Booklovers
We started Booklovers because we wanted to talk about the books we’ve been reading and to introduce those we’ve enjoyed to others.
We each take turn to speak about our chosen book and this invariably leads to discussion of broader topics. Four times a year we agree on a shared title to maintain the value of close reading and to hear each other’s interpretations of different aspects of those works.
We are a friendly group of people, meeting on the third Thursday of each month in a member’s home. You’ll find you’re never short of ideas for a new book to read and we warmly welcome others to join us.
For further details, please contact Christine Roberts.
For upcoming meetings, please visit our events page.
We each take turn to speak about our chosen book and this invariably leads to discussion of broader topics. Four times a year we agree on a shared title to maintain the value of close reading and to hear each other’s interpretations of different aspects of those works.
We are a friendly group of people, meeting on the third Thursday of each month in a member’s home. You’ll find you’re never short of ideas for a new book to read and we warmly welcome others to join us.
For further details, please contact Christine Roberts.
For upcoming meetings, please visit our events page.
Notes from the Booklovers Meeting Held on 18th January 2019
Present: Sue, Mary, Denise, Christine
Mary read: The Africa House by Christina Lamb (1999)
Mary found this a fascinating read which describes the building of a country estate based on the finest anyone could find in England in a remote part of Northern Rhodesia. The man behind this enterprise was Sir Steward Gore-Browne and the house is called Shiwa Ngandu. As a child he had accompanied his aunt to various parts of England and Europe to beautiful castles and villas of which he made detailed drawings. At the end of the First World War where Gore brown achieved the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel he returned to his African estate and re-embarked on his grand plans. The book tells of the trials and tribulations of working with people who had no experience of this type of building. He also ran the farm. The funding for this project mainly came from his Aunt and Uncle who lived at Brooklands in Surrey. He also became much involved in the politics of the region and was the only white man who had ever been given a state funeral.
Many famous people came and went to Shiwa Ngandu flying into its own airstrip and enjoying Gore-Browne’s generous hospitality. These include Denys Finch Hatton (Karen Blixen’s lover), David Sterling who founded the SAS, Lady Astor, Elspeth Huxley. Eventually the estate fell into disrepair as did Zambia which became the world’s most indebted nation. Gore-Browne’s grandson are still struggling to make a commercial success of Shiwa Ngandu as a tourist attraction. Mary has connections with Zambia through her step sister and brother in law and one of Gore-Browne’s grandsons still lives there.
Christina Lamb OBE is a British journalist and author. She is the chief foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times. Lamb the has won fourteen major awards including four British Press Awards and the European Prix Bayeux-Calvados for war correspondents.
Sue read: A Closed Eye by Anita Brookner (1991)
Sue found this book ‘depressing’ dealing as it does with a sad, lonely, depressed heroine, Harriet. She has survived a barren childhood with parents who were not warm to her and who marries an older man a friend of her father’s only to find that the marriage ‘having begun so rapturously, had ended in disappointment.’ Her friend Tessa marries Jack who when introduced to Harriet wakens in her a desire for something outside the bounds of her stoic existence.
Tessa and Jack have a daughter, Lizzie, and Harriet a daughter Imogen. These two are opposites rather in the way that Harriet and Tessa are. Lizzie becomes reclusive and socially ill at ease whereas Imogen is selfish, willful, indulged, and domineering. Harriet admires Lizzie who is a different version of whom Harriet could have become. Someone who knows herself and finds a purpose for her quietness, her desire to remain apart, her love of books, and her talent to observe. The book plays with these opposites. The ‘Closed Eye’ of the title is from Henry James and the phrase could allude to a combination of some innocence and also subtle self-deception which are the essential features of Harriet’s personality. Sue felt she knew more about Anita Brookner having read this book but was not totally convinced that she is an author for her.
Denise read: Listening to Animals: Becoming the Supervet by Professor Noel Fitzpatrick (2018)
Denise was gripped by this autobiography of the celebrity veterinary surgeon and star of the television series The Supervet. It recounts his journey from his birth in 1967 in rural Ireland where he grew up on a farm and tended the animals from an early age to the present day where he expounds his vision of a future where One Medicine serves the needs of humans and animals alike and believes that the bond between animals and humans can make us the very best we can be. He just wants to make humans better animals. He is trying to do this through his charity The Humanimal Trust. Alongside this vision and his practical work the book gives a deep insight into his life story and how he became who he is today. As a child, having won a place at a private school, he felt out of place and was submitted to appalling physical and mental bullying which instilled in him a sense of uselessness. At home his parents were not close and the family believed that you should not get above yourself. However, he was determined to do better and, sustained by his love for the animals, especially his sheepdog Pirate, he ‘studied his socks off’, barely sleeping and remaining extremely focused. As a result he achieved enormous success around the world as a neuro-veterinary surgeon and one who takes on the most challenging cases at his practice FitzPatrick Referrals in Surrey.
As well as the insights into his internal life, he also gives many examples of the fascinating and ground breaking procedures and surgeries that have prolonged and improved the lives of so many animals, as featured on the TV show.
Christine read: Candide by Voltaire (1758)
Christine, in despair at the current state of the nation and indeed the world, returned to this classic which she had read in her youth (a ‘conte philosophique’ as the French call it). The novel essentially deals with the problem of suffering and why ‘in this best of all possible worlds’ mankind is so evil and such terrible disasters both man-made and natural occur. The book is satirizing the prevailing philosophy of the time (based on Leibnitz’s works though mainly through false interpretations of these) as one of extreme optimism believing that evil is necessary in order for good things to happen. It’s an extremely witty romp around the world of young Candide who having been expelled from the estate in Schleswig-Holstein for dallying with the daughter of the Master, Cunegonde. He leaves with his tutor and philosopher Pangloss travelling through Western Europe and witnessing the earthquake in Lisbon where Pangloss is hanged and where Cunegone’s brother is killed by Candide. He then flees to Buenos Aires with Cunegonde who is snatched from him by a wily duke, and gradually travels around the continent including to Eldorado where gold and precious jewels are readily available but spurned by the local population as bering unnecessary to their well-being. Candide and his valet Cacambo at this point leave Eldorado with untold millions (carried by sheep!) and gradually dispose of this money due to careless generosity. Hearing that Cunegonde is in Venice, Candide despatches Cacambo to find her there and continues his travels via Paris and, briefly England. Many contemporary historical events form the background to the novel and Candide records the execution of Admiral Byng in Portsmouth for his ineptitude in battle, an event which gives rise to the famous expression ‘pour encourager les autres’ (i.e. the reason Britain finds it necessary to shoot Admirals from time to time.) After a long period and meeting up, surprisingly with the supposedly hanged Dr Pangloss and Cunegonde’s brother who survived his attempted murder, Candide has now a new philosophical mentor Martin. By now Cunegonde is old and ugly but Candide marries her regardless, staying true to his promise. After consulting a dervish in Istanbul why Man is made to suffer so, and what they all ought to do. The dervish responds by asking rhetorically why Candide is concerned about the existence of evil and good. Returning to their farm, Candide, Pangloss, and Martin meet a Turk whose philosophy is to devote his life only to simple work and not concern himself with external affairs. He and his four children cultivate a small area of land, and the work keeps them "free of three great evils: boredom, vice, and poverty. Candide, Pangloss, Martin, Cunégonde, Paquette, Cacambo, the old woman, and Brother Giroflée all set to work on this "commendable plan” on their farm, each exercising his or her own talents. Candide ignores Pangloss's insistence that all turned out for the best by necessity, instead telling him "we must cultivate our garden" (il faut cultiver notre jardin).
Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers. Through Candide, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism. Christine found this a spirited and enjoyable novel, just right for reading through these dark times.
Mary read: The Africa House by Christina Lamb (1999)
Mary found this a fascinating read which describes the building of a country estate based on the finest anyone could find in England in a remote part of Northern Rhodesia. The man behind this enterprise was Sir Steward Gore-Browne and the house is called Shiwa Ngandu. As a child he had accompanied his aunt to various parts of England and Europe to beautiful castles and villas of which he made detailed drawings. At the end of the First World War where Gore brown achieved the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel he returned to his African estate and re-embarked on his grand plans. The book tells of the trials and tribulations of working with people who had no experience of this type of building. He also ran the farm. The funding for this project mainly came from his Aunt and Uncle who lived at Brooklands in Surrey. He also became much involved in the politics of the region and was the only white man who had ever been given a state funeral.
Many famous people came and went to Shiwa Ngandu flying into its own airstrip and enjoying Gore-Browne’s generous hospitality. These include Denys Finch Hatton (Karen Blixen’s lover), David Sterling who founded the SAS, Lady Astor, Elspeth Huxley. Eventually the estate fell into disrepair as did Zambia which became the world’s most indebted nation. Gore-Browne’s grandson are still struggling to make a commercial success of Shiwa Ngandu as a tourist attraction. Mary has connections with Zambia through her step sister and brother in law and one of Gore-Browne’s grandsons still lives there.
Christina Lamb OBE is a British journalist and author. She is the chief foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times. Lamb the has won fourteen major awards including four British Press Awards and the European Prix Bayeux-Calvados for war correspondents.
Sue read: A Closed Eye by Anita Brookner (1991)
Sue found this book ‘depressing’ dealing as it does with a sad, lonely, depressed heroine, Harriet. She has survived a barren childhood with parents who were not warm to her and who marries an older man a friend of her father’s only to find that the marriage ‘having begun so rapturously, had ended in disappointment.’ Her friend Tessa marries Jack who when introduced to Harriet wakens in her a desire for something outside the bounds of her stoic existence.
Tessa and Jack have a daughter, Lizzie, and Harriet a daughter Imogen. These two are opposites rather in the way that Harriet and Tessa are. Lizzie becomes reclusive and socially ill at ease whereas Imogen is selfish, willful, indulged, and domineering. Harriet admires Lizzie who is a different version of whom Harriet could have become. Someone who knows herself and finds a purpose for her quietness, her desire to remain apart, her love of books, and her talent to observe. The book plays with these opposites. The ‘Closed Eye’ of the title is from Henry James and the phrase could allude to a combination of some innocence and also subtle self-deception which are the essential features of Harriet’s personality. Sue felt she knew more about Anita Brookner having read this book but was not totally convinced that she is an author for her.
Denise read: Listening to Animals: Becoming the Supervet by Professor Noel Fitzpatrick (2018)
Denise was gripped by this autobiography of the celebrity veterinary surgeon and star of the television series The Supervet. It recounts his journey from his birth in 1967 in rural Ireland where he grew up on a farm and tended the animals from an early age to the present day where he expounds his vision of a future where One Medicine serves the needs of humans and animals alike and believes that the bond between animals and humans can make us the very best we can be. He just wants to make humans better animals. He is trying to do this through his charity The Humanimal Trust. Alongside this vision and his practical work the book gives a deep insight into his life story and how he became who he is today. As a child, having won a place at a private school, he felt out of place and was submitted to appalling physical and mental bullying which instilled in him a sense of uselessness. At home his parents were not close and the family believed that you should not get above yourself. However, he was determined to do better and, sustained by his love for the animals, especially his sheepdog Pirate, he ‘studied his socks off’, barely sleeping and remaining extremely focused. As a result he achieved enormous success around the world as a neuro-veterinary surgeon and one who takes on the most challenging cases at his practice FitzPatrick Referrals in Surrey.
As well as the insights into his internal life, he also gives many examples of the fascinating and ground breaking procedures and surgeries that have prolonged and improved the lives of so many animals, as featured on the TV show.
Christine read: Candide by Voltaire (1758)
Christine, in despair at the current state of the nation and indeed the world, returned to this classic which she had read in her youth (a ‘conte philosophique’ as the French call it). The novel essentially deals with the problem of suffering and why ‘in this best of all possible worlds’ mankind is so evil and such terrible disasters both man-made and natural occur. The book is satirizing the prevailing philosophy of the time (based on Leibnitz’s works though mainly through false interpretations of these) as one of extreme optimism believing that evil is necessary in order for good things to happen. It’s an extremely witty romp around the world of young Candide who having been expelled from the estate in Schleswig-Holstein for dallying with the daughter of the Master, Cunegonde. He leaves with his tutor and philosopher Pangloss travelling through Western Europe and witnessing the earthquake in Lisbon where Pangloss is hanged and where Cunegone’s brother is killed by Candide. He then flees to Buenos Aires with Cunegonde who is snatched from him by a wily duke, and gradually travels around the continent including to Eldorado where gold and precious jewels are readily available but spurned by the local population as bering unnecessary to their well-being. Candide and his valet Cacambo at this point leave Eldorado with untold millions (carried by sheep!) and gradually dispose of this money due to careless generosity. Hearing that Cunegonde is in Venice, Candide despatches Cacambo to find her there and continues his travels via Paris and, briefly England. Many contemporary historical events form the background to the novel and Candide records the execution of Admiral Byng in Portsmouth for his ineptitude in battle, an event which gives rise to the famous expression ‘pour encourager les autres’ (i.e. the reason Britain finds it necessary to shoot Admirals from time to time.) After a long period and meeting up, surprisingly with the supposedly hanged Dr Pangloss and Cunegonde’s brother who survived his attempted murder, Candide has now a new philosophical mentor Martin. By now Cunegonde is old and ugly but Candide marries her regardless, staying true to his promise. After consulting a dervish in Istanbul why Man is made to suffer so, and what they all ought to do. The dervish responds by asking rhetorically why Candide is concerned about the existence of evil and good. Returning to their farm, Candide, Pangloss, and Martin meet a Turk whose philosophy is to devote his life only to simple work and not concern himself with external affairs. He and his four children cultivate a small area of land, and the work keeps them "free of three great evils: boredom, vice, and poverty. Candide, Pangloss, Martin, Cunégonde, Paquette, Cacambo, the old woman, and Brother Giroflée all set to work on this "commendable plan” on their farm, each exercising his or her own talents. Candide ignores Pangloss's insistence that all turned out for the best by necessity, instead telling him "we must cultivate our garden" (il faut cultiver notre jardin).
Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers. Through Candide, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism. Christine found this a spirited and enjoyable novel, just right for reading through these dark times.
Read the notes from previous sessions here.
