The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

[Kenneth]

What do you think of this title? I'm not very far into the book, but I'm thinking of it as a sort of Magical Realism title, which will chain into future books on our reading list.

[Lucy]

My hip surgery is Tu March 7, so I will have to miss (another!) book discussion. I am listening to "Particular Sadness..." though, and hope to post some comments before Wednesday.
Have a great discussion, and eat some sweets for me!

[Teresa]

I hope your surgery goes well. Good Luck. We will be thinking of you Lucy.
I liked the title. I think it went well with the book. Finished it yesterday.

[Kenneth]

Just finished. I think we have a lot to discuss. Like, what was going on with Joseph, and what the Rose was like. We have some more magical realism we will get into later this year, I think. And im still planning on some Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, at some point.

I will see you folks tomorrow, with a lemon-chocolate cake in tow. Maybe you can tell me what you taste in it?

[Vera]

I'm looking forward to seeing the group tonight.

[Readridinghood]

Hi everyone! This book certainly makes me hungry! This book reminds me of the days when life was so feel good and simple. And food really tasted good! Not that it doesn't now. The writing seems very picturesque. You can either feel, or taste the subject matter. Not much I can say about the characters at this point. However, I am enjoying the book. Currently i'm listening to part two, Joseph chapter 18. Looking forward to seeing you, tonight's conversation, and enjoying Kenny's lemon chocolate creation! I know it will be tasty! If anyone is available, I will need a ride home.

[Anne]

Hey Donna--

I think everyone met last week so don't go tonight! I didn't make it last week either so I'm sad I missed the cake. What is our next book? I'll swing by soon to pick it up.

[Lucy]

Did not like "Particular Sadness...". The author's refusal to give more detail about Joseph's condition (is it too much to ask of a novel to give the reader enough info about its characters for us to care?) seemed coy to me. As the story "progressed", the superfluous descriptive language about things that didn't advance our understanding (scenery, street scenes, etc) of what the heck was going on frustrated me a lot (can you tell?). Scorn me as as a literalist, but unsympathetic characters (all of 'em except George) and deliberately obscure
plot spoiled this book for me.

[Kenneth]

At the meeting (which was indeed last week - I called Donna straightaway and told her not to come), we talked through it, and came up with some really interesting ideas about the book.

My favorite was the idea that Joseph's actual family-granted power was that he could feel emotions through touch, which is why he became so withdrawn from people and shunned contact. The splinter-removing was a way to deeply connect with his mother, whom he could stand. There's some textual support for this when he touched Rose in the final scene. The turning-into-furniture thing was all that science he was working on.

I both liked and disliked the lack of detail. For one thing, you need that detail to function in a story world. But then, it gives you the ability to fill in the blanks with fantastic things the author may never have intended, like what I wrote above.

Ultimately, it succeeded in holding my interest, though it's definitely the kind of book that mostly leaves you with unanswered questions.

[Readridinghood]

I can't believe I missed last week's book club! I mis counted the Wednesday's! That will teach me to look at the dates on the calendar! Thank you for calling me Kenny! I took a break, (my neighbour and I ordered Chinese and feasted!)
but I will finish the book today and post my thoughts. I agree with Ann. I had my tastebuds all set for Kenny's cake! Oh well. Another time!

[Lucy]

Ken, I see the justice of your comments, and they make me wish even more that I'd been there for the discussion. I like the idea that Joseph's special gift (affliction?) was to hyper-feel emotions thru touch, and that he reinforced his close tie to his mother with the splinter ritual.
Still unsatisfied with the story-telling...

[Teresa]

I like the idea of Joseph's special gifts being touch. I had not thought of it that way, but it really gives an added demention to his charactor. I kinda felt like the turning into a chair was a scientific experiment, the reason why he wanted no one to ever come to his room. Not that that is unusual for teenage boys.