Spring reading for the Purple Book Club

Here is the list of suggested books.

Please make your 1^st and 2^nd choice in the comment box. I’ll collate the votes and put the most popular book choice on the Book Forum. Then we can all get reading!

Atonement Iam McEwan

Forget the film, lovely though it is. This is the real thing.

A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Housseni

( The author of the Kite Runner)

This time he focuses on mother and daughters and friendships between women, and the plight of women in modern Afganistan

Day A L Kennedy

Alfred day joins the RAF after an abusive childhood. In 1949 he winds back time to see where he lost himself.

Diary of a Bad Year J.M. Coetze

A book that breaks new literary ground.

An aging author has been asked to write his thoughts on the state of the world. He hires a beautiful young woman to type his manuscript. The relationship that develops has a profound effect on both of them.

The Graveyard P M. Hubbard

As this was published in 1975 I don’t’ think it is a viable option but it may be of special interest to Purple Cooers as its set in a place called Lix Toll, near Killin in Scotland. Now isn’t that where our dear Headmistress resides, and where have I heard that name before?

Little Heathens Mildred Armstrong Kalish

Rural methodist life during the great depression in Iowa, USA . Hard times and high spirits.

On Chesil Beach Iam McEwan

Preliberated 1960s. ‘They were young educated and both virgins on their wedding night…..’

A bit short, but maybe that’s an advantage in our busy lives. ( I mean the book, not the wedding night!)

The Other Boleyn Girl

The title speaks for itself. The book is said to be much better than the film

The Wild Places Robert Macfarlane

An inspiring book about the search for wilderness and its meanings - (Well this book apparently inspired Exmoorjane’s man to want to take her walking and camping. I can’t wait for the blog. I hope she‘s buying her boots as I type)

What We Lost Catherine O’Flynn

This is her first novel and was rejected by 14 literary agents, and accepted by the 15^th, then won best first novel - Costa so there is hope for us all yet.

Sounds like quite a complicated plot. A child detective disappears. There is a discovery 20 years later. A funny/sad book bursting with life…..

The painting is by Miro 1953

The People's Act of Love by James Meek

The author, James Meek, very generously offered to join our local book group to discuss his novel ‘The People’s Act of Love.’

His contribution, lively and wide-ranging, provided us with a fascinating insight into how he came to write this vivid and disturbing novel, and how he views the world of writing in general.

His new book, ‘We are Now Beginning Our Descent’ , has recently been published.

Members of The Purple Book Club suggested several questions to put to James. These short replies are a small flavour of a very exciting evening.

(I have written the answers from the notes I took during the evening)

Q. Did you research the book’s period first than assign characters to fit certain types e.g. Hussar, shaman etc?

James lived in Russia for most of the 1990s. He married a Russian and speaks fluent Russian. Much of the flavour, smell and texture of the book comes from the general experience of living in Russia. The initial stimulus for the book came from hearing about the practice of prisoners escaping from Russian labour camps and taking a naïve companion with them, with the intention of killing and eating them if the need arose.

The situation between the cannibal and potential victim arose first, but before such an act of killing could evolve there needed to be the idea of the hostility of nature, without this there could be no substance to the original idea. At about the same time James said he heard about the strange protestant sect that practised self castration and the interesting story of the Czech Legion stranded in Russia after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.……

He spoke of the pyramid of knowledge that seeps into a novel, informing the writing but only to be dimly obvious to the reader. It was the knowledge of these three historical situations that eventually led him to write ‘The People’s Act of Love’.

Q. Did you have any difficulty keeping your 20C/21C viewpoint out of the novel?

He was aware of the dangers of a modern viewpoint leaking into the novel and sees it as a trap to be aware of and guard against. He worked hard to maintain a truly 19C feel.

Q. What was your inspiration for the title, ‘The People’s Act of Love’?

The work in progress title was ‘Paradise’ but this was initially discarded for, ‘To the White Garden’. When this was rejected by his publisher as being unsuitable, James sought about for an alternative and by chance came back to the scene where Samarin endeavours to explain his actions ( the actions of a cannibal and a revolutionary) to Anna.

“Would you like it better if he killed and ate a man for love? …. So he could live long enough to see the woman he loved again.”

Samarin is talking of the justification that could be made of any act of violence perpetrated by the state, when the end may be said to justify the means.

As well as an author, James is a reporter and was present during the invasion of Iraq.

Q. Were you pleased with the efforts of your editor and would you want to work with the same editor again?

James gave an abrupt ‘Yes, Yes’ to this question and said that he has used the same editor for his most recently published novel. He explained that a positive working relationship usually leads to some aspects of the book being changed and to some changes being opposed.

The original draft had a complete chapter elaborating on the life and viewpoint of the shaman. This was removed on editorial suggestion, as it was felt to hold up the natural flow of the novel and be out of keeping with the rest of the book.

Interestingly, the second chapter, where a few of our book club readers struggled, was originally the opening chapter. James exchanged it for the chapter about Samarin’s early life, as he felt it to be more accessible. He could not remember who suggested the change but thought it likely to be the result of a combined decision.

Q. Which character did you empathise with most strongly?

James emphasised that the had empathy with all of the characters except Matula. He saw him as a loathsome psychopath. The character he is most in sympathy with is Mutz. He can identify strongly with Mutz and his approach to the situation he finds himself in.

I would like to add that I am fascinated by this book. I enjoyed the strong 19C texture and the highly unusual story line, but mostly I admire the way the author is able to reveal so successfully, the dangers inherent in any system that has contempt for the individual as a fundamental principle, be it 19th Century or 21st Century.