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BOOK CLUB - Galway
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TristanPeter wrote: »Hi Everyone,
Just updating you in relation to our last BookClub meeting (Tue, 20th Jan) where we discussed Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. The book was nominated by Coconut_5, who unfortunately could not attend.
In terms of Dystopian, speculative-fiction novels (yes, I got these terms from Wikipedia :rolleyes: ) I think everyone who finished it, liked it pretty much. The story was very interesting overall, but I felt that it was a bit too slow and drawn-out. It seemed to me that Atwood was going to great lengths to create an atmosphere which was a bit superfluous, especially when I compare it to the short, descriptive, evocative language used in Fahrenheit 451 which we read a few months ago.
Many of the topics broached in the book, e.g. genetic engineering, globalisation and privatisation of policing services have all been developed and exaggerated by Atwood from current trends in society. This gave the story a scary, dark undercurrent even though on the surface one might think that that it was quite light-hearted, and obviously this is what Atwood was trying to achieve, even if she puts too much effort into it and in turn slows the pace of the story.
I really liked the genetic splicing of the animals into such things as "wolvogs" (wolves and dogs) and "pigoons" (pigs and baboons) etc. I also liked the idea of the extremely genetically engineered chicken etc. in fast-food outlets of the future as opposed to the relatively moderately genetically-engineered chicken of KFC today perhaps???
A few things in the story made me feel a little uneasy; perhaps it was supposed to. These were as follows:
* The whole online child porn scenario. This in itself is bad enough but what makes it worse is Oryx’s, the child victim’s approval of it! The world of the future where anything goes!
* The whole Craker mating ritual thing. It’s just weird!
* The characters themselves were not very likable.
* The over-imagineering (this word does exist!) on Atwood’s part. I felt at times in the book she was on a mission to prove just how imaginative she could be by coming up with completely over-the-top idea
Disclaimer: These are my opinions only
Member’s comments and ratings out of 10:
TristanPeter: 6/10
“Too long and dialogue-heavy for my liking. However, very interesting concepts with highly relevant parallels with modern society. In terms of dystopian novels, Fahrenheit 451 was way better with a much more cleverly constructed atmosphere from a book approx. half the length of this one!”
Pope Buckfast
“Didn’t read enough to rate, but read enough to want to finish.”
Pink Shoes
“Haven’t finished it. It seems really interesting. Will finish it!! Looking forward to it.”
Sec
“Didn’t get to finish the book either but I hope to soon.”
DamoGood
“Only starting the book. 4 weeks is never enough to read a book!!”
Xiney: 9/10
“Really thought it was full of commentary and interesting points of view. Plot was very well constructed and it was quite scarily true a lot of the time…”
I think too that this book could be discussed for ages and ages. There's a lot of messages in it and I suppose the very loud music on the night in Bar No. 8 didn't help; but it is a pub afterall. It's to be expected.
It was Sec's birthday too so Happy Birthday Sec The chocolate cake was lovely.
Oops, I forgot to put Miss Ka's book rating in! Sorry about that. Here it is:
8/10
"I loved the book, it was a very interesting read and highlighted possible situations that could occur. I would have loved to know more about Oryx and Crake."
I probably could have edited my original post but I don't know how to
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Hi All,
Just a reminder that we will be meeting this evening around 8:00/8:30 in Bar No. 8 to Discuss Slaughterhouse 5, nominated by Pope Buckfast.
New members are welcome as always
By the way, whoever gets in first, will you please try to get a table away from the speakers. Don't want a repeat of our last meeting where it's a struggle to talk.
See you later0 -
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Hi All,
The book I would like to nominate is Animal Farm by George Orwell. It's pretty short and it's a classic.
So, as far as I know, this is the order of books nominated:
Current - Two Caravans
Next - Birdsong
Next - Animal Farm
There is still one more nomination that we are waiting on.
Enjoy 0 -
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OK, my brain is switched off at the moment courtesy of time spent with Mr. John Jameson Esquire at the weekend so I'll keep this short & sweet.
'Slaughterhouse 5' is Kurt Vonneguts attempt to communicate, or at least come to terms with, the horror he witnessed after the fire-bombing of Dresden in World War II. He does this through the eyes of Billy Pilgrim, a weedy and most unsuitable soldier, who got captured behind enemy lines when he was a chaplains assistant in the Army. Billy has a unique problem in that he is 'unstuck in time', this allows Vonnegut to jump the story around in time, flipping between various events in Billy's life. Billy is very accepting of fate and the futility of attempting to employ free will, due to having witnessed his own death in the future (so it goes), and also from his dealings with a 4 dimensional alien race (read the book, it's not that weird in context!). Vonnegut himself makes a couple of amusing cameos during the story.
I personally enjoyed it very much, the humour was very dark, which is nice if you're into that. It was a pretty easy read too, as it was nice and short, and fairly punchy.
Here's what everyone else thought...
Sec 7/10
An enjoyable read. Truly depicts the horror of the Dresden Bombing.
Gus 8/10
A funny, bleak and highly original look at the madness of war.
Ms. Ka 7/10
But only because I haven't finished it yet. Really enjoying it so far, not as 'science fictiony' as I thought it would be. Interesting mixture of ideas.
Christine/Xiney 9.5/10
Really interesting and original, not so much a depiction of World War II but a comment on war in general.
Breeda
Did not read it yet
Caroline 7/10
Good read. Took a while to get into, but worth it.
TristanPeter 8/10
Have about 20 pages to go but I'm really enjoying it! Funny, descriptive and to the point! An eye-opener re. WW2 and allied atrocities.
Damien 5/10
I thought the writing was old fashioned. I thought it was too short for such a heavy subject. I did like the humour though.
Stephen 5/10
Only read half of it so far. It was pretty slow to get into, but is written in a quirky way which makes it fairly interesting . You find yourself trying to understand the mental well being of the Narrator.
Seeya tomorrow evening
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TristanPeter wrote: »Hi All,
The book I would like to nominate is Animal Farm by George Orwell. It's pretty short and it's a classic.
So, as far as I know, this is the order of books nominated:
Current - Two Caravans
Next - Birdsong
Next - Animal Farm
There is still one more nomination that we are waiting on.
Enjoy
if i was to recommend anything, i would say hocus pocus by kurt vonnegut....i know you have recently done something by him, but this is a good book.0 -
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Pope Buckfast, you were right about the 1st year anniversary of BookClub. Our first meeting was held on Feb 5th 2008. For some reason, I thought it was March when we started :rolleyes:
I propose that we have a celebratory BookClub meeting on our next date in honour of this momentus occasion
What do you all think? Perhaps we could for a once-off move our next meeting to the Friday so that we don't have to worry about getting up for work or college or whatever?
Two Caravans would have been our 18th book I think? Is that right?0 -
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