The BOOK CLUB of Petticoat Creek Branch library met on July 14. Jan, Jane D., Bev, Richard, Veta, Nancy and Linda were the stalwarts who attended the meeting to discuss Margaret TRUMAN’S book, Murder in the White House.
The book received lukewarm acceptance by all the members who agreed that it was very light reading at best. They added a variety of other assessments.
The book was written at a time when sensationalism, eroticism, crudity and rudity were not the norm, as in today’s media. Hence, the narrative was written in a very conservative style, again something which would not fly in today’s literary market.
“The plot was extremely simple and quite predictable” was another comment agreed to by the book club members. There were no real twists, turns and unexpected surprises. The corruption among politicians as described by Truman may have been unique or surprising in 1980, but today it seems quite the norm again. A sad commentary on our politicians and their integrity, principles and values.
Again, Terry Fallis popped up into the discussion as the members warmly remembered his humour, his style and the pleasure they had in reading his novel, The Best Laid Plans. The members were unanimous in saying it was the best read of all the books we have had in the club so far.
Once more, Donna Tart’s The Secret History popped up and again, all of us questioned how it could have attained the status of Best Seller, let alone being a literary prize winner.
Other notable mentions in our discussion were the Cutter of Stone and the Salmon Fishing in Yemen.
Members we somewhat split in their acceptance of the various books we have read to this point, other than Fallis’s book. The moderator, VETA, had her hands full in trying to energize the discussion relating to Truman’s book. The phrase, “beating a dead horse” comes to mind.
In short, the book is readable, simple in plot, a quick rainy day type of read which all the members praised lukewarmly.
We ended our meeting with the hope that our next read, Coppermine by Keith Ross Leckie, hits higher on the enjoyment scale. From my preliminary examination of the book’s reviews, it looks like it should be a winner.
Let’s hope !
