Author: Helen Simonson
One-sentence summary: An elderly and very traditional British Major falls in love with a widowed Pakistani woman who lives in his village despite their different backgrounds and cultures.
B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7 (unanimous rating)
Our favorite thing about it: We all loved the writing style, the main character, and the setting/culture/and history detailed in the book.
Our least favorite thing about it: We figuratively raised our eyebrows at a couple of plot “twists,” namely the climactic ending which seemed to come out of nowhere.
Main Topics of Discussion: British and Middle Eastern Cultures, Friendship, Romance, Family, Grief
Our favorite quote: “Sometimes when we pick and choose among the rules, we discover later that we have set aside something precious in the process.”
Notes: I think we all loved the personality and narrative voice of the main character. We all admitted to laughing out loud several times at his inner monologue or the things he would say in response to the silly people around him. We loved hearing the wisdom of Mrs. Ali through her dialogue. We enjoyed learning about some details of the traditional British culture from the Major and his circle of friends and were amused by his interactions with more modern individuals as well as Americans. We also enjoyed the infusions of Middle Eastern culture through Jasmina and her family.
The Major’s fixation on his father’s two guns spurred a discussion of how we feel about family possessions after a death. We also discussed how people grieve differently and how friends and acquaintances try to navigate the unclear waters of someone in the midst of grief. We spent a little time talking about the Major’s pitiable, but also horrible son.
A couple of things seemed ever so slightly out of place to us or perhaps just out of character for the well-rounded characters the author had developed. We weren’t sure that the Major and Jasmina’s real characters would have acted so impetuously at the Colonel’s cabin or that Jasmina would have run away without discussing her plan with the Major in the first place. Also, the action-packed events near the end of the book seemed to be a little bit of a departure from the easy going and calm narrative of the rest of the book. However, these two minor complaints really didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the book.
Memorable Meeting Moments: We played a 2010 year-in-review Jeopardy game, courtesy of Lindsay. Rachel opened her birthday books and we all enjoyed her birthday dessert, courtesy of Dara. We watched the movie, Eat Pray Love since we all read that book a couple of years ago (although it was not one of our book club books).
What We Ate: Curried Cottage Pie, Pear and Gorgonzola Arugula Salad with Walnuts and Balsamic Vinaigrette, Bread and Garlic Herbed Butter, Molten Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream and Hot Fudge
One-sentence summary: An elderly and very traditional British Major falls in love with a widowed Pakistani woman who lives in his village despite their different backgrounds and cultures.
B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7 (unanimous rating)
Our favorite thing about it: We all loved the writing style, the main character, and the setting/culture/and history detailed in the book.
Our least favorite thing about it: We figuratively raised our eyebrows at a couple of plot “twists,” namely the climactic ending which seemed to come out of nowhere.
Main Topics of Discussion: British and Middle Eastern Cultures, Friendship, Romance, Family, Grief
Our favorite quote: “Sometimes when we pick and choose among the rules, we discover later that we have set aside something precious in the process.”
Notes: I think we all loved the personality and narrative voice of the main character. We all admitted to laughing out loud several times at his inner monologue or the things he would say in response to the silly people around him. We loved hearing the wisdom of Mrs. Ali through her dialogue. We enjoyed learning about some details of the traditional British culture from the Major and his circle of friends and were amused by his interactions with more modern individuals as well as Americans. We also enjoyed the infusions of Middle Eastern culture through Jasmina and her family.
The Major’s fixation on his father’s two guns spurred a discussion of how we feel about family possessions after a death. We also discussed how people grieve differently and how friends and acquaintances try to navigate the unclear waters of someone in the midst of grief. We spent a little time talking about the Major’s pitiable, but also horrible son.
A couple of things seemed ever so slightly out of place to us or perhaps just out of character for the well-rounded characters the author had developed. We weren’t sure that the Major and Jasmina’s real characters would have acted so impetuously at the Colonel’s cabin or that Jasmina would have run away without discussing her plan with the Major in the first place. Also, the action-packed events near the end of the book seemed to be a little bit of a departure from the easy going and calm narrative of the rest of the book. However, these two minor complaints really didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the book.
Memorable Meeting Moments: We played a 2010 year-in-review Jeopardy game, courtesy of Lindsay. Rachel opened her birthday books and we all enjoyed her birthday dessert, courtesy of Dara. We watched the movie, Eat Pray Love since we all read that book a couple of years ago (although it was not one of our book club books).
What We Ate: Curried Cottage Pie, Pear and Gorgonzola Arugula Salad with Walnuts and Balsamic Vinaigrette, Bread and Garlic Herbed Butter, Molten Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream and Hot Fudge
1 comment:
It was an amazing night. I loved making the game!
Post a Comment