<p>You hit the nail on the head when it comes to my thoughts about Paloma!</p>
<p>The Three Weissmanns of Westport: </p>
<p>I have never read Sense and Sensibility and I’m getting the sense from various reviews that a familiarity with Austen’s book makes The Three Weissmanns of Westport fun. I watched the movie S&S years ago and admit it wasn’t a favorite (Hugh Grant Emma Thompson :P). I’m willing to watch the movie again - i.e., prep for the book choice - if The Three Weissmanns of Westport becomes the chosen book, and Cliff Notes could be an option, I suppose. Just wondering if I’m the only one with no S&S background.</p>
<p>Ok, Hugh Grant I understand, but you don’t like Emma Thompson??</p>
<p>Ahem. Anyway, IMO that movie is one of the best adaptations of Austen ever done (Emma T. wrote the screenplay). And Alan Rickman is in it. Just close your eyes and listen to his voice and you’ll love the movie. ;)</p>
<p>Perhaps we can select a book, which will have broader appeal, enticing some of the “lurkers” to participate? </p>
<p>Some books, while enjoyable reads, lend themselves to discussion, others do not. I expected Elegance, with such intense reactions both pro and con, would have had broader participation. </p>
<p>So, I hope, whatever is decided, helps expand our ever decreasing book club posters. </p>
<p>Booklady, which book would you suggest for broad appeal, and lends itself to discussion?</p>
<p>Ignatius, last summer I watched the old and new movie versions of Pride and Prejudice, and then read the book. Saw Sand S some time ago, but it’s unfamiliar at this point. I will probably try to read SandS, in addition, to Weismann’s if it is selected.</p>
<p>Of the ones above, I think Let the Great World Spin might be best. The following are some favorites of mine, and ones that have provoked very good discussions in my book group:</p>
<p>Bo Caldwell, The Distant Land of My Father
Dara Horn, The World to Come
Ward Just, An Unfinished Season
Yoko Ogawa, The Housekeeper and the Professor</p>
<p>^ Great! I’ll start a new thread at the end of the month. </p>
<p>Looking ahead–waaaay ahead–I think Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand should be our December selection since it comes out in paperback November 30th. For October, who knows? We have a lot to choose from above. But for now, let’s focus on Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, with discussion to begin August 1st. I’m looking forward to it!</p>
<p>Hi everyone – I finally finished Elegance. Things like surgery (me), college graduation (D), and never-ending yardwork all worked against me. And, I just read through all the previous posts here.</p>
<p>I guess I’m not quite sure how I feel about the book. I didn’t exactly love it; but I didn’t hate it either. I would have liked it on my Kindle with its dictionary feature. I gave up looking up words – got to be way too annoying. I did feel as if the author was “showing off” her philosophy knowledge, which was somewhat off-putting. Also, no 12-year old talks/writes like Paloma.</p>
<p>All that aside, there were moments of wonderfully descriptive writing and even a little suspense – would Renee go to dinner or wouldn’t she? The musical toilet made me laugh out loud and Renee’s “death by drycleaning” caught me by surprise. I was quite sure from the very beginning that Paloma was all talk and no action when it came to killing herself and setting the apartment on fire.</p>
<p>I probably won’t be suggesting this book to my RL Club – there would be several members who would really, truly hate this book. OTOH, I’m glad I read it – it’s good to stretch the mind now and again. It was a “hard” book in some ways, but that’s OK. It doesn’t bother me that I don’t “get” all the philosophy stuff – I’m not sure it makes any difference in how much I enjoyed the book. (Or is that just me being defensive?)</p>
<p>Anyway, I’ll try to be more on schedule for the August book.</p>
<p>Hey CBBBlinker ^^^ Hope the surgery went well. </p>
<p>I knew you purchased The Elegance of the Hedgehog and wondered what happened when you didn’t show up for the discussion. It’s nice to hear your thoughts. I agree with pretty much everything you mention. </p>
<p>FYI - for anyone interested, Amazon now has The Elegance of the Hedgehog for only $7.95 - 47% off retail price. Then again, maybe our book discussion scared you away. Definitely, it’s not a “one size fits all” book.</p>
<p>Great post CBBlinker, and interesting to revisit the book now that some time has passed. </p>
<p>Glad you posted, I think many of us agree with your statement above- “didn’t exactly love it, didn’t hate it either”.</p>
<p>Mary has recently returned from an extended trip, and I’m sure we’ll be hearing from her, when she has finished the piles of laundry and restocked her kitchen.</p>
<p>^ I haven’t unpacked, the laundry’s not done and there’s no food in the house, which makes this the ideal time to post, don’t you think? Ah, procrastination. </p>
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<p>Creating a believable child narrator is a difficult task. Can you think of a first person child narrator that really seems authentic? I haven’t come across a “genuine” voice since Junie B. Jones. (Scout Finch doesn’t count—she writes as an adult looking back, slipping back into her childhood “skin,” so to speak).</p>
<p>I came across this blog, and although Elegance isn’t mentioned, it would certainly fall under the blogger’s rant:</p>
<p>A poster in the above forum ends her comments with, “One last thought, I don’t think all child narrators are necessarily meant to be convincing as child narrators.” I think that applies to Paloma. She’s not a believable 12 year old, even of the genius variety, but I don’t think that was Muriel Barbery’s goal. Paloma was created to be a mouthpiece–the author’s instrument–rather than a real child.</p>
<p>Just finished reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog yesterday. Thanks so much for starting the book club. I really enjoyed reading the book. I have the August selection on reserve at the libary-so hopefully I will be finishing that by the end of next month</p>
<p>I’m looking forward now to reading the comments in this thread. What did Renee mean when she described art as “life without desire” Even though she was describing a still life, it seems to me that all good art is filled with desire-each brushstroke, each choice of color. Art is filled with desire, as is life.</p>
<p>I found the age of both charactors a bit confusing. Paloma did not seem like a belivable twelve year old to me.
I’m 53, and I found Renee’s constant reference to herself as elderly a bit annoying. I loved how she relished so many different areas of life and art.</p>
<p>I also had questions about why Renee did not allow her intelllegence or refined tastes to show. I know it was explained by the backstory of her sister- but the description of Renee’s childhood didn’t make sense to me based on Renee’s age. (If she is in her mid-fifties at present, the images of her childhood far from the city of automobiles, her sister having the baby at home, etc seemed from a much earlier time.) Did it seem that way to anyone else?</p>
Emma Thompson :P). I’m willing to watch the movie again - i.e., prep for the book choice - if The Three Weissmanns of Westport becomes the chosen book, and Cliff Notes could be an option, I suppose. 
Just wondering if I’m the only one with no S&S background.</p>