sparklehorse

Hello Tipplers Looking forward to seeing you this evening (7.45 for 8.00 at House of Tippler). Slightly belatedly, here's our shortlist for next month, on a theme of NYC: See you shortly! The Age of Innocence ? Edith Wharton The story is set in upper-class New York City in the 1870s. The Age of Innocence centers on an upper-class couple's impending marriage, and the introduction of a woman plagued by scandal whose presence threatens their happiness. Though the novel questions the assumptions and morals of 1870s' New York society, it never devolves into an outright condemnation of the institution. The title is an ironic comment on the polished outward manners of New York society when compared to its inward machinations. ?I love virtually all of Edith Wharton, but this one's my favourite... I admire her prose style, which is lucid, intelligent, and artful rather than arty; she is eloquent but never fussy, and always clear. She never seems to be writing well to show off. As for The Age of Innocence, it's a poignant story that, typically for Wharton, illustrates the bind women found themselves in when trapped hazily between a demeaning if relaxing servitude and real if frightening independence, and that both sexes find themselves in when trapped between the demands of morality and the demands of the heart. The novel is romantic but not sentimental, and I'm a sucker for unhappy endings? -- Lionel Shriver The Bonfire of the Vanities ? Tom Wolfe "If there is a set-book of the Eighties, it is Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities. No other novel has achieved such a precise place in the imagination of the reading classes. With his first attempt at fiction Wolfe has become the 'Dickens or Balzac of his age'; the dandy journalist has become the towering genius" (The Times) "Wolfe's modern morality tale displays the sardonic humour and sharp appreciation of the grotesque familiar to admirers of his non fiction... Savagely funny and compelling" (Guardian) "The air of New York crackles with an energy that causes the adrenalin to pump, until one has the illusion that this is where the whole of life is taking place. The feeling is perfectly reproduced in Wolfe's novel, which opens such cans of worms as racial hostility, dress codes, political labelling and the cynical opportunism that governs every action. It's, well, electric" (Sunday Times) Jazz ? Toni Morrison In the winter of 1926, when everybody everywhere sees nothing but good things ahead, Joe Trace, middle-aged door-to-door salesman of Cleopatra beauty products, shoots his teenage lover to death. At the funeral, Joe?s wife, Violet, attacks the girl?s corpse. This passionate, profound story of love and obsession brings us back and forth in time, as a narrative is assembled from the emotions, hopes, fears, and deep realities of black urban life. "Jazz blazes with an intensity more usually found in tragic poetry of the past, not in fiction today.... Morrison's voice transcends colour and creed and she has become one of America's outstanding post-war writers... A great storyteller, her characters have amazing and terrible pasts - they must find them out, or be haunted by them" (Guardian) "Morrison?s writing of a black romance pays its debt to blues music, the rhythms and the melancholy pleasures of which she has so magically transformed into a novel" (London Review of Books) Ragtime ? E. L Doctorow Published in 1975, Ragtime changed our very concept of what a novel could be. An extraordinary tapestry, Ragtime captures the spirit of America in the era between the turn of the century and the First World War. The story opens in 1906 in New Rochelle, New York, at the home of an affluent American family. One lazy Sunday afternoon, the famous escape artist Harry Houdini swerves his car into a telephone pole outside their house. And almost magically, the line between fantasy and historical fact, between real and imaginary characters, disappears. Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, J. P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund Freud, and Emiliano Zapata slip in and out of the tale, crossing paths with Doctorow's imagined family and other fictional characters, including an immigrant peddler and a ragtime musician from Harlem whose insistence on a point of justice drives him to revolutionary violence. ?As exhilarating as a breath of pure oxygen . . . this highly original novel is enormous fun to read? Newsweek . Rosemary?s Baby ? Ira Levin Rosemary Woodhouse and her struggling actor husband, Guy, move into the Bramford, an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and mostly elderly residents. Neighbors Roman and Minnie Castevet soon come nosing around to welcome the Woodhouses to the building, and despite Rosemary?s reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises that she keeps hearing her husband takes a special shine to them. Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Rosemary becomes pregnant, and the Castavets start taking a special interest in her welfare. As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castevets? circle is not what it seems? A terrifying book: I can think of no other in which fear of an evil strikes with greater chill. (Daily Telegraph) Suspense is beautifully intertwined with everyday incidents; the delicate line between belief and disbelief is faultlessly drawn. (New York Times) A darkly brilliant tale of modern devilry that induces the reader to believe the unbelievable. I believed it and was altogether enthralled. (Truman Capote)

I have found the Picture Framers at 350 Lordship Lane (near the Plough) to be really helpful and friendly, and their prices are very reasonable.

I have Kindle, but happy to change if it works out expensive for those that don't.

Tipplers closed. Palmerston?

Hello all, I'm running late but will see you at the Palmerston. That's great news about your flat Kenneth, congratulations! : )

Dear all Just a quick reminder that we are meeting this Tuesday to talk about One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. Newcomers always welcome! Date: Tuesday 23 September 7.45 for 8.00 at The House of Tippler. See below for the shortlist for next month, for which I have gone a bit Latin American. Look forward to seeing you Tuesday. E House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende (1986, 496 pages) Spanning four generations, Isabel Allende's magnificent family saga is populated by a memorable, often eccentric cast of characters. Together, men and women, spirits, the forces of nature, and of history, converge in an unforgettable, wholly absorbing and brilliantly realised novel that is as richly entertaining as it is a masterpiece of modern literature. Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord - Louis de Bernieres (1991, 280 pages) Dionisio Vivo, a South American lecturer in philosophy, is puzzled by the hideously mutilated corpses that keep turning up outside his front door. To his friend, Ramon, one of the few honest policemen in town, the message is all too clear: Dionisio's letters to the press, exposing the drug barons, must stop; and although Dionisio manages to escape the hit-men sent to get him, he soon realises that others are more vulnerable, and his love for them leads him to take a colossal revenge. Events take their course in the way of a grand tragicomedy, with the devastation that's expected followed by the irrepressible joy of life that's never expected and Berniere?s tongue-in-cheeck touch throughout. Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel (1993, 224 pages) The number one bestseller in Mexico and America for almost two years, and subsequently a bestseller around the world, Like Water For Chocolate is a romantic, poignant tale, touched with moments of magic, graphic earthiness, bittersweet wit - and recipes. A sumptuous feast of a novel, it relates the bizarre history of the all-female De La Garza family. Tita, the youngest daughter of the house, has been forbidden to marry, condemned by Mexican tradition to look after her mother until she dies. But Tita falls in love with Pedro, and he is seduced by the magical food she cooks. In desperation Pedro marries her sister Rosaura so that he can stay close to her. For the next twenty-two years Tita and Pedro are forced to circle each other in unconsummated passion. Only a freakish chain of tragedies, bad luck and fate finally reunite them against all the odds. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1970, 422 pages) Equally tragic, joyful and comical, One Hundred Years of Solitude inhabits a strange dream-like space where very little makes real sense, but everything is mysteriously and vividly alive nonetheless. An acknowledged masterpiece, this is the story of seven generations of the Buendia family and of Macondo, the town they have built. Though little more than a settlement surrounded by mountains, Macondo has its wars and disasters, even its wonders and miracles. A microcosm of Columbian life, its secrets lie hidden, encoded in a book and only Aureliano Buendia can fathom its mysteries and reveal its shrouded destiny. Blending political reality with magic realism, fantasy with comic invention, One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of the most daringly original works of the twentieth century. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter- Mario Vargas Llosa (1977, 416 pages) Set in Peru during the 1950s, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter is the story of an 18 year old student who falls for a 32 year old divorcee. Mario, an aspiring writer, works at a radio station that broadcasts, live each day, up to a half-dozen short-run soap operas. At the same time that the author meets his "Aunt Julia", the radio station, which had been buying scripts by weight from Cuba, hires a Bolivian scriptwriter named Pedro Camacho to write the serials. The novel chronicles the scriptwriter's rise and fall in tandem with the protagonist's affair.

Another recommend for Jon. He came around very promptly, fixed the problem quickly and the price was very reasonable. Thank you, and thanks to all who recommended.

Hello all and apologies for the late post. Thanks again to K for the great list, and for some brilliant further details re the various misdemeanours! Next month's book is One flew over the cuckoo's nest - Ken Kesey. Date: Tuesday 23 September 7.45 for 8.00, House of Tippler. And I think I've been nominated to do the next list, theme as yet unspecified, details to follow ... E

This is a great list Kat, thanks, and look forward to seeing you later.

Yes I use them and they have been great.

Hello all Another lovely evening this Tuesday ... and the winner for next month (by a bit of a landslide) was Something Happened by Joseph Heller. So I think the details of the May meeting are: Next meeting: Tuesday 20 May Time: 7:45 for 8:00 Place: House of Tippler Book: Something Happened, Joseph Heller Someone please correct me if I've got that date wrong! Look forward to seeing you soon, E x

Agh sorry all, I may be late this evening ... speed reading as we speak ...

Dear Tipplers Looking forward to seeing you all on Tuesday for Strangers on a Train. In the meantime, here's the list for next week, organised very loosely around the theme of "B-Sides" ... Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut With his trademark dry wit, Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle is an inventive science fiction satire that preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon - and, worse still, surviving it. Hoenikker, one of the founding 'fathers' of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to humanity. For he is the inventor of ice-nine, a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. Writer Jonah's search for his whereabouts leads him to Hoenikker's three eccentric children, to an island republic in the Caribbean where the absurd religion of Bokononism is practised, to love and to insanity. Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction is a frightening and funny satire on the end of the world and the madness of mankind. Franny and Zooey - J. D. Salinger Franny Glass is a pretty, effervescent college student on a date with her intellectually confident boyfriend, Lane. They appear to be the perfect couple, but as they struggle to communicate with each other about the things they really care about, slowly their true feelings come to the surface. The second story in this book, 'Zooey', plunges us into the world of her ethereal, sophisticated family. When Franny's emotional and spiritual doubts reach new heights, her older brother Zooey, a misanthropic former child genius, offers her consolation and brotherly advice. Written in Salinger's typically irreverent style, these two stories offer a touching snapshot of the distraught mindset of early adulthood and are full of the insightful emotional observations and witty turns of phrase that have helped make Salinger's reputation what it is today. Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire, with its wildly original narrative structure, is a postmodern masterpiece from the author of Lolita, skewering the politics of academia, the struggle for interpretation, and the infinite subjectivity of human experience. The American poet John Shade is dead; murdered. His last poem, Pale Fire, is put into a book, together with a preface, a lengthy commentary and notes by Shade's editor, Charles Kinbote. Known on campus as the 'Great Beaver', Kinbote is haughty, inquisitive, intolerant, but is he also mad, bad - and even dangerous? As his wildly eccentric annotations slide into the personal and the fantastical, Kinbote reveals perhaps more than he ought. Who is Charles Kinbote - could he be the exiled King Charles of Zembla, or the Russian madman, Professor Botkin? Or is he just another of John Shade's literary inventions? Nabokov's darkly witty, richly inventive masterwork is a suspenseful whodunit, a story of one-upmanship and dubious penmanship, and a glorious literary conundrum. Something Happened - Joseph Heller Bob Slocum was a promising executive. He had an attractive wife, three children, a nice house, and as many mistresses as he desired. His life was settled and ordered; he had conformed and society demanded he be happy - or at least pretend to be, But the pretence was becoming more and more difficult, as Slocum's discontent grew into an overwhelming sense of desolation, frustration and fear. And then something happened. . . "It is splendidly put together and hypnotic to read. It is as clear and hard-edged as a cut diamond. Mr. Heller's concentration and patience are so evident on every page that one can only say that "Something Happened" is at all points precisely what he hoped it would be" (New York Times Kurt Vonnegut). "I used to think Catch-22 was my best novel until I read Kurt Vonnegut's review of Something Happened. Now I think Something Happened is." (Joseph Heller) The Temple of My Familiar - Alice Walker A visionary cast of characters weave together their past and present in a brilliantly intricate tapestry of tales.It is the story of the dispossessed and displaced, of peoples whose history is ancient and whose future is yet to come. Here we meet Lissie, a woman of many pasts; Arveyda the great guitarist and his Latin American wife who has had to flee her homeland; Suwelo, the history teacher, and his former wife Fanny who has fallen in love with spirits. Hovering tantalisingly above their stories are Miss Celie and Shug, the beloved characters from THE COLOUR PURPLE. Villette - Charlotte Bronte Villette is the story of Lucy Snow, a teacher at an all-girls boarding school in Belgium who finds herself caught up in her students' romances, reunited with old friends, and searching for a love of her own. Exploring themes of gender roles, repression, isolation, and religion, Villette is best known for following Lucy's psychological state. "Villette is an amazing book. Written before psychoanalysis came into being, Villette is nevertheless a psychoanalytic work a psychosexual study of its heroine, Lucy Snowe. Written before the philosophy of existentialism was formulated, the novel's view of the world can only be described as existential. . . . Today it is read and discussed more intensely than Charlotte Bront?'s other novels, and many critics now believe it to be a true master-piece, a work of genius that more than fulfilled the promise of Jane Eyre Indeed, Virginia Woolf judged Villette to be Bront?'s finest novel" --novelist Susan Fromberg Schaeffer.

Oh dear I somehow got unsubscribed from this thread, so hadn't seen this discussion until now ... I've finished the book on kindle ... No idea which version?! Although had to ban myself from reading before bedtime! I'd be interested to catch some of the gothic season at BFI too if I'm not to late ... Eg nosferatu is on this coming week if of interest to anyone? E

Hello, I'd be interested to come along if there's space? Thank you.