The Uncruliosity Shoppe: August 2010

The Resurrectionist

This is the first book group book for some time that I might have chosen for myself. Matthew said that he had picked it with a particular member in mind who likes a good horror story and this immediately provoked a discussion on horror stories, horror films. Opinions were quite divided with some members of the group being quite convinced that they would struggle to read this book.

The blurb describes the book as being a gothic horror story. Well it is certainly gothic in it's tone and in it's setting amongst the dissectionists and the body snatchers of early nineteenth century London. However I wasn't at all sure how well it deserved the horror tag. I certainly doubt that it will have caused any sleepless nights for even the most sqeamish of the book groups members. There are very few scenes that depict violence of any kind and even these are described in terms that seem to minimise their impact.

That said, the story does raise some interesting questions. The protaganist becomes drawn into a series of murders begging the question - 'Is he some kind of monster or could a reasonable person find themself in a similar situation?' An episode from his younger life hints at a a sadistic and voyeuristic streak but personally I was left undecided on this issue.

* * *

The discussion at the book group didn't really go quite as I had expected. First of all a couple of the members weren't there. One of them, who had often said she liked horror books, and for whom this one had been chosen, had left a note to say that she had quite liked it until it got to describing the murders which she found too gruesome. The general consensus was that they weren't gruesome at all and we awere all left wondering what kind of horror books she actually likes.

Of the five of us who were there two, including me, had enjoyed the story, two really hadn't liked it and one was on the fence. Those not keen felt that the story wandered rather aimlessly and hadn't been at a ll gripped by it. To me it seemed that this had been deliberate as the central point seemed to be about the way that we re-invent ourselves, or find ourselves re-invented, over time. Perhaps that is me reading my own issues into the book.

There was remarkably little discussion about whether the central character was good, bad, or a victim of circumstance; despite the fact that I tried to start said discussion at least twice. It seemed that some of the other readers wanted to be told by the author rather than to have the discussion themselves.

March

This was book of the month for July, discussed at the beginning of August, so I'm punctual as usual. Once again it is a book that I very much doubt I would have picked for myself but I throrughly enjoyed it.

Brooks has taken the character of Mr March, absent from pretty much the whole of 'Little Women' I understand, and writen the story of what he was up to while he was away from home. Not having read 'Little Women' this did nothing to draw me in. In fact, had I been nrowsing the bookshelves, it might well have put me off. However I was drawn into the story of Mr March almost as soon as I opened the book. From the outset he was an intriguing and likeable character leading an interesting life. Starting out as an itinerant peddlar he becomes, over time, quite a wealthy young man. His progressive ideals lead him into the anti-slavery movement and, eventually, into service during the American Civil War.

In the latter stages of the story some of his weaknesses start to become apparent. At one stage I began to wonder if Brooks wasn't trying to make him into quite a pathetic man and this feeling was shared by several other members of the group. However towards the very end he was shown again in a rather more positive light. The book provoked quite a lot of discussion about attitudes to race and gender, in particularly some of the apparent inconsistencies in March's own attitudes.

I Write Like

I saw this on another blog that I follow and thought I would give it a try. Having done so I then wondered whether I wanted to post the result. I decided that, firstly, honestly is the best policy and , secondly, that I should maybe try to change my writing style. I wonder if I would get the same result with a different piece of writing.