Book Reports

As promised some weeks ago here's a synopsis of our last book club meeting when we discussed W. Faulkner's 'Absalom, Absalom'. ( I had seriously considered not going and staying in bed all day to nurse a vile flu bug but I rallied because a) I was so curious to hear what my friends thought about this incomprehensible novel, and b) the hostess had made a birthday cake in my honour and it would have been rude not to show up.) Anyway, the results:

Three out of eight women didn't get past page one, one member quit, not because of the book, so she said, ( hm-m-m ) three of us who had slogged through it were still confused and had found it a frustrating read. The person who'd suggested the title had to admit that she'd read it at university years ago but even with that advantage she couldn't enlighten us any further.

I'm not saying it's a lousy book, just a very obscure one.

Our next title is Steig Larsson's 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and I found it the perfect antidote to the rigours of 'Absalom, Absalom". I was glad to have had the excuse of the flu to stay in bed and read it through guilt-free. It's that kind of book, a page-turner and a completely accessable escapist read, though not without big issues to discuss. I'm the host for this one and am looking forward to it.