Laurel’s Comments (group member since Dec 30, 2013)

Laurel’s comments from the All About Books group.

All right. Here is Chapter One. But don't read this if you haven't read it, if you want to avoid spoilers.

Notes on Wolf Hall Part One. Chapter I. Across the Narrow Sea. Putney, 1500.

I often take notes on books I'm reading - especially complex literary fiction like this is. I don't promise to keep it up. At some point the book takes over.... but for now, here's what I have. There may be spoilers, so don't read these notes if you don't want to be spoiled...

p.3 First line: "So now get up."
The Wheel of Fortune.
The Goddess Fortuna: subject of Skelton's "Magnificence" referenced in frontispiece.
We shall see the rise and fall of Wolsey, More, Cromwell himself, and others.

Thomas Cromwell, ca. age 15, is being beaten within an inch of his life, by his brutal, violent father.

Use of historical present, pronoun "he" - we are inside TC's head, now, and throughout the novel.

Within a page or two we are shown TC's survival instincts, move cautiously inch by inch, don't attract attention, self-effacement but determination, powers of observation, stoicism, acceptance. "I'll miss my dog." Feels no pain, reasoning ability/logic.

Foreshadowing his death? Or the ever present reality of death?

p.4 Then a jarring sentence puts us briefly in Walter's head: "You've done it this time, a voice tells Walter." Then the omniscient 3rd person: "But he closes his ears, or God closes them for him." Referring to Walter, or telling us that Thomas is hearing/imagining Walter's thoughts? Then: "He is pulled downstream" back to Thomas as he loses consciousness.

p.5 His sister Kat - substitute mother. He wants comfort, but doesn't want to "mess her up" with his blood. She is what grounds him: "He feels as if he is floating, and she is weighting him to earth."
p.4 "Her hands empty, she clasps them in violent prayer." Juxtaposition of violence and gentleness - survivor's legacy?

Morgan Williams, Kat's husband
"Welsh and pugnacious."
"Look at you, boy. You could cripple the brute in a fair fight." Obviously TC is big and strong - a match for his father.

p.6 Kat tells Morgan about her father.
"I wonder what I've married into," Morgan Williams says.
Thomas thinks (maybe for the first time) that perhaps Walter killed his mother. But pragmatic: "Kat's what he's got for a mother" now.

p.7 Morgan, future magistrate, rants about Thomas and Kat's father.

p. 8 Walter comes, shouting and kicking doors "with some of his acquaintance." Thomas realizes he can't stay in Putney. If Walter gets after Thomas again, Thomas will kill him "and if I kill him they'll hang me, and if they're going to hang me I want a better reason."

p. 9 Morgan paid for Thomas to learn to read and write. And for all of Morgan's bluster, he's afraid of Walter.
Thomas shows concern for family: " Who's he going to hit when I'm gone?" Sister "Bet is married and got out of it."
Morgan offers money to help Thomas on his way. Kat doesn't want him to go.
p. 10 Thomas wants to go back for his dog, Bella.

p. 11 Thomas takes the money. Says goodbye (and more) in Welsh.
p. 12 Morgan stares. Thomas savors the surprise of himself having learned Welsh hanging around the house. (We'll see more of his facility with languages...)

p.12-13 "he talks to strangers very easily." He is good with horses.
Reasoning out where to go - decides on Dover to take a ship to France.
How old is he? He says 18, then 15. Probably younger - 13?
He makes money in Dover doing card tricks. Spends some on a prostitute. (His first time?) Boards a ship after helping 3 Lowlanders bribe the clerk.
p.14 They leave at Calais. He is not stopping till he gets to a war.

p.15 He drops Kat's holy medal into the sea - an offering? for luck? (Brings us back to Fortuna.)

I've posted some notes as I've gone along in another group. I'll post them here if anyone is interested, but there could be spoilers....

#12 Bertie's Christmas

#13 Bertie's Christmas Journey

Discovered there were a couple of short (very short) Christmas stories in this series, published in the Scotsman. Both feature Bertie, of course - who is still 6 two Christmases in a row.... Bertie apparently exists outside of normal time. :-)

#11 Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers
4 red stars

Continues the long-running saga of the residents or former residents of 44 Scotland Street in Edinburgh. If you haven't read any in the series before, you might want to start at the beginning. These books move at the glacial pace of a soap-opera, but there is an arc to the characters. Bertie is finally (the title of book #6 not-withstanding), finally turning seven. Matthew and Elspeth look at a new house and hire an au pair for their au pair. Bruce gets only one small scene in the whole book. Pat, just maybe, might have found a boyfriend. Angus and Domenica must put up with a visit from Antonia. Big Lou takes a big step and applies to become a foster mother. And Bertie, as always, steals the show. Fate steps in to give him a break from his mother (I won't say more), which means that Bertie gets to go on a cub scout camping trip and do other normally forbidden things (like eat pizza.) His mother is still away at the end of the book. Can Bertie look forward to having more freedom in the next installment? As usual, McCall Smith manages to combine the mundane and the absurd with humor and wisdom.

Cumulative pages: 3,546

#10 Crocodile on the Sandbank

3.5 pink stars. This was a reread of a series I have enjoyed in the past, but I have to admit it is showing its age! There is humor and romance, and it's a pleasant enough cozy diversion, but the actual mystery (plot) was highly predictable, if not glaringly obvious. The mummy is eye-rollingly hilarious / awful, and the colonial racism, while true to the 19th century, is a bit offensive today. I do like Amelia and her independent spirit very much though!

Cumulative pages: 3,251

#9 Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope
4.5 blue stars.

This is a deeply personal and depressing account of what has gone wrong in the lives of a small-town community: loss of jobs, drug addiction, teenage pregnancy, lack of health care and social safety nets, and the inevitable breakdown of the families involved. The authors do not deny that individual bad choices are part of this complex picture. But they also make the point that too many people simply demonize and dehumanize those who find themselves in these circumstances. While some reviews outright rejected the liberal political views of the authors, I felt that they aimed for a balanced view without singling out one political party over another. They did call out the specific policies of certain administrations. It is clear that those policies have failed us, and have contributed to what is happening all across this country. They have tried to point to programs and individuals who have made some small difference, but on the whole, I am left with the feeling that outside of what small actions we can take as individuals, the solution will require a change of heart and a willingness to enact legislation that overcomes political partisanship, and that addresses the huge income gap between upper and lower classes. I am not as optimistic as the authors that we are anywhere close to being able to accomplish this.

Cumulative pages: 2,989

Really looking forward to going to see my mom this week. It's an 8 hour drive, so I'll get through at least one audiobook, and most of a second. Just need to finish up
READ Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope which is an excellent book but really depressing! I need comfort reads next! In my April plans I said I was going to listen to
READ Crocodile on the Sandbank and
READ Every Living Thing.

Crocodile is a reread for me, and knocks off two challenges - April cover challenge and A Good Yarn "E" location (Egypt). On my previous trips I listened to James Herriot and I want to get to that one to finish the series, but I've realized that another book
READ Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers would knock off another 3 challenges: a B title, A Good Yarn "E" location (Edinburgh) and it's on my 12 + 4 challenge. So I'm substituting that one, and hopefully will get to Every Living Thing next month. It's also on my 12 + 4 challenge...

Count me in. I started Wolf Hall last year, but have gotten stalled and set it aside. This will give me the motivation to pick it up again.

#8 The Urgency of Awareness: Unlocking the Power within Individual, Organizational, and Community Efforts
3 yellow stars

This was used by our church as a Lenten discussion guide. We divided into small groups led by a "facilitator" - someone who had attended some kind of training with the author. I really can't say much about the book. It's short, and only focuses on a few simple ideas. I wouldn't recommend this book on its own - I think it would have been pointless without the discussion of the group I was in.

Cumulative pages: 2,685

April plans:

Audiobooks:
READ 1. Crocodile on the Sandbank - Color Challenge for April and A Good Yarn (E is for Egypt)

READ 2. Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope - Perspectives Book Club

READ 3. Every Living Thing - while traveling to see Mom and finish up this series.

READ 4. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents - Daytimer's Book Club

Finish reading:
READ 5. Aunt Bessie Assumes]

READ 6. The Hound of the Baskervilles - A Good Yarn (D is for Devon)

READ 7. A Brush With Death

READ 8. Awayland

Continue reading:
9. Moby-Dick or, the Whale

10. Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer

11. Wolf Hall

To start:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (3-month Reading the Chunksters group read)

#7 The Book of Unknown Americans
4 red stars
Book Clubs: A Good Yarn (D is for Delaware), Perspectives (previous group read)
Themes: "Book of" titles

I'm not sure what I feel about this book. Is it a young adult romance? An examination of the lives of Latin American immigrants? Is it the author's intent for us to get to know these "unknown" Americans? To understand something of their struggles - acquiring jobs, learning a new language, overcoming prejudice and injustice? A political commentary, or a psychological domestic drama about cause and effect, blame and guilt? This book had the potential to be something really powerful. It is unsettling to be sure. Is the ending a tragedy that could have been prevented, or just something that "happened"? Rather than being about the two main families, and especially the two teenagers, this ends up feeling like it is more about the community, and their collective hopes and dreams. The ending offered no resolution to anything, only the need to keep moving on, to keep hoping that things will get better.

Cumulative pages: 2,547

#6 The Vanishing Half
4.5 blue stars

4.5 blue stars. This isn't just a story about a black person passing as white. It's about all the different ways we create our identity: race, gender, marital status, career. It isn't just about twin sisters. It's also about mothers and daughters, husbands and wives. It's about being different, and how we try to fit into our families and our communities. The lies we tell. The choices we make. And everything is about contrast: white/black, male/female, poor/rich, introvert/extrovert. I liked this story a lot, but I do think the author tried to include too many things, and so we kind of lose the story of the twins. The plot relies on several coincidences, many of the choices made seem inexplicable, and the whole leaves many questions unanswered. But that will make for lively book club discussions.

Cumulative pages: 2,261

I'm currently reading Wolf Hall, but it has been stalled awhile. Maybe this will get me going again...

Alannah wrote: "Just started The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, it was recommended by a colleague in our little book club."

My book club is reading this too. I just started it today.

March update time, and not much change since the last update... Still behind, but all the major cleaning I had to do is done.

For Daytimers:
READ 1. The Vanishing Half

For Perspectives:
READ 2. Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope

For A Good Yarn:
READ 3. The Hound of the Baskervilles (Dartmoor and Devon)
READ 4. The Book of Unknown Americans (Delaware)

Still reading:
5. Moby-Dick or, the Whale - long term project.
6. Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer - long term project

Other "A" titles (still reading...)
READ 7. Awayland
READ 8. Anglesey Blue

For February's color challenge:
READ 9. A Brush With Death

#5 The Return
3 yellow stars.
Book clubs: Daytimers

It got off to a VERY slow start. I don't know if that was supposed to ratchet up the mystery aspect involving the two women, but it really didn't work. I did like the fact that there WAS a mystery, since there wasn't much to the romance. And I'm a sucker for medical mysteries. The bees added a much needed hook to tie everything together. I might have enjoyed this more told from a woman's point of view, but who knows. I'm really not the audience for this kind of book, but it made my book club ladies happy.

Cumulative pages: 1,918

Appleseed is on my Want-to-read list.

#4 Winter Solstice
Themes: Winter

3.5 pink stars. A predictable, though too good to be true, Hallmark-style, Christmas comfort read. I enjoy the long drawn-out descriptions of people doing fairly ordinary things. A bit dated perhaps - until Elfrida reveals her age you might think she was 82, not 62... I liked the mix of generations, although when the narration first switched from Elfrida's story to Sam's story, it was so abrupt, and no clue who this person was and how he was going to fit into the story. Nothing special here, but I would read more of this author.

Cumulative pages: 1,563

Mid-February and I still haven't done a February update. I shouldn't take the time now, but I'll feel better if I do. I'm three books behind on my goal, soon to be four. Haven't been reading at all for weeks, except for the audiobook in the car which has about 3 hours left to go... I have been cleaning and decluttering like mad so that the landlord can show the house. I took 4 days off work last week and did nothing else. Now he says someone has made an offer, but wants to see downstairs here next weekend. It sounds promising for me getting to stay here as a tenant, so think good thoughts! I've been in this limbo since August, and it will be a relief to know one way or the other.

Anyway, finishing up
READ 1. Winter Solstice - car audiobook

For book clubs:
READ 2. The Return - that will also be audio, to start right after I finish Winter Solstice.

READ 3. The Hound of the Baskervilles - For A Good Yarn, books with a D location - this one is Dartmoor and Devonshire, and seems short enough that I can do it by the end of the month... "D" locations continues through March, so I'll probably just do the one for this month.

Still working on "A" titles for my personal challenge:
READ 4. Anglesey Blue

READ 5. Awayland

6. Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer

along with a reread of
7. Moby-Dick or, the Whale - these last two might be stretched out over a few months. No, make that they will be stretched out over several months.

That's all for now - got to get back to cleaning!

I've added a new list to message #3 above:
Old Themes: Revisiting Moby Dick

It turns out that I read Moby Dick 10 years ago. This was the first year I started doing themes. I moved 3 titles from the Old Themes list and added 9 more from my TBR. Now I have to pick 3 more old themes, which I'll do later tonight. What's another dozen books? Ha ha ha.

And I decided to reread Moby Dick. So probably my Odyssey list is postponed until at least September.... I'm reading Moby Dick at http://www.powermobydick.com/ I may also listen to the Moby Dick Big Read at https://www.mobydickbigread.com/