University of the Third Age 

Chelmsford

“1984” by George Orwell  - June 2009

We discussed 1984 by George Orwell at our June meeting; the previous Monday being the 60^th anniversary of the books publication.  

The group was divided on whether they “enjoyed” reading the book.  However we all agreed that it was a very important book and we had a fascinating and lively discussion.  

Andy Moir  

“The Purple Hibiscus” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - July 2009  

The Book Group met on Monday 20 July when we settled down to discuss our “Book of the Month”- “The Purple Hibiscus”.  This is the young Nigerian Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s first novel. She shares her time between America where she has gained an intensive education and qualifications, and Nigeria , her place of birth.

The novel proved to be an insight into Nigerian homelife and conditions. It is well written and the characters well drawn.  The surroundings were extremely colourful as were the characters.  

The discussion was brisk and all members enjoyed the book so much that it was agreed to discuss the author’s next book in the future.

Sheena Fraser

The Book Group met on Monday 17 August to discuss two of Graham Swift’s books, ‘Last Orders’ and ‘Tomorrow’  

Both books are set in the south-east, covering a period from WWII to the 1990s and focus on family and close relationships. They generated a lively discussion about how well Swift had dealt with these issues.  It was generally felt that ‘Last Orders’, set in Bermondsey and the road journey to Margate, was the more successful, and of course has been made into a successful and star-studded film.  

Jenny Moir

The Book Group met on Monday 21/9/09 to discuss Elizabeth Gaskell's book Mary Barton.

' Mary Barton ' is Gaskells first published work. Set in 1840's Manchester it is an excellent socio - economic history of the time. Through the eyes of the narrator and the main characters, we learn of the relationship, which existed between the employers and the workers. The lavish lifestyle of the former compared to the hard work and grinding poverty of the latter, which led to the Chartist Movement and the setting up of Trade Unionism in Britain.

The majority of the group enjoyed the book despite sore, tired eyes, owing to the small size of the text; however they did find it grim reading, particularly as there is little light heartedness in either the content or the style of writing.

Pauline Spratt.

The Book Group met on Monday 19^th October to discuss “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini.

The group found it an interesting and worthwhile read, though not a comfortable one. The story gave us an insight into the modern history of Afghanistan , which we found very informative.

The story telling was very vivid and it encouraged one of our members to write the following poem:  

A Thousand Splendid Suns  

The book of life under Taliban rule

Is used as a reminder of just how cruel

The conditions, the poverty, the suffering they endure

We must remind ourselves and we must make sure

That the innocent survive, to live a good life

To enjoy the freedom to which we all strive

This book has opened my eyes

Let us be honest NO MORE LIES

WE DO NOT LIVE IN A HIVE OR COCOON

THIS WORLD IS FOR ALL RIGHT UP TO THE MOON

Edna Addy

The meeting of the Book Group on Monday 16 November produced what some members said was one of the best, if not the best, discussions that the Group had ever had!  The subject of this lively discussion was ‘Winston’s War’ by Michael Dobbs.  

The book is described by the author as “unashamedly a novel, not a work of history”. However, the author’s “novelisation” is based on certain factual events occurring during a very dramatic period of British, and world, history.  

This mixture of fact and fiction does leave the reader at times uncertain as to the accuracy of the ‘factual’ content. The period covered goes from   1st October 1938, when an “in the wilderness” Winston Churchill met  a young Guy Burgess ( then a BBC journalist but also a Russian spy) to 10th May 1940, when, with Britain now at war with Germany, Neville Chamberlain  was forced to step down as Prime Minister and Winston Churchill was appointed in his place.  

The author explores the relationship between Churchill, Chamberlain and Burgess with a blend of imagination and compelling facts, though, as the book’s title implies, his principal character and ‘hero’ is Churchill. Other familiar characters appear also, such as Lloyd George, Harold Macmillan and Clement Attlee, along with many others.  

Book Group members were able to make their own personal connections with this period of history and also made comparisons with political events of the present time.  Not all of us would, of our own volition, necessarily have chosen this book to read but, as was said, one of the advantages of belonging to a book club is that you are led to read books that you might not otherwise read but from which you nevertheless gain a great deal.  

Robert Charleston

The book of the month for December was "Minaret" by Aboulela.  This book came highly recommended and was indeed short-listed for the Orange Prize. 

As usual, opinions were many and varied.  The majority of our group found it interesting, giving us an insight into the life of a Sudanese Muslim refugee young woman in Britain . 

The differences voiced were about the depth of the writing - some finding it rather shallow and passive, while others were more sympathetic.  On the whole it was considered an informative read.  

The book discussed in January was “Cold Comfort Farm” by Stella Gibbons published in 1932 when the author was 30.  As usual members of the group expressed diverse opinions though all seemed to agree that it was a very interesting and enjoyable read, containing a wealth of strange characters and situations.  

Cold Comfort Farm is situated in Sussex and had “always” been in the passion of the Starkadder family and among the present incumbents are Seth, Ruben, Amos and URK, all presided over by Aunt Ada Doom who famously “saw something nasty in the woodshed”.  

A distant relative, Flora Poste, comes to stay and proceeds to make sweeping changes to their primitive life style, handsome Seth goes to Hollywood , religious Amos goes on a preaching tour.  Nothing stays the same.  It is a charming fairy story with a quirky ending.  

Ann Blackbeard

The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Costa Book of the Year 2008) drew a mixed response from members of the Book Group at the February meeting. “A wonderful and moving book.” “Not my kind of book.” “Lyrical and poetic.” “Depressing.”  Most people, however, finished the book though some found the surprise ending unconvincing.   

Set against the background of political and social unrest in twentieth century Ireland the story of Roseanne McNulty’s incarceration in a mental hospital is related partly through her own testimony and the report and case notes of her psychiatrist Dr. Grene. The tragic events of one hundred year old Roseanne’s life reflect the upheaval in the country and are recounted in a poetic and lyrical style. Dr. Grene’s account is cooler and more dispassionate, yet as he begins to discover the circumstances of her admission to the hospital the more involved he becomes in her story. This leads him to uncovering a shocking secret……..  

Most group members preferred Roseanne’s poetic account to that of Dr. Grene and were shocked by the cruelty of her treatment and the system, which allowed this to happen. While some found the novel depressing and harrowing others felt that it was a testament to the triumph of the human spirit. All agreed that it is a moving and beautifully written book.  

Ros McGonagle

We discussed The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins at our March meeting.  The Moonstone was published 1868 and was serialised in Charles Dickens weekly magazine. 

The Moonstone is widely regarded as the first modern mystery and suspense novels. T. S. Eliot called it "the first and the best of modern English detective novels ", and Dorothy L. Sayers described it as "probably the very finest detective story ever written".  It contains a number of ideas that later became classic features of the twentieth-century detective story:

·        English country house robbery

·        An "inside job"

·        red herrings

·        A celebrated, skilled, professional investigator

·        Bungling local constabulary

·        Detective enquiries

·        Large number of false suspects

·        The "least likely suspect"

·        A rudimentary "locked room" murder

·        A reconstruction of the crime

·        A final twist in the plot

Franklin Blake, the gifted amateur who eventually solves the mystery, is the first example of the gentleman detective.

The novel was very popular with the group and is probably the first book we have read that everybody enjoyed.  

Andy Moir

This month our choice of “Half of a Golden Sun” caused great discussion and differences of opinion.  

The book, the second by the young Nigerian women, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie proved to be rather different from her previous work “The Purple Hibiscus”.  

The theme of the novel is the Biafran conflict and its suppression by the north i.e. Nigeria .  

The story, from the viewpoint of the Biafran, the Igbo, pronounced Ibo, people told of the hunger, starvation and complete brutality of the civil war.  

The Igbo were the considered intellectuals and the better educated. The Igbo because of the coastline had been open to the arrival of Christian missionaries while in the north, i.e. Nigeria , the Hausa were Muslims.  The Hausa and the Yoruba were united against the Igbo, claiming that they held all the important jobs and positions.  

The writing, for me, was most descriptive – the poverty, cruelty and desperation were only too real. However the sounds and smells, both pleasant and unpleasant were more than real.  The characters, on the other hand, were stilted and unbelievable.  The men, in particular, were shallow and stereotyped.  

Nevertheless the book was a good, if somewhat sombre read. The futility of war, the horror of civil war and the seeming indifference to their plight by the world was also in evidence, while the complete certainty of victory sustained the Igbo.  

The group remembered the Biafran conflict with great clarity, television bringing the horror and suffering into our sitting rooms in the late sixties  -  Ethnic cleansing in action!  

Sheena Fraser

“The City of the Beasts” by Isabel Allende – May 2010 

At our meeting in May to discuss “The City of the Beasts” by Isabel Allende all grandparents agreed:  the grandmother Kate in this book is extremely unpleasant and irresponsible, certainly not the best person to accompany her 15-year-old grandson on a perilous mission into the Amazonian jungle.  But once the adventure gets underway and because Isabel Allende is writing the story, things soon get magical.  Book group members were divided in their reaction to this – does the magical fantasy add to or detract from the main story, which is about the very real plight of the indigenous people of the Amazon, as well as a youngster’s development from confused teen to responsible young man? 

 Group members who hadn’t read any Isabel Allende before said that they would certainly read more.  Those more familiar with her work expressed some disappointment, bearing in mind it was written for a younger audience, with a relatively simple plot and black-and-white characters.  The young romance featured in the story was considered by one member to have ‘a hint of Mills & Boon’, which made a lot of sense because earlier in her writing career, Allende had a job translating romance novels by Barbara Cartland into Spanish.  However, Allende was fired for making unauthorized changes to make the heroines more intelligent and determined to be more independent.

 “The City of the Beasts” sparked off a lively discussion and exchange of views.  The book transported us to the conditions of the Amazon so convincingly that some expressed discomfort at the idea of not being able to wash properly, others at the diet of boiled monkey, showing how Allende succeeded in depicting realistically the difficult, hot and humid conditions that provided the setting to a fantastical journey. 

 The inevitable clash of value systems is also a theme, and led to some very interesting personal accounts of hosting people from other cultures.  We loved hearing about the young Mexican and the young Balinese women, who took over different group members’ kitchens for the duration of their stay, producing delicious authentic meals every night.  Also the African visitor who found her hostess’s knitting during one of her nightly prowls round the house, and was discovered in the morning plain knitting assiduously through what was intended to be quite a complicated pattern.

 Jenny Moir

This month's book was Rumpole and the Reign of Terror by John Mortimer which is part of the series of Rumpole of the Bailey books by the same author. A TV series was also made from the books.  The hero of the book is Horace Rumpole a criminal defence barrister who vehemently believes in the Rule of Law, Magna Carta and trial by jury.

The plot of the book concerns Dr. Khan, a Pakistani doctor, who had been accused by the authorities of terrorism, albeit with fabricated evidence and was unable to clear his name as he was imprisoned without trial and without his defence team ie Rumpole being given any evidence to fight the charges. The 'evidence' had been provided by a spurned lover who, by coincidence, happened to be a member of the criminal Timson family who had provided Rumpole with a steady income for many years.

The only way forward was for the Home Secretary to be 'convinced' by Rumpole that a trial was the proper course of action which he was able to do when Rumpole discovered information about the Home Secretary's past which would have destroyed the politician's career had it been made public. Rumpole agreed to keep this information secret in return for a fair trial.

The subplot to the book was that Judge Bullingham(nicknamed 'Mad Bull' by Rumpole) had taken a fancy to Hilda Rumpole (She Who Must Be Obeyed) and was wining and dining her , hoping one day to prise her away from her husband. At the same time Hilda was writing her memoirs in the box room which caused considerable consternation to Rumpole. The courtroom scene enabled Rumpole to display his talents as an expert in cross-examination and Dr. Khan was, of course, found not guilty. 

The author is openly anti Tony Blair and his government's decision to incarcerate alleged terrorists without trial and the introduction of Asbo's that criminalised many thousands of people again without trial.  The group generally found the book an entertaining and easy book to read which dealt with a very serious subject in a humorous manner. Although it was an unlikely tale and contained many coincidences, it did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the book. Some members did wonderif blackmail of the Home Secretary was the correct course of action for a barrister to take in order to obtain his Client's rights or does the ends justify the means?

John Raynham

The book group met on Monday 19 July to discuss Digging to America by Anne Tyler.

The Digging to America is a story set in Baltimore , Maryland and starts with the Donaldson and the Yazdan families who meet at the airport while they are waiting for the delayed flight from Korea bringing their infant adopted daughters.

The two families keep in touch and have many parties and get togethers which are described in great detail.  Sometimes there was too much detail and it was best to skim over some parts of the book. Some members felt that the book was tedious in places especially the binkies (dummies) saga and some felt the second half of the book was better than the first.

The dialogue between Maryam and Dave made the book more interesting particularly at the end of chapter 7. There is some humour in the book for example when Maryam gets her cycle helmet stuck and when Maryam was talking about Dave and why she turned down his marriage proposal!

Two of our members, Jenny and Andy lived in Detroit for five years and regaled some of the cultural differences including lack of sidewalks, Americans love of celebrations with outfits to match and always with a cake, overfriendliness and bossiness and their conviction they always know best! 

The book in places was enjoyable because Anne Tyler is very good at making her characters come alive so you can really feel their emotions.

Kay Raynham  

“Joy in the Morning” by PG Wodehouse – August 2010

The book this month was Joy in the Morning by PG Wodehouse who was a prolific novelist, playwright and lyricist. During his writing career of over 70 years he wrote 96 books, 15 plays and the lyrics for 250 songs. Joy in the Morning managed to produce polarised comments from the group and whilst for the majority it was a highly entertaining, humorous and light- hearted read, the minority found it difficult even to finish the book.  

This book, in a series of books involving the two main characters Jeeves and Wooster , is set in the 1930’s. Bertie Wooster is a dim but wealthy socialite and his manservant Jeeves who is far brighter than his master. Jeeves is educated in many fields including the Classics and literature and manages to extricate Bertie from the series of scrapes he finds himself in.  

The plot involves Bertie and Jeeves visiting Steeple Bumpleigh, the home of fearsome Aunt Agatha and her husband Uncle Percy, to assist Boko Fittlestone in his attempts to marry ‘Nobby’ Hopwood. At the same time Bertie requires help from Nobby to extricate himself from his liaison with Florence Craye. Edwin, Agatha’s youngest child causes mayhem whilst ‘Stilton’ Cheesewright endeavours to arrest Bertie. The story, of course, descends into farce with a happy ending.  

Although the book was set in the 1930’s and was published in 1947, Wodehouse’s command of the English language and his comedic talents made it an enjoyable read today.

John Raynham

This page last edited on 29 August 2010