North York Central Library Book Club Fall into it
The North York Central Book Club got off to great start this Fall. Some might even say we began with a "bang" as we discussed "The Sisters Brothers" by Patrick deWitt.
Club members became rather heated as they argued the merits and demerits of
this Picaresque Western where two brothers whose last name is Sisters travel to California to kill a man called Wurm.
Sisters Brothers is supposed to be a black comedy but one member of
the group took a violent dislike to it. She did not find it funny. In fact, she started by saying, "I finished it but I did
not enjoy it!" Many members said that they found parts of the novel hilarious but all agreed it got quite
gruesome as the story progressed. Most found that they really came to like the narrator, Eli Sisters,
and were even able to forgive him when he did "bad" things. So, The Sisters Brothers was a
good choice for most in the group but our dissenter could not swayed. For more on Literary Westerns see my previous post.
We, the North York Central Browsery librarians, have been choosing the books for our club for almost 10 years. The members tell us they like it that way. We generally pick award winning literary fiction with a smattering of literary nonfiction. Some of the choices are winners and some are … well, we don't like to say it, losers.
As I said, we get it right most of the time. Many members have said things like, "I would never have picked this book up but I'm really glad I read it" or "I had a hard time reading it but it was worth it". Occasionally, we've picked a dud and members either vote with their feet as no shows or they come to the meeting and make the discussion way more fun. We like that!
Our next two books should generate some interesting discussion. On October 30th we will discuss "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Murial Barbery which was a bestseller, heavy on the philosophical side, set in Paris, France and which has been made into a film called "L'Herisson = The Hedgehog". Then on November 27th we will discuss Margaret Atwood's Massey Lecture series called "Payback: Debt and the shadow side of weath" which is as much about money as it is about the works of Charles Dickens. Both meetings are on Tuesdays, 7-8:30 in Meeting Rm 2.
For more information and to register call the Browsery Desk – 416-395-5672.
New members are always welcome.
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All three books are also great audiobooks.
One thought on “North York Central Library Book Club Fall into it”
It’s always more exciting when book clubs don’t agree – I am waiting for my copy of The Sisters Brothers – and can see if fall in line with your dissenter! (I did start the Elegance of the Hedgehog and loathed it).