The Cat’s Table – June CC Book Club Selection

[NJTheatreMOM]

<p>Ignatius, I have heard great things about the series “Sherlock” too. My actor son told me he watched the first season and loved it. Apparently Benedict Cumberbatch is unbelievably good. I’m getting ready to start watching the first season on DVD soon.</p>

[sylvan8798]

<p>Question - if you’ve never read Sherlock Holmes, is it a problem jumping into a novel written 125 years after Doyle started the series?</p>

<p>Dictionary. defines hugger-mugger as “secret, clandestine”. Hard to believe that’s even a term, but it sounds like something out of Harry Potter!</p>

[NJTheatreMOM]

<p>Sylvan, that’s why Hound of the Baskervilles would be included as a companion piece…to give a feel for the original work. Anyway, just reading a few of the stories would provide a good grasp of the original Holmes. They are not too long, and they are entertaining. I’m sure there are guides online that could direct you to the best ones.</p>

[sylvan8798]

<p>Ok, in that case I guess I’d pick the same top three as NJCM, in no particular order :).</p>

[ignatius]

<p>sylvan: I agree with NJTM: finding and reading an adventure or two would take little time and then no worries … though Hound of the Baskervilles might be sufficient in and of itself.</p>

<p>A good enough starting place: [The</a> Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle; ADVENTURE I. A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA Page 1](<a href=“http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Arthur_Conan_Doyle/The_Adventures_of_Sherlock_Holmes/ADVENTURE_I_A_SCANDAL_IN_BOHEMIA_p1.html]The”>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle; ADVENTURE I. A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA Page 1)</p>

<p>(*Note that the adventures are short. Read for under thirty minutes and you’ve read one. Hound of the Baskervilles is considered a novel.)</p>

<p>Whether or not this duo gets chosen, take some time to read one of the stories. I bet you’ll enjoy it and head on to another.</p>

[ignatius]

<p>NJTM: Your son steers you right. Benedict Cumberbatch is indeed wonderful as is Martin Freeman as Dr. Watson. Good stuff. (I do occasionally have some trouble with the accents though.)</p>

[Mary13]

<p>Waiting for a few more votes to roll in…PATheaterMom, buenavista, mythmom, QuantMech, BUandBC82, etc.?</p>

[ignatius]

<p>

@NJTM

I’d forgotten that her name was Perinetta! For having read the book twice, it’s amazing the way details keep escaping me, lol. I think it’s because so many things are lightly touched on…not reinforced by repetition.</p>

<p>Perinetta is Italian and Lasqueti is Spanish. Such an unusual name. Even if Miss Lasqueti is British, she almost certainly has family roots in other countries.

</p>

<p>Miss Lasqueti’s remarks about her name:</p>

<p>

“I was telling Emily that my first name is Perinetta. I believe it is a type of apple, found in the Netherlands.” She murmurs the name to herself again, as if it has not been used enough around her.

</p>

<p>I can’t give page numbers as I ended up reading a large print copy from the library and none of the page numbers have matched those y’all have listed.</p>

[ignatius]

<p>I just finished Sister and would have no problem reading it again, if it’s the chosen discussion book. A good book that made me teary-eyed on more that one occasion, which isn’t all that common in a thriller.</p>

<p>Too many good choices to easily pick one. I’m sticking with the list I made but truthfully would read any of the ones listed. </p>

<p>Mary: You gave not a single clue as to your favored choices.</p>

[Mary13]

<p>^ waiting to see if I need to be the tie-breaker…;)</p>

[NJTheatreMOM]

<p>Sylvan, if you want to investigate Sherlock Holmes one way or the other, here is a site that ranks the popularity of the stories:</p>

<p>[The</a> Best Sherlock Holmes Stories](<a href=“http://www.bestofsherlock.com/story/storyhm.htm]The”>The Best Sherlock Holmes Stories)</p>

<p>I was intrigued to find that the one story that I really remembered well was the top ranked one, “The Speckled Band.”</p>

[ignatius]

<p>sylvan needs to clarify whether she means “the same top three … in no particular order” as SJCM or NJTM. I think it might be SJCM since she clearly listed three books while NJTM (and I) weren’t quite as precise. I do know that I have to be careful not to make NewJerseyTheaterMom a chess mom by accident and vice versa.</p>

[NJTheatreMOM]

<p>Ignatius, I think Miss Lasqueti’s saying she believes her name is that of an apple found in the Netherlands is just one of Ondaatje’s flights of fancy.</p>

<p>It seems a little bit odd that he would have her say that. Or, as the kids today would put it, “it’s so random!” At the time of the story, before the internet, it would be harder for somebody to check and see if such an apple existed…if they even cared. In any event, I think that Lasqueti did not want to explain the family history that led to her having that first name. Making up something about a Netherlands apple helped protect the mystery of exactly who she was.</p>

<p>I did discover that the name Parineeti (quite similar, don’t you think?) Chopra is that of an Indian actress, and “Parineeta” is a 2005 Bollywood film adaptation of a 1914 Bengali novel.</p>

<p>I will hypothesize that Miss Lasqueti was a Eurasian named Parineeti who slightly modified her name to make it sound Italian! Well…maybe! I don’t know why I am so obsessed with this. Maybe it’s because the book is so much about East and West and questions of identity and belonging that I just really want Lasqueti to be an Asian/Eurasian like Michael and Cassius and Ramadhin & family and Emily.</p>

[ignatius]

<p>Another thing that just jumped out at me: Sunil injures Emily clasping the bracelet on her wrist … blood … unguent applied. Horace injures Perinetta stabbing scissors into her abdomen … blood … unguent applied. Both women are physically injured as well as emotionally by men that they love in final acts of betrayal. I wonder if Emily retains a visible scar.</p>

[BUandBC82]

<p>My first choice for the duo books would be Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I’ve never been a big Sherlock Holmes fan, but it we pick that duo, I would join you.</p>

<p>I also like Sister and The Expats.</p>

[buenavista]

<p>ignatius: I also initially thought maybe Miss Lasqueti was Perera, especially when I read this: “Some even began to believe there might be two undercover Pereras.” </p>

<p>“Blind Perera” refers to spelling the name without the “I”, or eye—Perera instead of Pereira (which is the more common spelling). It’s a Portuguese name—which reminds me that there were a lot of different nationalities represented on this boat. I’m guessing that was done very intentionally. </p>

<p>SJTM: I love the randomness of the Perinetta name (I tried to look it up, too), and it makes sense that she would just make it up. And I am going to go with your conclusion:</p>

<p>

I will hypothesize that Miss Lasqueti was a Eurasian named Parineeti who slightly modified her name to make it sound Italian!

</p>

<p>I like sylvan8798’s idea that the statue was given to Miss Lasqueti by Horace, and Mary’s explanation of how all the Miss Lasqueti clues fit together!</p>

<p>My votes on the next book:</p>

<ol>
<li> Wide Sargasso Sea/Jane Eyre</li>
<li> Expats</li>
<li> A toss-up: House of Silk or Salmon Fishing</li>
</ol>

[sylvan8798]

<p>

@ignatius

sylvan needs to clarify whether she means “the same top three … in no particular order” as SJCM or NJTM. I think it might be SJCM since she clearly listed three books while NJTM (and I) weren’t quite as precise. I do know that I have to be careful not to make NewJerseyTheaterMom a chess mom by accident and vice versa.

Boy, we shouldn’t let those Jersey people post next to one another ;).</p>

<p>

@SouthJerseyChessMom

My front runner

1. House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Sister</p></li>
<li><p>Wide Sargasso Sea and Jane Eyre

But in no particular order. Thinking combo 3 would probably be the most interesting if most posters read both books, although I don’t know how everyone feels about having 2 books to read?</p></li>
</ol>

[NJTheatreMOM]

<p>My only problem with Horace having given the statue to Miss Lasqueti is that it would mean she had been carrying it around with her for years and years.</p>

<p>If it was a bodhisattva…I don’t know, because Horace seemed more interested in western art than eastern art, as I recall. Acquiring a bodhisattva figure on a visit to Sri Lanka seems much more plausible to me.</p>

[NJTheatreMOM]

<p>Sylvan, I’m pretty sure this book club has done duos before, back before I became involved (Secret Garden and something else??). The Jane Eyre/Wild Sargasso Sea duo surely sounds like great fun to me.</p>

<p>Probably most of us have read Jane Eyre at some time in the past and just need a re-read as a brushup. I know I have. And the story is so darn familiar from all the film treatments of it, right?</p>

<p>Re us two New Jersey moms…just be glad that I’m not South Jersey Theatre Mom! I actually do live in South Jersey and I’m not ashamed of it I just never thought to ID myself that way in a screen name when I joined CC.</p>

[buenavista]

<p>On the name Perera/Pereira:</p>

<p>There is a large Portuguese community in Massachusetts, so I was thinking of Pereira as the common spelling–that’s true around here. But I didn’t know about Portuguese Ceylon (1505–1658)! From Wikipedia:</p>

<p>

Perera is a common surname in Sri Lanka, Portugal, Brazil, and most of the Lusosphere. The name was introduced in Sri Lanka by the Portuguese during the period of Portuguese Ceylon, and it derives from the common Portuguese surname Pereira (meaning pear tree). Perera is also a Spanish name.

</p>

<p>Were there any pear trees in the book?</p>

<p>There are only 104 Pereiras on LinkedIn in Sri Lanka, but 7,748 Pereras. The things you can learn from fiction!</p>

<p>I learned a new word: Lusosphere!</p>