Virago Modern Classics discussion
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Losing Battles
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Losing battles (buddy-read)
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I have just started it, about 30 pages in. So far I think it compares to Delta Wedding, than her other books. Descriptions are rich, she gives a good sense of place and characters that have a lot of stories to tell.
Mod
Finished Part 1 which is an introduction to the family and the telling of the first tale about Jack. Love the big family (there was a list at the front of the book of all the family members which was handy) and them all wanting to add their bit to the story. Full of family bustle and humour.
I am on Part 2 now which is about Judge Moody and his car. Am thinking that this section may get a bit comic, and would love to listen to it on audiobook. Welty is very good at building a vivid picture.
Mod
Mela wrote: "My plans are changing, so I am not sure I will be able to read it this month. If so, I will try to cache it up in August."No worries, it is a big book. Do you still want to read The Birds Fall Down in August? We could reschedule to the autumn.
Mod
No, no need to reschedule. I should have more time in August, than this month.
Just finished Part 4. Won't give any plot spoilers, but am loving the descriptions. We are at a birthday party for Granny, sitting outside all round the table. Like lots of family gatherings they are sitting on whatever chairs they can find, it could be any extended family Thanksgiving or Christmas celebration. As they share and add to the stories you can imagine them talking over themselves or waiting for their turn to say their piece.
Mod
I am on the home stretch, but it is not easy to read. It is the type of book where I feel a film would be easier to follow. Some bits dragged and I felt they could be speeded up - the scenes with the Judge's car would be funny and the story telling/banter at the reunion table would show the love of the extended family. I wanted to read it quickly because I wanted to read it with the same sense of energy that Welty wrote it.
Don't feel bad if you want to abandon it.
Finished it. Loved the detail in the book, the vivid descriptions of Banner and the extended family. I liked seeing the family at the reunion and hearing their stories. You felt that many would have been stories that were told every year. I enjoyed the humour in the book, particularly story of Judge and Mrs Moody and the Buick.There were some parts of the book that I felt dragged, and it is here I wondered whether an audiobook might have been better, where I could have played it on 1.5 speed. I felt that conversation would have naturally moved faster than I could read and absorb.
I am glad I stuck with it.
Mod
Your words sound promising. I regret I couldn't "get" into it. I will try it again (in a few days, or a bit later), perhaps then I will feel it.
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If you have read it already, or you are reading it at another (later) time - write here what you think about the book too.
[Please keep in mind to hide spoilers in spoiler brackets.]