September 2012 meeting - we met at Freda's home. It was a small meeting, with just Marlene, Mary, Jackie, Denise, Freda and Yvonne there. The discussion was fun, as we had a fun book to discuss.Back when we were grown-ups by Anne Tyler.
All the different characters, with names that didn't exactly roll off your tongue
- 99 year old Poppy who is planning his birthday party
- Rebecca's mother and aunt
- Will, whom Rebecca walked away from, twice.
- Joe who we only meet in others recollections of him.
- the grandchildren and partners
- a business in an old building with the plaster falling down....
But would you recommend it to others to read.
PS: next meeting is at Jackie's home.
A couple of members didn't make it to the meeting so I will add their comments....
ReplyDeleteI liked 'Back when we were groun ups' by Anne Tyler, it was an enjoyable, gentle read, in fact I read it twice.
Her characters were so recognisable to me, her mother and aunt especially. - Her daughters too had familiar traits - sometimes lovable, other times hard to please.
Rebecca's desire to re-connect with Will was bitter-sweet. When she realised that they just couldn't click, her fault she said, I did feel sorry for Will. I thought he may have become suicidal too!
Rebecca was a little like Pollyanna, forever cheerful. That was how she was. And wasn't Poppy fortunate to have her care for him for all those years?
I hoped that she and Zeb would end up together, after being such close confidantes through the years.
And the second email
ReplyDeleteI was perhaps a bit harsh on the book when I told Yvonne that I could not really find anyone in it to like! - in fact there were several characters I found myself warming to, especially Poppy who showed remarkable vocabulary and insight for somebody who was initially depicted as a more than a bit gaga.
And Zeb was OK. And I liked Rebecca a lot better (and pitied her less) as she finally realised that 'your true life is the one you end up with' - and that although she had had to work at being joyous, it was real all the same. Every one of us has so many past 'what if' moments, and who we are is never who we might have been - which is why 'parallel worlds' appear so often in film and literature and have so much appeal. If we are lucky, we end up liking who we are, and she managed that in the end.