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Hey Group,

Our next book will be I Capture the Castle. How long shall we give ourselves to read it? Shall we try to wait until we've all finished it before we start discussing or plunge in as we progress individually?

Ruth

I was hoping we could read a book every month, but I might just be overenthusiastic as most newbies are :) I already picked up a copy from the library.

Lanelle,

That's a laudable goal, but it depends on what we're reading (some books take longer than others, some ask for longer discussions) and how busy people are.

I suggest this: why don't we give ourselves a little time to read Castle, but also decide *now* the book to read after that? That way, we can start discussing our current book without having to hide spoilers or have some people feel behind, and we will have time to obtain the post-Castle tome, and we can start reading THAT one as we begin discussing Castle. If we keep choosing books in advance, we might be able to achieve a book a month or so.

What do you think? What does everyone think?

Ruth

Ruth wrote: "I suggest this: why don't we give ourselves a little time to read Castle, but also decide *now* the book to read after that?..."

Sounds good to me. Maybe you could send a message to all the group members. That might catch their attention and they'll come discuss this with us.

Lanelle,

Let's set a date to start the I Capture the Castle discussion and then I'll broadcast a message. How about the 2oth? That should give folks time to find books and read. And are we still thinking to read
Where'd You Go, Bernadette after?

Ruth

P. S. I didn't realize there were so many members! I thought it was the recent four of us and Helene and Cassie. I hope we can get more people next time.

Ruth, starting the discussion on the 20th sounds good. Hopefully I can keep my library book that long :)

And Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a good book to read next.

Maybe as the new folks who've joined realize that the group is active again, they'll participate in the discussions. Having a schedule of books will help, too.

I have to admit I am not enjoying I Capture the Castle very much.

And I think it really shouldn't be classified as epistolary just because she says she writing in her journal.

Lanelle,

I agree that it's not an epistolary novel, though Cassandra does copy some letters into her journal. But I do think the book offers some interesting commentary on reading and writing. Cassandra and her father are both writers, but Cassandra doesn't "get" her father's work. Yet she is supposed to be the clever child. Thomas, who is more detached, does seem to understand his father's novels.

How does his emotional disengagement help him to see the point of his father's work?

Although Thomas is the child who appreciates Mortmain's work, it is Cassandra who gives their father the phrase that leads to his being able to write again.

Is the link between these two writers stronger than the surface of the story might lead us to believe?

And what about the way poor Topaz' literary understanding is consistently denigrated?

The names interest me: "Mortmain" hints at a "dead hand," but also could mean "a plenitude of hands" or "an abundance of [or death of] the essential." All these meanings fit Mortmain and his own poetic, metaphorical approach to writing.

What do we make of the layers of his name? How are the others also Mortmains?

"Rose" and "Thomas" are good, solid, British names. "Rose" conjures up the type of English country beauty that we might associate with Jane Bennett. The exoticism of "Topaz" sets the character up as a slight outsider, a lesser jewel, but a creature of beauty. But "Cassandra" was the seer of Troy, gifted with prophecy by Apollo and then cursed by him so that no one would believe her predictions.

How is our protagonist a Cassandra? What are we to glean from the names in this novel?

I have other questions too, but must flit for now. What did everyone else think of the novel? Of the characters? Of the Cottons? Of the chain of disappointed loves? Of the style of the writing? Of the relationships between the men and the women?

Ruth