Anne Bronte

I finally finished the "Tenant", glad I did. I had more left to read than I thought. Really enjoyed it. I read the biography at the end and then looked up some of "Acton Bells" poems. I am not a poetry lover but the way she writes seems like you are listening to her voice. Quite nice. Plan on reading "Agnes Grey" which seems to be on my reader already. Have a great month. See you in October.

Fluctuations

What though the sun had left my sky;
To save me from despair
The blessed moon arose on high,
And shone serenely there.
I watched her, with a tearful gaze,
Rise slowly o'er the hill,
While through the dim horizon's haze
Her light gleamed faint and chill.

I thought such wan and lifeless beams
Could ne'er my heart repay,
For the bright sun's most transient gleams
That cheered me through the day:

But as above that mist's control
She rose, and brighter shone,
I felt her light upon my soul;
But now -- that light is gone!

Thick vapours snatched her from my sight,
And I was darkling left,
All in the cold and gloomy night,
Of light and hope bereft:

Until, methought, a little star
Shone forth with trembling ray,
To cheer me with its light afar --
But that, too, passed away.

Anon, an earthly meteor blazed
The gloomy darkness through;
I smiled, yet trembled while I gazed --
But that soon vanished too!

And darker, drearier fell the night
Upon my spirit then; --
But what is that faint struggling light?
Is it the Moon again?

Kind Heaven! increase that silvery gleam,
And bid these clouds depart,
And let her soft celestial beam
Restore my fainting heart!

Acton


Anne Brontë

The Slap, Aug. 14th, BBQ at Catherine's

THE SLAP Very sorry about this, they've messed with the site, no matter how many spaces I try to put in they are not showing up on the post. Will have to make do with periods til I figure it out..................................................................... Christos Tsiolkas was born and grew up in Melbourne and was educated at Blackburn High School and the University of Melbourne where he completed an Arts Degree in 1987. He edited the student newspaper Farrago in 1988......Tsiolkas' first novel, Loaded (1995), was filmed as Head On (1998) by director Ana Kokkinos, starring Alex Dimitriades.[2] In 2006, his novel, Dead Europe, won The Age Book of the Year fiction award. In 2009, his fourth novel, The Slap, won the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2009 for best novel in the South-East Asia and South Pacific area.He is openly gay,and a Richmond Football Club supporter....................................................... Points for discussion................................................................................................................................................................ -As a reviewer points out, despite being set in Australia, this story could just as easily take place in Canada or the US. Do you think this is true? (Foul language thoughout, drug use,one character was doing bongs since age twelve).................................................................................................................................................................. -Do you think that this book is true to life or just sensationalism?(In a review: It’s worth contrasting, for example, the prevalence of drugs in the story with the extant reality in society. I checked after reading the book and only about 10% of the population has tried hard drugs: speed, cocaine, ecstasy, LSD. In The Slap it appears the majority of generation X and all of generation Y are getting into the party players now and again. Personally, I find it difficult to believe that 90% of the population hasn’t tried hard drugs because everyone I know has dabbled to lesser and greater extents.)................................................................................................................................................................. -From a review: "I was totally turned off by the book with the vulgar language and unnecessary adultery. It's almost like the author thought he had to include that to make the book seem more interesting".............................................................................................................................................................. -Melbourne multicultural- ethnicity seems to be part of every description of all characters in the book................everyone looks down on everyone wih a different background from themselves. Aborigines seem to be looked down on by everyone............ mussies,lebos, Australians,wogs.......................................................................................................................................................... -From a review: Aisha stays with Hector because she thinks the two of them look so good as a couple, even though their sex life consists of him ramming himself into her as a painful pseudo rape thing.............. do people actually stay in crappy marriages for this reason?................................................................................................................................................................... -Aisha and Hector talked about there being, men, women and women without children. What do you think?.................................................................................................................................................................... -How necessary is Anouk to the book, what is her role?..................................................................................................................................................................... -Do you have any idea what these mean? ibw'd, bogan, arvo, daggy, lebos, mussie, wog, doona, she slammed the "medways" shut..................................................................................................................................................................... Borrowed discussion points ...................................................................................................................................................................... Suggested discussion points for The Slap • Were Gary and Rosie right to press charges? • What would you have done in Harry’s place? • What role does the shifting point of view play in your experience of the novel? • Which of the characters did you most identify with? • Which of the characters most irked you? • Would you have supported Rosie or Harry if you were in Aisha’s shoes? • Do you think that Aisha and Hector should stay married? • Why did Connie fabricate the story about Hector? • What do you think The Slap says about contemporary Australian life?..................................................................................................................................................................... To what extent do you have to like the characters to enjoy the book? As I’ve said already, I didn’t particularly like many of the characters in the book, but once I got through the rather confusing first chapter I found the book hard to put down and enjoyed the frightening skill of the writer, if not the content of his characters. To what extent do you need a driving plot to enjoy a story? The Slap is not one of those “what’s going to happen next” books, really, and I must confess I’m not really that interested in racy plots so long as the characters are well drawn. The characters seemed to breath on the page and I was transfixed by Tsiolkas’s ability to detail the complexities of men and women who often appeared, upon first impressions, to be fairly two-dimensional............................................................................................................................................................... Which characters did you like the least, and which did you feel most empathy for, and why?...................................................................................................................................................................... The book has been called a condemnation of the middle-class, but the book seemed to be a bit broader in its brushstrokes of condemnation. Is Harry middle-class, is Garry? What defines Australia’s middle-class these days anyway? Is it simply measured by a person’s relative wealth? Are their cultural and educational aspects to this vague, illusory term, or is it purely a material distinction?

Before I forget: March '12- Discussion of favourite books we read as children. April - The Color Purple by Alice Walker May - The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman June- The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre July- The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis August- The Slap Correct me if I'm wrong.

Kiva

When we met at Christmas I suggested that we look into making a loan through the organisation "Kiva". A small amount of our money( $10 or $15 from each of us) can make a huge difference to someone in another part of the world trying to better their lives.

Here is a link.....


http://www.kiva.org/about/how

(the little cartoon explains it briefly)

Let's talk about this when we meet, just thought if you read about this ahead of time it would take less time to organise it.

Cheers.

Changes

Hey Ladies,

Quite a few changes since the last time I posted on here. One of us became a bride and a new home owner, one a 2nd time mom, one a grandmother, and one an expecting grandmother. Congrats to all you lovely ladies...I've been in hospital a few times but am doing really well and very possibly won't need any more of the type of procedure I've been getting.

Welcome to Darlene, Helen and Annette. Lovely to have you along, fresh blood and all.

This what we've been reading.

November- "The Good Daughter" ?? Is that right?
December- " The Power of One" by Bryce Courtenay

2012

January- "One for the Money" by Janet Evanovich (Went over the river see the movie with Katherine Heigl)
February- "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer at the Exmouth St. Coffee Lodge
March- "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker

I've enjoyed most of the books we've read recently but feel somewhat uncomfortable that we are leaving our roots far behind. I'd really like to start going back to some of the classics........North and South by Elizabeth Gaskill, Jamaica Inn by Daphne DuMaurier, Narnia. So perhaps we'll get our teeth into something meaty every 3rd book or so. Wouldn't hurt to finish off the two Jane Austins that we didn't tackle either. ..Anyway, bring your ideas to our next meeting and we'll sort it out.

So March 13th, my house, 6 pm. Bring a few bucks for pizza, and a side salad, dessert or drink. I think the original plan was for a full blown Southern themed pot luck but that went by the way side when we realised that the planned weekend date was ST Patrick's Day. So anything themey would be great but not expected as it is a weeknight.

Til then y'all...