Schlafly Global Book Discussion Group discussion

Solar Bones
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having trouble with this book.

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message 1: by Vera (new)

Vera Emmons | 25 comments I am too fidgety for this Book! At minimum, I need sentences and a few chapters. I am looking forward to hearing all the good things about it.


message 2: by [deleted user] (new)

This is a different style, for sure, but once I let myself get into it and stopped obsessing over each line it became much easier. It's a bit daunting at first, as it looks like it'll be a dense as Proust or Joyce, but I would stick with it!

If you don't like it, you can blame Kim. She's the one who recommended it!


message 3: by [deleted user] (new)

I hope you all are making some progress. It's a slow book and more digressive and conversational, but I'm finding it very relaxing and enjoyable. So far he's gotten up, opened a newspaper, and saw a sandwich. A real nail biter!


Teresa | 22 comments My problem is since there are no paragraphs or ending points, I forget where I left off and have to reread pages over and over. Then it seems to switch the story line very fast as there are no chapters and I wonder if that line is finished or not.


message 5: by Lucy (new)

Lucy (lucy47) | 146 comments Sounds like Joyce! Haven't started yet, finishing Beloved for Zack's group.


message 6: by [deleted user] (new)

It’s way way way more approachable than Joyce. You don’t need a classical education to parse every sentence.


message 7: by Lloyd (new)

Lloyd Klinedinst (lloydk) | 6 comments 20200212 21:00 I'm writing my first post to this group about my first Polar Bones notes, having spent already a few hours following Schlafly's Global Book Discussion Group, borrowed the book from my local Scenic Regional Library in Union, MO, and picked it up this afternoon, then after browsing about 20 or more pages, purchased it on Kindle and Audible.

I like it. The Audible version savors each word and self-estimates to be a 9'1" listen. The reader controlled experience can go every which way. As I said, after browsing about 20-50 pages passim and found the work very interesting and enjoyable, I begin to look at its opening page or so carefully.

Its first four lines relate to my experience of 'backward buildup', a teaching/learning technique for early or second language learners. It also resonates with the first words young Stephan Daedelus hears in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,

Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming
down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road
met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo...

His father told him that story: his father looked at him through a
glass: he had a hairy face.

He was baby tuckoo. The moocow came down the road where Betty Byrne
lived: she sold lemon platt.

Then the fifth line shifts from narrator, suggested by the present partiple in line 3, to universal point of view, even a view from the bell as subject perhaps.
I find this interesting and enjoyable writing, catching my attention and beckoning me to expore further. 21:28 ...to be continued...


message 8: by Kat (new)

Kat Becker I couldn't start this book. It's just not for me!


message 9: by Lucy (new)

Lucy (lucy47) | 146 comments I finally got to start the audiobook of "Solar..." yesterday afternoon, and I'm enjoying it! For anyone frustrated by this extravagant experiment in one long run-on sentence, I highly recommend the audio version. Beautifully read by a gentleman with a lovely Irish accent, it makes clear who's speaking, and helps with understanding what part of Marcus' life his spirit is reminiscing about.


Teresa | 22 comments I have been plowing through it. But having a hard time. Maybe audio would be better.


message 11: by Lucy (new)

Lucy (lucy47) | 146 comments Teresa, I just finished a section where Marcus is reliving the sudden decline, dementia & death of his beloved father after Marcus's mother dies. For any in our group who aren't old enough or unlucky enough to have gone thru this yet with one or the other parent, let me tell you that the whole account is spot on and vividly real & true.
I hope you all will persevere with this book, there are really wonderful passages, even if it isn't exactly can't-put-downable.


message 12: by Lucy (new)

Lucy (lucy47) | 146 comments And no, I didn't pick this book!


message 13: by Anne (new) - rated it 4 stars

Anne | 85 comments I wanted to listen to it but Libby didn’t seem to have any audio versions. I love listening to Irish audiobook readers. I’m enjoying it though it’s definitely slow and not super confident I’ll finish by Thursday... that doesn’t stop me from attending though!


message 14: by Anne (new) - rated it 4 stars

Anne | 85 comments audiobooks.com free 30 day trial for the win! Listening is great.


message 15: by Lucy (new)

Lucy (lucy47) | 146 comments Anne, sure glad you got the audiobook. Persevere, because the ending justifies all.
See everyone Thurs pm, I hope!


message 16: by Anne (new) - rated it 4 stars

Anne | 85 comments Done! I definitely recommend listening for anyone struggling. There is some beautiful stuff but also parts where I’m like OK I GET IT. Definitely a better audiobook experience for me.


message 17: by [deleted user] (new)

Cara did the audiobook and I heard bits and pieces. You barely notice the commas. I think the first few pages are so jarring that some folks just can’t recover.


Readridinghood | 54 comments I finished Solar Bones this morning . It was a difficult read, but I hung in there to the end. What a long ending! o long! It was almost torture, in a good way, waiting for Marcus to die as he desperately tried to make it home. Although we really don’t know if he did.
Mairead seemed to be saying her own fair well as Marcus
was leaving. I wonder if that is more what he saw things happening. I’m not sure if I missed a few things, there was more about Agnes than
Darragh. Yet i understood why. All the stuff about politics with lost on me. I get enough of that in the real world. I missed The reason why Marcus’s mother died. Over all I will say that the book was confusing, but made sense in the end.


Readridinghood | 54 comments I finished Solar Bones this morning . It was a difficult read, but I hung in there to the end. What a long ending! o long! It was almost torture, in a good way, waiting for Marcus to die as he desperately tried to make it home. Although we really don’t know if he did.
Mairead seemed to be saying her own fair well as Marcus
was leaving. I wonder if that is more what he saw things happening. I’m not sure if I missed a few things, there was more about Agnes than
Darragh. Yet i understood why. All the stuff about politics with lost on me. I get enough of that in the real world. I missed The reason why Marcus’s mother died. Over all I will say that the book was confusing, but made sense in the end.


Readridinghood | 54 comments I got a kick knowing many of you enjoyed the audio version of this month’s book! I’m sorry I. Won’t be with you tonight.i a berry exhausting day. See you next month!


Kathy | 7 comments I made it home alive. ;) Thank you for the warm welcome into your book club. Looking forward to more enjoyable discussions in the future. ~ Kathy


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