Journey Fiction
Meeting Summary: September 12, 2008
Shackleton's Stowaway by Victoria McKernan (Julia)
Lullaby by Chuck Palahniak (Linda)
Shift by Jennifer Bradbury (Frances)
The Laments by George Hagen (Frances)
The Hobbit by Tolkien (Kerry)
From the Holy Mountain by William Dalrymple (Rhian)
Travels with Charlie by John Steinbeck (Barb)
Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay (Kathryn)
A Thousand Country Roads by Robert James Waller (Ada)
Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer (Teresa)
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (Goldie)
The next meeting will be a Christmas party hosted by Frances. Invites and directions to come. Date is Sunday Nov. 30 at 5:00 p.m. The topic is very timely: political fiction.
Labels: journey fiction
posted by Kathryn at 12:41 PM
7 Comments:
Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
Hay won the 2007 Giller Prize with this gentle, evocative story set in Yellowknife in the summer of 1975 during the MacKenzie Valley Pipeline hearings. A group of CBC broadcasters, all transplants from elsewhere, battle their demons, fall in love and learn from the land, the latter being a major character in itself. The story culminates in a canoe trip into the barrens, following the path of real life John Hornby, who met his death there in 1927.
This was a very slow read, but an enjoyable one.
Shackleton's Stowaway is the mostly true story of a daring Antarctic expedition at the outbreak of WWI, as seen through the eyes of an 18 yr old adventurer and his mates. British explorer, Ernest Shackleton, leads the crew through incredible misadventures in this harrowing tale of survival. Gripping reading for teens young and old.
A Thousand Country Roads: An Epilogue to the Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller takes you on a journey to learn what happened to Robert Kincaid and Francesca Johnson. The two lovers don't meet again, though Robert's journey takes him to the bridge where he and Francesca first met. Intertwined is the story of Carlisle McMillan, a young man in search of his father who he discovers is Robert Kincaid. His mother Wynn had a brief affair with a stranger, Robert Kincaid, after the war and never contacted him about his son. It was a quick read, very predictable and definitely a book of many journeys.
Shift by Jennifer Bradbury
Best friends Chris and Win bicycle from West Virginia to Washington State after graduating from high school. They have a fight and Chris returns home alone and starts college, not knowing what happened to Win. A coming-of-age story with an engrossing, realistic mystery.
The Laments by George Hagen
The Laments are a dysfunctional family who move from South Africa to Rhodesia, Bahrain, England and America trying to fit in. The family's rootlessness weighs most heavily on eldest son Will, secretly adopted after a maternity ward mixup goes horribly awry, who feels the odd man out in the face of his constantly changing surroundings. Quirky but enjoyable!
The road by Cormac McCarthy. This is one of the most moving books I've read in a long time. It is set after an apocalyptic event, the nature of which is not revealed, has left the earth with few inhabitants. It is the story of a man and his son as they try to survive without the necessities of life. They keep travelling in order to avoid bands of cannibals and to hunt for food. The language is simple and yet the dialog is so revealing. It is a testament to the transcendence of love in catastrophic circumstances. Beautifully written, it starts out slowly but is profoundly gripping in the end.
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck is a classic road story about the author and his travels across US with his poodle during the 1960's. Traveling in a pick-up truck with custom made sleeping and eating facilities, Steinbeck comments on the scenery,social issues and people he meets along the way. It is an interesting contrast to the current conditions in the US.
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