FURQUITS BOOKSWAP ROUND 2 - Cathcats Book - AGNZ by HK

[Wheelybug]

Discuss !

Just marking this thread, getting stuck into book today

Ok finished book now and I found it a wierd one tbh

In some parts of the book I have to admit I was struggling with it and did not think I would finish but other parts made me totally LOL

I totally boaked at the part when her dad had a maggot inside his hand.

And I PMSL over her cat who was rapidly using up its 9 lives...

Am glad I read this and to me this is what a book club is about, reading a book I would not think to read on my own iyswim

So, I read the reviews and settled down for something gentle, uplifting and pleasant.

And was, frankly, astounded at the disparity between the reviews and the memoir.

If this really is what they believe to be a happy picture of life in small town 1960s and 70s America, then I'm blimmin' glad I had the luck to be born in London.

Compulsory church attendance, the ban on teaching evolution, racial segregation, cruelty to animals, child abuse and neglect, abysmal teaching and an old woman dying and rotting unnoticed among her horde of starved pets didn't add up to "It's a Wonderful Life" to me.

I found it interesting and I thought it was well-written, but I really couldn't call it a happy book.

There were several times during this book that I almost gave up, but then I found myself being drawn back to read just a little bit more! I am still left mulling it over, and little scenes from the book keep popping back into my head.

Zippy will have been my Stateside contemporary, as I grew up in a small-ish UK town in 1965. But there were virtually no parallels! Her lifestyle seemed more what I would have thought the 50s would have been like in Britain.

A couple of incidents were really well-captured - her Dad trying to teach her to play cards (girl and boy cards - well, of course!), the revenge on the neighbour who complained about the dog, her mum's immersion in books, her Dad's 'church' in the woods.

I read the discussion points at the end, and that led me to realise that there was not much money around in the household, but it seemed to me that there was a lot of love.

So, as Simpson has said, a 'weird one'!
(Wheely, were you raised in the US?)

I'm afraid I didn't finish it!! Mostly my fault as I started it late (I was on a Wolf Hall mission last month) and thought because of the size it would be an quick easy read. And it was in a way, but I just found it a bit too put down able. So I found myself about 2/3rd through when Wheelybug emailed me last week to find out where it was and I made the decision to send it on unfinished.

But I think partly this was down to the structure of short anecdotes which, while building an over all picture of her life, didn't really offer a gripping narrative that would have swept me along and made me feel that I NEEDED to finish it. Although I did find what I read enjoyable enough, some of it funny, some of it shocking and an atmospheric snapshot of a particular time and place, I didn't feel I was going to miss out on any great revelations if I didn't. Sorry Cathcat! I feel bad that I didn't finish it so can't really give a fully informed comment.

I've been a bit reluctant to post I'm afraid. Sorry Cathcat, this is a bit of a downer so I'm really hoping you're not the author!

I really didn't enjoy reading this book. I found it self indulgent college writing that should be confined to college assignments. The anecdotes were varying between quite entertaining and slihgtly pointless but lacked a narrative quality and I have to admit I started skim reading some chapters. I also just found it lacked credibility as an autobiography as the memories were too pat and dramatic. They were from such a young age. I would either look for the fiction element to be more developed and intentional, or a more credible autobiographical description of childhood. Sorry to be grim about your choice...

I read this really quickly although have been lounging around being ill so that helped.

Found it surprisingly readable and easy to dip in and out of due to the short anecdotes. I'm not really sure why it was made into a book and yet, it was an interesting look at small town America at the time,albeit, in a place where they were somewhat behind the times. The ending brought a tear to my eye - the understanding in a small child that santa wouldn't be able to bring what she wanted and the acceptance of this (and her friend getting it) and then she got it... all tied up with the lack of money/lots of love theme.

How did you come across this book Cathcat ? You presumably bought it in the States ?