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Original poster

New RL book club in central london: care to join us?

70 replies

Maria2007 · 27/05/2009 21:34

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd post here to see if anyone's interested in joining me & 2 other friends / Mumsnetters in a new book club which we're setting up, meeting in central London about once a month. Our aim is to get out for one night a month (and get our other halves to take care of any babies / toddlers / pets etc!), choose interesting books to read & talk about, and get to know each other over a glass of wine, beer or whatever.

We've decided we'll be meeting in the evenings in Central London, which hopefully will make it convenient for all of us, as we thought that meeting in each other's houses might be slightly difficult (especially for those of us with young babies / toddlers).

Our first meeting is scheduled for June 17, at 8 pm, near Waterloo. We'll be reading 'The road' by Cormac McCarthy.

If you're interested in joining us (or you just want to perhaps find out more) please send me a message- I'm on CAT, or alternatively just post here, let us know you're interested, and I'll send you a message myself.

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Original poster
Maria2007 · 08/07/2009 17:18

Hi Sallypuss, I've emailed back with all the details. I think the July 16 meeting is probably a bit overcrowded...but you're welcome to come along to the meeting after that.

As for other people who're interested, I think we'll have to wait to see how many people come on July 16 (10 have said they will, but lets see what the actual numbers are, they may be more or fewer)... and then after that we can perhaps add new members or not, according to how many we are. Please do email me if you're interested & I can keep your details, but at the moment there's already about 17-18 of us (I've lost count) so we're trying to not get overenthusiastic because if we do the meetings will soon be unmanageable! I do expect that some people will drop out gradually so we'll be recruiting new members in the near future (MN has turned out to be a fantastic recruiting place!!... really recommend it for others who're thinking of starting book clubs).

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Cocodrillo · 12/07/2009 21:29

I am looking forward to Thurs in theory - but worried I'm not going to finish book in time...

Original poster
Maria2007 · 13/07/2009 08:52

Don't worry about it... There'll be many meetings to come if you don't make this one! Btw have you signed on to the fb group which includes details for next meetings, rsvps etc? (sorry for the daft question, it's just that I'm getting confused with who has emailed me & who hasn't).

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Cocodrillo · 13/07/2009 20:10

I am in the FB group, tho as it so secret I have difficulty finding it each time! I rsvp'd to say I would be there on Thurs... will try to finish book but is long and it arrived late...

Cocodrillo · 17/07/2009 14:14

how was meeting? what was the consensus on the book? sorry to have missed it - I loved this book

tillyfernackerpants · 19/07/2009 07:33

I missed it too! Dh is usually home by 6.30pm but the one night I go out & he's stuck there till 8pm!

I did enjoy the book but felt the ending just fizzled out a bit.

Anyway, looking forward to the next one!

artifarti · 19/07/2009 09:11

Hi Coco and tilly

Was a good meeting. Some enjoyed the book, others I thought it was a bit pants. Most people really liked her writing style but there was some feeling that the ending was a bit vague (like you, tilly) and the middle lost its way a bit. But lots of interesting talk about their relationship (did he love her? or just the idea of the house and being the squire?); about the changing class structures of the time (why were they being matey with a doctor?! was he a bit chippy about rising up to become a doctor?); about the fact that everyone was sent off to an asylum as soon as they had a bad day; and whether the GP member of the group felt she would be able to sew up a face on a kitchen table!

Hope to see you at the next one!

Cocodrillo · 19/07/2009 09:21

did anyone think the doctor might have sparked off the poltergeist activity (he coveted the house from chilhood, had class anxieties re fact his mother used to work there, may have had latent hostility towards the family, and had thwarted sexual feelings)?

Original poster
Maria2007 · 19/07/2009 09:42

Hi Cocodrillo: Yes! Almost all of us thought the doctor had something to do with the poltergeist activity. We didn't know what exactly, but we all felt his part in the whole thing was quite fishy.

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Badgermoose · 20/07/2009 16:05

Coco, that's exactly what I thought!!!! then thought maybe I was being to obvious at it was somehow house that triggered it?
Hopefully see you next time

tillyfernackerpants · 20/07/2009 16:36

I thought that too but then that was one of the frustrating things about the book for me, that there were all these ideas that were never really resolved! Even the dr's motivations for marrying Caroline (love? social standing? the house?) were vague, all presented as a possibility but left unfinished.

Cocodrillo · 20/07/2009 16:51

I did wonder if the doc had somehow unconsciously sparked off the scene with the dog - as that put paid to any romance between Caroline and that visiting young man with the couple... but maybe the house itself and any associated malevolent spirit (!) prompted his attraction to Caroline?

Frustratingly I think I'm away the date of the next meeting. Shame as I am looking forward to meeting everyone, especially Tilly as we've known each other on MN for ages!

Original poster
Maria2007 · 22/07/2009 17:14

I think we can all agree that the doctor had something to do with the whole thing... but I do believe the author left things open for us to judge / interpret as we wish. Which can be frustrating or rather nice, depending on how each one of us sees it (I personally usually like open-ended endings, but sometimes they do frustrate me: not this time though, for some reason).

Coco, don't worry about the august meeting. I think there's bound to be fewer of us since it's mid august. In the june meeting there were 6 of us. In the july meeting 9 of us. Both times it felt a good number & the chat was contained (i.e. the group didn't splinter in 2 or 3). I hope to meet you in september!

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tillyfernackerpants · 22/07/2009 19:32

Maria, maybe so re author's intention. Like you I don't mind an open ending, but it did annoy me in this case!

elkiedee · 14/09/2009 00:19

I'm interested in theory, maybe I'll try to join you some time this autumn/winter? Am posting to bookmark, will email tomorrow.

Original poster
Maria2007 · 14/09/2009 08:16

Hi Elkiedee, yes you could email me & we can go from there We have a facebook group which we've set up & members can see which book is coming up to read, where we're meeting etc, and they can RSVP. So it's not that you have to come to each & every meeting, if that doesn't suit you (or if the book doesn't interest you).

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elkiedee · 15/09/2009 00:42

Thanks Maria - I love reading and have participated in online and real life reading groups in the past, and would like to again - at least in this group I know others are probably in the same position, and maybe it will get easier as I return to work in central London next month and my little ones grow up a little.

EverySingleStar · 21/09/2009 00:41

/wave

Are there any other meetings going on at some point?

please e-mail me at [email protected] (never know when I next will happen upon the same thread, but check my e-mail obsessively )

DandyLioness · 21/09/2009 00:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster
Maria2007 · 22/09/2009 16:35

Yes, we meet every month We've had about 4 meetings so far, so we're a relatively new group, but it's been going well! Everysinglestar, I've emailed you, let me know if you've received my email. DandyLioness, I've send you a message through CAT

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