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Bookclub

Here we are by graham Swift zoom le 12/03/2021 à 00:12

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/feb/27/here-we-are-by-graham-swift-review

Bookclub

'When the Crawdads Sing' by Delia Owens zoom le 22/01/2021 à 12:15

Discussion about 'When the crawdads sing'.For the zoom link please contact shan.williams@u-picardie.fr
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her.

But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life's lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world–until the unthinkable happens.

In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.

Bookclub

Pursuit by Joyce Carol Oates zoom le 20/11/2020 à 12:15

To participate contact shan.williams@u-picardie.fr for the zoom link

As a child, Abby had the same recurring nightmare night after night, in which she wandered through a field ridden with human skulls and bones. Now an adult, Abby thinks she's outgrown her demons, until, the evening before her wedding, the terrible dream returns and forces her to confront the dark secrets from her past she has kept from her new husband, Willem. The following day--less than 24 hours after exchanging vows--Abby steps out into traffic. As his wife lies in her hospital bed, sleeping in fits and starts, Willem tries to determine whether this was an absentminded accident or a premeditated plunge, and he quickly discovers a mysterious set of clues about what his wife might be hiding. Why, for example is there a rash-like red mark circling her wrist? What does she dream about that causes her to wake from the sound of her own screams?



Slowly, Abby begins to open up to her husband, revealing to him what she has never shared with anyone before--the story of a terrified mother; a jealous, drug addled father; and a daughter's terrifying captivity.



With a suspenseful, alternating narrative that travels between the present and Abby's tortured childhood, The Pursuit is a meticulously crafted, deeply disquieting tale that showcases Oates's masterful storytelling.

Bookclub

Middle England or Le coeur de l'Angleterre by Jona Staps Language Lab le 14/02/2020 à 12:15

Middle England
CATEGORY: Fiction
Following the publication of Number 11 in November 2015, I was uncertain what to write next. But seeing Richard Cameron’s stage adaptation of The Rotters’ Club at the Birmingham Rep a few months later made me start thinking once more about Benjamin Trotter and his schoolboy friends, who would now be approaching their mid-fifties. I liked the idea of writing about them again, but couldn’t think of a story strong enough. Then, on June 23rd, 2016, the British people voted to leave the European Union. I knew that I wanted to write something which would trace the undercurrents of anger and division leading up to this momentous decision, and it seemed inevitable that Benjamin, Doug, Lois et al should be the ones to help me in the task.
At the same time, I was aware that twelve years had gone by since publication of The Closed Circle, and there would not be too many readers who remembered the previous books well enough to be ready to plunge into a sequel. So I was determined to write Middle England in such a way that no prior knowledge of the characters was necessary.
In any case, I wanted to focus mainly on the younger characters: in particular Sophie, Benjamin’s niece, and her husband Ian. Telling the story of a young couple who disagree about almost everything but must nevertheless find a mode of living together seemed an obvious way to dramatise the fault-lines running through modern British society.
Unlike most of my previous novels, Middle England does not really have a ‘plot’: it merely follows the outlines of recent British history – beginning with the election of the coalition government in 2010, ending in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum – and finds parallels between all the major, landmark events and developments in the personal and family lives of its disparate characters. This made it an easier and more relaxed book to write than many of its predecessors, and I finished it quickly, in about ten months. Re-acquainting myself with Benjamin and the others was like meeting old friends after a long absence, and I hope that readers share the same feeling.

Bookclub

Forest Dark Nicole Krauss Staps language laboratory le 20/12/2019 à 12:15

Lucid and exhilarating ... A great gift (New York Times)

Forest Dark tantalizes and compels ... This is as original and impressive a work of fiction as I have encountered in years; a welcome reminder of how a novel can be defiantly and brilliantly novel (Douglas Kennedy New Statesman 2017-09-22)

This dazzling dual-narrative novel is a fascinating meditation on fiction itself . Forest Dark finds Krauss at the top of her game. It is blazingly intelligent, elegantly written and a remarkable achievement (Emily St John Mandel Guardian)

A richly layered masterpiece; creative, profound, insightful, deeply serious, effortlessly elegant, both human and humane. Krauss is a poet and a philosopher, and this latest work does what only the very best fiction can do - startles, challenges and enlightens the reader, while showing the familiar world anew . to get lost in Forest Dark is to wonder. It is a pleasure and a privilege to read (Francesca Segal Financial Times)

A meditation on loss and transformation and an investigation of the mysteries of art and literature and family (Erica Wagner Observer)

Krauss writes with lyricism and mystery, but isn't above the odd cutting observational detail (Susie Rushton Vogue, 'Summer Reading')

Krauss is indeed a highly serious writer and also a very brilliant one . The prose is flawless ... Forest Dark is accomplished, generous and uLucid and exhilarating ... A great gift (New York Times)

Forest Dark tantalizes and compels ... This is as original and impressive a work of fiction as I have encountered in years; a welcome reminder of how a novel can be defiantly and brilliantly novel (Douglas Kennedy New Statesman 2017-09-22)

This dazzling dual-narrative novel is a fascinating meditation on fiction itself . Forest Dark finds Krauss at the top of her game. It is blazingly intelligent, elegantly written and a remarkable achievement (Emily St John Mandel Guardian)

A richly layered masterpiece; creative, profound, insightful, deeply serious, effortlessly elegant, both human and humane. Krauss is a poet and a philosopher, and this latest work does what only the very best fiction can do - startles, challenges and enlightens the reader, while showing the familiar world anew . to get lost in Forest Dark is to wonder. It is a pleasure and a privilege to read (Francesca Segal Financial Times)

A meditation on loss and transformation and an investigation of the mysteries of art and literature and family (Erica Wagner Observer)

Krauss writes with lyricism and mystery, but isn't above the odd cutting observational detail (Susie Rushton Vogue, 'Summer Reading')

Krauss is indeed a highly serious writer and also a very brilliant one . The prose is flawless ... Forest Dark is accomplished, generous and unabashedly serious (Cressida Connolly Literary Review)

A brilliant novel. I am full of admiration (Philip Roth)

Forest Dark shares much in common with Philip Roth's writing. Philosophical and intellectual, it explores identity, culture and the connections between the individual and history (Hannah Beckerman Sunday Express)

Krauss's elegant, provocative, and mesmerising novel is her best yet. Rich in profound insights and emotional resonance, it follows two characters on their paths to self-realisation . Nicole's conversations with Friedman and Epstein's with Klausner about God and the creation of the world are bracingly intellectual and metaphysical. Vivid, intelligent, and often humorous, this novel is a fascinating tour de force (Publishers Weekly) nabashedly serious (Cressida Connolly Literary Review)

A brilliant novel. I am full of admiration (Philip Roth)

Forest Dark shares much in common with Philip Roth's writing. Philosophical and intellectual, it explores identity, culture and the connections between the individual and history (Hannah Beckerman Sunday Express)

Krauss's elegant, provocative, and mesmerising novel is her best yet. Rich in profound insights and emotional resonance, it follows two characters on their paths to self-realisation . Nicole's conversations with Friedman and Epstein's with Klausner about God and the creation of the world are bracingly intellectual and metaphysical. Vivid, intelligent, and often humorous, this novel is a fascinating tour de force (Publishers Weekly)

Bookclub

Discussion 'Unsheltered' by Barbara Kingsolver Staps language laboratory le 17/10/2019 à 12:15

2016 Vineland
Meet Willa Knox, a woman who stands braced against an upended world that seems to hold no mercy for her shattered life and family - or the crumbling house that contains her.
1871 Vineland
Thatcher Greenwood, the new science teacher, is a fervent advocate of the work of Charles Darwin, and he is keen to communicate his ideas to his students. But those in power in Thatcher's small town have no desire for a new world order. Thatcher and his teachings are not welcome.
Both Willa and Thatcher resist the prevailing logic. Both are asked to pay a high price for their courage. But both also find inspiration -- and an unlikely kindred spirit -- in Mary Treat, a scientist, adventurer and anachronism.
A testament to both the resilience and persistent myopia of the human condition, Unsheltered explores the foundations we build in life, spanning time and place to give us all a clearer look at those around us, and perhaps ourselves. It is a novel that speaks truly to our times.

Recent books

Discussion Staps language laboratory le 27/09/2019 à 12:00

]List of books discussed 2018-19


Sing Unburied Sing Jesmyn Ward
Mrs Osmond John Banville
The Namesake Juhmpa Lahri
The Bookshop Penelope Fitzgerald

Bookclub

Discussion 'The other Hoffmann sister by Ben Fergu Staps Language Lab le 25/05/2018 à 12:15

The Other Hoffmann Sister
by Ben Fergusson
Shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2015, Ben Fergusson's critically acclaimed debut, The Spring of Kasper Meier, was the winner of the Betty Trask Prize 2015 and the HWA 2015 Debut Crown Award. The Other Hoffmann Sister is a gripping, evocative read about two sisters set in pre-WW1 Germany which will appeal to fans of The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry.

For Ingrid Hoffmann the story of her sister's disappearance began in their first weeks in Southwest Africa...

Ingrid Hoffmann has always felt responsible for her sister Margarete and when their family moves to German Southwest Africa in 1902, her anxieties only increase. The casual racism that pervades the German community, the strange relationship between her parents and Baron von Ketz, from whom they bought their land, and the tension with the local tribes all culminate in tragedy when Baron von Ketz is savagely murdered. Baroness von Ketz and their son, Emil, flee with the Hoffmanns as the Baron's attackers burn down the family's farm.

Both families return to Berlin and Ingrid's concerns about Margarete are assuaged when she and Emil von Ketz become engaged on the eve of the First World War. But Margarete disappears on her wedding night at the von Ketz's country house. The mystery of what happened to her sister haunts Ingrid, but as Europe descends into chaos, her hope of discovering the truth becomes ever more distant.

After the war, in the midst of the revolution that brings down the Kaiser and wipes out the aristocracy that her family married into, Ingrid returns to the von Ketzes' crumbling estate determined to find out what really happened to her sister.

Bookclub

The Past by Tessa Hadley Staps Language Lab le 16/03/2018 à 12:15

"In her patient, unobtrusive, almost self-effacing way, Tessa Hadley has become one of this country’s great contemporary novelists. She is equipped with an armoury of techniques and skills that may yet secure her a position as the greatest of them. Consider all the things she can do. She writes brilliantly about families and their capacity for splintering. She is a remarkable and sensuous noticer of the natural world. She handles the passing of time with a magician’s finesse. She is possessed of a psychological subtlety reminiscent of Henry James, and an ironic beadiness worthy of Jane Austen. To cap it all, she is dryly, deftly humorous. Is that enough to be going on with?

The Past by Tessa Hadley
It is the story of a family and a three-week summer holiday in the house they have inherited, beneath whose affable surface run deep currents of tension. Hadley specialises in bright, brittle, defensive women with unsatisfactory love lives and a knack for self?sabotage, most notably Kate in The Master Bedroom and Stella in Clever Girl. Here she has created a Chekhovian trio of sisters who love and resent one another. Alice, the middle one, is 46, flighty, forgetful and romantic; Fran, a teacher, is practical and decisive and a mother of two young children, Ivy and Arthur; Harriet, the eldest, is independent-minded and shy, a former revolutionary in retreat from the fray. They are later joined by their brother, Roland, a pop philosopher on his third marriage, in a new white suit. Pilar, the latest wife, is one of two family outsiders, the other being Kasim, moody son of Alice’s ex-boyfriend, who takes an instant shine to Molly, Roland’s teenage daughter.

Bookclub

Never let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Staps Language Lab le 19/01/2018 à 12:15

Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro

A tale of deceptive simplicity that slowly reveals an extraordinary emotional depth and resonance – and takes its place among Kazuo Ishiguro's finest work.

From the acclaimed author of The Remains of the Day and When We Were Orphans, a moving new novel that subtly re-imagines our world and time in a haunting story of friendship and love.

As a child, Kathy–now thirty-one years old–lived at Hailsham, a private school in the scenic English countryside where the children were sheltered from the outside world, brought up to believe that they were special and that their well-being was crucial not only for themselves but for the society they would eventually enter. Kathy had long ago put this idyllic past behind her, but when two of her Hailsham friends come back into her life, she stops resisting the pull of memory.

And so, as her friendship with Ruth is rekindled, and as the feelings that long ago fueled her adolescent crush on Tommy begin to deepen into love, Kathy recalls their years at Hailsham. She describes happy scenes of boys and girls growing up together, unperturbed–even comforted–by their isolation. But she describes other scenes as well: of discord and misunderstanding that hint at a dark secret behind Hailsham's nurturing facade. With the dawning clarity of hindsight, the three friends are compelled to face the truth about their childhood–and about their lives now.

A tale of deceptive simplicity, Never Let Me Go slowly reveals an extraordinary emotional depth and resonance–and takes its place among Kazuo Ishiguro's finest work. (less)