Wootton Courtenay book group

Wootton Courtenay book group A community book club that meets once a month to discuss a chosen book and enjoy coffee and cake!

08/02/2024

The old man and the sea by Ernest Hemingway and chosen by Margaret Lovatt.

Margaret Lovatt opened the meeting by saying that she found it difficult to talk about the book. It was published in 1952 and Margaret thinks she must have read it fairly soon after it was released. Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. The novel tells the story of a poor Cuban fisherman's last bid to catch a fish. Margaret particularly mentioned that one of the things she like about the book was that the story had a beginning, a middle and an end, which she finds satisfying. The novel begins and ends with Manolin caring for the Old Man. Margaret enjoys novels that tell about things outside her experience and deep sea fishing was completely outside her experience. She enjoyed the descriptions which she found wonderful - told directly, with no wasted words. The novel tells a simple story at a slow pace which allows the reader to think and appreciate what is happening. The book has a timeless, gentle start. We learn that the Old Man is mad about baseball and Joe Di Maggio and that he (the Old Man) once went to Africa and saw lions on the beach.

The day begins when the Old Man wakes Manolin and they go out together into the dark to set up the boats for the day's fishing. The relationships in the book are between the Old Man, the sea, the boy, the fish, the old man and his hands. We experience all that happens with him and feel what he feels. He has an empathy and respect for the sea and all things around him. Margaret found the middle of the book touching as the Old Man recalls the marlins he caught with the boy, separating a pair. The Old Man feels pity for the female and for her mate - he could have let her go but chose not to as fishing is his livelihood and way of life. The reader feels, smells, hears all the details that the Old Man experiences and there is so much going on. There was a thrill when the fish finally took the bait and the long haul begins, with the reader feeling every jerk of the line: the Old Man and the fish are "brothers bound together".

The lowkey ending of the book completed the circle - the Old Man returns to the village and life goes on with only the bones of the fish left to fool tourists. That's how life is - everyone will forget about the monster fish except the Old Man.

Shelley: thought the book was brilliant. It was about respect for everything. Shelley liked the life lessons the book offered - endurance in adversity - just not giving in. She also liked the beauty of the sea and the descriptions of the phosphorescence. The Old Man respected the fish and the other sea creatures he encountered. The boy loved the Old Man and they enjoyed a symbiotic relationship - each helping the other. Shelley said she was on tenterhooks waiting for the sharks to come for the fish. She wondered if Santiago would survive but he lived to tell his tale with the proof in the bones of the giant fish. Shelley found the ending believable when the Old Man quietly dragged himself to his home. She had found it hard that there were no chapters so no breaks to have a rest and a cup of tea. Shelley was sad that the Old Man ate a dolphin - raw! Also, she was surprised that Hemingway committed su***de in 1961 - after writing such an uplifting tale of seemingly insurmountable odds overcome. But she'd found the book thoroughly enjoyable.

Dee: thought the book was beautifully written with some lovely descriptions but she'd had to force herself to read it. She'd thought the relationship between the man and the boy was touching but the Old Man hadn't offered the boy any thanks for the food and drink and he only seemed to miss the boy when he needed him. At least, having got the skeleton home the Old Man would no longer be looked down on by the other fishermen. What Dee took from this novel was don't swim off Cuba.

Hazel: hadn't re-read the novel but didn't enjoy it when she'd read it before.

Mary: was ambivalent about the novel at first. She'd quite liked it and thought if she'd studied it and all the symbolism it contained then she would grow to love it. She was strongly reminded of Steinbeck's 'The Pearl'. Hemingway's writing was clear and straightforward but not beautiful at any point. She described it as 'accessible' writing. Mary had not read Hemingway before and she would read another. She'd liked the big fish and was in awe of it. There was no obvious description of the fish but she grew fond of it and began to wonder why she cared about a fish? Mary wondered if the fish represented Christ? She thought it was clever to make the fish feel so special.

Jane: thought the story was interesting and liked the relationship between the Old Man and the boy, who respected the Old Man even though his parents had taken him away to a 'lucky' boat. The boy had kept the relationship with the Old Man. Jane mentioned the all-women crew who'd been attacked by a marlin - why didn't the giant marlin attack the Old Man to escape? The reader knows that either the man or the fish will die. Jane was glad to have read the novel.

Ro: "I don’t think I’ve read this before. I’m afraid I really didn’t like this book. I started it a month ago and didn’t get on with it and put it to one side. I kept putting off reading it. Fortunately it’s very short so on Thursday I lit the fire in the afternoon and sat down to read it. Mainly I found it boring. I wasn’t interested in the finer points of fishing, or sailing. Or reading the weather. Perhaps if I was a sailor it might have meant more. I couldn’t identify with any part of it, except perhaps the relationship between the old man and the boy, Santiago and Manolin which was tender, especially at the end.

Hemingway was apparently involved with bullfighting, big game hunting and deep sea fishing, so this was his territory. Perhaps 70 years on from the publication we have grown a bit more squeamish. Though I’m not generally squeamish. I really didn’t want to read about the butchering of the fish and eating it raw. The long drawn out battle between the marlin and the man seemed unnecessarily cruel. I understand the old man needed to make some money, but it seemed more about his pig-headedness and arrogance and pride. Or should we be admiring his perseverance despite obstacles and adversity? The ability of the human spirit to endure hardship? Did he kill the big fish for pride or food. I think he asks himself this p81. While he was missing there was a big search for him. Was he irresponsible?
I gather there is some allusion to Christianity, though I couldn’t really make those connections apart from the names: Santiago (St James, also a fisherman); Manolin (diminutive form of Manuel, derived from Immanuel meaning God with us). So, not for me. But I’m glad I’ve read it. Thank you Margaret".

Diana: didn't love the book but found it fascinating. She got into the story and the Old Man's endurance kept her attention. She understood why he'd eaten raw fish - needs must! Diana did wonder if the other fish coming to eat the carcass of the big marlin wouldn't have made the boat too heavy - losing the body would have lightened the load. Diana found it an intriguing book - not pleasurable but amazing.

Barbara sent the following notes: "I absolutely loved this book. The short story is not one of my favourite genres, but with this story I feel it really works. The main reason why I like the book is the writing, which is beautiful. Not a word is wasted or superfluous and the way that the story is written is compelling. You really feel that you are on this rickety fishing boat, you can almost smell the sea and taste the sea salt.

It is a story about the importance of hope and perseverance in our lives – you can be faced with all types of adversity, but at the end of the day it is hope that keeps you going. The reader is in awe of what Santiago will go through to succeed. He has such strong willpower – even when faced with extreme danger, even at times when you feel his body may break under the strain.

The two main relationships drawn in this book are drawn incredibly well. Firstly, the relationship between the fisherman and the boy, it is such a simple and loving relationship. And then there is the relationship between Santiago and the fish, this is more complicated but is still beautifully drawn – Santiago has total love and respect for the fish. Santiago is a humble man and not well educated in a traditional way; however, he understands the beauty of the natural world and is full of respect for nature. He knows his place in the world, we can all learn a lot from this view. An inspired choice for Book Club, Margaret, many thanks."

Margaret Smith sent the following notes: "I had never read this book but had an idea what it was about but it was a richer, more interesting, story than I expected. Santiago is old: too old to be fishing on his own. He loses his mate because he isn’t catching fish and the boy's father sends him to a luckier boat that does catch fish. The boy stays loyal to Santiago and tries to look after him. The description of the cabin is grim and Santiago says he has no food and doesn’t eat all day. The description of the terrace which seems in the beginning to be a local shack changes after Santiago brings the Marlin in there are tourists sitting outside watching the poor fishermen. Was Hemingway making a social comment.

Santiago’s fight with the marlin shows his perseverance and optimism he realises how big the fish is and he want be able to land it but hour after hour he keeps going. When the sharks appeared it was obvious that he could not get the marlin on board he fought off the sharks as best as he could. The weight of the fish was making it difficult for Santiago to steer the boat it would have been sensible to cut the marlin loose at this point because it was already spoilt by the sharks. Despite all this, Santiago wanted to get the fish home, regardless that there was nothing much left apart from the carcass. Manolin was there to look after him. I expected Santiago to die once he got home. The themes of the book are perseverance and dedication and loyalty".

Amanda: "I love Hemingway's writing: I've heard it described as muscular prose. His writing is lean and sparse with no word wasted or description over-written. Although the story of 'The Old Man and the Sea' is simple, the writing lifts it out of the ordinary. Personally, I can see why Hemingway won the Pulitzer for this novel and why it was the only one of his novels mentioned in his Nobel Prize for Literature citation. I've read, in the dim and distant past, both 'Goodbye to All That' and 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' and I find them both enthralling. But I know American Literature is not everyone's thing.

There is a great deal of symbolism in this deceptively simple novel. Santiago is Spanish for St James, who was one of the fishermen on the Sea of Galilee who walked with Christ. There is certainly something of the trials of Job about that Old Man's battle with the sea, the marlin, the sharks and his old age. The sea and the fish are big, important characters in the story - the old man respects them both and battles them both. No pun intended, but I was gutted that the sharks got his fish but I loved the way the old man apologised to the fish when the shark took a big bite out of it. And I think there is something of the 'Everyman' about the Old Man: he is a model for us all of perseverance, endurance and tenacity - just keep on keeping on.

I also liked the friendship - maybe even discipleship - between the old man and the young boy. I don't want to push the Christian symbolism too much - but even a fish is a Christian symbol, drawn in the sand by persecuted Christians when wanting to identify each other. I'm not sure of the significance of the baseball discussions? A connection to the boy? To other men? I know Di Maggio's father was a fisherman but I'm not sure that's significant - maybe it just places the story in it's time. To sum up, I really enjoyed this book - which I find beautiful - and was pleased to revisit it again. Thank you Margaret".

16/11/2023

Our book for January 2024 is Hemingway's 'The Old Man and the Sea'.

16/11/2023

“The Reading List” by Sara Nisha Adams. The November 2023 book for Wootton Courtenay's book club, chosen by Hazel

Apologies: Amanda, Margaret (S) and Ro

Hazel: The two main characters in this book are Mukesh and Aleisha, both are lonely and both are grieving in different ways. Aleisha is a teenager, who is a very reluctant librarian. She wanted to work in Top-Shop during the long summer break, where she would see all the latest fashions and be able to get discount on what she bought. Unlike a lot of her fiends Aleisha has to work. Her father has left them and so there is just Aleisha, her older brother Aidan and their mother. Aidan is the golden child, and Aleisha feels as though she can never do anything right, or be good enough.
Mukesh is an older Hindu man whose wife of 50 years died a year ago; he fills his time by watching David Attenborough documentaries and going grocery shopping. His three daughters now seem to treat him as if he were the child and they are the parents – not really talking to him but leaving him voicemail messages full of instructions. Mukesh’s wife had always been a book reader, during her illness she had spent a lot of time reading. When Mukesh goes to his local library, he has no idea how his life is going to change, and in doing so changes Aleisha’s life as well. Aleisha finds a list inside one of the books, it’s just a list of eight books, but it starts by saying: “In case you need it”. She starts to read the first book on the list, To Kill a Mockingbird and then recommends the book to Mukesh. They then start to talk about the book, each a little wary of each other at first, but as they read through the list together a friendship forms, a friendship that is a huge help to them both. We learn a lot about both families and their cultures.
The power of books shines through, and the different things that each person learns from the different books comes to the fore. We see the characters grow throughout the book, each learning a lot about themselves as well as each other. I felt for a first novel it was very well done. Although she tried to round it off too neatly at the end by telling us all the places Mukesh’s wife had left the lists. This book made me think about how the right book finds you at the right time – if I was to make a list of 8-10 books what would they be? I know we allhave a favourite book or author, but this was a list of novels that inspired people to read and friendships too form.

Jane: about ¼ of the way through the book and enjoying it so far.

Dee: I read this book last year and enjoyed it. The particular attraction for me was the peek it gave the reader into the life of the Hindu Indians living in Wembley. Being half Indian, the writer is well qualified to do this. I was fascinated in the 1970’s by “Little India” which we drove through each year when going to the Horse of the Year Show – the colourful saris, the bright lit shops, the foreign spicy smells. It was as though we had travelled to a foreign country. Sara cleverly uses the library and the reading list as the centre point for her story which is about loneliness. The loneliness and strangeness of a young couple arriving from Africa, the terrible loneliness of the new widower, the loneliness of a young carer, Zac’s loneliness because he was shy and did not quite fit. The writer describes so well the bossy daughters who run their father’s life but never give him actual time and never appreciate how lonely he is. I loved her Mukesh. He really came to life for me. I can understand Aleisha so well, being ashamed in front of her friends that she is caring for her mother who is mentally ill, ashamed that she has to work in the library during the school holidays in order to earn much needed money. I found Aidan more difficult. It was hard to fit his su***de in with his caring of his mother and younger sister. The lesser characters in the book are generally well brought to life. It was clever the way Sara uses characters in the books on the list to guide her characters particularly Mukesh when he was at a loss as to how to handle a situation. This technique reminded me of all the books although I haven’t read Beloved. Thank you Hazel. I enjoyed this book. It was well written and a good story.

Margaret (L): I found it difficult to get involved in the book as there were so many characters, I had to write them down to keep track of what was happening. The difficulty in engaging with this novel is that I was reading another novel at the same time, which I was struggling to put down (Demon Copperhead). The idea of the book list was clever, I liked the idea of a list and the characters in the books helping the readers (Mukesh and Aleisha) act when faced with problems.
I found some aspects of the book “irritating”:

• Too many references to food? Although I would like to know what the foods are.
• Surely some of the books were too old for Priya?
• Repetition of certain phrases e.g. “curl up with a book”.
• What was the problem with Aleisha’s mother, Leilah? She did not seem to access any help until the end of the book.
• I was not convinced that Aleisha and her family would have gone to Mukesh's house after the funeral – but this was probably making a point about the bond that had developed, forged by the books.

For me, the book was too long and wordy, but sometimes not telling us what we need to understand e.g., what was wrong with Aidan?

Barbara: This had the making of a really good novel; the underlying themes were strong – the impact of loneliness, how community can help us and how reading can be a real saviour; and the story did cover these areas. It showed us the growing friendship between two unlikely individuals – Mukesh, an older man sadly recently widowed and 17 year old Aleisha who faces a ton of problems that a girl shouldn’t have to face – a mother with mental health challenges, an absentee father and a brother who initially seems an ideal big brother but who we later learn had demons of his own to manage. I liked the idea of the reading list as a thread through the novel helping to pull it together, and the choice of books was inspired. This clever choice aimed to help us achieve a better understanding of the key themes – grief, loneliness, community etc. So, what I am trying to say is that this had the makings of a good novel, but in my view, it didn’t quite hit the mark. It was overly long – 420 pages was just too much. It was the author’s first novel, and I’m afraid it read
like a first book. Some of the writing was just too “in your face”, stating the obvious, not leaving enough space for nuance or letting the reader work things out for themselves. The author should have chosen the theme for chapter headings – in this novel we had chapter headings focusing on characters (there were too many, some of whom detracted from the story) interspersed by chapter headings naming the books on the reading list – all too much, in my view the author should have chosen one or the other. One of the most interesting characters, Aidan, was barely drawn – we didn’t get a good enough understanding of his deteriorating mental health and why the poor boy took his own life. And, to be honest I was a bit concerned that it was Aidan’s su***de that was the catalyst for solving everyone else’s problems. And finally – who didn’t guess from the start that it was Naina, Mukesh's wife who had written the original list? So – a good concept for a novel but I was disappointed in its ex*****on. I would be interested to learn if the author’s style improved and developed in later novels.

Helen: This book had an extra resonance for me because the location is an area of suburban London that I know well, certainly in a time before there was mass immigration and the rather dreary post war streets were transformed with colourful clothes, material and shops. I was born in Kenton which is the posh part of Harrow! I lived in the same house until I left home. I would go shopping with my mother and sister on the bus to Wembley where there was an amazing market selling wonderful fabrics. It was in the days when we made our own clothes, my mother was a very clever needlewoman, and we bought the material to make my wedding dress and bridesmaids' dresses for a very ill-fated marriage! I remember Northwick Park Hospital being built on fields near my home, ice skating on Saturday mornings at Wembley Stadium and travelling to school on the Piccadilly Line, all mentioned in the book. I digress, but there is something special about reading a story set in a place you know, I may even have been to the Harrow Road Library!
I love this book and although slightly daunted by the thickness I did finish it. It is an ambitious and quite complicated structure for a first novel. It took a little while to understand where the story was going and how it hung together. It tells the story of two lonely and isolated people, Aleisha is 17 and has just split up with her boyfriend. She has a pretty miserable life at home and a boring holiday job in the local library. She is without friends and realises that she is not enjoying the normal life of a teenager. In the library she meets Mukesh, an elderly man who is finding life very difficult and lonely on his own since his beloved wife died a couple of years ago. The story of their gentle friendship where their lives gradually intertwine through the power of books and
reading is beautifully told. I think it is probably difficult to manage a believable ending, I did feel this was a little contrived as Aleisha’s mother rather suddenly made steps towards recovery and a more normal life. We all know the power of books which always mean different things to different people and often find us at just the right time in our lives. I think the tragic su***de of Aleisha’s brother, Aidan was particularly well written: poignant and spare, portraying the disbelief that Aleisha felt. I am glad I made time to finish it.
Shelley: Unfortunately, Bob and I went to Shropshire for a week’s break and left a day earlier than originally planned, and I left the book at home! I will finish it.

Mary: I read the first 10 pages, left it for a while because I wasn’t sure about the book; I then went back to it – and absolutely loved it! I am on page 275. What am I liking about this book? – the book list; the novel is a homage to reading and libraries. I love how the book shows how the joy of reading can bring people together (like the Wootton Courtenay Book Club). Readers have a bond; we love to talk about books and this theme comes out strongly in The Reading List.
I liked how references were made to the whole range of books, especially how refs to The Kite Runner were used. I didn’t think the book is too long, but perhaps there are too many characters – I would rather have fewer characters developed in greater detail. Possibly, at times, the story was a bit “schmaltzy”.

Diana: I did not initially think that this was my type of book, but I got into it very quickly. The book list idea worked really well, getting people together to talk about books. It is a clever idea – enlightening people through books. I like being “told” what to read at Book Club – I enjoy the variety. I was not surprised at Aidan’s su***de; the signs were there; but I could not understand why Aleisha’s mother was not receiving more help.

Ro: I’m afraid I won’t be there as we have family staying. I didn’t finish the book, but I found it slow, all over the place, and difficult to make connections. I thought it was a good idea for a book but it didn’t quite come off. Have a good meeting.

Margaret (S): I found this book lighter than I expected but it suited me when I read it. I liked the characters although they were fairly stereotypical. Alisha doesn’t want to be working in the library but didn’t get the job she wanted in top shop. Mukesh grieving for his dead wife who he feels kept the family together. He is bossed and domineered by his well meaning daughters. Aiden’s story was never going to end well. I thought he was on drugs but disillusioned and exhausted by the demands of their mother who both he and Alisha spent their lives trying to protect. I got a bit fed up with this storyline. I felt it was a sledgehammer to crack a nut. The reading list is a way for the author to bring together a cast of differing characters. The open day at the library was a step too far for me. Somewhere in the book someone says life is like a Richard Curtis movie. This
book is like that. Everyone has a better life at the end because of the list distributed by Mukesh's wife or ghost or spirit. This book was easy to read and suited me at the time but I don’t think I will remember much about it.

Amanda (as Shelley said, we saved the best ‘til last!): From the point of view of describing grief and mourning, the author has a keen observation of grieving people and expresses it quite well. But I'm sorry to say I found the writing quite immature and the characters quite simplistic.
There are many factual things about this book that drove me ballistic! Seventeen year olds who work in libraries are not, and I emphasise the NOT, librarians. They are library assistants and, to be honest, Aleisha was not a very good one! I've worked in libraries, off and on, since I, myself, was17 (45 years) and I cannot believe the way she treated Mukesh when he first entered the library. She was a spoiled, entitled brat and she was lucky that her manager was useless. Also, the last time I worked in a library was last Saturday and nobody wears nitrile gloves to sort the books and put them back on the shelves. Even when we opened again after lockdown, books were quarantined for a week but the library ASSISTANTS (caps deliberate!) didn't wear gloves
to deal with them. The author's lack of easy research really annoyed me. Also, I'm not entirely sure English was her first language - when Mukesh went out and about to see the 'sites (sic) and sounds' of London. What? She may have a crap editor so I will let her off - but still... I've since read that she's an editor herself so there is no excuse. I've read all but one of the books on the list and I found the way the story was interwoven through the reading list clever. But Aleisha's early descriptions of 'Pride and Prejudice' convinced me that she was as big an idiot
as I first thought! I'm sorry but who describes Jane Austen as a 'cheese fest', unless they've completely missed the point and lost the plot?! Aidan's su***de surprised me. I didn't think it was convincingly drawn - as in, I thought the reader would have been offered more insight into his struggles. What led him to su***de? I felt it was a great big psychological error right in the middle of the book. I suppose there were some hints that he wasn't coping but it was all a bit hit and miss - again, rather simplistic. I thought he was troubled because he was gay or a drug addict -
definitely not suicidal. I found Aleisha's reactions annoying again (who turns against books because their brother committed su***de?) and had to keep reminding myself the poor girl was only 17. I found it unusual to have one of the main protagonist (Aleisha) so unlikeable, although Mukesh was lovely and his family background was very believable. I wondered if the author is Hindu? I've since discovered she's of British/Indian parents and lives in Hertfordshire. But there was one thing this book has got right - community libraries are important. They can bring people
together, they can bring people purpose and, most importantly, they bring people the worlds contained in books. This book was so annoying because of fundamental errors, repetitive phrasing and poor psychology - but it's heart is in the right place! It was another first book and I hope her writing gets better as she matures. Six out of ten for effort!

16/11/2023

Wootton Courtenay Book Club - October 2023

Diana, whose book choice was 'One hundred million years and a day' by Jean-Baptiste Andrea, opened the meeting: 'This surprising little book was recommended to me from another book club which my cousin belongs to - actually she sent me the book which I might not have bothered with as I am not too interested in old bones! But I was hooked straight away, I found the writing had a particular charm to it, Andrea’s style of short sentences and sometimes very short chapters appealed. He has a knack of making you feel right in there with him, for instance, the cold of the mountain and its beauty came across immediately. His imaginative observance make this a compelling story. Andrea has a lovely sense of humour which pops up constantly, preventing this very emotional story becoming too heavy and intense.

Stanilas Amengol remembers finding his first trilobite at the age of six. His fossils and his dog were his best friends, in fact his only friends while he suffered the wrath of a violent Father. His beloved Mother having died when he was only nine. All this is conveyed to us in little snapshots as the story unwinds.
Stan had sold his house in order to fund this trip and when he gets to the starting point he finds “three old nags, four if you counted the old man in charge of them”: in fact they were mules, not donkeys as Stan thought, he was not a country man nor a mountaineer as we soon discovered! Nor I suspect very fit, so the first morning was an immediate endurance test, until he found his mountain legs sitting by the path. Geared up with them he was suddenly light of foot and able to keep up, they are put away each night so as not to wear them out! Then we discover he suffers from vertigo, again the short description gets you right in there wanting to topple over with him. We are introduced to the team early on, and gradually we learn their backgrounds. It took me a while to realise who Yuri was, more humour introduced..

I found myself thinking what amazing stories Gio must have to tell about the variety of groups/people he had escorted up the mountain and their reasons for being there and no doubt failing and falling out, as well as the amazing achievements, it took me back to Kenya and “A change in altitude. I digress!

Why anyone would want to go on such a dangerous mission, with so little evidence, just a memory from childhood, is beyond my understanding, but I am not a palaeontologist and will never understand such faith and drive.

The story becomes more compelling the further we go, and the desire to a find the cave, then the agony of getting through to it to find out what is inside, all the time fighting the elements and the mountain.
Peter’s death took me by surprise and was very tragic and possibly made Stan even more determined as he blamed himself for Peter’s death, and subsequently drove him to stay behind when Gio said they must leave the mountain.

Then we have the final instalment of going through Winter on a Mountain, he so nearly made it, but even with the food could he have survived the cold that long? Maybe if he had found the wolves’ path through the cave and had not been on the edge of starvation. Andrea left me with many ifs and buts, but his version was the best! I just found it a surprisingly riveting book and I hope some of you enjoyed it too.

Shelley: I can’t say I enjoyed this book, especially as I was recovering from an awful bout of Covid at the time. However, it was different, I will say that.

It was all very tragic, Stan’s childhood, growing up with his father the Commander and losing his mother at the age of nine and it didn’t really get any happier once he left home and embarked on his journey to find his ‘dragon’ in an alpine glacier. I knew that he would never get off the mountain and I am not even sure he found the dinosaur, having divested of his clothes and got to the point of no return, but I would like to think he did, because of the detail in the description of the baby dinosaur’s broken ankles when falling into the ravine, so who knows? I hope so, otherwise all the tragedy and hardship would have been in vain!

I liked the character of Umberto, the gentle giant and Stan’s one true friend, but I found the character of his German assistant Peter and his puppet Yuri a little more difficult to warm to. I assume he was odd because he was gay at a time when homosexuals were not accepted. I don’t really know why I thought he was gay!. Was it mentioned? I can’t remember. Covid brain I expect. Gio was efficient, knowledgeable, respected, careful and aloof and also bore a tragedy in his life, so not a character to get close to. I thought all the characters well drawn.

The story was doomed from beginning to end and I could have done with a lighter read at this time, but that’s just my personal circumstances. I still wanted to read it to the last to see how it ended though, but I was grateful it was a relatively short book.

Helen: said that before discussing the book, she wanted to tell us how well her birthday flowers (from July) were doing. Having potted all of them on individually, she now has a pot outside full of miniature roses and a large peace lily indoors, as well as a succulent living happily in her bathroom!
Helen then said: As usual, I left reading the book until the last minute and then devoted a whole day to it, sustained by tea and toast! Fortunately, it's a slim volume and so concise, beautifully written and a superb translation. I only wish my 'O'-level French would allow me to read the story in its original language!

For once, I agree with the comment on the cover: sublime, beautiful and devastating. It is a book inhabited by men - the women of the story are almost dropped in. I liked the way the author uses few words to let the reader know where and how the women fit into the story.

The opening paragraph absolutely drew me in and has me gobbling up the story. How could a small boy find a friend for life in a fossil? The first chapter tells us everything we need to know about our 'hero', Stan, but we don't know his name until p18. In just a few sentences, we are given a picture of his domestic childhood: he likes school and he is clever; his mother is delicate and sick; he has a pet dog called Pepin. His father is known as 'The Commander', which sounds ominous and threatening.

As I read the story, I wondered how it would end. I read the last few pages several times to get the sense of what the author was actually saying. It seemed a little odd that the last page was devoted to Umberto finding Stan's deserted clothes with the name tags referring back to Stan's mother sewing in the labels so that she could always find him.

I absolutely love this book and I am so pleased that the library told me that they could only get a copy in French, which I thought would be too challenging, so I bought it from Amazon. As well as sublime, beautiful and devastating, I found it a book filled with sadness and melancholy. Certainly a page turner, mostly short sentences, no wasted words - just sufficient words to feel the intense heat and the dreadful cold.

Ro: This is a beautiful little book. It’s an adventure story plus: plus a reflection on a life; plus a perspective on our little human lives against the enormity of geological time and the vastness of winter in the alps. The writing, or should I say the writing in the translation, is gorgeous, and in places sublime. I would like to be able to appreciate it in its original language, but my French wouldn’t be good enough to judge.
Stan, a palaeontologist, sets out to find the skeleton of a ‘dragon’ or some huge creature which was reported to him. His motives are several. Yes, as a palaeontologist he wants to find an as-yet undiscovered dinosaur. He wants to make a name for himself, but I think mainly he wants to prove to himself, and to his violent father that he is not a failure or a weakling.

He is risking so much on a whim. He is putting himself in danger mountaineering with no previous experience. He has sold his flat to follow his dream and finance the expedition. When winter comes and things get really difficult he doesn’t go back. Perhaps he has too much to lose.

As winter closes in Stan is alone battling to keep his sanity: by singing; by listing all the things he has loved and not loved; by revising all he knows as if for an exam. In the silence the wind is a companion, bringing little cameos of his life. There are some wonderful passages of writing. On p151 he talks about real winter, “not the cuddly season that touches our plains and cities every year”. And when he’s contemplating the starry sky he says, ”it doesn’t take much to kill a star, only one street lamp”. He remembers his beloved Mother. And the Commander, his Father whose jam is the only thing to stop him going to hell.

Eventually Stan does find Titanisaurus Stanislasi . Or does he? Does he find himself as well? How real is the description of succumbing to the cold, and dying of exposure? I like being left with these questions. The writing is beautiful as he dreams/or hallucinates that he is with his mother, with all he would like to have given her. As she drifts into sleep. He turns out the light. His light. Thank you, Diana for choosing this book. I loved it.

Margaret Smith: I started to read this book and made notes as I went but lost the notes. I think I threw them away with newspapers. The notes I made for the meeting have now disappeared from my phone so this is what I remember. I enjoyed the book . It was interesting and different. I liked the way Stan’s back story was revealed, he had a pretty miserable life bullied and belittled by his father known as the commander.
He set off to find what he hoped was a huge dinosaur skeleton in a cave in a glacier despite having no mountaineering experience. Life on the mountain was tough and described well. The whole yurt and Peter thing was weird but as I hate dummies and clowns it was even more spooky. The scene where Stan destroys Yuri was shocking and unexpected as was Peter’s death. Stan had financed the expedition himself by selling his flat. He stayed on the mountain to get to the cave and discovers that the skeleton is not a dinosaur. His clothes are found some time later strewn about which indicated hypothermia. He had nothing much to go back to as he had sold his flat and found that there was no dinosaur.

Jane: said she agreed with much that had been said already. She had loved the book and said it reminded her of a walk up to a glacier in the Dolomites with friends. In the night, they heard the cracking of the glacier like gunshot. She said it was an amazing experience - big skies, pitch dark and the rifle-like shots of the cracking ice all night. Jane said she'd found the story fascinating. She wondered if Peter, with his cruel dummy, was bipolar? Jane also wondered if Stan's father's behaviour stemmed from the fact that he was a bright man who wasn't able to gain a good education and took his frustrations out on his clever son, who was pursuing academic excellence. The children picked on Stan because he stood out and was not one of them. Jane thought the book well-written and enjoyed it.

Mary: felt that she hadn't given the book her full attention and would have enjoyed it more if she'd read more in one long sitting. She had read the first chapter and thought it very good but she didn't pick the book up for a while and, when she went back to it, she couldn't get into it. Mary said she'd found the middle of the book boring. She felt the characters didn't gel but the descriptions were beautiful and the personification of the mountain. However, Mary felt the characters were not developed and she couldn't remember who was who and she found it fragmentary. Until he was thrown on the fire, she'd thought Yuri was a person. So, on the whole, Mary thought bits of the book were stunning but she thought the book lacked a thread and she wasn't sure how all the bits hung together. Another point she made - a good one - was that she objected to a first person narrative when the narrator dies! If you're going to die, stick to the third person! The labels in Stan's clothes became meaningful when his clothes are found by Umberto.

Barbara: said she was determined to read the book when she was less busy and could give it her full attention.

Margaret Lovatt sent the following notes: “I had high hopes of this book because I have a real interest in fossils. I thought the first chapter was lovely, setting the scene but with the shades of his past already casting a dark shadow on things to come. There was a beautiful description of the struggling fly and how it too could be fossilised, and later on how he finds his mountain legs.

He wanted desperately to follow his dream , have a dinosaur named after him, make his mark, but the nightmare of his childhood was always there. Climbing the rusty steps, he relived the misery of his past.

His relation with the team was interesting. How he said: ‘If I’d known these three when I was younger perhaps I wouldn't have grown up with a trilobite as my only friend.’

I liked Gio, a sensible practical man, just what they needed, also Umberto about whom I wanted to know more. Peter and Yuri, really creepy. I found the actual search rather tedious, and read it to the end as quickly as I could to see what would happen, without much enjoyment."

In my notes, someone said (I haven't attributed the comment) that the dummy (Yuri/Peter) started off as clever but became nastier and nastier as the book progressed.

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