The Postmistress - Discussion 4

I have to be honest, this book was just okay for me.  There were moments when it was really good, and other moments where I was skimming and my head/heart wasn't in it.

I liked the timeframe and I liked the characters of Emma, Frankie, Harry and Otto.  Iris, not so much.  I liked the reporting of Frankie and her time spent on the trains.  All of the Cape scenes were pretty blah for me.

1. Seek Truth. Report it. Minimize Harm. That is the journalist’s code. And it haunts Frankie during the book. Why wasn’t Frankie able to deliver the letter or tell Emma about meeting Will? For someone whose job was to deliver the news, did she fail?

2. After Thomas tells his story of escape, the old woman in the train compartment says “There was God looking out for you at every turn.” Thomas disagrees. “People looked out. Not God.” He adds, “There is no God. Only us.” How does THE POSTMISTRESS raise the questions of faith in wartime? How does this connect to the decisions Iris and Frankie make with regard to Emma?

3. Why does Otto refuse to tell the townspeople that he’s Jewish? Do you think he’s right not to do so?

4. Discuss the significance of the Martha Gellhorn quote at the beginning of the book, “War happens to people, one by one. That is really all I have to say, and it seems to me I have been saying it forever.” What stance towards war, and of telling a war story does this reveal? How does it inform your reading of The Postmistress?

5. “Get in. Get the story. Get out.” That is Murrow’s charge to Frankie. Does The Postmistress make you question whether it’s possible to ever really get the whole story? Or to get out?

What was your overall feeling of the book? Are you planning on joining us in December?

The Postmistress - Discussion 1

This month's book is The Postmistress by Sarah Blake, and I must confess that I had to do a power reading session Thursday night to be caught up.  When I started it last weekend, it did not hook me and I was dreading it.  Then I picked it back up Thursday and the first chunk was hard and then when I got to the part where Emma went to watch the soldiers firing at night, it sped up and I was interested again.  I think this is going to be a book of good and bad spurts for me.

I really like that this has a WW2 time period.  It's a time that I am very interested in so I like that about the book so far.  I also think it is interesting to get a perspective from Frankie, a woman, in London, during 1940.

I think the introduction of the characters was nicely done in a slow drawn out way and it was also slightly irritating at the same time, but I could immediately tell which characters I was going to like the best, based on my reactions to their sections.  Harry's part? Bored. Frankie's? Loved. Iris? Intriguesd.  The Fitches? Interested.

1. What did you think of Iris's visit to the doctor to obtain her certificate?
2. What was your impression of Iris after the first chapter?
3. How would you have dealt with sending your children to the country or ACROSS the Atlantic during a war?
4.  What are your thoughts over the first 5 chapters?
5. Ask your own question, and answer another person's answer.

Check back next Friday to chat over chapters 6-15!

Pride & Prejudice: The Last Installment

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR DECEMBER'S GROUP READ! POLL CLOSES TONIGHT!!!!!

Now that November is concluding in a short few hours, I figured I'd give our group read one more plug. :) So here are a few questions for you on this dreary back to work Monday.

1. Did you enjoy P & P? I liked it. It was what I was expecting. A slow read with lots of hidden clues.

2. Are you planning on reading any other books by Jane Austen? I still want to try to read all of her stuff. I think the next one I want to tackle is Sense & Sensibility but who knows. I think I won't venture down the Austen path again until 2010.

3. Who was your favorite character and why? I had a few favorites. I liked Elizabeth as the narrator but she was kind of irritating at times to be a hands down favorite. I liked Jane for her seeing the good in people and her kind attitude. I liked Mrs. Gardiner for her good humor and awesome advice giving. She was a very good mother figure for the Bennet girls, as opposed to their own dim-witted mother.

4. What character did you like the least? Why? I did not care for Lady Catherine for obvious reasons. The woman was INSUFFERABLE. UGH. I probably would have have been as nice as Elizabeth was to her. I did not like Mrs. Bennet or Lydia becaus they were just plain stupid. I did not like Miss Bingley because she was a bitch.

5. Would you fall for Mr. Darcy? I would have given up after he first insulted me. However, that brings up the whole first impressions concept that Lisa and I believe Becky mentioned in their guest posts. Look what Elizabeth would have missed out on if she would have gone on her first impression. Look what Mr. Darcy would have missed out on. However, he was so incredibly rude, he would have to work very hard to win my heart and unless there was a shortage of men around, he would not get a second chance!

Answer these in the comments or on your own blog, I am interested to hear what others have to say. If you have any other questions you'd like to share, leave them in the comments! I love to talk about books. :)

Review: Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen

The Back Cover: Since its immediate success in 1813 Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy. is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.

I found this book to be immensely entertaining, but a little slow going at some parts. I was intrigued by the very first sentence, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in posession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." Because my thought was, are you serious???? Because I would think it the opposite, stay away from my money bizaaatch. :) But that might just be me.

Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy do NOT start out on the right foot, when she overhears him pretty much calling her ugly. However, they find that they are each others equal in terms of wit and humor. However, a lot of pride and a whole lot of prejudice keep them from understanding each other and acknowledging their true feelings for a good too many pages, where as the reader, I just wanted them to smell the roses already.

I did find parts of the book very predictable and found it very unbelievable how COMPLETELY crazy the two Bennet daughters were and how sensible and mature the other two were. Also not understanding how the father could even stand the mother.

Basically, Elizabeth and Darcy spend a lot of time dancing around each other with their words, misunderstanding others intentions and playing around with the information they are given. However, Darcy does grow up and change, mostly from Elizabeth's complete analysis of his shortcomings.

I guess it is fair to say that I liked the sparring and the one liners they would throw out at each other and at other dimwitted people, but the book went a little to slow and a little too predictable. I guess I had higher expectations.

What did you think of Pride & Prejudice? Have you seen the movie? What other Jane Austen book should I next tackle?

November's Group Read is..

....Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen! I am excited to read this. I started reading it this summer when my grandma was in Ohio. Then left the book in Ohio and after I got it back, never finished. So I will have to restart from the beginning. But I am looking forward to talking about this one with everyone!!

Here is the review from amazon.com :

Elizabeth Bennet is the perfect Austen heroine: intelligent, generous, sensible,
incapable of jealousy or any other major sin. That makes her sound like an
insufferable goody-goody, but the truth is she's a completely hip character, who
if provoked is not above skewering her antagonist with a piece of her
exceptionally sharp -- but always polite -- 18th century wit. The point is, you
spend the whole book absolutely fixated on the critical question: will Elizabeth
and Mr. Darcy hook up?

Here is some info on Jane Austen from litlovers.com :

In 1801, George Austen retired from the clergy, and Jane, Cassandra, and
their parents took up residence in Bath, a fashionable town Jane liked far less
than her native village. Jane seems to have written little during this period.
When Mr. Austen died in 1805, the three women, Mrs. Austen and her daughters,
moved first to Southampton and then, partly subsidized by Jane's brothers,
occupied a house in Chawton, a village not unlike Jane's first home. There she
began to work on writing and pursued publishing once more, leading to the
anonymous publication of Sense and Sensibility in 1811 and Pride and Prejudice
in 1813, to modestly good reviews.Known for her cheerful, modest, and witty
character, Jane Austen had a busy family and social life, but as far as we know
very little direct romantic experience. There were early flirtations, a quickly
retracted agreement to marry the wealthy brother of a friend, and a rumored
short-lived attachment -- while she was traveling -- that has not been verified.
Her last years were quiet and devoted to family, friends, and writing her final
novels. In 1817 she had to interrupt work on her last and unfinished novel,
Sanditon, because she fell ill. She died on July 18, 1817, in Winchester, where
she had been taken for medical treatment. After her death, her novels Northanger
Abbey and Persuasion were published, together with a biographical notice, due to
the efforts of her brother Henry. Austen is buried in Winchester Cathedral.Jane
Austen's delightful, carefully wrought novels of manners remain surprisingly
relevant, nearly 200 years after they were first published. Her novels—Pride and
Prejudice and Emma among them—are those rare books that offer us a glimpse at
the mores of a specific period while addressing the complexities of love, honor,
and responsibility that still intrigue us today.

Happy Reading!!! I am off to Ohio for the funeral and will be back late tomorrow...

vote vote vote..

Just a friendly reminder to vote in our poll to decide if what we read.. it is currently tied. 2 votes for Jane Eyre and 2 votes for Pride &Prejudice.. voting ends in a couple hours.. iwill hopefully post the winner in the morning, unless we have to extend it!

November Blogger Book Club book suggestions..

What would you all like to read for the November installment? I know a few of us really want to read more classics. I know it is always easier to sometimes digest some of them when you talk about it with others. So if you want to suggest a classic go for it! Or whatever else suits your fancy. Want some ideas of good group reads? Here is a link..

Let the suggestion fly.. Suggest as many as you'd like. Leave a link to a review if possible... I will post a poll on Friday/Saturday to decide which would we will read!

So far we have read..
1. I see You Everywhere - Julia Glass

Don't forget the Hot & Bothered giveaway!