characters, Woolly in particular, as well as some disappointment in the main character, Emmett, however the book was unanimously enjoyed.

Some members expressed a bit of disappointment that the book did not follow the Lincoln Highway across the U.S. and was left for the reader to decide whether or not the trip would ever be completed. But then, the greatest part of a road trip – or life – is not the destination, it is all the stuff that happens along the way.

Thanks, Janet, for another enjoyable book choice.

Wild Rose - March 22, 2021

 We have now met online for one full year! We should be proud of our perseverance!  Present were Betty, Janet, Linda, Marg, Michèle and Shirley.  The book discussed tonight was Janet's choice, Wild Rose by Sharon Butala.  Ms. Butala joined our meeting at 8:00 pm and we had a very good discussion with her. 

Janet chose this book because her husband's grandparents were homesteaders in Saskatchewan that had come from France.  Two other of our members came from the prairie provinces and had families that struggled to make a life homesteading in Western Canada. 

Sharon Butala is a Canadian author from Saskatchewan.  She taught at the University of Saskatchewan, College of Education before becoming a full time writer. She has written 22 books, the 22nd coming out on September 13, 2021, called The Strange Visible Air - Essays on Aging.  She is not only a prolific writer; she has written fiction - novels, short stories and essays - as well as non-fiction.  She has three Honorary Doctors of Law from the University of Regina, Saskatchewan and Alberta. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.  She has received literary awards, the Marian Engel Award amongst them.   Ms. Butala's grandparents came from Québec and homesteaded in Saskatchewan and is most probably why there is the connection with Québec in this story. 

This is a historical novel that we all enjoyed and found very interesting.  It is very well written; the descriptions of the prairie landscapes allowed us to visualize the beauty. "Nothing, nothing to be seen for miles in any direction: only grass and more grass, hills and more low softly sloping hills, repeating themselves until they reach the far, light-filled wavering horizon." (pg 134).  Sophie, the main character, is a young woman who has come to Saskatchewan from Québec with her husband to homestead.  She is abandoned by her husband and the land they had started to develop is sold from under her.  Alone with a young child and very little to survive, she is determined to make a life for herself and her son and despite setbacks she survives and prospers.  

We were all impressed by Sophie's determination and guts to succeed in a land that was essentially dominated by men.  Members felt that the discussion of Sophie's life as a young child in rural Québec allowed us to view the grip the Catholic Church had on the population in Québec in the 1880's.  Sophie wanted to escape the restrictions imposed on women in Québec society dominated by the Catholic Church. Sophie's life and struggles showed us how difficult life was for women alone in our developing country. The story Wild Rose reminded us of the courage and determination women had to have to carve out a life for themselves and their families in the Canadian prairies of the late 19th and early 20th century.   

Thank you Janet for an excellent book choice and thank you Sharon Butala for the wonderful conversation we shared with you. 

Bush Runner by Mark Bourrie - March 26, 2020

In these difficult times of self-isolation and the COVID-19 virus that is spreading in our communities,  Muses & Views Bookclub members felt it was better to be creative and meet on-line rather than cancelling our meeting.  I think our dearly departed member Jolene would be very proud of us.  We will do anything that allows us to discuss our book choices. Present were  Beth, Carla, Colette, Janet, Linda, Michèle and Shirley.  We each had our own glass of wine and several of us had cheese and crackers or other nibbles.  Carla who was to be our hostess this month had made mini-tourtières! We sure hope we will eventually get a chance to taste them!

We met to discuss Janet's book choice Bush Runner : The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson  by Mark Bourrie.  Janet described Mr. Bourrie as an eclectic savante.  He has a Master's in Journalism, a PhD. in Canadian Media History and a law degree.  He is a part-time lecturer with both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. He has written several books, all non-fiction on a variety of subjects, one on the Parliament Buildings, one on stories of the Great Lakes, one on Canada's youngest serial killer David Michael Krueger and several other subjects.   He was also a feature writer for the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star a Hill Times reporter.  Bush Runner won the RBC Taylor Prize in 2020, the last year the prize will be awarded.

In many Canadian history texts, Radisson was portrayed as a fur trader and part founder of the Hudson's Bay Company.  In reality he was as Mr. Bourrie described him a hustler with few scruples.  He was born in France and sent to New France as a young teenager finding himself at the Trois Rivières Fort. He was adopted by a Mohawk family and later by an Iroquois family.  He found ways to charm people and with the Indigenous people, he was for the time he was with them, willing to learn their language, their traditions and he was always willing to help and do his part to survive with them.  This is probably why he survived. He did not try to take their land or steal from them.  Some have described Radisson as the "Forrest Gump" of the 17th century because he seemed to be everywhere. He was in Europe during the Plague, in England during the Great Fire, he was friends with King Charles II of England and travelled not only North American but many other parts of the World.

Most members appreciated the book and found the writing style  easy to read and understand and fascinating. For those of us who "listened" to the book, it was like having someone read us a story.  One of our members described how her husband laughed at the faces she made when she listened to the more violent combats and descriptions of human killings and cannibalism. There was some criticism of the writing style, one member finding it sometimes a little bit scattered. However the history she learned had her describe her attitude towards the book as a love/hate relationship.

As a biography, it gives us a history lesson much different than the little of this story we studied in school.  We appreciated the descriptions of the indigenous cultures, the geography of our country.  Many of us  were intrigued and fascinated by the description of parts of our country and names that are familiar to us. For our member who has a cottage in Huronia, she was excited to read about the area.  For another member from the Richelieu Valley, the names were so familiar and the description of Champlain Lake were interesting and oddly familiar.  Most of us found Radisson to be a bit of a sociopath, not a particularly good person and not particularly loyal to any one group he met.

Radisson's visit to England during the Plague reminded us of Geraldine Brooks book Year of Wonders that we read in 2011 and some of us mentioned that it allowed us to better understand Joseph Boyden's The Orenda that we read in 2014.

Thank you Janet for your suggestion, it was a great read.

On the Up by Shilo Jones - February 25, 2019

The February meeting was hosted by Janet.  We were a small group, Colette, Janet, Marg, Michèle and Shirley.  Janet provided us with a good array of cheese, crackers and smoked salmon and individual pavlovas with whipped cream and beautiful red strawberries from Mexico.

This month's book presented by Janet was On the Up by Canadian author Shilo Jones.  This is his first novel. Mr. Jones worked in several areas and along the way earned a B.F.A. from Simon Fraser University and an M.F.A. from the University of British Columbia.  He lived many years in Vancouver and now lives with his family in Kelowna, B.C.

It is safe to say that this book presents a very different side of Vancouver than that promoted by the Vancouver Tourist Board. Through the three main characters, the brothers Mark and Carl and the young journalist Jasminder it provides a very violent, seedy and criminal picture of the real estate market, mainly condo, of Vancouver or VanCity as it is often referred to by the characters in the book.  Several of the chapters begin with a stream of consciousness rant by one of the characters. The story is filled with scenes of racism, violence, misogyny that Shilo Jones admitted were hard to write but he felt necessary to the story line.

It made the book difficult and for some impossible to read.  It is the first time in the 21 year history of the Muse & Views Bookclub that the majority of our members did not read the book to its conclusion. The book is well written and if you can get through the first two hundred pages, the latter half is easier to read and you become intrigued and those who finished it, say you want to find out what happens.

Janet was brave to assign us this book.  I don't think we will be reading any future novels by Shilo Jones.

At our last meeting we chose, Shirley's book of 2018, A Gentleman in Moscow is the recipient for the first Jolene Bale Award.  We were pleased to present Shirley with the certificate at this month's meeting.

Meeting of January 29th, 2018

As we begin the 20^th year of our Muse and Views Book Club, we met at Colette’s to discuss Still Life by Louise Penny. Attending were Jane, Janet, Shirley, Colette and our newest member, Sharon (Welcome to Muse and Views, Sharon!), plus Michèle and Linda who Skyped in to join the discussion. In keeping with the theme of the book, Colette served an array of Québec cheeses, stuffed mushrooms, and croissants followed by home-made mini lemon tarts, fit for any boulangerie.

The author, Louise Penny, came to writing later in life, having previously been a journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Her husband, Michael, who she describes as ‘kindly, thoughtful, generous, a man of courage and integrity, who both loved and accepted love’, was her inspiration for Armand Gamache. She lives outside a small village south of Montréal, quite close to the American border, and has used the Eastern Townships for the setting of her imagined village of Three Pines and the Inspector Gamache series.

Still Life is Louise Penny’s debut novel and has garnered a number of awards; her subsequent books continue to win accolades. In 2013, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada "for her contributions to Canadian culture as an author shining a spotlight on the Eastern Townships of Quebec”. She has been compared to Agatha Christie in her writing style which features many hallmarks of the British whodunit genre, including murders by unconventional means, bucolic villages, large casts of suspects, red herrings, and a dramatic disclosure of the murderer in the last few pages of the book.

Although all felt that the book was an ‘easy read’, our reviews were mixed. The devices and red herrings used in the book seemed too obvious. Some felt that character development was weak however one of the members, who had read the entire series, explained that the characters do fully develop over the series.

The description of the very rural village of Three Pines was well done as was most instances of family dynamics. Meanwhile, the conversation Inspector Gamache had with Ben about the dwindling rights of Anglophones in Québec was off-putting and definitely one-sided. The portrayal of Gabri and Olivier, the gay owners of the bistro and bed and breakfast, was felt to be rudely stereotypical.

This month’s book discussion was as lively as usual and reading a Canadian author is never a bad thing.

Meeting of January 23, 2017

We met at Colette's home to discuss Janet's book choice Commonwealth by Ann Patchett.  Present were Beth, Betty, Carla, Colette, Jane, Janet, Jolene, Michèle and Shirley.  Colette served a very nice variety of cheese and crackers, stuffed mushroom caps, melon wrapped in proscuitto and wonderful sautéed shrimp.  Red and white wine was served and afterwards, coffee, tea and a beautiful blueberry pie with ice cream.

The first order of business was the 2016 "academy award" for the best book of the year.  Six books were nominated but Carla's choice A Man Called Ove dominated with 5 of the 10 votes.  Congratulations Carla!

Here are some interesting facts about our Bookclub's reading this past year.  We read a total of 9 books as per usual, for a total of 3 045 pages!  We read six novels of which one is considered a classic (One Hundred Years of Solitude), and three non-fiction books.  Four of our books were written by Canadian writers.

Janet gave us a short biography of Ann Patchett.  She has written several books including Bel Canto that the Bookclub read in 2005.  She is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including The Women's Prize for Fiction, previously known as the Orange Prize and now called the Bailey's Prize.  She won for her book Bel Canto.  Among many other prizes and fellowships she also received the Guggenheim Fellowship for creative arts in 1995.  She has written seven novels and six non-fiction books. Ms. Patchett lives in Nashville and is co-owner of an independent bookstore called Parnassus Books. She is a big fan and promoter of independent bookstores.

Commonwealth is the story of six siblings from two families and how they coped with negligent parents and shuttling back and forth from California to Virginia.  The story develops over four decades and we learn how they coped as children and adults.  A tragedy when the kids are young affects all the children and the adults.  We learn more about the families when Frannie links up with a well known author and he writes a novel that is essentially the story of their families.

The comments were mixed and not many of our members enjoyed the novel.  However, several of us felt it was a good representation of the era when children were much freer to go out and explore the world.  It is of course an exaggerated representation.  The parents in this novel were extremely negligent.  It is difficult to understand parents who would leave a child self-medicate and let a gun in an easily accessible place.  Two of our members read the book twice and felt they could better connect the different parts of the story so that it made more sense.

Some felt that it was implausable that children of two families would get along so well, but what bonded them was the hatred for their parents.  It is a very sad story, a bit of a peek at a degenerative society of the '60s and '70s.

Meeting of January 25, 2016

Betty hosted our first book club evening of 2016 at Colette’s house. Janet, Shirley, Carla, Beth, Jolene, Colette, and Betty were in attendance, with Michèle joining us via Skype. Betty served wonderful cheeses and salty/sweet snacks, along with some yummy cinnamon buns and cookies for dessert. We also announced the winner of our favourite club read of 2015—Jane’s choice of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

The book under discussion this month was 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Janet chose the book because it is considered a classic in Central and South America, written by an author who won the 1982 Nobel Prize for literature. This was Señor Marquez’s most famous novel. As a pioneer of magic realism, he wrote stories that incorporated natural and supernatural elements seamlessly, using a technique he learned as a child from his grandmother. Janet explained that 100 Years of Solitude tells the entire history of Colombia through the eyes of a dysfunctional family living in the dead-end town of Macondo. The novel’s themes of solitude, war, and violence are common to Latin American culture. The circular, rather than linear, view of time is also obvious, where history recurs over several generations, names are repeated (Aureliano some 21 times), and cultures rise and fall.

Few in the group enjoyed the book. Most found reading it hard work, with the characters unsympathetic and hard to relate to from our North American viewpoint. Some pointed out that they were able to read and analyze the novel at an earlier period in their life with much less difficulty. We did feel that the group discussion was worthwhile, however. All agreed that it is important for us to read literature that stretches us and makes us look at the world from a different cultural viewpoint from time to time; that being said, no one feels the need to re-read this novel any time soon.

To read about Magic Realism in Yann Martel's new book, click here. The High Mountains of Portugal

Meeting on January 27th 2014

This is our first meeting of the New Year and we have started with a French classic The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Janet's choice.  In attendance were Betty, Colette, Janet, Jolene, Michèle and Shirley. Betty served lovely cheese, pinwheel sandwiches and a lovely fruit crisp with ice cream.

First on the agenda for this meeting was the selection of the best book of 2013.  A testament of the quality of the books we read was evident in the votes. No one book received a large number of votes. Still Alice by Lisa Genova that was Betty's choice, received the most votes.  Deafening by France Itani, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce and The Help by Kathryn Stockett all received the same number of votes.  Congratulations Betty, second year in a row!

Janet chose this book when we read Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress.  If you remember, the two young men in this story are obsessed by the french classics of which one was The Count of Monte Cristo.

Alexandre Dumas was born in 1802 to a French Nobleman and a black woman in St. Dominique (now Haiti).  He wrote plays for the theatre and several novels that were published as serial stories by several newspapers.  The Count of Monte Cristo was published weekly over 18 months from August 1844 to January 1846.  It is said that Dumas had the help of a ghostwriter Auguste Maquet. To accommodate the serial format of the novel, the chapters are short and almost always ended dramatically.

The Count of Monte Cristo is an aventure tale that spans several years in the 19th century during France's 2nd Empire with numerous characters and plots.  The main character Edmond Dantès has several alias as do other characters in the story.  It is a story of love, perseverance, revenge and redemption.  Edmond Dantès a young merchant sailor comes back to Marseille and becomes captain of his own ship.  Because of his stop over on Elba where Napeleon Bonaparte is in exile, he is accused of treason and jailed at the Château d'If off the coast of Marseille.  He eventually escapes his captors and with the knowledge acquired from a priest who was also a prisoner, finds a fortune in gold on the Island of Monte Cristo and begins to plot his revenge against his enemies who wrongly accused him of treason and jailed him.

There are several plots within this story, many similar to Shakespearean like Romeo and Juliet. The length of the novel defeated some of our members. However several enjoyed the book, found it riveting, the drama, the melodrama, one member compared it to Downton Abbey, though not many agreed.  There were a couple of quotes that stood out and one in particular : "Moral wounds have this peculiarity, they conceal themselves but never close; always painful, always ready to bleed when touched, they remain fresh and open in the heart."

Meeting of February 25, 2013

Muse and Views met at Colette’s home, with Betty serving lovely pinwheel sandwiches, cheeses and other yummy hors d’oeuvres.  Present were Janet, Carla, Beth, Jane, Colette, Betty and Jolene.  We discussed Alone in the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay.

Janet had originally chosen the book because of its setting, with both Saskatchewan and Eastern Ontario figuring in the story.  It was clear from a look at the author’s biography that she often connects events in her stories with those in her own life.  She is now based in Ottawa, but has travelled widely and has lived in such diverse places as Owen Sound, Wiarton, London (England), Guelph, and even Latin America and the Queen Charlotte Islands.  She has written several books, most notably Late Nights on Air, a Giller Prize winner, inspired no doubt from her days as a broadcaster.

Alone in the Classroom received mixed reviews from our group.  Even Janet said that the book didn’t live up to expectations.  She admits regret at having gifted it to her mother-in-law, who during her lifetime had been a teacher in a one-room classroom.  The book does, however, show that people with a dark past sometimes cover up their problems by moving to small towns in need of professionals like the character Parley Burns.   

Most of our group agreed that the book had some good moments, with description and characterization being its strengths, rather than plot.  The influence of teachers struck a chord.   (The author likened good teachers  to people who may dip grey pebbles—children --into water to bring out their beautiful colours.)  References to Thomas Hardy, mustard gas, the dust bowl, and the Great Depression were also appreciated.  Jane did note inaccuracies regarding monarch butterflies, and others commented on how contrived the story seemed to be, with characters coincidentally crossing paths too often.   The biggest criticisms were that the narration jumped around a lot from Anne to Connie and that there was little resolution to the mysteries in the book.  For most, the story had a promising start but a disappointing finish.  Several ladies did say, however, that Hay’s writing was strong enough that it might prompt them to read another of her novels.

Meeting of April 23, 2012

The meeting was held at Colette's home with Jane hosting.  Present were Carla, Colette, Betty, Jane, Janet and Michèle.  This month's book Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton was presented by Janet. Since the story is in South Africa, Jane provided us with wonderful sausage called Boerwors served with a wonderful mango chutney and Biltong which is a South African dried meat.  There was also a very nice maple cheese and of course, we were served a South African wine.  Later with coffee and tea, Jane served a lemon basil ice cream with a lemon/blueberry cake.  Thank you Jane for a wonderful spread!

Janet first read the book in 1998 when she was living in South Africa with her family as a Ph.D. student. Alan Paton wrote the book in 1946 as he was travelling the world visiting reform schools in different countries.  It was first published in 1948 in the United States a few months before Apartheid laws were adopted in South Africa.  The book was banned in South Africa.  It is sometimes considered as South Africa's version of Uncle Tom's Cabin.  As Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel highlighted slavery and the abolitionist movement in the United States,  Cry, the Beloved Country showed how segregation, that existed even before Apartheid, contributed to the "brokeness" of tribal culture and left many Africans without the traditions and support of their tribes.  A way of life that provided meaning and purpose was fast disappearing, leaving the young people searching and no reason to remain in their villages.  It is very similar to what has happened to our Aboriginal communities in Canada.

The novel is about two fathers searching for their sons.  Stephen Kumalo's who is a Zulu priest and a white landowner James Jarvis. In the context of the stories of these two men, the author Alan Paton, develops several themes, family relationships, good and evil, temptation, forgiveness and reconciliation.  Both men find themselves journeying to Johannesburg.

We first meet Stephen who originally goes to Johannesburg after receiving a message that his sister Gertrude is in trouble. He goes, hoping to also see his son Absalom and his brother John.  He finally finds his son, but only after Absalom has murdered James Jarvis' son Arthur.  Stephen is heartbroken by the events that take his sister back to a life of disrepute and his son to execution.  However, the kindness of people he meets that help him in Johannesburg gives him hope and he goes back to his village with a sense of peace.

We meet James Jarvis, who is from the same region as Stephen, when goes down to Johannesburg to claim his son's body after he is murdered and discovers Arthur's beliefs as he reads through his notes. He realizes that he has lived in a cocoon, ignoring what has gone on outside of his farm.  He reads Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address that he finds in Arthur's house. As he reads more and more of his son's writings, he begins to rethink his relationship with the villagers that live near his farm.

Everyone loved this book and several of our members quoted passages from the book.  Arthur's text in chapter 21 that James reads begins "The truth is that our civilization is not Christian it is a tragic compound of great ideal and fearful practice, of high assurance and desperate anxiety, of loving charity and fearful clutching of possessions. Allow me a minute. . . ."


There is the text in chapter 11 that gives the book its title and reminds us that though South Africa is a beautiful land, the problems caused by the separation of the races are grave and ingrained and there is still a long road ahead before all that South Africa has to offer can be embraced.   
"This is no time to talk of hedges and fields, or the beauties of any country. . . . Cry for the broken tribe, for the law and the custom that is gone. Aye, and cry aloud for the man who is dead, for the woman and children bereaved. Cry, the beloved country, these things are not yet at an end."


And of course there is also the quote from the Mission House Minister, Msimangu who greets Stephen,  helps him find his sister Gertrude, and finds him a place to stay. Msimangu fears that antagonists such as John Kumalo, Stephen's brother, will bring hate. 
"I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white men and black men . . . desiring only the good of their country, come together to work for it. . . . I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find we are turned to hating." 


Everyone agreed that this is an eloquent and powerful book that has become a modern classic, still read in classrooms everywhere.  The characters were well developed and as a reader you engaged with them. You hoped that Gertrude would succeed in making a better life for her young son.  You felt for Stephen every time he gave in to his weaknesses and cheered when he was hopeful.  The descriptions of the countryside give you images of the beauty South Africa has to offer.


Thank you Janet for this wonderful book choice.  

Meeting of April 18th, 2011

Our host this month was Jane at Colette's home.  Present were Beth, Carla, Colette, Jane, Janet, Jolene, Michèle and Shirley. Jane prepared a great snack for us, some wonderful cheese and pork balls with sauces.

The book choice was Janet's In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje.   Mr. Ondaatje is a Canadian citizen born in Sri Lanka.  He arrived as a young man and completed his studies at Bishop's University, University of Toronto and Queen's University.  He has taught at several Canadian universities. He has been awarded 5 Governor General's awards, the Giller prize, the Man Booker prize and France's most prestigious award, the Prix Médicis.

This story is situated in Toronto and some parts of rural Ontario  in the 1930's in settings that are very familiar to people who have lived in Toronto and those who know the Muskoka region well.  This was a part of the novel that many of our members enjoyed because they could visualize the scenes quite easily.  It is a book written of a time when Worker's Unions were beginning to take shape everywhere across the world.  It describes a more seedy and violent side of trade unionists than what we may have witness in our time.

Most members felt that it was certainly not an uplifting story.  However, some felt it reaches through you when you are in pain, and that it takes a particular  frame of mind to enjoy the book and get the most out of the novel.  It is a story of people who living dreadful lives that make them react to events in their life in sometimes inappropriate ways for society.  None of Ondaatje's characters are particularly sympathetic. He  is very descriptive in setting scenes, almost like a script for a play.

Two of the characters in this book come back in Ondaatje's The English Patient, Carravagio and Hana.

Meeting of 22 March 2010

Meeting of 22 March 2010

Muse and Views met March 22 to discuss Reading by Lightning by Joan Thomas, Janet's choice at Carla's home. In attendance were Janet, Carla, Colette, Beth, Betty, Shirley, Jane, and Jolene. Carla served wonderful appetizers and cinnamon buns, which were a great hit in 2010 (and would have been almost unheard of in the struggling WWII period of the book :) Roses added to the atmosphere and reminded us that spring is here.

Janet led the discussion, pointing out first of all that she has just finished a book on a similar theme called Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, about a 16-year-old girl from Nigeria in a bad relationship with her Roman Catholic father. In another text-to-text connection, Jane pointed out that on page 249 of her copy of Reading by Lightning, Guernsey (of Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society fame) is mentioned.

Reading by Lightning has won a first-novel award for the author, and everyone loved the historical backdrop about the Barr Colonists who settled in Canada. Janet has a personal connection to this period of Canadian history because her husband is from Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, where many of the Barr Colonists settled. Descendants of these early colonists still live there 100 years later. History does not look fondly on Barr himself, who allegedly made off with money from the people he promised to help prosper in a new land.

Others in the group also found personal ties to situations in the book, including family and faith relationships. Janet wondered if the book was intended to be an extended metaphor, juxtaposing religion, science, Darwinism, and the ambiguity of post-modernism. Since the book is listed in many on-line sites as an example of bildungsroman, we asked Beth to explain the concept to us. "Bildungsroman" is apparently of German origin, meaning "education" and "story." It refers to a literary genre developed in the 1800's, referring to coming-of-age novels, with a young character struggling to come to terms with society and self. Many in our group, however, felt that Lily Piper did not fully mature as a person, since at the end she was still in conflict with her mother and was intellectually shallow at times.

Most loved the book and its writing style, although a few found the slow start frustrating. There were realistic, vibrant, and often humourous descriptions of people and situations, on such varied topics as Brits, wet mittens, epilepsy, and WWII.

There was some confusion, however, about the meaning of the title. Did it refer to the last scene in the book, or to the fact that Lily would read George's letters with his belemnite close-at-hand to ward off lightning? Even the author's comments on amazon.ca were not satisfying. Jane had heard that the original title was to be Problematica (referring to George analyzing fossils), but at the last minute, the publishers apparently had to change it because of another book coming out with the same name.

Most also agreed that the book ended too quickly. We would have liked to see the story carry on so that we could find out what happened to the characters, who were so vividly painted. On amazon.ca, Ms. Thomas herself says that since George was becoming more and more cynical, it's perhaps just as well that we don't see what the war would have made him.

Meeting of February 23, 2009

This month's meeting was at Carla's home. Carla provided wonderful appetizers, a excellent dip with vegetables,  mushrooms stuffed with crab and cheese and a very nice cheese with nuts and apple melted! We were only seven this month, Betty, Carla, Colette, Janet, Jolene, Michèle and Shirley. The book this month was Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor recommend by Janet.

Timothy Taylor is a Canadian author from Vancouver. This is his first book. It was a finalist for CBC's Canada Reads competition in 2004 and was also short listed for the Scotia-Giller Prize.  

Most felt that the characters were well developed but many felt that the book was disjointed, difficult to follow and "weird". Many felt the book took a long time to take off. However some members very much enjoyed the book. All thought that it was definitely a foodie book.  Those of us who have been to Vancouver and know Stanley Park and the neighbourhood around the Park enjoyed reading the description and recognizing the areas we had visited. 

The book also gave a good insight into a homeless community, in particular the community in Stanley Park and all the problems and challenges of homelessness not only in Vancouver but in general. 

There was quite an animated discussion on Jeremy's attitude after the restaurant re-opened towards his new clientèle and what he served them. Many members agreed that he was making fun of them, serving them squirrel and other things without necessarily telling them. Was Jeremy taking his revenge? 

Meeting of January 28th 2008

Thank you to Janet for hosting our meeting. The hors d'oeuvres and blueberry pie were great. Especially appreciated was the service! Maybe your server would like a contract for future meetings Janet??

Linda, Shirley, Joan, Jolene, Michèle and of course Janet attended the meeting.

Each year at the January meeting, the Book Club gives out it's Academy Award to the member who recommended the book read in the previous calendar year that was most enjoyed by the members. City of Joy, recommended by Linda won this year. Congratulations Linda! Jolene bought a book as prize. There was also a runner-up prize but since no other book received more than one vote, we decided to save the runner-up prize for next year.

This meeting's book was Bay of Spirits by Farley Mowat. A Canadian born in Ontario, Mr. Mowat lived many years in the out posts of Newfoundland. He is well known for his books on wildlife and many of his books were written for children. He is a somewhat controversial author because of his views that he has clearly articulated on subjects such as the baby seal hunts or whale hunting in his books and in the press. Many Newfoundlanders are not appreciative of his opinions and have not enjoyed his description of personalities in this particular book and others.

The book Bay of Spirits is focused on life in the out ports. Through accounts of boat trips with Claire, his second wife over several summers and a few years in the 1960's he describes the out ports and their residents in quite colourful detail. His descriptive powers are excellent; we can easily imagine the houses perched on rocks. He is a great storyteller and some of us wondered how accurate his stories were, especially some of the sea escapades on his boat Happy Adventure.

We wondered how generous he was in comparison to how they were with him. Many of the residents in out ports he visited gave him food and help with his boat. He was quite evidently focused on himself and his causes.

Though the book has a subtitle A Love Story, and there is quite a bit about his relationship with Claire that he meets while still married to Frances, the book definitely has a political bent. Awareness of the over fishing and the destruction of the fishery came out in this book as did the baby seal issue and a definite dislike for Premier Joey Smallwood.

Most members enjoyed the book mainly because of Mr. Mowat's easy storytelling style.

We also talked about books we have enjoyed and about other lists of book. We talked about Yan Martel and the books he has been sending to Prime Minister Harper. There is even a website that describes the books and includes the letters Yan Martel has written to Mr. Harper.