Book Lovers Club
Comments
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voracious, I just downloaded Memories of a Marriage. I will try to get it read this weekend.
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Thank you sooo much, Ruth!!!
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VR, I'm planning to read it as well.
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Thanks wen!!!!!
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I don't know if anyone has mentioned this book already but just in case....The Rosie Project. It's very funny and a great read.0 -
Just finished "The Last Policeman" and liked it very much! So much so that I got on the waiting list for book two - "Countdown City". According to the author's blog, he's halfway through book three (as yet un-named) of the trilogy.
Also on the wait list for the new Sue Grafton, "W is for Wasted". Meanwhile, I picked up a 3-in-1 book of Lawrence Sanders first three Deadly Sins books. 850 pages of teeny-tiny print to read while waiting for my reserve titles.0 -
Badger, so glad you liked The Last Policeman, you won't be disappointed by Countdown City!!0 -
VR, finished the book. I would say absolutely no way......0 -
Ruth....Now the count is 3 no ways....2 yes...and one on the fence!!!
Bulletin!!!!!!!! Coming to Broadway....The Bridges of Madison County....THE MUSICAL... Could someone just shoot me now and put me out of my misery?! Thanks!0 -
I'm off to my book club to discuss In the Garden of Beasts. Curious to see what other members think of it. Hitler's Philosophers sounds interesting. Thanks, Voracious, I'll look it up. I just finished The White Queen by P. Gregory...it was okay if you like war, pregnancies and conspiracy. Right now, I'm reading Kaye Gibbons', The life all around me by Ellen Foster....it's a sequels to the book Ellen Foster.
Our next book club read is The view from Penthouse B. Anyone read it?0 -
fgm, thanks for mentioning Kaye Gibbons. I had read many years ago and have only ever seen Ellen Foster, didn't even realize she had written several other books - much less a sequel.
Julie E0 -
VR I didn't want to be on the fence, but I think I am
My first impression was definitely not. As I thought about it, eh, maybe...0 -
wen!!! Ah! Shucks!!!! I'm still waiting for three more people to chime in... Including my 88 year old mom! I think once she decides....I'm going to have to agree with whatever she thinks...I was briefly on the fence too.. But after being with my mom this week and having long conversations about small and big things, I get the impression from her that at her age, she doesn't need to apologize about anything that she does or for that matter doesn't do. I'd like to think that like the characters in the book, once you reach a certain age, who cares? The kids? Give me a break! So, I'm going with...why not?!!! I'm in the yes camp...unless my mother disagrees. Stay tuned and thanks for reading the book!!!!0 -
I am still a definite no. He's an attractive, nice, charming, well-off man. If he wants female companionship, he can find about a million other eligible ladies who are not creepy/crazy.0 -
Ruth... Mom is a retired obstetrics nurse. She always said from her experience in ob/gyn that most men have penile tissue for brains. Of course if he's looking for companionship he could find countless women. But when there's a vixen, what man truly has the sensibilities to say, "No"...especially when there is no one left to care where he puts it... I'm sure he probably would also like to know whether or not he can still get it up! My bad!0 -
I think he could find countless better women to have sex with too.....this one would need an AIDS test....(insert 'tongue in cheek' symbol!)0 -
Ruth...mom also tells me those goody two shoes classy dames are getting screened for HIV too!0 -
It will be fun to hear what she thinks about the book. (I hope you are making recordings of your and her conversations. They sound priceless!)0 -
she's quite a character! Here's one of our conversations that I had with her yesterday. "Mom, aren't you tired of owning your own home ? " She replies, "What's the matter with you? You want me to move to one of those places where the walls are thin and I have to listen to people f*€kin' on the other side of the wall ?"
Mind you...she is saying this to me with the DH sitting right next to me... I thought he would fall off the chair!
Today, I was facetiming with her and my younger son. She noticed he had his guitar strapped to his shoulder. She asked him if he could play her a Bruno Mars tune! Could you tell me what other 88 year old knows and loves Bruno Mars' music!?0 -
OMG, she is awesome! She reminds me of my aunt, who owned and operated her own travel club (with 5,000 members) and still was taking people on tours at the age of 88 (although by then she limited her trips to the continental United States).
edited to add that your mother has very good taste in musicians, I also adore Bruno Mars!0 -
I went to bed too early last night, I would have liked to join in this conversation! What I found unbelievable was the fact that she says she's changed at the end. Unless she got rid of her anger by telling her story to the narrator, how or why would she change? Even if she had become less angry regarding her ex, I don't see that her whole personality would have changed. As VR pointed out, after a certain age, who gives a hoot? I think she has penile tissue for brains
I have also heard that older folks are often being screened for HIV. It seems that they are having multiple partners later in life.0 -
I also didn't get how all of the sudden she was so nicey-nice. There was no explanation given. Here are the other reasons I said 'no way':
* he knows too much, she is nice and charming at the moment but he knows and has seen how really sick she is
* when he was spending time interviewing her, Phil commented to us that he knew it was unhealthy for him to spend that much time with her
* he doesn't need her....he seems very content in his life, and if he does decide he wants female companionship, he will be able to find many, many available women who don't have all that baggage
* he really enjoys his relationships with Jane, Jamie, Alex....all those people, and if he got together with Lucy.....those would all go by the wayside (Jamie cares for Phil because he was a friend's with his father and the memories those 3 made together), I think he would feel like it was almost like Phil violating a trust if he ended up with his mother)
* Bella couldn't stand Lucy. I don't know if that would play into things or not, but Phil was always pleased when he could replicate the kind of meal she would have served etc. so maybe it would make him feel disloyal to have someone taking her place whom she didn't like
* he is a writer, which means he is an observer.....somewhat detached from life....Lucy would make things too messy0 -
Ruth and Wen....as Ruth mentioned we are also left to guess what caused her to change and IF she actually changed. I don't think zebras change their stripes! I don't think she changed. I thought she was just trying to catch him in her web.
Regarding Phil and recognizing how unhealthy it was to spend time with her, I wholeheartedly agree that THAT was reason enough to NOT get involved with her. However, the point you make that he is a writer and able to detach himself makes it all the more compelling to him that he could just have a good time in the sack with her. He stated early in the book how she was experienced in that department. Hmmmm...sounds good to me from where I'm sitting.
Now, with respect to the other people you mention....Jane in particular, I didn't get the impression that Phil would be seeing her or her new spouse any time soon, and it seemed that both she and the son were both content with their own lives that they could care less who Lucy slept with.
As for Bella...who couldn't stand Lucy...she's buried on the other side of the pond...so she's no longer in the picture...
I guess I'm basing my opinion on a much older person's perception. Talking with my mother, I'm often reminded that despite her physical fragility, her mental spirit is quite agile and resilient AND at often times shows NO RESTRAINT. She's lost so many people and has endured so many hardships that my brother,sister and I give her lots of "passes." Sooooo.... I'm giving Lucy and Phil a pass!
I agree with all your points, Ruth....especially...about Phil's potential loses of friendships...but I think his detachment makes it easier for him to enjoy unfettered moments... I think he could easily walk away from Lucy and Lucy wouldn't mind .0 -
I think if Phil misses someone digging around in his flower garden, he should get a dog. (smiley face)0 -
Ruth, I agree with your last statement, as well as the fact that Philip didn't enjoy spending a lot of time with Lucy, but I think Jamie would have forgiven him because he did seem to understand his mother (as well as his father) by the end of the story.
Since the author wanted to make the readers guess what the ending was, I think that VR, should contact the author and find out how HE intended the story to end0 -
wen...if he wanted us to know how the story ended ... he would have written another chapter. However, i do enjoy pondering and sometimes...some things need to be left unfinished...0 -
What a great discussion. I'll definitely have to read the book.
Thanks to everyone on this thread. I haven't posted much lately since most of my reading during chemo & surgery was easy & fast - and I might mention paperback, since hardbacks are hard to hold up in bed these days. But I read this thread regularly & I'm so pleased to have the recommends & feedback.
Read a marvelous book by JA Jance this week - After the Fire. It's a small book of prose & poetry from her early life with her alcoholic first husband. Between each poem she details what was going on in her life when the poem was written. Like many of us who came to puberty the late 50's early 60's, the world is not the same. She was turned down for a university creative writing program because she was "a girl". Alcohol aside - I couldn't put it down. And of course I've always liked her fiction.0 -
minus...glad to hear you're enjoying reading. I'm also happy to hear about a poetry recommendation. I don't recall poetry being mentioned on this thread before... I'm going to have to rediscover it! Thanks!!!!0 -
VR, of course I know you are right. I made mention (in jest) because you go to author readings and then have the privilege of speaking with the author at the end. You seem like a natural!! All kidding aside, I wasn't overly fond of the book, but kept reading to find out what happened. Glad it was a short read...0 -
I agree with you wen!!!! It wasn't literary in the sense of being great writing... But I think the story line and ending.... or shall I say .... lack of ending was provocative...and that's what made the book enjoyable to read and discuss. If it was over 200 pages, I probably wouldn't have bothered to finish it!!! What I also found interesting is that Begley tapped into all of our psychees.... When a marriage breaks up...or for that matter.... when we arrive at a wedding ...don't we all want to know what the couple "sees" in one another? And, exactly what is it that we "see." And when you add up what the couple sees in themselves and one another AND add to the mix what we see AND SAW in them... can anyone, despite trying to detach themselves, ever truly know or understand a marriage?
And I think what Begley did by leaving the ending out was not only a game on his part to make us wonder what became of Lucy and Phil, but was also a way of telling us that life is fluid and we never do really know what's coming next.... Except for death...which looms over the book and some time in the future. Begley is quite old. I think the book embraces the idea that we shouldn't look at a person and try too hard to judge their life, because at the end of the day....as hard as it is for us to understand ourselves, it's IMPOSSIBLE for us to truly understand someone else.
Finally... with respect to change....People don't change. But as we age, time changes us. Now that's a profound thought. So, was there something that happened that caused Lucy to choose to change her ways? No. But as the author approaches 90, he is very aware that time changes all of us AND our memories change as well.0
