I just had my monthly book club with my law gals on Friday, so I’ll be sharing my, and their, thoughts
on Julian Barnes' Sense of an Ending.
One of my friends (here’s looking
at you Jen!) had the idea of starting this “club” (we're really not serious enough to be an actual club, no really, we aren't) so we could all meet once a
month now that law school is over. It makes my heart happy because I miss them!
Seriously, we spent nearly every day together in stuffy study rooms and
classrooms memorizing and applying incredibly boring laws (Damn you future
interests!) for three years and then BAM, it’s over. So having a standing time
to get together is amazing. Each month is hosted at different girl’s house, and
we do dinner and drinks (I’m always a fan of drinks) and whoever is hosting
that month picks out the book we’ll read. Although I do have a confession, we
spend very little time discussing the book, as in maybe 10 minutes. Whatev,
it’s more about catching up, and did I mention the drinking?
This month my friend Meghan was
hosting in Philly and I nearly didn’t
finish the book because I waited until the night before to really start reading
it, and of course, I decided that it would be a great idea to bake Christmas
cookies for the girls. Great idea yes, but in practice baking and decorating 50
cookies takes a freaking long time. Apparently.
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| Get the recipe at http://peppermintplum.blogspot.com/2011/03/thick-soft-sugar-cookies.html So Good! |
Well about the book, I’m really struggling
with how to write this because I want to share but not too much, you know? I
mean let’s face it, y’all are going to fall so in love with my posts that you’re
going to want to rush out and read the book, and I don’t want to ruin the
endings for you. A few summers ago my
mom was reading one of the Twilight books (yes, my mom has read Twilight, but
not Harry Potter and, yes, this is only my second post and I have mentioned
Harry Potter yet again, which means it’s bound to keep happening) at the pool and a
lifeguard, with his face deadpan, told her that Edward dies in the end. He left
it at that and my poor momma was left believing, until she finished the book,
that Edward truly was going to die. The point to my ramblings is that I don’t
want to do that to you guys. So bear with me while I figure out how to exactly
share but not over share.
Okay about the book, for real this
time. Our main character, Tony Webster, is an older man who starts to delve
into his memories and the past when he receives a legacy out of the blue from
someone he knew long ago. The legacy brings forth countless questions about the
devisor and his old flame Veronica, who dated a close friend of his and who has
been dead for many years. The crazy thing is that the story is really just
background for the true purpose of the book, which is to demonstrate how truly
faulty our memories of the past can be. For instance, throughout the book
Webster is our narrator and the author does not shy away from giving you the
impression that Webster’s perception of the past can’t be trusted. I was
seriously second-guessing everything this man thought. I especially took issue
when Webster described his memories of Veronica, which I believed portrayed a
slightly frigid, but on the whole average girl, and then later his present self
would remember her as being a horrid bitch. However, when I brought this up at
the book club some of the other girls felt as though Webster’s memories did
depict Veronica in the same manner the whole time, so it’s all open to how you
interpret it.
Another apect of the
book revolved around Webster’s remorse and nostalgia for the past. Webster, who
is recently retired and long time divorced, ruminates on how he expected his
life to turn out, people he misses, and acts he wishes he could take back. This
really hit a chord with all of us girls. I’m telling you this book made me sad
(like dark cloud hanging over my head sad) and left me brewing up my own
special brand of nostalgia and remorse. But hey, isn’t that the point of a
book, to make you feel something?
Overall, I enjoyed the book, even
though it’s more on the haughty taughty side of my reading preferences. It’s
short, only 163 pages, so you’ll probably read it in one sitting and then be
stuck quietly reflecting on why you’re not a millionaire yet or why you lost
touch with those people who were once your best friends.
And onto the next….the book I’m
currently reading is Erik Larson’s In the
Garden of Beasts. Love this author and pretty excited to sink my teeth into it.
2 comments:
I wish Edward died in the end.
Got a shout out!! :)
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