The snow is really coming down, and it doesn’t look like it will let up any time soon, but I’m cozy and well-prepared with a cup of chai tea (bagged, not loose) and several different kinds of treats to keep me fueled for a day of reading!
Uncharacteristically, I haven’t finished anything new to tell you about this week. We had our book club meeting on Monday night to discuss The Gargoyle and everyone seemed to have enjoyed it. Two of the four of us who were able to make it out on that chilly evening listened to it as an audiobook and they said the narrator was awesome, that he really brought the text, story and characters to life. We agreed that there were many layers to the novel, and that we would need much longer than one meeting to discuss them all; in fact, we would need to do more research before we could even begin to touch on some of the topics, like Dante’s Inferno and the historical and religious themes that are featured, particularly in Marianne Engel’s stories. We described this novel as “a tragic love story across the ages”, and wondered how much was real and how much coincidence. We talked about the gargoyles, or “grotesques”, that Marianne Engel carved, and what their significance might be (we weren’t sure, but thought they must be significant). We wondered whether Marianne Engel was actually real or just a delusion for the unnamed main character. We discussed the significance of names, particularly Marianne Engel’s name and the fact that the main character remains unnamed. We discussed so much more, but I can’t recall specifics right now. Let’s just say that it was a great book club choice and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good book for discussion. I would also recommend going to the Penguin Reader’s Guide for more information: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/37067/the-gargoyle-by-andrew-davidson/9780307388674/readers-guide/
I was so excited to start a book I just picked up at the library, The Baltimore Boys by Joël Dicker, a recently translated prequel/sequel to his bestselling novel The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, which I really enjoyed. But between finishing up my book club book last weekend and having our meeting on Monday night, I only managed to get through half of this novel before deciding to put it down and start on the book club book we will be discussing next Saturday morning, Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. So I can’t tell you about either book at this point, but will give you book club discussion highlights on Lolita next week.
That’s all for today. Gotta get out there and shovel the snow, then come back in and read, read, read! Stay warm and have a wonderful week!
Bye for now…Julie
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