All Shall Be Well; And All Shall Be Well; And All Manner of Things Shall Be Well by Tod Wodicka. Described by a reviewer for the New York Times as "tender and oddball", this is a first novel for the author. Book discussion is Monday, December 21 at 7pm.
And don't forget our film viewing and discussion of No Country for Old Men Monday, December 14 at 6:30pm.
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From the discussion, I gathered that nobody liked the book; a few did not finish. I did like it; enough to read the whole book, and enough to be interested in some of the literary devices. The literary reviewers, two out of three really didn't like it. The review I happened to read in order to chose this book, found significant humor in the foibles of the lead character to make it sound promising.
I was interested enough in the foibles of this hapless character Bert to: a. keep reading to see if he was ever going to wake up; b. and if the plot would unfold to inform the reader why exactly his children held such antipathy for him.
I found aspects of the book interesting. The book follows Bert: A person so trapped in a imaginary world of medieval re-enactment which includes dedication to period costume, food and drink rather than being involved in his own life and family. He is perpetually drunk on mead and is grieving the death of his wife. He is selfish and unable to care for himself. But I found myself rooting for him in spite of all this. I have to agree with the New Statesman reviewer who wrote that the book is "vibrant, original, at times hilarious novel." I just think you may have to give Bert a chance in order to recognize it.
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