ANA Book Club?

[cindyj]

I'm in...for ANYTHING in the Bahama's   Book club, AN club, knitting club, etc

Cindy

[Kaybo]

I would even learn a new skill if I could do it in a tropical environment!! 

K 

[saralynn143]

Would you even read a non-fiction book, Kay?

[Kaybo]

OnLy for an island!!!

[leapyrtwins]

I'd like to place my vote for Tahiti 

Can we start discussion once Clarice is finished with the book?  Is there anyone else still reading?

Jan

[saralynn143]

Barbados.

Sara

[CHD63]

Alas, I do not want to hold everyone up on this.  Please go ahead and begin the discussion.  We are leaving for my high school reunion in North Dakota (OK, yes, it was cold up there!   ) and I may or may not finish reading this great book in time to chime in here.  I will have Internet access all the way but not much time.  So, please start discussing when everyone else is finished reading.

Clarice

[saralynn143]

I took the kids to the library after school, and there was a big special display of books with a sign that read: "Get hooked on non-fiction knitting novels."

It made me laugh out loud because 1) it made me think of Steve and his hats, 2) it gave me a warm fuzzy about our reading club and 3) novels are by definition non-fiction. Fortunately I was not disruptive enough to be "shushed" by the librarians.

Just thought I would share.

Did you know that there is a sequel to The Friday Night Knitting Club? I picked it up, but it's been so long since I read the first that I am afraid I will not remember the plot.

Sara

P.S. Clarice, when will you be back from North Dakota? Can you take the book along and finish there? I'm thinking up some discussion questions.

[CHD63]

Sara .....

We are in Des Moines, IA tonight.  We will be back home on the 22nd ..... and yes, I brought the book along and hope to finish reading it before we get home.  I will catch up with all of you then.

Clarice

[sgerrard]

Gee, I always thought novels by definition were fiction. 

I did see that there was a sequel to F.N.K.C., but I think it has less knitting in it - it sounded okay but not great.

Ready for Potato questions when you are.

Steve

[leapyrtwins]

I did see that there was a sequel to F.N.K.C., but I think it has less knitting in it - it sounded okay but not great.

Ready for Potato questions when you are.

I agree.  I saw the FNKC sequel, read the back of it, flipped through it - didn't really interest me.  I think I'll skip it.

I'm ready for the Potato discussion to start, too - and it sounds like Clarice gives us her blessing.

Jan

[saralynn143]

Oops. I meant "fictional knitting novels," so now the joke is on me. That's ok though, I was/am in need of a good laugh.

So here's are a couple of obvious starting questions: Did you find the epistolary format to be more or less effective than straight story-telling? If so, why and if not, why not?

Sara

[sgerrard]

Oops. I meant "fictional knitting novels," so now the joke is on me. That's ok though, I was/am in need of a good laugh.

I suppose "fictional knitting novels" could be misread as novels about fictional knitting, e.g. the alleged knitting of a pink hat that has yet to appear. 

I quite liked the epistolary format - as well as all the letter writing that went on. It seemed a graceful way to switch between narrators, and allowed the sort of lengthly monologues that people otherwise only speak in plays, not in real life. Unlike merely switching narrators, it also provided a switch in the intended recipient. You learn more about both the writer and the recipient when you see what one had to say to the other. There is something democratic about it as well. While they were a few things said by others about Adelaide Addison, for instance, most of the damage occurs when she is given the opportunity to speak for herself.

Steve

[Kaybo]

I was a bit hesitant about the letters after just reading the Time Traveler's Wife - it wasn't necessarily letters but seemed a bit the same in switching people and dates...I found the Potato book to be MUCH more enjoyable and easier to read.  In recommending to my friend, Marilyn, it was a hard sell trying explain the way it was written - I finally just told her that it worked really well for that book!  I think what Steve said really kind of sums it up.  Also, I loved what he pointed out about AA and how she made herself to look bad through her own ramblings - what a good lesson!  I think we all know people who are like that & I know I have been guilty...what is the saying "If you are given enough rope you will hang yourself!" (?)

K

PS - Did anyone else find it funny that Adelaide Addison's name can both be (& are) shortened to "Addi" - of course, I noticed that since I have a sweet Addi-girl!!

[saralynn143]

Kay, I'm sure your sweet Addi-girl would never act the way Adelaide Addison did. (More on Adelaide in a moment.)

I've read some books where the letter-writing style crashes and burns, even some presented as e-mails (of which I can't think of a single example that I enjoyed). I think the real advantage in this novel is the many and varied personalities and points of view, each of whose characters was well-defined and showed through in his or her correspondence. I could almost hear each person talking as I read. Even the vocabulary level changed from person to person. It was handy having the date and to/from info at the top of each letter, but I think I could have figured it out without that.

Another strength is that it seemed much more natural for the characters to reminisce about past events in letters. I think it would have seemed much more forced in conversations.

Now back to Adelaide Addison for just a moment . . . I have read a couple of criticisms that the book is anti-Christian because Adelaide was portrayed as a narrow-minded unforgiving Bible thumper. I am a Christian and that did not strike me at all. I found her to be a crotchety old lady, and I thought that her character would be redeemed at the end (but sadly wasn't), but I did not think the whole novel was anti-Christian because of one character. I know of at least a couple of people like that in my home congregation.

Sara