David’s Comments (group member since Feb 26, 2013)

David’s comments from the St. Anne's Reading Group Experience group.

Attendance
Fred 10
Peggy 10
David 1
Barmak 0
Mike 2

Gossip

- Not functioning as a book club--use first 30 minutes to talk about the book.
- Holiday Party
- I don't know what the solution is
- view of the world, that is our roll
- Calculus of Driving

Book

- Not a lot of theme
- Not a lot of social commentary
- Bored, and then picks up, and then bored.
- Finished, Meh.

Media

- Great Santoni
- Inspecting Carol

Attendance

- Clarence 4
- David 2
- Peggy 5
- Fred 10
- John 50%
- Mike 2
- Beth 10

Gossip

- Tears after the meeting
- Gary interrupted
- Working the steps
- Help
- Canada
- That seems to be working better, why can't we do that
- French has a different culture--controlling in other areas of life
- Family that did not like cats--that is half a mancoon.
- LCB

Book

- Societal norms are different in Africa
- By the 1950's that was not permitted
- Female Wisdom
- Dad moved to Kenya, mom stayed in London
- where was she educated
- No female leadership

Media

- Top of the World

Roll Call
- John 1
- Candace 1
- David 2
- John 8
- Mike 100

Gossip
- Is jack Still alive? Call michael
- Not a good breakfast
- John @ McDonalds
- Jack in the Box
- Plummer's Crack
- Scotch tape with sign with night

Media
- Nothing

Book
- not good

Next Book
- Siamese Twins

Roll Call
- Brain C
- Peggy 4
- Fred 10
- Mike 100
- Candace 1
- David 3

Gossip
- Marissa is marrying Tom's Son
- Becker is visiting on Saturday
- Thomas Goodwin
- Shelly

Media
- When you make a son your own it is no longer a cover

Book
- Mike Finished the book
- Nothing original
- all narrative + derivative
- Not well written
- What is best for the child
- Adoption
- New Home--New Family
- The is older--connection to the mom--mother of constants
- perspective of being adopted
- Praised by my parents
- Blood is thicker than water
- Time heals all wounds
- Loyalty
- Judgement finds fear about wife
- Playing with the plot it is not the same
- Strict interpretation
- Translation as a work of revision

Next Book
- ?

God have mercy on the man
Who doubts what he's sure of
-- Bruce Springsteen

Roll Call
1. Peggy 0
2. Clarence 1,000,000
3. Brian i litre
4. Mike 1.5
5. Rick 10
6. Beth 100
7. David 2

Gossip
1. Birthday Shares
1. Too Long
2. This is not a speaker meeting
3. Timer
4. Move the Clock
5. We encourage it
2. Mom Card
1. Tears
2. Words
3. Hugs
4. Cards
3. Free Hall Pass
4. How are you?
1. Mental
2. Physical
3. Emotional

Media
1. Warrior
2. Schadenfreude - joy in another's suffering
3. Shipkals -- ant in pants
4. Memphis
5. Season 3
6. Get the Balance Right

Book
1. Irrelevant
2. Does not add anything to my life
3. Mike does not like it
4. It needs to Move
5. Cesspool of Sin

Next Book
1. David Will Keep his Mouth Shut!

Roll Call
1. Melissa 10
2. Clarence 9
3. Mike 2
4. Peggy 50
5. David 2

Gossip
1. Jenni
2. Mike
3. Face Foreword

Media
1. Moby Dick play
2. Prince is on Spotify

Book
1. David, Peggy, + Mike finished the book
2. Ending is not good
3. "Gross but finished"
4. Bear is lame

Next Book
1. 1984
2. Slowness
3. Gentlemen in Moscow
4. Hidden Figures
5. Hillbilly Elegy
6. Book of Laughter

Roll Call
1. Peggy - 50
2. Fred - 5
3. Mike - 1.75
4. David 2

Gossip
1. Paul is Dead
2. Brutal
3. Beth's 15th Birthday Party is here

Media
1. Nothing is very odd for this group...


Book
1. Brutal
2. Not sure what the point is
3. Very short discussion

Projects
1. Beth wants to be BFF with Ellen

Roll Call
1. Peggy - 50
2. Candace - 1
3. David - 3
4. John - 1
5. Melissa - 2
6. Clarence - 6.5
7. Fred - 7
8. Brian - 32

Gossip
1. Where is Shelly
a. Moved
b. created a new Board
2. Seeking affluence
a. that is on the other part of the HICC
3. Challenging Cultural Values
a. Progressive Communication
b. Industrial Revolution Learning
i. Dropping Weapons
4. Cannot Ignore Things
5. Politics is all about the short term
6. What is so horrible about Obamacare
7. Why do people say that Obamacare is a disaster
8. Bow ties are an affectationBrian got a job

Media
1. Orphan Black
2. Young Pope
3. Jude Law
4. First Rate Leader
5. Wait Wait Don't Tell me

Book
1. Fred read Bossy Pants
2. Books about slavery
3. Slaughter of Animals
4. is there deeper meaning
5. is there a Moby Dick reference

Projects
1. Need a book about horrible women
2. Clarence will dance on a pole

1. Reviewers have talked about the gruesome writing in The North Water. Were you disturbed by its blood and gore, its overt descriptions of violence? Is the violence sensationalized or is it important to the story? Does it, perhaps, reflect the novel's world view of a life that, in Thomas Hobbes's famous words, is "nasty, brutish, and short"—a world beset with fear, pain, and death?

1.1. ‘Behold the man . . .’ How did you respond to The North Water’s opening chapter? How did it foreshadow what was to come? What other portents appear within the novel?

1.2. How did you find the depiction of violence in The North Water? Did you feel it was necessary within the themes of the book?

2. Describe Henry Drax. Is he a monster? The Devil himself? He insists that "the law is just a name they give to what a certain kind of men prefer." What does he mean, and what are the ways in which he acts according to that belief?

2.1. How did you find the portrayal of Drax in the novel? Do you see him as evil, a monster?

3. How do the opening scenes with Drax portend future events or, at the very least, set the novel's narrative tone? What other events foreshadow, or hint at, future plot developments?

4. Patrick Sumner is the book's hero. How does he react to the dishonest, violent men who surround him? Talk about the secret Sumner harbors and the ways it has influenced his life decisions. What are his reasons for joining the whaling expedition? How does he change over the course of the voyage?

4.1. How does Patrick Sumner develop as a character? How is he affected by events in his past?

5. What do we gradually come to learn about Captain Bownlee?

6. The book suggests that the assertion of decency and morality in the face of corruption and violence is futile. Is that an overly cynical or dark assessment of this story? Is it representative of life in general?

6.1. ‘Only actions count, he thinks for the ten thousandth time, only events’. How does this philosophy echo through the novel?

7. Follow-up to Question 6: What is the moral response when horror is at the core of existence as it is on this ship...and in this story?

8. If you've read Moby-Dick or Conrad's Lord Jim or Heart of Darkness, can you identify some of the parallels found in McGuire's novel?

CHARACTERS

ARTHUR BROWNLEE
Captain of the Volunteer. Brownlee’s recklessness led to the demise of his last ship, the Percival. It is a wonder how he became captain of another ship.
“You know Brownlee has a great deal to prove—you heard about the Percival, I’m sure. He was lucky to get another ship after. If he fails this time, that will be the end of him.”

HENRY DRAX
A harpooner on the Volunteer. Drax is a “squat” man with a “barnyard scent.” He acts on his primal instincts and sometimes seems more animal than man.
“I’m a doer, not a thinker, me. I follow my own inclination.”

JACOB BAXTER
Owner of the Volunteer. Jacob Baxter is a shrewd businessman who knows the whaling industry is dying—it’s all petroleum now. And, yet, he funds the Volunteer’s voyage.
“And what do we think of Mr. Baxter.”
“We think he’s rich,” the chemist answers, “and round these parts a man don’t generally get rich by being stupid.”

MICHAEL CAVENDISH
First mate on the Volunteer. Though, given how poorly respected Cavendish is, it’s a wonder how he earned that position.
“Cavendish is a great turd and a whoremonger, it’s true, but he will do whatever he’s told to.”

MR. BLACK
Second mate on the Volunteer. Mr. Black is known as a decent, ambitious man with a good head on his shoulders.
“I have a plan. Five years from now, or sooner if I get my share of luck, I’ll have my own command.”

OTTO
A German harpooner on the Volunteer. He is a “broad-chested” man and a “deep thinker with a mystic bent.”
“The light is what we truly are, that is our immortal essence. But only when the flesh falls away can the truth shine through.”

PATRICK SUMNER
An ex-army surgeon. Sumner left his post in Delhi when he learned that he had inherited his uncle’s dairy farm in Ireland. Considering his good fortune, why did he apply for the miserable job of surgeon on a Greenland whaling ship?
“Come,” he says, “every man has his history surely.”
Sumner shakes his head.
“Not me,” he says.

Group, we are looking for our first read of the new year. Here are the current contenders:

Candace::DEAD WAKE
Martin::Alchemist
Brian::MAN OF HIGH CASTLE
David::North Water
Fred::BASILICA
Ben::Hemingway Short Stories
Peggy::FIRST LADIES

Let me know what you think, we will likely vote on Saturday...

Roll Call

- John - 0
- Peggy - 4
- Greg - 47
- Mike - 0
- Candace - 2

Gossip

- "I have character defects, and I am not afraid to use them"
- Fluidity of IT industry
- Harps Inn
- "discover & recover" -- what is the third one.

Media

- Mr Robot

Book

- was not mentioned? I am not even sure what we are reading at this point.

Roll Call

1. Brian Disdain
2. Fred 3.5
3. Peggy 4
4. Clarence Avg
5. David 1

Gossip

1. Ryan's Eulogy

Media


1. Not much really discussed

2. Kennedy's as Sex Addicts

Book

1. Could not finish last section on Christianity

1. I really struggled with that
2. Why did the slaves adopt the religion of their masters
3. Tribal Beliefs as a pretense to get together
4. Judging FD judges their Christianity against their Christianity

2. Human nature is to target suffering
3. Back to the same old crap
4. Forgiveness he felt for all that he felt
5. Justified in hating the world
6. would not want it another way
7. What is Enough
8. Acting out of my guilt
9. My dad had the concentration camp and war was hell martyrdom
10. War is hell

Project


1. I left early

Roll Call
1. Brian -2
2. Tiffany 8
3. Peggy 3
4. John 0
5. Fred 7
6. Peter 8
7. Greg 3
8. Mike -10
9. David 2

Gossip
1. No preaching

Media
1. Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt
2. Case for Reparations
3. Dance of the Dissident Daughter

Book
1. Waiting for something to happen
2. Story of drug addicts
3. Struggle with technology
4. What is the difference between police & dealers

Project
1. Al-Anon

Roll Call

- Peggy 3 63%
- Mike 1 60%
- Brian 8 0%
- David 1 22%

Gossip

- Great Carlos Birthday Share
- Are you uncomfortable around Special Needs

Book

- Half way through & I like it
- Like the Characters
- Find them interesting
- Problem with the futuristic technology
- Stuck in the advance
- Consistency of vision
- Not a likable character in the book
- Main character is an addicted narc
- not doing a very good job about it
- Artifice
- Looking a himself objectively
- He is getting schizo
- Toyota Guy

Project

- Hike Sound Track

Points


1. Peggy 3

2. Candace 30

3. Brian -2
4. Steadman 1
5. Fred 501
6. Peter 5
7. Clarence 37
8. Greg 4
9. David 1

Discussion


1. Read the Author's Note Afterward
2. Brain damage vs permanently brain damaged
3. Did not fuck myself up at all--Steadman's Doctor Said
4. Text
5. Subway Gum
6. Portlandia
7. Pete Best / Stu Sutcliff
8. Mayan Temple dark energy
9. Ecuadorian Panama Hat
10. Falkland Islands
11. Flock of Penguins
12. Candace is going to Australia with Melinda
13. Steadman's real name is Henry
14. Dont just pour it in the parfait
15. Peggy finished the book, not
16. very much in that time--1977
17. old enough now that I am not going to go crazy
18. Purple Rain

Today was not a very good book day, but we did not have some fun conversation.

Here is some TV I should be watching:
Mr Robot
11/23/63
Orphan Black
Bates

Points


1. Grant 1.5 Pg.50

2. Steadman 2000 Completed

3. Brian 10 Chp.6

4. John 0 -Not Reading

5. Fred 5 -Not Reading

6. Mike 1.75 Chp.8

7. Melissa 2 15

8. Peggy 3 80%

9. James 0 -Not Reading


Discussion


1. Readable

2. High School "Not insider, not outsider--just there"

3. Zoomed through it
4. Life experience
5. Really immersed
6. Identify with the character a lot
7. cried at the end--find that surprising
8. Great book
9. Read on the plane
10. lighter as a read then the Christmas Carol
11. Level of literature less than dickens
12. Not as literary
13. Humor

1. none of that
2. book is making me depressed

14. Tragic Comedy
15. This is a very literary book
16. Character is very unfunny--likable guy--very lovable
17. Death of the wife

1. effects him more than others

18. Laid off
19. Incapable of change
20. Allows people to interfere with him
21. Connects to character at deep level
22. Aimless
23. Not a religious person

1. only went to church with aunt

24. Very simple man / very complex values
25. Structured
26. Inflexible [there is not a word unflexible?]
27. Charming--affectionate -- compassionate
28. Despair
29. Caricature

1. Portrait

30. Suicidal
31. Reflexions on feelings
32. Translation
33. Mikes wife has had five Saab's.
34. Kiill yourself is not suicidal
35. Persian women interacting with Swedish

1. She is a burst of color
2. bickering with husband

36. Book from Artha & Ray on a cruise

1. This book is about Steadman
2. Johnny Carson's set was gold
3. Ray had a tweed coat
4. Ray takes a long time to tell a story

37. Ove means Ancestor
38. $2,000 for a white noise hearing aid
39. Tinietus

1. Something loud can cause
2. hurts ears
3. May be helped by hypnotherapy
4. Makes you suicidal

40. Resolution

1. Loose Weight


Next week read through chapter 15--page 149.

Points were awarded
Gossip was shared
Books were discussed

Next week through chapter 10.