MARCH:- Geraldine Brooks

 The topic for our March meeting was Australian author, Geraldine Brooks. While most members chose  "The People of the Book", others had read her most recent publication "Caleb's Crossing". Following are a selection of their comments.
We welcomed several new members and include their thoughts and other book recommendations.


JOAN:

Joan  wasn't 'crazy' about the book. She loved the detail about the treasure and the focus on the manuscript but couldn't stand all the other detail. She thought the author had tried to include too much.

KRIS:
Kris had similar feelings and it was the first book written by this author that she had read. She normally prefers to read non fiction so she was intrigued by the many facts and was fascinated by the Jewish prayer book.

KATE:
Kate didn't mind the book and was glad she had read it. She also made the comment that she thought that the mother got the comeuppance that she deserved.

LYN:
Lyn is a new member who liked the parallel writing of being in the present and the past. She thought the other bits of trivia and detail lightened up the story. If it had just been the history of the book, she thought she wouldn't have read it.

MARGARET:
For Margaret the book was too Jewish and she didn't understand all the connotations. She felt a bit uncomfortable with the sheer tragedy of all the stories but she loved the writing.

MERRILYN:
Due to lack of time Merrilyn had only read the first 50 and the last 20 pages, but she liked what she had read.



SHEILA:
This was the second time that Shirley had read the book and she enjoyed it more this time. From the first page, the writing was clear and you knew the author was Australian.
Shirley added to a previous comment re the Jewishness of the book: evidently the author has now become a Jew, her husband is Jewish and they live in the USA.
Returning to the book, she thought it was a 500 year mixture of fiction and fact and it was amazing that there was always someone who took it upon themselves to hide the book regardless of the tragedies that surrounded it.

PAMELA:
Pamela thought it was brilliantly plotted. She decided that the mother was very extraneous to the story.

CONNIE:
Connie was intrigued by the book and kept forgetting that the stories were fiction. She doesn't usually choose books of fiction based on history though. She added that it was like reading a series of short stories so she found it difficult to get the flow. But in the end it all came together.

KATHIE:
While others liked the combination of fact and fiction, Kathie thought it added to her confusion and raised more questions.
Where does the book belong...in Israel or Sarajevo?
Did a black Muslim woman illustrate a Jewish book?
But for Kathie the most powerful part of the book was this idea....to be a human being matters more than being a Catholic, Jew, Muslim etc.

KATE:
Kate liked the book when she first began to read it, but she soon found the 'chopping and changing' difficult to handle. Her suggestion was to have a glossary or the story to be told in chronological order.

MAREE:
Maree admitted that she hadn't allowed enough time to read the book so she started to skim read. This was not very satisfying, so she is determined to reread it, giving herself time to read it properly.

JULIA:
Julia didn't like the book and suggested it would have been helpful if she could see a picture of the Haggadah.

JO:
Jo was very  enthusiastic in her praise of the book stating that it was 'the most incredible thing out'.

JUDY & ANNE:
Having recently read "The People of the Book", both decided to read "Caleb's Crossing".

Caleb’s Crossing tells the story of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, a member of the Wampanoag tribe of Martha’s Vineyard, born around 1646 and the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Using these few facts, Geraldine Brooks has created a fictional account of his life and uses a fully fictional character Bethia Mayfield to narrate the story, based on her diaries. Several other characters are loosely based on people she came across during her research.

While they enjoyed this story both felt that "The People of the Book" was a superior read.

DIANNE:

Dianne had been absent last month and so had not read any Geraldine Brooks' books.

She has recently read Simon Winchester's The Man Who Loved China (Bomb Book and Compass) - a good read.

She also read Kate Grenville's "Sarah Thornhill" but was disappointed with it describing it as 'chick lit'.

GENEVIEVE:

A new member, Genevieve had recently read and enjoyed "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society" written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. She described it as a very sweet book, told through letters and a good holiday read.

MAGGIE:
Maggie is another new member who loves to read, devouring books in great numbers. She had previously read "The People of the Book", loving the author's craft of moving you through the complicated story.

HEATHER:
Heather was here visiting friends, and had recently discovered the author Alexander McCall Smith and especially his "44 Scotland Street" stories. These are perfect reads for traveling she said, easy to dip in and out of.

Another recommendation from Pamela: Stephen Fry's "The Book of General Ignorance (A Quite Interesting Book)" It is something you can pick up every now and again, full of interesting stuff.