A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay - November 25th, 2019

Our November meeting was hosted by Beth. Present were Beth, Betty, Carla, Colette, Jane, Janet, Linda, Michèle and Shirley.  Beth had some very nice cheese, olives and a pâté.

This month we discussed Shirley's book A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay.  Mr. Kay is a Canadian author born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. He worked a year with Christopher Tolkien to help edit J.R.R. Tolkien's unpublished works.  He also worked as a writer for the CBC radio series The Scales of Justice.  His first book, The Summer Tree, was published in 1984. He is considered a fantasy fiction writer of novels that have a historical aspect.  They are usually in fictional settings  that resemble real places such as in China, Italy, Spain or Turkey taking place during real historical periods.

A Brightness Long Ago tells the story of a power struggle between mercenaries to take over the Court in fictional Batiara after the murder of its brutal ruler by a young strong woman, Adria.  The Beast as he is called, has young women brought to him that he rapes and kills.  Adria has decided to end his rule by posing as his next victim and kills him by poison from her lips.  The story is told by a merchant of the Court, Danio Cerra who helps Adria escape after she poisons the Beast and finds himself in the middle of the struggle to take over the Court.

For several of our members this was their first fantasy novel and many found it very interesting.  We all found the characters to be well developed and the writing lyrical and poetic at times.  There were several characters both major and minor, all well described and developed.  The only character some thought we did not get to know was the narrator Danio. Some thought there were too many descriptions of battles and the slaughter of people.  We also had a discussion about how and when the story should have ended, some of us thinking that the death of Adria should have been the end.  One of our members, who is an avid reader of Guy Gavriel Kay, felt that ending the story at that point would be too devastating and dramatic.  We agreed, whatever our opinions of the book, that Mr. Kay is an excellent storyteller.

As with many books where opinions differ, we had a great discussion.  Thank you Shirley for introducing us to this very interesting Canadian author.

Books and Meetings 2020

This list will be updated as members choose their books.

Monday January 27th - Carla's choice, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, Marg hosting.

Monday February 24th -  Betty's choice, Educated by Tara Westover, Janet hosting.

Monday March 23rd - Janet's choice, Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson by Mark Bourrie, Carla hosting.

Monday April 27th -  Marg's choice, And Then There Were Nuns by Jane Christmas, Jane hosting.

Monday May 25th -  Linda's choice, The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman, Shirley hosting.

Monday June 22nd - Beth's choice, The Rosie Result, by Graeme Simseon, Linda hosting.

Monday September 28th - Colette's choice, Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple,  Michèle hosting

Monday October 26th - Jane's choice,  Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice, Betty hosting

Monday November 23rd - Shirley's choice, The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish, Beth hosting.

Starlight by Richard Wagamese - October 28, 2019

Our October meeting was hosted by Shirley. Present were Betty, Colette, Jane, Janet, Linda, Marg, Michèle and of course, Shirley.  As usual we ate very well. Shirley presented us with a menu inspired by the three sisters of the Fall Harvest,  pickled green beans enrobed in prosciutto, a wonderful corn and cheese dip with corn chips, and for dessert, a pumpkin (squash) & carrot cake with a divine cream cheese icing!  Of course wine and tea were also served.

This month we discussed Jane's book choice Starlight by Richard Wagamese.  He was a Canadian Ojibwe author and journalist.  He wrote several novels and books that could be considered as memoirs or books reflecting on life.  His most noted novel is Indian Horse which was adapted to film.  Starlight was his last novel, a continuation of Medicine Walk that we read in 2014.  Richard Wagamese died in March 2017 before finishing Starlight. His literary agent and the publisher McLelland & Stewart, opted to publish with little editing and as is unfinished,  the story ends abruptly, letting the reader wondering what happened.

As Medicine Walk, everyone loved the book.  We found his writing poetic, descriptive and strangely calming and touching.  Many of us did not want the book to end, slowing our reading down so it would last longer.  A continuation of Medicine Walk, the old man has died and left his farm to the young boy he raised, Frank Starlight.  Frank has hired a man, Roth, to help on the farm and they become friends.  We meet Emmy and her daughter Winnie when Frank rescues them in town and brings them home to live with him.

Frank has become a well-known photographer. At the beginning of the book he describes Frank Starlight's night outing to photograph a pack of wolves.  His description of Frank running with the wolves leaves us breathless.

He ran easily. Like a wolf. He bent closer to the ground and loped, the slide of his feet skimming through the low-lying brush without a sound, and when he found the pace of the pack he angled off through the trees and took a parallel tack to them, keep them on his right and dodging the pine and spruce easily, his night eyes sharpened by use. He ran with them, the scuttling pace easy after the first three hundred yards. (page17)

The main characters, Frank himself who we knew from Medicine Walk, Emmy and Roth are well developed, we easily understand the relationship between them.  Cadotte, the man Emmy was running from gives us shivers, "He was a brute and he simmered in a palpable silence and stillness that could fill a room with its sweeping malevolence." (page 11)

None of us found the abrupt ending disappointing.  We could each of us, imagine how it ended and thinking back to Mr. Wagamese's other novels, it is likely that the story ended well.  We are all sad that no other novels will come from this wonderful storyteller and writer.

Macmillan Publishers embargo on eBooks

In response to recent coverage of Macmillan Publishers eBook embargo for libraries, it’s important to recognize the impact on libraries like ours, the Ottawa Public Library, which serves almost 238,000 active members in our community. 

Digital content is fast becoming the preferred - or only - access to books for many readers. A single copy of a new title in eBook format for a period of two months is not sufficient nor is it acceptable. In some instances, this embargo will force readers to wait a year or more to borrow an eBook.  

Readers and other Book Clubs are invited to join us in urging Macmillan to reverse their new policy by joining the #eBooksForAll campaign.  Visit ebooksforall.org to ensure access to information and content for all here in the Ottawa area.

Libraries bring together authors, publishers, teachers, and readers for the purpose of boosting knowledge, creativity, literacy, ideas, and imagination.  We need more people reading, not barriers that limit access. 

Muse & Views BookClub

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - September 23rd 2019

Our September meeting was hosted by Linda. We spent a wonderful half hour catching up on our activities over the summer. Present were Beth, Betty, Carla, Colette, Janet, Linda, Marg, Michèle and Shirley.  There was a nice variety of cheese, sausage and crackers along with of course, wine, coffee and tea and Linda had two types of cheesecake!

This month we discussed Colette's book choice, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, a classic detective mystery. Dashiell Hammett is often considered as the "dean" of hard-boiled detective fiction. He began writing when he worked for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.  He wrote not only novels, but also short stories and was a screenwriter.  He was a political activist and did prison time for refusing to name members of the communist party.

Most members enjoyed the book.  The Maltese Falcon was originally published as a serial in the magazine The Black Mask.  Sam Spade the main character and detective re-appeared in lesser known novels but became well known when the movie came out and Humphrey Bogart played Sam Spade. The style of the book read very much like a a script.  There is considerable description of the environment, what rooms look like, the style of a car, the clothes characters wore, how they held a cigarette, how they wore a hat.  There is very little about the thoughts or emotions of the characters themselves.

A couple of our members did not enjoy the book as much and though it was published in 1931, felt that women were type cast and not at all equal to the male characters.

Members however, appreciated reading a classic detective story giving us some context for more modern novels of the same nature.  

Requiem by Frances Itani - June 24th, 2019

The June meeting was hosted by Michèle.  Present were Beth, Betty, Colette, Jane, Janet, Linda, Shirley, Marg and Michèle.  Spicy cold cuts, cheese, a fig and walnut spread were served and Michèle made hot cross buns as was served at the family picnic in the novel.  Of course wine, coffee and tea were also offered.

We discussed Linda's book choice Requiem by Frances Itani.  Our meeting began with a FaceTime session with Ms. Itani who lives in Ottawa.  We had a wonderful discussion with her about the research she did for this book.  We were surprised to learn that she interviewed several Japanese Canadians who were forced to leave their homes and businesses on the British Columbia coast but she did not interview her husband's family.  Ms Itani does not allow anyone to read her books until they are sent to her editor.  Walking around her office with her computer she showed us the project boards of the two books that she is presently writing, not enough for us to see much about the books. She did tell us that one is an historical novel and the other is set in the present.  We are looking forward to reading her new books!

We asked why she had chosen Beethoven's music for the novel and she told us she had discussed it with her son who is a member of the Danish Symphony Orchestra.  Since the Japanese internment into camps was complete chaos, the loss of their homes and businesses, the lack of proper shelter in the camps, her son felt that Beethoven music was the best choice.

After our discussion with Ms Itani we shared our opinions of the novel Requiem.  It was well loved. Everyone enjoyed the book and as her other books that we have read, the writing is beautiful.  Itani's descriptions of the camps and how the people coped and survived is very visual. It is easy to imagine the shacks that they built, how they filled in the cracks, the gardens they created to help feed themselves and to give the community some revenue.  The community spirit that lived within the confines of the camp was palatable in her descriptions.

 The main character Bin Okuma is an artist with a love of classical music, especially Beethoven.  After the sudden death of his wife Lena, he decides to drive out to British Columbia to visit the site of the internment camp where he spent a part of his childhood and to visit "first father" with whom he has had little contact since his childhood in the camps.  As he drives, his thoughts go from his childhood in the camp and his life once they are freed with Okuma-san his second father and his adult life as an artist with Lena and their son Greg.  Even though the story alternates from the time period of the camps to the present, it is easy to follow.  The descriptions of the life in the camps are Bin's memories flooding back into his mind as he drives towards the site of the camps and the reunion with "first father".  It is a well crafted book, well worth the read.

Thank you Linda for this wonderful choice.

Lands of Lost Borders by Kate Harris - May 27th 2019

Our May meeting was hosted by Betty.  Present were Betty, Carla, Colette, Jane, Linda, Marg, Michèle and Shirley.  Betty served a nice array of cheese and crackers, olives, pepperettes and of course wine, coffee and tea.

We discussed Carla's book choice, a memoir, Lands of Lost Borders by Kate Harris.  Ms. Harris is a young Canadian writer and "wanderer" as she calls herself.  She is originally from Ontario and presently lives off the grid on the border between the Yukon and British Columbia.  She studied sciences and the history of science in Canada, Great Britain as a Rhodes Scholar and in the United States.  She abandoned her Ph.D. studies at M.I.T. to cycle the Silk Road with a childhood friend Mel Yule. The book chronicles their voyage that lasted almost a year.  Beginning in Turkey they travelled through Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China, Nepal and India.  At the beginning of the book she describes her childhood with her family and her goal to eventually visit Mars.  She is well read, quotes philosophers and well-known writers and historians.

She received many honours and prizes for Lands of Lost Borders including the most prestigious Canadian prize for non-fiction the RBC-Taylor Prize in 2019.  She was a Rhodes scholar and a recipient of the Morehead-Cain Scholarship, an American version of the Rhodes Scholarship.

The reviews were definitely mixed.  Many found that her writing, descriptions and stories of this adventure were very introspective.  She wrote a lot about how she felt, how she experienced the journey.  Though she rode with her childhood friend Mel Yule, we do not come to know Mel well.  She does not go into great detail in describing the families that helped them along the way, those who allowed them to pitch their tent on their property or actually sleep and eat with them.

However her descriptions of how she lived this adventure, her descriptions of the terrain, the problems they encountered are very vivid and easy to understand.  Certainly for us as women of a certain age and family status, the adventures she described and her enthusiasm for them is very foreign to us.  Not many if any of us have dreamt of an adventure of this magnitude!

There are lots of photos and videos on her website Kate Harris that help us visualize what she described.

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin - April 29, 2019

Our April meeting was hosted by Jane.  Present were Beth, Carla, Colette, Jane, Janet, Linda, Michèle and Shirley.  Jane had a very nice variety of cheeses, parmesan crusted cold cuts, her great pickled veggies and baguette stuffed with olives.  In honour of Tish's given name, Jane made a Clementine cake that was quite wonderful.  As usual red and white wine was served and tea.  

We discussed Beth's book choice If Beale Street Could Talk written by the American author James Baldwin.  Mr. Baldwin, having had a difficult childhood growing up in Harlem with a demanding step-father and multiple siblings escaped his family life when he could, going to Greenwich Village where he met artists and writers.  He wrote several short stories and published his first book Go Tell it on the Mountain in 1953 when he was 29 years old.  This first book was semi-autobiographical and referred to religion and life as a black person in Harlem.  Mr. Baldwin published over 20 books, novels, essays and plays,  He was also well known as an activist travelling back to the United States from France where he lived for several years, to participate in activities of the civil rights movement.  He was well known and considered an important American author.

If Beale Street Could Talk was published in 1974 and is the love story of Fonny and Tish. Fonny is falsely accused of rape and finds himself in jail as Tish waits for the birth of their first child.  Strong family ties and the love between the young couple and their family allow them to survive even though racism flourishes in New York and leaves Fonny jailed and his family desperately trying to find hard, believable evidence to free him.  There is despair and rage in the writing of this novel but there is also love and hope.

Everyone liked this book, found the story beautiful but emotionally raw.  Many found that the story tore at their soul, showed us how injustice was prevalent in the U.S. and still is.  We also discussed how, though more hidden and less reported, such injustices existed in our own country, notably in Nova Scotia's Africville in the 1900's and now in many areas of our large cities such as Toronto.  We also talked about the injustices towards our own indigenous people.

The ending is ambiguous.  We are not sure if Fonny is set free or has to stay in jail.  It is an ambiguity that mirrors life in the black community.

Thank you Beth for a great book choice that brought a lot of discussion and reflection.  We also talked about the differences between the book and the movie that came out in 2018.