Saturday, December 4, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD : Our Scores 01/12/10
After another great RR evening, thanks to Sara this time, here are our scores for The Year of the Flood. Looking forward to carrying on reading and sharing lively discussions fuelled by delicious food and drinks in the New Year...
Characters Topic Style Plot Best Character Worst Character FINAL SCORE
Anja 8 10 9 8 Toby Crake 35
Heather 7 8 5 6 Pilar Lucerne 26
Mira 8 8 9 9 Toby Jimmy 34
Monica 7 8 6 8 Toby Blanco 28
Raka 9 8 8 8 Zeb Jimmy 33
Sara 8 9 7 8 Toby Blanco 3
Characters Topic Style Plot Best Character Worst Character FINAL SCORE
Anja 8 10 9 8 Toby Crake 35
Heather 7 8 5 6 Pilar Lucerne 26
Mira 8 8 9 9 Toby Jimmy 34
Monica 7 8 6 8 Toby Blanco 28
Raka 9 8 8 8 Zeb Jimmy 33
Sara 8 9 7 8 Toby Blanco 3
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
The Year of the Flood
London Review of Books
“Atwood has another kind of religion up her sleeve, and it is perhaps the most stimulating new feature of The Year of the Flood ... co-operative egalitarianism and a serene acceptance of the frailties of human nature ... The Year of the Flood gives us the view from below - always, as we well know, the most reliable vantage point from which to gauge and map a society.”
— Fredric Jameson
Chekc this out
http://www.yearoftheflood.com/uk/book/
“Atwood has another kind of religion up her sleeve, and it is perhaps the most stimulating new feature of The Year of the Flood ... co-operative egalitarianism and a serene acceptance of the frailties of human nature ... The Year of the Flood gives us the view from below - always, as we well know, the most reliable vantage point from which to gauge and map a society.”
— Fredric Jameson
Chekc this out
http://www.yearoftheflood.com/uk/book/
Angels and Demons: our scores
Hello Rampire Readers!
After yet another lively discussion at the Watershed last night chaired by Raka, here are our scores for Angels and Demons:
Characters Topic Style Plot Best & Worst Character TOTAL
Anja 2 - 5 - 2 - 4 - Leonardo - Camerlengo -13
Heather 4 - 6 - 2 - 6 - MK's secretary - Hassassin -18
Mira 2 - 5 - 4 - 5 - BBC Cameraman - Robert Lang. - 16
Monica 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - Leonardo - Robert Langdon - 8
Raka 6 - 8 - 5 - 7 - Cadrinal M - BBC Cameraman - 26
Sara 3 - 5 - 3 - 5 - Cardinal M - Camerlengo - 16
After yet another lively discussion at the Watershed last night chaired by Raka, here are our scores for Angels and Demons:
Characters Topic Style Plot Best & Worst Character TOTAL
Anja 2 - 5 - 2 - 4 - Leonardo - Camerlengo -13
Heather 4 - 6 - 2 - 6 - MK's secretary - Hassassin -18
Mira 2 - 5 - 4 - 5 - BBC Cameraman - Robert Lang. - 16
Monica 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - Leonardo - Robert Langdon - 8
Raka 6 - 8 - 5 - 7 - Cadrinal M - BBC Cameraman - 26
Sara 3 - 5 - 3 - 5 - Cardinal M - Camerlengo - 16
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Dissecting Rushdie: notes and scores
Hi Rampire Readers!
Many thanks to Mira for hosting such an animated and lively discussion last night. Rushdie managed to trigger so many different emotions in all of us, whether we loved or hated Midnight's Children. We all felt irritated by the narrator at some point or other though...
Reading Anja's comments prompted further insights into the novel and the group's views were indeed varied.
Here follow the scores we awarded so far:
Characters Topic Style UPD Best Character Worst Ch. Final Score /40
Anja 4 6 3 3 Aadam Saleem 16
Heather 6 8 7 1 Aadam Aziz Alia 22
Mira 7 6 POO 5 3 Brass Monkey Saleem 21
Monica 9 10 7 7 Reverend Mother Shiva 33
Raka 7 7 6 5 Mary Perreira Shiva 25
Sara 7 9 8 5 Adaam Aziz Emerald 29
Many thanks to Mira for hosting such an animated and lively discussion last night. Rushdie managed to trigger so many different emotions in all of us, whether we loved or hated Midnight's Children. We all felt irritated by the narrator at some point or other though...
Reading Anja's comments prompted further insights into the novel and the group's views were indeed varied.
Here follow the scores we awarded so far:
Characters Topic Style UPD Best Character Worst Ch. Final Score /40
Anja 4 6 3 3 Aadam Saleem 16
Heather 6 8 7 1 Aadam Aziz Alia 22
Mira 7 6 POO 5 3 Brass Monkey Saleem 21
Monica 9 10 7 7 Reverend Mother Shiva 33
Raka 7 7 6 5 Mary Perreira Shiva 25
Sara 7 9 8 5 Adaam Aziz Emerald 29
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
PART THREE: In The Sundarbans
Oh Dear!
Having reached page 504 (!!!!), I finally admit that I am now totally lost....
Can't wait to be able to discuss this reading journey with you next Wednesday...
:-~
Having reached page 504 (!!!!), I finally admit that I am now totally lost....
Can't wait to be able to discuss this reading journey with you next Wednesday...
:-~
Saturday, September 18, 2010
All-India radio
Hi Rampire Readers,
if by any chance you are, like me,struggling or have struggled with Rushdie...
Please soldier on!!!
I have just reached the "All-India radio" chapter in Book Two where all is revealed finally...And it is well worth it!!
Can't wait to read what happens next!! If you are sailing ahead of that chapter, would you agree with me or not?
if by any chance you are, like me,struggling or have struggled with Rushdie...
Please soldier on!!!
I have just reached the "All-India radio" chapter in Book Two where all is revealed finally...And it is well worth it!!
Can't wait to read what happens next!! If you are sailing ahead of that chapter, would you agree with me or not?
Thursday, September 2, 2010
"In Their Own Words: British Novelists" on BBC i player
BBC 4 series looking at the story of the British novel in the 20th century told by those who know it best - the authors themselves.
In part three Rushdie talks of Midnight's Children.
Here is the link.
http://bbc.co.uk/i/tlvtj/
or
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tgz5d
I have utterly enjoyed the whole series by the way...
In part three Rushdie talks of Midnight's Children.
Here is the link.
http://bbc.co.uk/i/tlvtj/
or
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tgz5d
I have utterly enjoyed the whole series by the way...
CUTTING FOR STONE: our scores _ /10
We devised this grid last night and thought of the following categories:
Characters, Topic, Style, UPD*(plot), Best and Worst Character, Final Score
We then added our scores for each one as follows:
Anja 6 8 7 8 Gosh Rosina/Mary 29/40
Heather 6 8 7 8 Gosh Rosina 29/40
Monica 6 9 7 8 Hema Jenet 30/40
Mira 7 6 7 7 Hema Thomas Stone 27/40
Sara 7 8 6 7 Hema Stone’s father 28/40
*UPD = Unputdownableness
Characters, Topic, Style, UPD*(plot), Best and Worst Character, Final Score
We then added our scores for each one as follows:
Anja 6 8 7 8 Gosh Rosina/Mary 29/40
Heather 6 8 7 8 Gosh Rosina 29/40
Monica 6 9 7 8 Hema Jenet 30/40
Mira 7 6 7 7 Hema Thomas Stone 27/40
Sara 7 8 6 7 Hema Stone’s father 28/40
*UPD = Unputdownableness
Discussing Cutting for Stone
Hi Rampire Readers,
we had a brilliant time last night discussing Cutting for Stone and many thanks to Heather for hosting the session. Many issues were raised although we all agreed that it was an enjoyable read, despite the plot being rather far-fetched at times.
As Mira and Raka were not there unfortunately, we felt that it would be great to hear their thoughts on the novel nonetheless and hope that our scores would prompt them to post their contributions.
As we are now officially reading Midnight's Children, we also thought that we could start posting comments on our October choice as we read along, without having to wait for Wed Oct 6th at Mira to discuss it.
we had a brilliant time last night discussing Cutting for Stone and many thanks to Heather for hosting the session. Many issues were raised although we all agreed that it was an enjoyable read, despite the plot being rather far-fetched at times.
As Mira and Raka were not there unfortunately, we felt that it would be great to hear their thoughts on the novel nonetheless and hope that our scores would prompt them to post their contributions.
As we are now officially reading Midnight's Children, we also thought that we could start posting comments on our October choice as we read along, without having to wait for Wed Oct 6th at Mira to discuss it.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Midnight's Children
Hi Rampire Readers!
Hope you are having a lovely summer and that you are enjoying/ have enjoyed Cutting for Stone.
I just wanted to let you know that I have already collected our copies of Midnight's Children from the library...Our next excting read is here!!!!
Look forward to seeing you all on Wed 1st at 18pm chez Heather. I shall hand out the copies then, unless you would like them in advance. Just let me know if you do and we can arrange an earlier delivery...
Ciao!
Monica
Hope you are having a lovely summer and that you are enjoying/ have enjoyed Cutting for Stone.
I just wanted to let you know that I have already collected our copies of Midnight's Children from the library...Our next excting read is here!!!!
Look forward to seeing you all on Wed 1st at 18pm chez Heather. I shall hand out the copies then, unless you would like them in advance. Just let me know if you do and we can arrange an earlier delivery...
Ciao!
Monica
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Rampire Readers and LibrariesWest
Hello RR!
Just a quick update to let you know that Rampire Readers has officially been registered as a Reading Group with LibrariesWest.
Our books will be reserved a month in advance and the copies to be handed out during the Spetember session are already on their way...
E-X-C-I-T-I-N-G!!!!!!
Just a quick update to let you know that Rampire Readers has officially been registered as a Reading Group with LibrariesWest.
Our books will be reserved a month in advance and the copies to be handed out during the Spetember session are already on their way...
E-X-C-I-T-I-N-G!!!!!!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Our Summer Read
CUTTING FOR STONE by Abraham Verghese (www.abrahamverghese.com)
Heather's choice, first published in February 2009.
On CUTTING FOR STONE...
"Verghese's achievement is to make the reader feel there really is something at stake - birth, love, death, war, loyalty. There's no smug postmodern self-undermining (otherwise known as irony) here: the mythic arises seamlessly from the quotidian; telepathy or saintly intercessions are simply accepted - as they often are in Ethiopian life. You conserve pages because you don't want it to end."
Aida Edemariam, The Guardian
"As a novelist, Verghese looks to models like Salman Rushdie and John Irving: the novel is capacious, not to say baggy, in the way those writers’ novels can be, and it is tinged, albeit lightly, with a sense of magic, though one senses that Verghese in his soul is too much a realist ever to be quite convinced of his own attempts in this department."
Erica Wagner, The New York Times
"In Cutting for Stone, renowned physician Abraham Verghese has given us a remarkable reading experience that explores the lives of a memorable cast of characters, many of them doctors; the insight the novel offers into the world of medicine, along with its wealth of precise detail about how doctors work, is unparalleled in American fiction. Verghese is so attuned to the movements of the heart and of the mind, so adept at dramatizing the great themes of human existence, and he has filled this world with such richly drawn, fascinating characters, that Cutting for Stone becomes one of those rare books one wishes would never end, an alternate reality that both rivals and illuminates the real world readers must return to when the book is closed."
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/
We will be discussing CUTTING FOR STONE chez Heather on Wednesday 1st of September at 18.00...
Heather's choice, first published in February 2009.
On CUTTING FOR STONE...
"Verghese's achievement is to make the reader feel there really is something at stake - birth, love, death, war, loyalty. There's no smug postmodern self-undermining (otherwise known as irony) here: the mythic arises seamlessly from the quotidian; telepathy or saintly intercessions are simply accepted - as they often are in Ethiopian life. You conserve pages because you don't want it to end."
Aida Edemariam, The Guardian
"As a novelist, Verghese looks to models like Salman Rushdie and John Irving: the novel is capacious, not to say baggy, in the way those writers’ novels can be, and it is tinged, albeit lightly, with a sense of magic, though one senses that Verghese in his soul is too much a realist ever to be quite convinced of his own attempts in this department."
Erica Wagner, The New York Times
"In Cutting for Stone, renowned physician Abraham Verghese has given us a remarkable reading experience that explores the lives of a memorable cast of characters, many of them doctors; the insight the novel offers into the world of medicine, along with its wealth of precise detail about how doctors work, is unparalleled in American fiction. Verghese is so attuned to the movements of the heart and of the mind, so adept at dramatizing the great themes of human existence, and he has filled this world with such richly drawn, fascinating characters, that Cutting for Stone becomes one of those rare books one wishes would never end, an alternate reality that both rivals and illuminates the real world readers must return to when the book is closed."
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/
We will be discussing CUTTING FOR STONE chez Heather on Wednesday 1st of September at 18.00...
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
10 Inalienable Rights of the Reader according to Daniel Pennac:
1. The right to not read,
2. The right to skip pages,
3. The right to not finish a book,
4. The right to reread,
5. The right to read anything,
6. The right to "Bovary-ism," a textually-transmitted disease,
7. The right to read anywhere,
8. The right to sample and steal ("grappiller")
9. The right to read out-loud, and,
10. The right to be silent
Daniel Pennac, Comme un roman (Paris: Editions Gallimard/Folio, 1992)
2. The right to skip pages,
3. The right to not finish a book,
4. The right to reread,
5. The right to read anything,
6. The right to "Bovary-ism," a textually-transmitted disease,
7. The right to read anywhere,
8. The right to sample and steal ("grappiller")
9. The right to read out-loud, and,
10. The right to be silent
Daniel Pennac, Comme un roman (Paris: Editions Gallimard/Folio, 1992)
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