Good afternoon Bookworms,
Well, after a depressing start to January with the dreary and inconceivable 'Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow', we were all glad of a bit of humour in the form of Rakesh Satyal's 'Blue Boy' last month! Joy has reviewed this for us, her review will be posted here shortly.
We also had our first Bookworms outing of 2014 - to see the film of our favourite read from last year - Markus Zusak's 'The Book Thief' - again Joy has kindly reviewed this for us but suffice to say we all loved it!
This month we're trying something a little different and are tackling a play in the form of Edward Albee's 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' We will be meeting on Sunday April 6th to discuss this - as usual at the Black Lion pub on Welsh Row in Nantwich at 8pm and new members are always welcome.
Our upcoming reads are as follows:
March - 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' by Edward Albee
April - 'Mort' by Terry Pratchett
May- 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte
Remember to keep checking out our twitter @booknantwich or email us at nantwichbookworms@gmail.com
Happy reading!
Kate
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Joy Cassidy's Review of Blue Boy by Rakesh Satyal
Blue Boy is a tale of a young Hindu boy in America, trying to find his way through the confusion and turmoil of puberty as he transcends from boyhood to adulthood. A fairly straightforward and common synopsis no? No. Satyal's Blue Boy is in fact a flamboyant, effeminate child who likes to secretly put on his Mother's make-up, play with dolls and take ballet lessons. He also likes to look at adult magazine's and partake in voyeurism most sordid, being very childlike in some ways and very adult in others.
On one hand Kieran has his Hindu life, his family dynamics and the wider Indian culture of large parties, food and awkward social conventions. On the other, he has school, talent shows, friends who turn out to be enemies and a heightened sexual awareness. Not fitting in to either life and struggling to find his way on his own is a breeding ground for much of the humour as we follow Kieran on his voyage of self-discovery.
Despite stating otherwise, we felt that much of Kieran's flamboyant and carefree character was a reflection of Satyal's himself and therefore seemed fairly self-indulgent. Especially as Kieran comes to the conclusion that he must be a reincarnation of the Hindu god, Krishna. Adopting Krishna's habits of eating butter, playing the flute and having blue skin, Kieran descends into the bizarre and finds himself in ridiculous situations where we neither feel sorry or despise him.
Blue Boy was a light-hearted, easy read, but not as laugh-out-loud as we had expected. It had moments of comedy as well as poignancy and it provided an interesting insight into another culture, albeit from the perspective of a stupidly smart, blue-tinged adolescent.
March's read is Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and we will be meeting at the Black Lion, Nantwich at 8pm on Sunday April 6th. New members are always welcome to join us! Please contact nantwichbookworms@gmail.com or see the blognantwichbookworms.blogspot.com
Blue Boy is a tale of a young Hindu boy in America, trying to find his way through the confusion and turmoil of puberty as he transcends from boyhood to adulthood. A fairly straightforward and common synopsis no? No. Satyal's Blue Boy is in fact a flamboyant, effeminate child who likes to secretly put on his Mother's make-up, play with dolls and take ballet lessons. He also likes to look at adult magazine's and partake in voyeurism most sordid, being very childlike in some ways and very adult in others.
On one hand Kieran has his Hindu life, his family dynamics and the wider Indian culture of large parties, food and awkward social conventions. On the other, he has school, talent shows, friends who turn out to be enemies and a heightened sexual awareness. Not fitting in to either life and struggling to find his way on his own is a breeding ground for much of the humour as we follow Kieran on his voyage of self-discovery.
Despite stating otherwise, we felt that much of Kieran's flamboyant and carefree character was a reflection of Satyal's himself and therefore seemed fairly self-indulgent. Especially as Kieran comes to the conclusion that he must be a reincarnation of the Hindu god, Krishna. Adopting Krishna's habits of eating butter, playing the flute and having blue skin, Kieran descends into the bizarre and finds himself in ridiculous situations where we neither feel sorry or despise him.
Blue Boy was a light-hearted, easy read, but not as laugh-out-loud as we had expected. It had moments of comedy as well as poignancy and it provided an interesting insight into another culture, albeit from the perspective of a stupidly smart, blue-tinged adolescent.
March's read is Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and we will be meeting at the Black Lion, Nantwich at 8pm on Sunday April 6th. New members are always welcome to join us! Please contact nantwichbookworms@gmail.com or see the blognantwichbookworms.blogspot.com
A Film Review! Bookworms trip to see The Book Thief Film - reviewed by Joy
Having read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak a few months ago, the Nantwich Bookworms went to see the screen adaptation to see if the film measured up to a book that was enjoyed so much by the group. Although met with criticism and mixed reviews by many, we all left the cinema wet-cheeked and teary-eyed as we were captivated by the emotional story once again.
Despite being set during WW2 Nazi Germany, it was beautifully shot as the world was opened up to us through the eyes of the young, illiterate, Liesel. As her journey into young womanhood and literacy develops and the relationships she has along the way explored, the harsh and unforgiving setting of the war, does not overpower the beauty of the story.
We thought it was well cast, with Geoffrey Rush giving a heartwarming portrayal of Hans Hubermann, Liesel's foster father, and the other characters offering a close match to what Markus Zusak had conjured up for us through his words.
As with many adaptations, much of the story was lost in the film, which although inevitable was still a shame. Our only criticism was, given that language and words were the main crux of the story; Liesel learning to read, describe and narrate, using stolen and abolished books, it was a little distracting that the dialogue was mainly in heavily accentuated English, with a few German words thrown in (mainly by the Nazi's), rather than in subtitled German which would have perhaps smoothed the flow and increased a sense of authenticity.
Joy Cassidy
Despite being set during WW2 Nazi Germany, it was beautifully shot as the world was opened up to us through the eyes of the young, illiterate, Liesel. As her journey into young womanhood and literacy develops and the relationships she has along the way explored, the harsh and unforgiving setting of the war, does not overpower the beauty of the story.
We thought it was well cast, with Geoffrey Rush giving a heartwarming portrayal of Hans Hubermann, Liesel's foster father, and the other characters offering a close match to what Markus Zusak had conjured up for us through his words.
As with many adaptations, much of the story was lost in the film, which although inevitable was still a shame. Our only criticism was, given that language and words were the main crux of the story; Liesel learning to read, describe and narrate, using stolen and abolished books, it was a little distracting that the dialogue was mainly in heavily accentuated English, with a few German words thrown in (mainly by the Nazi's), rather than in subtitled German which would have perhaps smoothed the flow and increased a sense of authenticity.
Joy Cassidy
Friday, 10 January 2014
Happy New Year Bookworms!
Happy new year to all our followers! We hope that 2014 will be a year of many new reads and like 2013 a year where we will all discover new authors and new favourite reads.
Our meeting last weekend was short but sweet (we would like to say that December's read was the same but although it was short, it would take a far stretch of the imagination to describe it as sweet!) See Joy's review of 'Coraline' on a post to follow shortly.
Our read for this month is Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg and as always we will be meeting at 8pm on the first Sunday of the month (Sunday Feb 2nd) at the Black Lion, Nantwich.
At our next meeting we will also be planning a bookclub trip for early February to see the film of the 'Book Thief' which was our group's unanimous favourite read last year.
Remember to keep following us on twitter @booknantwich and for any enquiries or questions email nantwichbookworms@gmail.com
Happy reading
Kate
Our meeting last weekend was short but sweet (we would like to say that December's read was the same but although it was short, it would take a far stretch of the imagination to describe it as sweet!) See Joy's review of 'Coraline' on a post to follow shortly.
Our read for this month is Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg and as always we will be meeting at 8pm on the first Sunday of the month (Sunday Feb 2nd) at the Black Lion, Nantwich.
At our next meeting we will also be planning a bookclub trip for early February to see the film of the 'Book Thief' which was our group's unanimous favourite read last year.
Remember to keep following us on twitter @booknantwich and for any enquiries or questions email nantwichbookworms@gmail.com
Happy reading
Kate
Joy's Review of Coraline
Neil Gaimon's Coraline is a dark and quirky tale of a young girl whose boredom and loneliness takes her on an adventure to a fantastical world, much like her own, but with some very absurd and freakish differences. In fact the scare -factor is at times so apparent that it is easy to forget that Coraline is a children's book, with Tim Burton's adaptation a successful children's film. With a mutilated hand that claws it's way back into Coraline's world, to her 'other' father being an imprisoned slug in the basement who tries to attack her, this is truly the stuff of nightmares whether you are 8 or 48!
The Nantwich Bookworms enjoyed the quirkiness of the novel and the 'through the looking glass' feel that it had, evoking the memories of boring school holidays, the despair at busy parents and the over-active imaginations that often encapsulate our childhoods. The shortness of the novel meant that it was concise, exciting and fast-paced. The imagery used was vivid and powerful, leaving our more sensitive readers slightly unnerved!
At Nantwich Bookworms we try and choose books that cover a wide range of genres to appeal to all members of the group and to challenge ourselves by reading novels we wouldn't necessarily choose ourselves. Over the past year we have discovered books that have become firm favorites and become excited by authors that we had never heard of before. We are always looking for new members so if you would like to join us, please come along on the first Sunday of the month at the Black Lion in Nantwich at 8pm.
February's read is Peter Hoeg's Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow. You can contact us through Twitter @booknantwich, email nantwichbookworms@gmail.com, or see the blog for further detailswww.nantwichbookworms.
The Nantwich Bookworms enjoyed the quirkiness of the novel and the 'through the looking glass' feel that it had, evoking the memories of boring school holidays, the despair at busy parents and the over-active imaginations that often encapsulate our childhoods. The shortness of the novel meant that it was concise, exciting and fast-paced. The imagery used was vivid and powerful, leaving our more sensitive readers slightly unnerved!
At Nantwich Bookworms we try and choose books that cover a wide range of genres to appeal to all members of the group and to challenge ourselves by reading novels we wouldn't necessarily choose ourselves. Over the past year we have discovered books that have become firm favorites and become excited by authors that we had never heard of before. We are always looking for new members so if you would like to join us, please come along on the first Sunday of the month at the Black Lion in Nantwich at 8pm.
February's read is Peter Hoeg's Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow. You can contact us through Twitter @booknantwich, email nantwichbookworms@gmail.com, or see the blog for further detailswww.nantwichbookworms.
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