Of Mice and Malterers - Round 3 - Dysgu's book

[Dysgu]

I hope people enjoy this book. I am not sure it is a book I would normally have thought of reading myself, but it was selected by my RL book group and I really enjoyed it.

Let me know what you think!

well i am the first to get your book, so here goes .....

i thought that it was a lovely story which was well written and believable (to a certain extent) and interesting enough to capture the reader.

it is amazing to discover that this is a debut fiction novel by this author she managed to cover race, religion, bees, culture, sister-hood all in one go! this makes it sound like the book is non-stop but it isnt.
i also found the racial elements of the book quite shocking but it is also easy to forget how the world has changed - 45 odd yrs ago the world was a very different place!

the book was filled with beautiful descriptive writing and it made you feel as if you could smell the honey/ hear the bees/ feel the intense hot weather ......... a charming book Dysgu and not one i would have chosen for myself at all, thanks

BTW it has been made into a film - have you seen it? is it any good?

A lovely, lovely book Dysgu - thank you for choosing it.

I really enjoyed Lily's first-person narrative, there was something about the way it was written that was so compelling and 'realistic' (feel like I need a better word here but can't think of one) that I could almost hear the words being spoken aloud by her in the early chapters.

Also, I found the way the author wrote about Lily's yearning for her mother and her longing to be loved incredibly moving. The sentence in the first chapter - "This is what I know about myself. She was all I wanted. And I took her away" - really kind of hit me and stayed with me through the book. I will also confess to shedding a tear at the point where she is given the photo of her with her mother when she was a baby.

The racial content and the background story about the bees were fascinating too. As Aristo says, it gives you quite an insight into racial prejudices of the era - good to be reminded that that's how things were I think.

I would be really interested to see the film - am off to go and add to my Lovefilms list!

I started this about a year ago for a RL bookgroup but I just couldn't get into it. I did manage to finish it this time, but I didn't really enjoy it. I have an irrational dislike of books that are narrated by a child (with the exception of I Conquer The Castle), and I didn't find Lily's 14-year-old voice authentic - to me, she sounded 9 or 10.

I found it all too schmaltzy and apple-pie (but I accept that is a failing in me rather than the book!)

I am glad I finished it this time round, and thanks for choosing it.

That is an interesting comment AP about the narrator seeming younger than 14. I wonder if that is because children would have seemed younger than they are today at the same age?

I have been trying to think of other books I have read that are narrated by a child to consider whether I have an opinion on this - I cannot recall any specific titles of books I have read that are written for adults but narrated by children (so not including all the kids books I read) so maybe, subconsciously, I do!

As for watching the film, LLB I have not done so yet but need to get DP to add it to the Lovefilm list. It would be interesting to watch it.

Hi, I really enjoyed this book (kept sneaking off to read it - benign neglect of DC ). It had its weak and strong points, but it was very likeable book - the characters were lovely.

I did wonder what the "answer" was when Rosaleen went to register for the second time, Lily thought it would be a problem and somehow it wasn't. But that was before Clifton has sorted out the charge?

I liked the sisters and the Daughters of Mary. There was quite a tricky tightrope there to make the Daughters funny, but not ridiculous.

Lily and Rosaleen finding the house in the first place was a bit of a stretch, but not totally unbelievable.

Overall, I have to give it the thumbs up because I was so addicted to reading it! And that was right from the start. I'll be on the look out for others by her.

Let us know what the film is like. I must admit I'd worry that a film treatment would be too schmaltzy, but I might stick it on Lovefilm anyway!

Thanks for the book Dysgu!

So I saw the film at the weekend - it finally came up on the Lovefilm lucky dip. Nothing like as good as the book - I felt like it only skimmed the surface of the story but I'm sure if I hadn't already read the book I would have enjoyed it more (as is usually the way). Quite a few familiar faces in the casting and some good actors including a couple of English ones - Paul Bettany, Sophie Okenedo. Rosaleen was played by Jennifer Hudson which I wasn't sure about - in the book I thought she came across as much older and less attractive.

I found it quite weepy in parts but I think a lot of that was recalling the moving bits of the book.

If you don't like shmaltzy steer clear (AgentP you have been warned!) otherwise worth a watch.