MidCoast Libraries Better Reading Bookclub discussion

It is a long time since we had a new book to read and discuss on this club list. Several of us have of course been very busy.
Bev Dillon suggested yesterday that I might propose a book. Could I suggest ‘The bookshop’ by Booker Prize winner Penelope Fitzgerald? It is short -156 pages - and not a difficult read, though I think it is thought provoking and beautifully written.
Forster library has a set of the book, which can be obtained in the normal book club manner,

John Kennedy

Thanks John - looking forward to reading it!

Thank you so much for choosing this novel John. I thought it was a wonderful piece of writing. It would be easy to describe it as bleak but that does it no justice at all. Looking through a dark lens on the world, maybe. There is a raw honesty to it, and yet it also has the sense of a fable.

I know that typecasting has genuine negatives, but even so, I thought the humour and style of the work were very British. Restrained, even to the very final line.

It reminded me of the cynical realism of French authors I have read - in particular, the Bachelors by Henry de Montherlant.

I won't go any further into an analysis of the novel as I think the introduction by David Nicholls captures so much of the work far better than I could.

Thanks once again.

Hardborough - a great name to describe a place where people go out of their way to destroy the dreams of others.
This novel, though funny in spots, was a very sad little story overall. I appreciated its brutal realism - Brundish’s galant last gesture to support Florence is forever concealed; the malicious acts of Florence’s detractors go largely undetected. But the failure seems harsh for Florence who is passionate and tenacious enough to nobly establish a bookshop-slash-library in such a small community.

Yet it does mirror life in general. Sometimes the efforts we make far outweigh the rewards, and the enemies we make far exceed the reason; and yes, sometimes it seems as though forces unseen are even against us.

I agree with Chris that the novel was well-written, and also that it had a distinct British flavour. Fitzgerald’s style flows well, and is so easy to read. I enjoyed the book as one quite unlike any other. Not being a prolific reader like Chris, I have less works with which to compare. However, I know it is a story I will reflect on often, which is my measure of a good read.

Many thanks for your comments, Chris and Bev. I am glad you found ‘The bookshop’ a rewarding read. I think words Chris suggests - ‘dark’ and ‘honest’ - are highly appropriate in describing the novel. One does, as Bev suggest, feel for poor Florence, so totally crushed by people whose ill doing goes undetected.

I also am no fan of national stereotypes, but I do think there is something distinctly English middle class about what happens. I have no doubt there are people in Australia, America, Ireland, Scotland, etc., capable of equal malice, but perhaps their activities would usually be more obvious and less tainted by class consciousness?

It is not long since I read the book, but I look forward to rereading it when I get home. I am holidaying in Queensland and decided not to cart around a library book from place to place.

John

Having just finished rereading ‘The bookshop’ I feel very glad I had an incentive to do so. It is a beautifully written book, which in a short space brilliantly evokes the isolated East Anglia town it creates. There are several memorable characters, notably the charming but ultimately rather odious Milo and the unsentimentally delineated youngster Christine. The bank manager and solicitor are minor figures but entertaining and convincing caricature worthy of Dickens. Though the final utter triumph of evil over decency, of social privilege and ‘connections’ over unprivileged courage make the vision somewhat bleak, it is sadly convincing, and much sly humour makes the bulk of the book a very enjoyable read. John K